They came at dusk.Three wolves she recognized—rogues they’d trusted. Breaker. Lune. Even Callen, who’d shared fireside whiskey with Ronan, his laughter cracking through the woods just nights ago.The betrayal split something raw and bloody down her spine.Lyra didn’t scream. Didn’t ask why.She just moved.She threw up a shield of Hollowborn magic around the old temple ruins, sigils flaring in the earth as Ronan stood, blades drawn. The air between them thrummed—full of unspoken things. Regret. Fury. Need.“Lyra,” he said, voice taut, “if they’re Council-fed, they won’t stop.”“I don’t care.”“I do.”She turned to him—and gods, that face. Those eyes. She could taste the moment in her mouth like ash.He already knew what she hadn’t yet said.That she wasn’t going to run.And he wasn’t going to stay.“I’m not leaving you.” Her voice cracked.“You have to,” he said. “They’re not after me.”They were. Of course they were. But she was the prize. The weapon. The heir to something ancient a
The sky was bleeding.A deep violet twilight stretched over the forest as Lyra stood at the border of the Council’s stronghold. The compound loomed in the clearing ahead, ringed by silver-lined fences, rune barriers, and patrol wolves.She didn’t feel fear.She felt purpose.She felt rage.And beneath that—burning in her blood—she felt him.The bond didn’t lie. It had thinned to a thread, tight and trembling. Ronan was alive, but hurt. Near the edge. She felt the weakness in him like a toothache in her soul.They’d taken him.They’d used her to do it.Now they were going to learn what a Hollowborn Heir could do.⸻Lyra stepped forward.The first ward rippled in warning.Silver lines crackled across the perimeter, reacting to her blood—Hollowborn magic recognized and rejected. The spell flared, then hissed out as her power devoured it whole.She lifted her hands.The magic obeyed.Veins glowed violet as the air around her grew heavy, warped. A dozen wolves stationed along the fence tur
LYRAThe fire crackled low in the hearth, licking at half-burned logs like it was afraid to burn too brightly. The rest of the cabin was dark, quiet except for the occasional groan of old wood and the steady rhythm of Ronan’s breath.She watched him from across the room, kneeling beside the cot where he lay shirtless, bandaged, and too still.Each second stretched into an ache.The worst of his wounds were sealed, the silver burned from his bloodstream, but the bruises remained. The kind that wouldn’t fade with time or magic.Her fingers trembled as she dipped the cloth into warm water, wrung it out, and pressed it gently to his ribs.“You shouldn’t be alive,” she whispered, voice low.He didn’t open his eyes, but his lips twitched. “You’re the one who set the world on fire. I just hung on.”She didn’t laugh. Couldn’t.The vision of him in that Council cell, arms shackled above him, his skin torn open, barely breathing—that would haunt her forever.“I tore through their wards like pap
LYRAShe knew something was wrong the second she opened her eyes.No birdsong. No wind. Just a silence that pressed against her skin like cold steel.She was out of bed in seconds.Ronan still slept, sprawled half-naked beneath the tattered quilt, one arm flung toward where she’d been. The sight of him—worn, peaceful, hers—was almost enough to pull her back under the covers.But her instincts screamed louder.She moved toward the window with predator-silent steps. Pushed the curtain aside just enough to see the woods.Nothing.Then—Thunk.The arrow hit the roof. No hiss of warning. No magic hum.But Lyra knew Reaver steel when she tasted it in the air. Cold, anti-magic, laced with nulling ash. Not meant to kill.Meant to warn.Her body snapped into motion. “Ronan.”No answer.She grabbed the edge of the cot and shoved it aside, exposing the trapdoor beneath. “Ronan, get up. We’ve got company.”His groan was groggy, annoyed. “Didn’t we just survive near-death and emotionally traumatiz
LYRAShe didn’t speak to him for hours.Not because she was angry.Because if she opened her mouth, she wasn’t sure what would come out—rage, sorrow, desperation. Maybe all of it.They moved through the old tunnels in silence, the flicker of rune-lamps throwing jagged shadows across Ronan’s face. He hadn’t looked at her since the bluff, since “Then we sever it.”As if he could sever something carved into the marrow of her bones.She could still feel him under her skin—tight and agitated. The bond didn’t lie. It pulsed with his guilt, his fear, and something more dangerous than either.His love.It would have been easier if he didn’t love her.She would’ve let him go if that bond didn’t burn just like hers.They stopped at the second safehouse before dawn. An old den carved into the side of a moss-covered cliff, hidden behind a waterfall. She slipped inside first, soaked to the skin, heart racing with more than cold.He followed, silent, slow.She didn’t look at him as she lit the fire
LYRAShe didn’t hear the traitor approach.Not at first.The rain drummed too loudly on the roof of the safehouse, and Ronan’s weight was still a warmth across her side, his hand loose against her hip where they’d fallen asleep tangled in the aftermath of truths too heavy to carry alone.But something shifted in the air.She felt it. Cold. Off.Her eyes opened to dark shapes at the edge of the door. Three. Maybe four. Movement—fast, silent.Her fingers tightened on Ronan’s forearm. Wake up.He stirred instantly, instincts sharper than her voice could ever be.In a heartbeat, they were both crouched low, naked bodies wrapped in shadows and tension.Then—Bang.The door exploded inward, blown off its hinges by raw force.Lyra rolled, grabbing the dagger from her boots. Ronan snarled low, already moving, already shifting. His claws caught the nearest intruder in the gut, throwing him across the room in a bloody arc.But the others poured in behind him.Masks.Silver-edged weapons.And th
LYRAThe forest was a blur of shadows and breathless silence.Each step was a heartbeat. Each heartbeat, a countdown.They were being hunted.Not by mere scouts now—but by a war party.The Hollow Fangs had regrouped.And they were coming.Lyra crashed through the undergrowth, lungs burning, claws half-formed and teeth aching from the strain of the shift she was holding back.Her wolf was clawing at her chest, demanding to take over. To protect. To fight.But they couldn’t stop. Not now.Not when they’d seen what she could do.The magic still flickered beneath her skin like hot coals. Runes pulsed faintly on her arms, ghosting in and out of sight, as if her blood couldn’t decide whether it belonged to ancient gods or mortal wolves.Ronan was just ahead of her—barely. His strides longer, body powerful and fast even wounded. But she could feel it.Through the bond.He was hurting.And he was trying to hide it from her.Idiot.Mine.She poured more speed into her steps, ignoring the burni
LYRAThe ruins breathed.Not with wind.Not with life.But with something ancient and deep, like the inhale of a god long buried beneath rock and regret.Lyra sat beside Ronan, his head resting against her thigh as she cleaned the silver wound with trembling hands and mountain spring water.It hissed against his skin.He didn’t even flinch.Too proud. Too stubborn. Too hers.She watched him carefully—how the bond pulsed between them like a second heartbeat, low and rhythmic, echoing beneath the stone. It had been more volatile lately, more alive.As if the ruins themselves were listening.She looked around the hollow chamber they’d chosen for shelter. The arches above them were cracked and covered in old runes, their meanings lost, their power lingering.“I’ve been here before,” she said quietly.Ronan stirred. “When?”“I don’t know. I was young. Or… maybe not even born yet.”He frowned up at her. “Lyra—”“Don’t look at me like I’m crazy,” she muttered.“I’m not. I’m worried.”She did
LYRAThe battlefield stretched like a wound beneath the sky.The Tribunal’s mountain stronghold loomed ahead—cold and jagged, cloaked in blood-soaked mist. This place wasn’t just defended by magic. It was magic—older than most could remember, carved from bone and shadow.Lyra stood at the edge of the cliff overlooking the approach, wind tangling her hair, steel glinting on her back. Her wolves waited in tense, deadly silence. Some shifted, some clothed, all ready to kill.Ronin stood to her left, the bond humming like a live wire between them.She lifted her sword and pointed forward.“Burn it.”⸻RONANThe charge was chaos.Wolves poured down the slope like a living storm, claws digging deep into frostbitten earth. Arrows flew from both sides. Spells split the sky. The Tribunal had called in every dark favor they had left—wraiths, corrupted shifters, old blood magic that made Ronan’s skin crawl.He didn’t look for Lyra—he felt her. Every strike she landed, every burst of pain when so
LYRAThe camp buzzed like a living thing.Steel sharpened, armor fitted, old grudges aired in low voices under flickering torchlight. Everyone preparing, expecting, waiting.Tomorrow, they’d march. Bleed. Burn.Tonight—was hers.The tent was silent when she stepped inside, but Ronan was already there, leaning over the map table, shirt discarded, muscles tense beneath old scars and fresh strain. The flickering lantern cast him in shadow and gold, and for a moment, she just watched.“You’re brooding,” she said softly.He didn’t look up. “I’m planning.”“You’re worrying.” She moved closer. “And I know the difference.”He turned then—slowly. Eyes burning.“So are you.”⸻RONANShe was radiant in warlight. Wild. Exhausted. Alive.He didn’t reach for her immediately.But the air between them shimmered with need—not just lust, but that gnawing ache only soul-deep things could stir. The kind that whispered: This could be the last.“I don’t want to sleep tonight,” she said, voice lower now, th
LYRAThe scent of iron hit her first.Not the distant tang of training blades or battlefield scars.Fresh blood.Wrong blood.And then—Veira’s voice, sharp and panicked, split the quiet dawn.“LYRA, DOWN!”She dropped instinctively, and the arrow sliced past her cheek, embedding in the post behind her with a thunk that sounded far too final.Poisoned.The black fletching and acrid stench said it all.Someone had just tried to kill her in her own damn war camp.And they almost succeeded.⸻RONANHe was already running.The bond flared hot and wild, not in pain—but in fear.He pushed past startled guards, scenting the air for that slick rot of Tribunal poison, his wolf barely caged beneath his skin.He found her crouched behind the pillar of the war tent, blood on her cheek, sword drawn.Alive.But barely.Her eyes met his, wide and burning.“He was inside the perimeter.”Ronan’s breath caught.Not an outsider.An insider.⸻LYRAShe gave chase before Ronan could stop her.The scent tra
LYRAThey arrived without warning.No drums.No banners.No declaration of war.Just a single, polished black carriage pulled by twin white stags, gliding through the mist like a vision from a cursed fairytale.No guards.No riders.Only a scroll tied in crimson ribbon, placed carefully on the carriage seat, as though it had been meant for her hands all along.The wolves flanked it at a distance, hackles raised.Fane growled low. “It’s a trap.”Veira’s blade gleamed in the morning light. “Or a distraction.”Lyra just stared at it.Because she already knew: it was both.⸻RONANHe watched her approach the carriage, every step measured, every breath silent.The camp held its breath with her.He didn’t stop her—couldn’t.Because this wasn’t just a message from the Tribunal.This was the game they were playing now.Psychological. Elegant. Bloody beneath the silk.He shifted slightly behind her, scenting for poison, for magic, for wrongness.The air was clean.Too clean.That’s when he saw
LYRAThe camp felt quieter after Caelin’s exile.But not safer.Trust had cracked, not shattered—but it left a spiderweb fracture across everything.Miren walked with a limp now. Fane slept with his blade under his pillow. Even Veira, who barely trusted shadows, had taken to standing outside Lyra’s tent at night like a statue carved from suspicion.And Lyra?She tried to rebuild what had been broken.But she couldn’t rebuild blind.That’s why she slipped into Caelin’s tent alone.And found the letters.⸻RONANHe smelled her fury before she stepped out of the canvas.It wasn’t the usual flare of flame that curled in her skin when she was angry. It was cold.Controlled.The kind of rage that could plan assassinations with the same grace she once used to braid her hair.“What did you find?” he asked, falling into step beside her.She didn’t answer. Just handed him one of the notes.Old parchment. Tribunal wax seal.But not addressed to Caelin.Addressed to her.Orders.Threats.A price
LYRAShe didn’t sleep the next night.Not really.Even with Ronan beside her, arms locked tight around her waist like a promise, her body buzzed with the memory of the fire.The thing she’d become in the forest.The lives she’d ended.The power that had felt less like a weapon and more like a second soul.And beneath it all…The truth clawed against her ribs.Someone inside the camp had sent those rogues.They’d gotten past every ward, every sentry.They hadn’t just known where Miren would sleep.They knew when to strike.⸻RONANHe smelled it before she spoke.The shift in her breath.The way she moved her fingers—slow, sharp, precise—as she poured over maps and camp rosters.She was hunting something.“Talk to me,” he said.She didn’t look up. “We have a traitor.”He nodded once.“I’ll find them.”“No,” she said sharply. “We will.”Her eyes locked onto his, molten and unreadable.“Because whoever they are, they didn’t just try to kill Miren.”Her voice dropped.“They tried to destro
LYRAThey came for Miren before moonset.Knives, not votes. Shadow, not judgment.And they came through her tent.Lyra woke to the scent of blood—rich, coppery, fresh.Too fresh.The scream that tore through the camp wasn’t hers. It was Caelin’s, raw with terror and rage.Lyra surged to her feet, flame already sparking in her palms.Ronan’s side of the bed was empty.The tent flap blew open.Smoke.Blood.And no sign of Miren.⸻RONANHe caught the scent first.Iron.Death.Ambush.He didn’t shift fully—there was no time. He moved with half-formed claws, half-wolf fury, barreling through the woods after the trail of scent and panic.Miren’s blood was light, but steady. Controlled.She was still alive.For now.The scent of her captors?Rotten. Fermented. Not Tribunal wolves.Mercenaries. Rogues.Sent by someone too afraid to challenge Lyra face-to-face.Cowards.But well-trained ones.⸻LYRAShe didn’t wait.She didn’t consult.She ran.Ronan was ahead of her, vanishing between trees
LYRAShe felt it before they arrived.A sickening chill that rolled down her spine like oil.She had been summoned.Not invited.Not honored.Summoned.To answer for her existence.The Tribunal meeting was set deep beneath the ruins of the Old Moon Keep, a place that once held sacred rites and blood-oaths.Now it reeked of power dressed in lies.Ronan gripped her wrist tightly as they approached the carved stone gates.“You don’t have to go in there,” he said low.“I do,” she whispered. “I want to see their faces when they try to kill me.”⸻RONANHe hated this.The way they looked at her like prey.The smug arrogance of the wolves in crimson cloaks, lounging at the obsidian council table like they already tasted blood on their tongues.But the worst part?The silence.The sick, complicit silence.She stood before them, wrapped in war-black and moonsteel.And still, no one spoke in her defense.Until one did.“She’s a threat,” said Councilor Verin of the Hollow Fang. “But so was the l
LYRAThey struck at dawn.No fanfare. No warning. Just steel in the silence and fire behind her ribs.The High Councilor of the South Quarter—Lady Veira—had been the loudest voice calling for Lyra’s execution. Now, her manor lay in ruin, its gates cracked open like a broken jaw, smoke curling into the sky.Lyra walked through the ashes of Veira’s legacy with her head held high.No one challenged her.No one dared.The wolves who stood between her and the Councilor’s chambers dropped to their knees as she passed. Not out of loyalty. Out of fear.Good.Let them tremble.⸻RONANThe door to the inner sanctum exploded inward under his boot.Veira stood inside, poised in silver armor, her red braid looped in coils like a crown. Old bloodlines. Old magic. A legacy of treachery.“You bring fire to my house?” she hissed.“No,” Ronan growled. “She does.”Lyra stepped into the room.And the very walls groaned.Veira recoiled, not from her power—but from recognition.“You shouldn’t exist.”Lyra