C3 The Voice

"I am your wolf."

The words echoed inside Lyra's head.

For several seconds, she simply stared at the wall.

Unable to move.

Unable to breathe.

Unable to think.

Then reality caught up with her.

"No."

Her voice cracked.

"No, that's impossible."

The presence remained calm.

"I expected that reaction."

Lyra backed away from the dresser.

Her heart hammered against her ribs.

Every werewolf awakened their wolf by sixteen.

Some awakened earlier.

A few awakened later.

But twenty-two?

Never.

Not once in recorded history.

She shook her head.

"This isn't real."

"It is."

"Then I'm losing my mind."

The voice laughed softly.

"You're not."

The certainty in that answer somehow made everything worse.

Lyra squeezed her eyes shut.

Maybe she was dreaming.

Maybe the rejection had broken something inside her.

Maybe—

"Open your eyes, Lyra."

She froze.

The voice knew her name.

Not surprising.

Except it somehow felt significant.

Personal.

Intimate.

Slowly, she opened her eyes.

Nothing had changed.

The room remained empty.

Moonlight spilled through the window.

The door remained closed.

Yet the presence lingered.

Steady.

Real.

Waiting.

"What are you?"

"I already told you."

"No."

Lyra swallowed hard.

"I mean... what are you really?"

Silence greeted the question.

For the first time, the voice hesitated.

"That's a complicated answer."

That wasn't reassuring.

Lyra sat cautiously on the edge of her bed.

Her legs felt weak.

"If you're my wolf, why haven't I heard you before?"

Another pause.

Longer this time.

"Because I was asleep."

The answer immediately raised more questions.

"Asleep for twenty-two years?"

"Not exactly."

Lyra rubbed her temples.

This conversation was already exhausting.

She had spent her entire life believing she was wolf-less.

Now a mysterious voice expected her to accept this without explanation?

No chance.

"Start talking."

The voice sounded amused.

"Bossy."

"Answer the question."

"Fine."

A strange warmth brushed against her thoughts.

Almost like someone settling into a chair.

"I didn't choose to disappear."

Something about the statement caught Lyra's attention.

"What does that mean?"

The warmth faded slightly.

"It means I was trapped."

A chill ran down her spine.

"Trapped where?"

"Inside you."

That wasn't helpful.

Lyra sighed.

"This is ridiculous."

"It's true."

"Then explain it better."

For a moment, she thought the voice might refuse.

Instead, Nyx surprised her.

"Someone sealed me away."

The words landed heavily.

Lyra frowned.

"What?"

"Someone buried me so deeply that neither of us could find the other."

Her pulse quickened.

"Who?"

"I don't know."

The answer came too quickly.

Almost automatically.

Something felt off.

Lyra noticed immediately.

"You're lying."

Silence.

Then irritation.

"I am not."

"You hesitated."

"You noticed?"

"Yes."

Another pause.

This one practically confirmed her suspicion.

Nyx finally sighed.

"I know pieces of the truth."

"Then tell me."

"Not yet."

Frustration surged through Lyra.

"Why?"

"Because you aren't ready."

The answer sounded suspiciously familiar.

Like every elder who had ever hidden information from her.

She hated it.

"That isn't your decision."

"Actually, it is."

Before Lyra could argue, a sharp pain shot through her chest.

She winced.

The sensation disappeared almost instantly.

"What was that?"

Nyx went silent.

Completely silent.

A knot formed in Lyra's stomach.

"What was that?"

Still nothing.

The fear returned.

"Nyx."

Finally, the wolf responded.

"The rejection bond."

Her chest tightened.

The memory immediately resurfaced.

Kael.

The ceremony.

The humiliation.

The pain.

She looked away.

Even though nobody was there to see.

"I accepted it."

"Yes."

"So why does it still hurt?"

Nyx's voice softened.

"Because bonds don't disappear as easily as people think."

Lyra stared at the floor.

The answer felt dangerously close to hope.

She crushed it immediately.

"No."

"What?"

"He doesn't matter."

The lie sounded weak.

Even to her.

Nyx didn't challenge it.

Thankfully.

Because Lyra wasn't ready for that conversation.

Several miles away, another wolf wasn't sleeping either.

Alpha Kael Veyron stood alone on the balcony of the Shadowfang Packhouse.

The night air felt cold.

Good.

He welcomed the discomfort.

Anything that distracted him from his thoughts.

Unfortunately, nothing worked.

Not tonight.

Especially not tonight.

The image of Lyra standing beneath the moon refused to leave his mind.

The silver symbols.

The strange power.

The old seer's reaction.

The Heir.

Kael clenched his jaw.

None of it made sense.

Footsteps approached behind him.

He didn't need to turn around.

"You're brooding again."

Lorenzo.

His Beta.

His best friend.

The only person willing to annoy him this late at night.

Kael stared at the forest.

"I wasn't aware thinking counted as brooding."

"It does when you look like you're planning a murder."

Fair.

Ren stepped beside him.

For a few moments neither spoke.

Then the Beta got straight to the point.

"You want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Too bad."

Kael rolled his eyes.

Ren ignored him.

"What happened back there?"

The question lingered between them.

Kael already knew which part his friend meant.

Not the symbols.

Not the glowing stones.

The rejection.

"I did what was necessary."

Ren's expression remained neutral.

"Did you?"

Kael's wolf growled.

The reaction surprised him.

Fenrir had been restless ever since the ceremony ended.

Agitated.

Hostile.

Unstable.

The wolf clearly disliked this conversation.

Unfortunately, so did Kael.

"She isn't fit to be Luna."

Ren sighed.

"There it is."

"There what is?"

"The excuse."

Kael's eyes narrowed.

"I don't need an excuse."

"No?"

Ren crossed his arms.

"Then why do you keep repeating it?"

The question hit harder than expected.

Kael looked away.

Annoyed.

Mostly because he didn't have a good answer.

His Beta studied him carefully.

"You felt it too, didn't you?"

The growl in Kael's chest deepened.

"Drop it."

"I'm serious."

"Ren."

"The bond hurt."

Silence.

Kael's jaw tightened.

The bond had hurt.

Far more than he expected.

For a brief moment after Lyra accepted the rejection, he genuinely thought something inside him had broken.

The feeling lasted only seconds.

Yet it remained difficult to forget.

His Beta noticed everything.

As usual.

"You felt it."

Kael didn't answer.

Ren took that as confirmation.

"Interesting."

Kael glared.

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Analyze me."

Ren grinned.

"No promises."

The next morning, Lyra made a decision.

She was leaving.

Not forever.

Maybe not even for long.

But she couldn't stay here.

Every corner of the pack reminded her of what happened.

Every conversation.

Every stare.

Every whisper.

She couldn't breathe.

The decision felt right.

Necessary.

She packed quickly.

A few clothes.

A small amount of money.

Her mother's necklace.

Nothing else mattered.

The entire process took less than an hour.

Nobody noticed.

Nobody stopped her.

By sunset, she was standing at the edge of the territory.

The forest stretched endlessly before her.

Dark.

Quiet.

Unknown.

Fear twisted inside her stomach.

Good.

At least it was different from humiliation.

"Leaving?"

Nyx sounded curious.

"Yes."

"Where?"

Lyra laughed bitterly.

"No idea."

"That's not a plan."

"I know."

"Then why go?"

The answer came easily.

"Because staying hurts."

The wolf didn't argue.

For once.

A cool breeze moved through the trees.

The pack borders stood behind her.

Everything familiar.

Everything painful.

Lyra took a deep breath.

Then stepped across.

One step.

Then another.

Then another.

The further she walked, the lighter she felt.

Not happy.

Not healed.

Just free.

For the first time in years.

Darkness gradually settled across the forest.

Hours passed.

The trees grew denser.

The shadows deeper.

Eventually, Lyra slowed.

Something felt wrong.

The sensation started as a faint itch between her shoulder blades.

A warning.

An instinct.

She stopped walking.

The forest immediately became silent.

Too silent.

Even the insects had gone quiet.

Fear crawled up her spine.

"Nyx?"

The wolf's response came instantly.

"Run."

The urgency in that single word sent ice through Lyra's veins.

"What?"

"RUN!"

A branch snapped behind her.

Lyra spun around.

Nothing.

Just darkness.

Just trees.

Just—

Movement.

A shadow darted between the trunks.

Then another.

Then another.

Her pulse exploded.

She wasn't alone.

Someone was out there.

Watching.

Following.

Hunting.

The realization hit seconds before a deep male voice emerged from the darkness.

"There she is."

More shadows appeared.

One.

Three.

Five.

Eight.

Wolves stepped into the moonlight.

Strangers.

Rogues.

Every single one of them smiling.

Lyra's blood ran cold.

The largest stepped forward.

A scar cut across his face.

Predatory amusement gleamed in his eyes.

"There was a bounty on you."

The world seemed to stop.

A bounty?

"What?"

Fantastic.

First rejection.

Now a bounty.

Her week was going wonderfully.

The rogue grinned wider.

"Looks like somebody wants you dead."

And then he lunged.