Morning dragged its feet. Lyra blinked awake as weak dawn light slipped through her thin bedroom curtains, barely making it past the edges. She lay motionless beneath the blankets, her eyes fixed on the ceiling. Everything from last night just kept looping in her head.
The ceremony.
His rejection.
That ache – God, it nearly tore her apart.
And the rogues, of course.
Her stomach knotted with the memory of the knife glinting silver, the rogues cornering her in the dark woods. That fear still clung to her like frost.
But the most confusing part?
Alpha Kael.
He rejected her. Humiliated her in front of everyone. Still, he showed up and saved her life, cutting through the rogues like he was born for it. And then he left her with those words:
Stay away from me if you want to live.
Lyra
