CHAPTER FOUR: THE MEMORY THAT SHOULD NOT EXIST
The dungeon walls didn't breathe.
But somehow—
They felt alive.
Water dripped slowly from the ceiling, each drop echoing through the cold chamber like a ticking clock. The silver chains glinted faintly in the dim light, wrapped tightly around Lyra's wrists and ankles.
She hadn't moved for minutes.
Too still.
Too quiet.
Kael stood a few feet away, arms crossed, his gaze fixed on her.
Waiting.
Watching.
"You're staring."
Her voice broke the silence.
Soft.
Awake.
Kael didn't react immediately.
"You're conscious," he said instead.
Lyra shifted slightly, wincing as the silver burned against her skin.
"Unfortunately."
Her eyes lifted to meet his.
Brown.
Human.
But there was something behind them now.
Something deeper.
"You said I die," Kael said bluntly. "More than once."
Lyra frowned faintly, as if trying to recall something just out of reach.
"I didn't say it," she murmured. "Not… really."
Kael stepped closer.
"Then who did?"
A pause.
Lyra's expression changed.
Darkened.
"She did."
The air in the room dropped several degrees.
Kael's jaw tightened. "The thing inside you."
Lyra didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she looked down at her hands—at the faint burns forming where the silver touched her skin.
"They feel like memories," she said quietly. "Not voices. Not dreams."
Her fingers curled slightly.
"Like I've lived something I shouldn't remember."
Kael's chest tightened.
Because he understood that feeling more than he wanted to admit.
"Tell me," he said.
Lyra hesitated.
Then—
Her gaze snapped back to his.
"You killed me."
The words landed between them like a blade.
Kael didn't flinch.
But something inside him did.
"That's impossible," he said coldly.
Lyra shook her head slowly.
"No… it's not."
And then—
Her eyes changed again.
Not silver.
Not fully.
But flickering.
And Kael felt it.
That pull.
That shift.
"Don't—" he started.
Too late.
The world tilted.
The dungeon disappeared.
And suddenly—
He wasn't there anymore.
He was somewhere else.
The forest.
But not the same.
Darker.
Older.
The air thicker with something ancient.
Blood coated his hands.
Warm.
Fresh.
Kael looked down.
And saw her.
Lyra.
But not as she was now.
Her hair longer.
Her skin pale.
Her eyes—
Silver.
Fully silver.
She was dying.
"No…" Kael whispered.
But his body—
It wasn't his.
He felt it move.
Felt his hands press harder against her wound.
Felt the desperation clawing through his chest.
"Stay with me," he heard himself say.
Lyra smiled weakly.
The same smile.
The same one she gave him in the dungeon.
"You always wait until the end… to care," she whispered.
Kael's heart pounded violently.
This wasn't real.
It couldn't be real.
"I can fix this," he said—no, the other him said. "I'll fix this."
Lyra shook her head faintly.
"You can't stop what I am."
Her hand lifted weakly—
Touching his face.
"You promised…" she whispered.
Kael froze.
"Promise me you'll do it again."
The words echoed unnaturally.
"No," he said instantly.
But his body—
Didn't listen.
His hand moved.
Slowly.
Reluctantly.
A blade appeared.
Silver.
Kael's breath shattered.
"No—!"
But he couldn't stop it.
Couldn't fight it.
Couldn't change what had already happened.
"I'm sorry," he heard himself say.
And then—
He drove the blade into her heart.
Lyra gasped.
Her body arched—
Then stilled.
Her silver eyes dimmed.
And just before the light left them—
She smiled.
"Good boy."
Darkness swallowed everything.
Kael stumbled back into the present, gasping for air.
The dungeon rushed back around him.
Cold.
Real.
"No…" he breathed, his hand shaking slightly.
Lyra was watching him.
Closely.
"You saw it," she said softly.
It wasn't a question.
Kael dragged a hand through his hair, pacing once before stopping abruptly.
"That wasn't real."
But even as he said it—
He knew.
It was.
"Now you understand," Lyra whispered.
"No," Kael snapped, turning on her. "I don't understand anything. I don't understand you."
"Neither do I."
That stopped him.
For the first time—
She sounded honest.
"I don't want this," she said, her voice trembling slightly. "I don't want to hurt anyone. I don't want to be… whatever that was."
Kael studied her.
Searching.
For lies.
For manipulation.
For anything that proved she was a threat.
But all he saw—
Was fear.
Real fear.
Before he could respond—
A sharp knock echoed from above.
"Alpha."
Darius.
Kael's expression hardened instantly.
"Stay here," he said.
Lyra let out a weak, humorless laugh.
"I don't think I have a choice."
Kael turned and left, locking the heavy door behind him.
The moment he stepped into the corridor—
Darius was there.
Waiting.
"You felt it, didn't you?" Darius asked quietly.
Kael didn't answer.
Darius stepped closer.
"That surge earlier… it wasn't just power. It was a signal."
Kael's eyes narrowed. "To who?"
Darius hesitated.
Just for a fraction of a second.
But Kael caught it.
"To something that's been waiting," Darius said finally.
Something about the way he said it—
Didn't sit right.
"You know more than you're saying," Kael said sharply.
Darius held his gaze.
"I know enough to understand we're running out of time."
A tense silence followed.
Then—
A distant howl echoed through the forest.
Not one of theirs.
Kael's head snapped up.
Darius's expression darkened.
"They've found her."
Kael's chest tightened.
"Who?"
Darius didn't answer immediately.
And that was the moment Kael knew—
Something was wrong.
Not just with Lyra.
But with his own pack.
"They're already inside our territory," Darius said quietly.
Kael's eyes hardened.
Because that was impossible.
Unless—
Someone let them in.