The wolves knew something was wrong long before the sun rose.
Footsteps echoed, then Lyra froze. Silence cracked open - her breath caught inside it.
From below, shouts bounced off damp walls - sharp tones laced with panic and shock. Above her cell, wolves circled, their tension seeping down through cracks as if carried by wind. On a thin slab of stone, she stayed seated, wrists locked in iron, back rigid even while muscles twitched beneath skin.
Moon Reaper.
Her. That name stuck, always tagging along behind.
The door opened.
A hush came before them. The first two stepped inside, fingers near their holsters, shoulders tight. Then Kael appeared, air shifting as if clouds had darkened overhead. Stillness settled across his face. Power moved off him, quiet but impossible to ignore.
"Stand," he ordered.
Lyra obeyed.
Soft clinking came from the chains while she moved upward, step by step, toward the large room ahead.
The noise exploded.
"That's her!"
"She tried to kill him!"
"The Moon Reaper should be executed!"
Stillness held her frame, though fear tugged hard toward flight.
Crowded stood the council room. Among those present: elders, fighters, medicine wolves - all touched by loss at the hands of the killer before them now. From every face came a heavy loathing, dense like smoke, edged like stone. The air itself seemed tight with it.
Kael stepped forward.
Silence fell instantly.
"She is under my protection," he said.
Thunder cracked through the air. Each word landed heavily. Sound shook the silence. A voice split the room open. Noise echoed beyond hearing.
A heavy thud echoed as the old man brought his stick down hard. "She used silver against you, Alpha!"
Failing too," Kael said, voice sharp like frost.
"She's butchered Alphas across the territories," another council member snapped. "You can't keep her alive."
Kael's gaze hardened. "I can. And I will."
A hush moved between people there. The air shifted, soft but clear.
A sharp squeeze gripped Lyra's ribs. Pain bloomed deep inside her torso.
This is something he ought to avoid.
"She's your weakness," someone growled.
Kael's lip curled. "She is my responsibility."
Responsibility.
Not mate.
Not yet.
A sharp silence followed when she heard it. The name sat heavy, like a stone in her chest.
"She's dangerous," the elder insisted. "Even chained, she's a threat."
Her eyes held years he couldn't name. The skin on her wrists showed marks, dark against bone. Lyra stood there, small under his stare. He saw her then - really saw - not just a shape but what lived behind the quiet.
"She's been controlled," he said. "Conditioned. Used."
"And how do you know she won't turn again?" a warrior shouted.
Fingers brushing her jawline, Lyra tilted her head up. A quiet voice followed - "Not me."
The room stilled.
"I can't promise safety," she continued quietly. "Only honesty. If the coven triggers me again… I'll fight it. But I won't lie and say I'll always win."
A pause hangs in the air. Stillness settles between words. Quiet fills the space where sound had been.
Out of silence came Kael's words, hushed yet sharp. The air tightened around each syllable.
"Anyone who wants her dead," he said, "will have to go through me."
Shock rippled outward.
The elder stared at him. "You would risk your pack for her?"
Kael didn't hesitate.
"Yes."
Lyra's breath hitched.
A choice landed that day.
It struck her then, not fear of chains or stone walls, but the quiet weight of being placed just beside Kael's rooms, watched closely behind closed doors.
Just that one thing made it clear to everyone in the group.
Suddenly, a sharp ache cut through her just as she watched the land stir beyond the thin pane. The moment stretched tight between stillness and motion.
Sharp. Sudden.
A sharp breath caught in her throat, fingers pressing into her ribs when her legs gave way.
The coven.
Feverish light burned along her arms, rising fast.
Her thoughts echoed with his words, soft yet firm. That warning settled deep. Every choice carries weight, he meant. Running against the rules never goes unpunished. His tone lingered like distant thunder. Obedience keeps balance. Breaking it shifts everything. She felt the truth in those quiet syllables. Resistance brings fallout. Always.
"You bonded with him."
"I didn't choose it," Lyra whispered desperately.
"Choice was never yours."
Fog crept across her sight when something heavy settled inside her mind.
"You will mark him."
Something punched her chest hard.
"No," she gasped. "You can't - "
"You will weaken him."
A sudden crash broke the silence as the door flew apart.
Stumbling forward, Kael reached her just in time - his hands grabbing hold as her knees gave way. The room seemed to tilt when his shadow crossed the threshold. Wide-eyed, he pulled her close a second before the ground met space.
"Lyra!"
Holding tight to his shirt, her fingers pressed deep into the fabric. A grip born of breathless moments, knuckles pale under dim light.
"They're here," she sobbed. "Not physically - but they're trying to use me."
Fury rumbled in Kael's throat, a sound barely above silence. A snarl took shape, slow and sharp.
"Fight it," he urged. "Stay with me."
Shaking took hold of her limbs, sudden and fierce.
"I don't want to hurt you," she cried. "Please - tie me down - lock me away - "
Falling into his hold was easier than she thought.
"I'm not afraid of you," he said fiercely. "I'm afraid for you."
A sudden warmth rose through the connection, steady like roots in soil.
Fangs stretched when the coven pressed in, Lyra's cry tearing through the air -
Kael touched his forehead gently against her own.
"Listen to me," he growled. "You are not their weapon. You are mine."
Something broke when those words landed. Not loud. Just sharp, like glass underfoot.
The command faltered.
Down she fell into his arms, out cold.
His arms locked around her, a vow roaring through the wolf inside him into the night
If someone lays a hand on her one more time, fire finds them.
Faster than normal, storm clouds closed in beyond the windows.
Out of nowhere, the coven struck. Their plan unfolded fast.
Fighting started. The conflict became real.