The wind howled through the cliffs as Lyra moved swiftly through the trees, Cassian close behind her. The rogue patrol had caught the scent of unfamiliar wolves in the valley—strong, fast, and too disciplined to be wanderers.
Duskclaw warriors.
Lyra's jaw tightened.
> So, he's finally come.
She didn't say it aloud, but Cassian must've felt the shift in her energy. He glanced over, eyes sharp.
"It's him," he said flatly.
Lyra nodded once. "I can feel it. The bond is… louder."
Cassian frowned. "You don't owe him anything, Lyra. He rejected you. He doesn't get to demand answers."
"I'm not giving him answers," she said coldly. "I'm giving him a warning."
Cassian's lips quirked upward. "Just don't kill him. Not yet."
---
Meanwhile, Kael stepped over a broken root, his wolf on high alert. Every sense in him was screaming, but not in warning.
In recognition.
The pull was undeniable now. Each step toward the valley made the ache in his chest grow stronger. He didn't understand it. He shouldn't feel her. He had rejected her. That's how it worked.
But whatever Lyra had become… it defied rules.
"She's close," Kael muttered to Roran beside him. "I can feel her."
Roran looked wary. "Alpha, are we sure this is wise? You rejected her. If she's aligned with the rogues now—"
"I have to see her," Kael said, more to himself than anyone else.
The forest opened into a wide clearing, silver mist clinging to the grass. He stepped forward, scanning the treeline.
Then—he froze.
Because she was there.
Standing just beyond the fog, her black-and-silver cloak fluttering in the breeze. Her braid hung down her back, and her skin shimmered faintly under the moonlight. The crescent mark on her collarbone glowed through the fabric.
She looked like power incarnate.
Like vengeance wrapped in beauty.
Kael's breath caught in his throat.
"Lyra…"
Her gaze snapped to his.
And there was nothing soft in her eyes.
---
Lyra stood still, letting the moment stretch.
She could feel her heartbeat, slow and steady, echoing in her ears.
She had imagined this so many times.
What she would say.
What she would do.
But now that he was here, all the words dissolved.
She took a step forward, just enough to make him flinch.
"You're a long way from Duskclaw, Alpha," she said, voice sharp like winter wind.
Kael took a hesitant step forward. "I needed to find you."
"Why?" she asked. "To finish what you started? To apologize after you broke me in front of everyone?"
"I didn't know what they would do," he said quickly. "The Council said—"
"Oh, the Council," she snapped. "Of course. They say 'jump,' and the great Kael Nightmoor doesn't even ask how high."
His jaw tightened. "You don't understand—"
"No," she cut in. "You don't understand. You saw me on the most vulnerable day of my life. You felt the bond, Kael. And you still chose your title over me."
He flinched.
Cassian stepped from the trees then, placing himself at Lyra's side. Protective. Calm.
Kael's eyes flicked to him—and narrowed.
"You've joined them?" he asked, gaze fixed on the blade at Cassian's hip. "You're running with rogues now?"
"I'm leading them," Lyra said. "And they didn't throw me away."
Kael stepped forward again. "Lyra, I—"
The energy between them surged.
Her wolf stirred restlessly, and she saw it in his eyes—he felt it too.
The bond.
Still pulsing.
Still alive.
Kael's voice dropped to a whisper. "The bond… it shouldn't still be there."
"I know," Lyra said bitterly. "Believe me, I tried to bury it."
He looked haunted.
"I thought I was protecting you. I thought—"
"You didn't think at all," she said, voice cracking. "You let them convince you I was dangerous. That I wasn't enough. And you made me believe it, too."
He closed the space between them, hands clenched at his sides. "Then why didn't it break? Why does every step away from you feel like I'm losing my mind?"
"Because you're not as strong as you pretend to be," she whispered.
The silence between them thickened.
Then Lyra straightened her spine.
"You don't get to demand anything from me. Not loyalty. Not forgiveness. Not even closure."
Kael's chest heaved. "I'm not here to demand anything."
"Then leave."
His jaw tightened. "I can't. Not until I know you're safe. That no one's using you—"
She laughed coldly. "You're afraid of what I'll become."
"I'm afraid of losing you again."
The words hung in the air.
Cassian's hand moved to his blade.
Lyra stopped him with a glance.
"I already died once, Kael," she said. "The night you rejected me. The girl who loved you died in that room. The one standing here now? She's not yours to lose."
Kael's face crumpled, just slightly.
Then she turned her back to him.
And that hurt him more than anything else.
---
Later, as they returned to the sanctuary, Cassian broke the silence.
"You okay?"
Lyra didn't answer right away. Her heart was still racing, but not from fear.
From rage.
From hurt.
From… the dangerous flicker of longing.
"I didn't expect to feel anything," she whispered. "But it's still there. The bond."
Cassian's jaw tensed. "It won't break until one of you wants it gone completely."
She looked up at him. "I want it gone."
He nodded. "Then we'll find a way."
---
Back in Duskclaw, Kael stood in the war room again, but everything looked dull now.
She was alive.
She was stronger.
And he was still tethered to her… by a bond he no longer controlled.
"She didn't kill me," he said quietly to Roran.
Roran raised an eyebrow. "Were you expecting her to?"
Kael gave a humorless laugh. "Part of me hoped she would."
Roran sighed. "You're in deep, Alpha."
Kael stared out the window.
"Deeper than I ever thought possible."