C3 When Everything Fell on Me

I woke with one thought in my mind. Lyra. I hated that I liked thinking of her so much. Her hand in mine. The way her eyes had softened on the balcony. Her final words. Do not avoid me tomorrow.

I dressed quickly and left before anyone could find me, but the palace had other plans.

The royal dining hall was already full when I entered, and my footsteps slowed. Five places had been prepared for the Alpha King’s sons. I had never been expected to sit there before, yet my father had ordered it.

Damien sat at the head of the table in his black and silver uniform. Adrian read quietly beside him. Victor studied documents while eating, and Noah spoke low with one of the palace healers. Then there was the empty seat beside Damien. Mine.

Damien looked up, and his eyes hardened instantly. “You actually came.” I pulled out the chair. “Father ordered me to.”

“Of course.” His gaze dropped to my hands, then lifted to my face. “You clean up well.”

I ignored him and let my eyes drift across the hall, where Lyra entered beside Beta Ronan. My heart reacted before my mind could stop it. She wore a simple blue dress, her dark hair falling over one shoulder, and when her eyes found mine, she smiled, just slightly.

Damien saw it. His jaw tightened. “Stop looking at her.”

“I was not.”

“You were.”

“Then perhaps you should stop watching me.”

His eyes narrowed, and he leaned closer, close enough that I caught the faint scent of his cologne. “Do not test me, Kael. You do not belong anywhere near Lyra.”

Something inside me tightened. “She is not property.” His expression shifted, dangerous and sudden. “What did you say?”

Before I could answer, my father entered and the room rose as one. Breakfast passed in silence until he spoke my name and assigned me to accompany Beta Ronan to the southern district. Damien’s face darkened, but he said nothing more than “Of course,” in a tone that promised the argument was far from finished.

I found Lyra waiting in the eastern corridor afterward, and she smiled the moment she saw me. “You came.”

“I was supposed to,” I replied. Her smile faded as she glanced toward the dining hall. “Damien was angry.”

“He usually is.”

“You should not provoke him.”

“He started it.”

“I know.” She stepped closer, her voice quiet. “That is what worries me. Damien does not like losing.”

Her fingers brushed mine, brief and light, yet my wolf stirred instantly beneath my skin. She noticed, her eyes dropping to our hands before returning to my face.

“Again,” she whispered.

“Yes.”

Neither of us moved. Her fingers slowly curled around mine. “Does it hurt?”

“No.”

“Then what does it feel like?” she asked. I searched for the words. “Like something inside me knows you.”

Her expression softened. “Mine feels the same.”

She stepped closer still, until barely any space remained between us, and rested her forehead lightly against mine. My entire body went still.

“Kael, do not let them convince you that you are worthless,” she said, saying it evident that she definitely care about me.

I closed my eyes. “I will try.”

Footsteps echoed down the corridor and we separated quickly. Adrian appeared, his gaze moving between us, his expression unreadable. “Am I interrupting?”

Lyra’s face reddened. “No.”

He walked past, but paused to look back at her. “Be careful.”

“Of what?” I asked. His eyes moved briefly to me. “Of everyone.” Then he was gone, and his warning settled uneasily in my chest.

The southern district opened my eyes to Bloodmoon beyond the palace walls, ordinary pack members who neither bowed nor feared me. An elderly woman pressed bread into my hands and told me I looked too thin. It was the first gift given to me in months.

Then a royal messenger arrived, breathless. “The Alpha King requests your presence. The Crown Prince has accused you of interfering with royal affairs.”

My stomach dropped as I hurried back to the council chamber, where Damien waited with a document already slammed onto the table. "You were given authority over the southern district this morning. You used it to approve trade arrangements bearing your seal.”

“I did not sign those.”

Victor lifted the paper, and my seal stared back at me, perfectly copied. Luna Selena’s voice cut through the murmurs. “Perhaps this is what happens when we give someone responsibility beyond his abilities.”

Damien folded his arms. “I warned you about pretending to be something you are not.”

My anger finally broke free. “You think I did this?”

“I think you are enjoying the attention. Suddenly you are signing orders.”

“I did not sign anything! I do not want your throne. I just want one day where nobody blames me for something I did not do.”

Silence fell, and even Damien looked briefly caught off guard. My father’s voice ended it. “Enough. Until this matter is investigated, you are suspended from all royal assignments, and you will remain inside the palace until I determine who forged your seal.”

Everything I had been given collapsed within the hour, and every face in that room looked at me as though I had finally proven what they had always believed.

I sat alone on the stone steps of the old courtyard, the forged document trembling in my hands, when footsteps approached and stopped beside me.

“Go away,” I said without looking up. “I will not.” Lyra’s voice. She sat beside me, her shoulder brushing mine, and when I moved slightly away, she did not force herself closer. She only studied my face. “You look exhausted.”

“I am.”

“You do not have to pretend with me.”

She reached up and touched my cheek gently, her thumb brushing away a trace of dirt beneath my eye, and my breathing stopped entirely. “You do not deserve this.”

“When you touch me, I forget everything.”

“Then forget,” she whispered, moving closer until I could feel her breath against my skin, our faces inches apart. Neither of us crossed the final distance. “You are not alone, Kael.”

“Why do you care so much?”

“Because someone should.”

A voice cut through the courtyard. “Kael.” Damien stood at the entrance, his gaze moving from Lyra’s hand against my face back to my eyes, something uncertain flickering beneath his anger. “Father wants all five brothers in the council chamber.”

When Lyra rose to follow, Damien told her she was not coming. She lifted her chin and refused to back down, and for the first time, I understood something terrifying. The closer Lyra stood beside me, the more everything in my life seemed to collapse. Yet I knew, watching her hold her ground against my brother, that I could never ask her to leave.