"Don't let it take her."
Cassian's voice was sharp.
Urgent.
And for the first time since Lyra met him afraid.
Kael tightened his hold around her as her body trembled violently in his arms.
"Take her?" he snapped. "What the hell is happening to her?"
Lyra couldn't breathe.
It felt like her veins were on fire.
Like something ancient was clawing its way through her bones, demanding to be seen.
"I," she gasped, her fingers digging into Kael's shirt. "It hurts."
Another surge hit.
Stronger.
Her scream tore through the forest.
The ground beneath them cracked again.
A violent pulse of energy exploded outward.
And this time, it didn't just push.
It burned.
Wolves howled in pain as they were thrown back.
Trees splintered.
The air itself seemed to ripple.
Kael cursed, shielding her with his body.
"Lyra, look at me," he ordered.
She tried.
God, she tried.
But her vision blurred.
Everything flickered between darkness and light.
"I can't," she choked.
Cassian moved closer, his expression dark and calculating again.
"You're fighting it," he said.
Lyra shook her head weakly.
"I don't even know what it is!"
"Your blood," he replied. "Your real blood."
Kael's gaze snapped to him.
"Explain. Now."
Cassian exhaled slowly, as if deciding how much to reveal.
"She's not just from the Ashen Court," he said. "She is the Ashen Court."
The words hung heavy.
Confusing.
Impossible.
Kael's jaw tightened. "That doesn't mean anything."
"It means," Cassian continued, his voice lowering, "her bloodline was never meant to survive."
Lyra's heart stuttered.
Never meant to survive?
"What are you saying…?" she whispered.
Cassian's eyes softened for a fraction of a second.
"Your kind," he said quietly, "were hunted. Destroyed. Erased from history."
Kael's grip on her tightened protectively.
"By who?"
Cassian didn't hesitate.
"By the Alphas."
Silence crashed down.
Lyra's breath caught.
Kael went completely still.
"That's not possible," Kael said coldly. "No Alpha would."
"Would what?" Cassian cut in. "Fear something stronger than them?"
Kael's eyes darkened.
"You're lying."
"Am I?" Cassian tilted his head slightly. "Then why is she reacting like this?"
Lyra barely heard them.
Her body arched again as another wave of power surged through her.
This one different.
Deeper.
Colder.
Her nails dug into the ground as a strangled cry left her throat.
Something inside her snapped.
Not painfully.
But completely.
And suddenly.
Everything went quiet.
Too quiet.
The pain vanished.
Her breathing slowed.
Her body stilled.
"Lyra?" Kael's voice was cautious now.
She didn't answer.
Her eyes were still closed.
But something had changed.
Cassian felt it first.
His entire posture shifted.
Alert.
Tense.
"Step back," he said sharply.
Kael didn't move.
"I'm not leaving her."
"You don't understand."
"I don't care."
Lyra's eyes opened.
And the world changed.
They weren't the same.
No longer soft.
No longer uncertain.
They glowed.
Silver.
Cold.
Ancient.
Kael's breath caught.
"What… are you?"
Lyra didn't respond.
Not immediately.
She rose slowly from his arms.
Effortlessly.
Like she hadn't just been collapsing seconds ago.
Like the pain had never existed.
Cassian took a step back.
Just one.
But it said everything.
"Lyra," he said carefully.
Her head turned toward him.
The movement was slow.
Deliberate.
Predatory.
"Don't," she said.
Her voice.
It wasn't hers.
It echoed.
Layered.
Like something else was speaking through her.
Something older.
Something powerful.
Kael felt it then.
The shift.
The dominance.
It pressed against him like a challenge.
Like a command.
His wolf growled low in his chest.
Not in anger.
In warning.
Lyra's gaze slid back to him.
And for a moment.
Something flickered.
Recognition.
Pain.
Then it was gone.
"You rejected me," she said softly.
Kael's chest tightened.
"I."
"You broke what was mine," she continued.
The air around her darkened.
Her power surged again.
But this time, it didn't explode.
It coiled.
Controlled.
Terrifying.
Cassian watched closely.
Too closely.
"Lyra," he said, his tone careful. "You need to stay in control."
Her lips curved slightly.
Not a smile.
Something colder.
"Control?" she repeated.
The ground trembled beneath her feet.
"I am control."
Kael stepped forward.
Carefully.
Like approaching something dangerous.
"Lyra," he said, softer now. "Listen to me."
Her gaze snapped to him.
Sharp.
Deadly.
"Why?" she asked.
The question hit harder than any attack.
Kael froze.
Because he didn't have an answer.
Not one that would fix this.
Not one that would undo what he had done.
Lyra tilted her head slightly.
Studying him.
Like he was something distant.
Something insignificant.
"You don't get to command me anymore," she said.
Her voice dropped.
Colder.
"You lost that right."
Kael's jaw tightened.
"I'm not trying to command you."
"Then what are you doing?"
"I'm trying to protect you."
The words hung between them.
Fragile.
Broken.
Lyra laughed.
Soft.
Empty.
"Protect me?" she echoed. "From what?"
Her power surged again.
This time.
It pressed directly against him.
Kael didn't move.
Didn't back down.
Even as it pushed against his chest.
Tested him.
"You," she said quietly.
Silence.
Cassian's gaze flickered between them.
Calculating.
Watching.
Waiting.
Kael exhaled slowly.
"I would never hurt you."
Lyra's eyes darkened.
"You already did."
The truth landed like a blade.
And this time.
Kael didn't deny it.
Didn't argue.
Didn't speak.
Because there was nothing left to say.
The silence stretched.
Heavy.
Until.
A slow clap echoed through the forest.
All three of them froze.
Lyra turned first.
Her silver eyes narrowing.
From the shadows.
Figures emerged.
Not wolves.
Not pack warriors.
Something else.
Dressed in dark armor.
Marked with a symbol Lyra had never seen before.
But something in her blood.
Recognized it.
Cassian's expression shifted instantly.
From calm…
To dangerous.
"Well," a voice drawled as a man stepped forward, his smile sharp and cruel. "This is more interesting than I expected."
Kael's stance changed.
Defensive.
Deadly.
"Who are you?"
The man ignored him.
His gaze locked onto Lyra.
Hungry.
Obsessed.
"After all these years," he said softly, "we finally found you."
Lyra's chest tightened.
A strange, instinctive fear crept up her spine.
"Found me…?" she repeated.
The man smiled wider.
"Yes," he said.
"Princess of the Ashen Bloodline."
The world tilted.
Princess?
No.
That wasn't possible.
It couldn't be.
Cassian stepped forward, placing himself slightly in front of her.
Protective.
Again.
"You shouldn't be here," Cassian said coldly.
The man chuckled.
"And yet… we are."
More figures stepped out behind him.
Dozens.
Armed.
Prepared.
Dangerous.
Kael's wolves growled, shifting into formation.
A new war.
A new threat.
Lyra's pulse spiked.
"What do you want?" she demanded.
The man's gaze never left her.
"You," he said simply.
Cassian's eyes darkened.
"Not happening."
The man laughed.
"You don't get a choice."
Lyra felt it then.
The shift in the air.
The danger.
Real.
Immediate.
Different from before.
Because this time.
It wasn't just about her past.
Or her power.
It was about something bigger.
Something she didn't understand yet.
"You've been hidden long enough," the man continued.
His smile turned cruel.
"It's time you came home."
Lyra's breath caught.
"I don't have a home."
The man's eyes gleamed.
"You do."
He raised his hand slowly.
And everything happened at once.
The warriors behind him moved.
Fast.
Deadly.
Cassian cursed.
Kael stepped forward.
The wolves attacked.
And Lyra.
Lyra stood in the center of it all.
Her power rising.
Her blood awakening.
Her past crashing into her present.
And just before the battle consumed everything.
The man said something that made her heart stop.
"Your child belongs to us."
Silence shattered.
Lyra's eyes widened.
"No."
His smile deepened.
"Oh yes," he said.
"Because that child… isn't just yours."
The ground trembled.
Her power surged violently.
"What do you mean?" she demanded.
The man's voice dropped to a whisper.
Deadly.
Certain.
"That child," he said, "was never meant to be born."
Lyra's breath stopped.
And in that moment.
She realized something far more terrifying than death.
She wasn't the only one they had been waiting for.