Lyra's POVThis was already a huge problem from the start. I knew I had to act quickly if I was to salvage the situation.“I am speaking to you!” Lucas repeated.“Stick to the plan!” Selene urged. “You’ve come too far to stop or falter now,” she continued.“Tell me about it,” I responded. “I mean, I already slapped Xavier senseless. This show must go on!”“That’s the spirit!”“And so what?” I barked, raising my voice at him and drawing the attention of the already dispersing crowd.Lucas’s face flushed with embarrassment as he turned to one of his men. The man got the message and started moving towards the remaining crowd, sending them scampering away with hurried steps.“Look,” Lucas said, sighing, an obvious sign of his acceptance of defeat. “We don’t have to go over this like a couple of spoiled children…”“You’re the spoiled one, poking your hairy snout into the business of others.”“Ha ha,” he laughed sarcastically. “Really funny. Have you ever imagined what you could do with thi
Lyra's POV“Do you?” “No, for the love of God, no!” I yelled.She was right. I had fear growing within me already.The fear of positivity.This was one of those things beyond my control.“Who are you talking to?” Nikolai asked, trying his best to keep his eyes on the road.“No one,” I said, trying to hide the fact that I had a wolf with me.I still didn’t trust him, and if there was one thing my days as a wolf had taught me, it was to follow my gut.“Something is wrong!” Selene said.“I’m not ready for your games. Have you had your fill yet?” I asked.But she wasn’t lying when she said there was something going wrong. Wolves are incapable of lying; they are spirit guides, after all.Part of me wanted to believe she was lying, but I couldn’t.If something was actually wrong, as she had said, I didn’t want to know what it was, especially not with our destination right in front of us.“Games? Games? I’m not kidding. There’s something wrong going on here, and you should be careful.”“Tak
Lyra's POVI was eager to know everything Nikolai knew about these people. What better time than now?“See, these rogues are bad news. You don’t need to know more than that. Now let’s find a way to escape and make it to your mother’s place.”“And by the goddess, safely and without being caught!” he added.“I would rather die than lead these bastards to my mother!” I said, fuming. It was outrageous for him to suggest that.“So you’d better start talking, and hopefully by sheer luck, we’ll find a way to escape or even take these rogues down,” I said.“You’re not listening to me!” he said, agitated at how adamant I was.“Might I remind you that you’re the one who’s been making bad decisions all this while? How many times have you been a good listener?” I said, still not budging from my position.“No way? Very well then, suit yourself!” he said as he walked away with quick steps.“Just when you think you’ve found the wise one, you get surprised beyond your imagination and are stuck at the
Xavier's POV I had never been to the same ever since that incident. I couldn’t help but recollect the moments we had together. “This is not worth it!” Ozed said to me. He was the only one close enough to notice that I was not alright. “You do know this is not just about her getting back with Luca.” “And you decide that she is getting back to him because?” Pain seared through my arms as I marked myself to shut Ozed out of my head. “Are we back to this?” he asked, “self-harm and pain infliction?” “Why won’t you shut up?!” I grunted as I continued to cut my face and legs. “All this because you walked in on two adults in a compromising position?” “And you didn’t give her a chance to explain herself. Jealousy will be your undoing one day.” “It had better be now,” I responded. I knew she was going to find me, try to make things right. But I didn’t want that. I just wanted to stay the way I was for as long as I could. “Stop this. You’re being unreasonable!” Ozed ba
Xavier's POVI was left wondering about the surprise.What was she thinking? Who else could cause such damage?I was the alpha. Who else could leave me so battered and broken in a single moment?And to think this was done without lifting a finger still amused me.“You have no idea the power you hold over me,” I mused.For a brief moment, I felt my body temperature rise uncontrollably.If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was standing over a blazing furnace and would accept it without question.But she never took it seriously. She held my heart in her hands and never even glanced at it. Not once in her life.“If only you knew how much I love you!”“But if you loved her, why haven’t you done anything about it?” I thought.The answer lay tangled in many fears.I was even scared of myself.I wouldn’t want to be caught dead with myself, to start with.I was scared to move forward with her.I was scared to claim her, even scared to admit my feelings in front of the nobles the other day.She
Xavier's POV Whatever the matter was, I was certain that we could come to some sort of agreement. I was willing to make it work, no matter how long it took. We had time on our hands; it wasn’t like we were going anywhere anytime soon. She just needed to be a little more patient. After all, she had feelings for me. “You do nothing but hurt those who love you!” she blurted out. “You cannot be serious right now!” I scoffed, trying to deflect from the obvious truth. How could she say such a thing? I had tried my best not to hurt her. If anything, I was the one being hurt right now. “You know it’s true. Would you like me to list examples?” she yelled. There was no way she was going to get away with this just like that. I had done nothing but protect her from the very first day we met. It was ironic that she was the one accusing me. “What examples? All I’ve done is be good to you,” I said. I knew my words could be misinterpreted, but I didn’t care. She started this, and she shoul
Rune's POV Carmila was a genius, I just wanted to know if she was that smart and powerful enough to pull whatever the name of that stunt was on Xavier.I did some spell. "Stars of light, reveal magic!Eye of the mind, open truth!Dispel darkness, come light!Manifest magic, reveal all!"There was a truck to this very spell and I was going to use it to my very own advantage.The recycling spell that swallowed every firm of magic which was the strength became the weakness.The spell was meant to reveal all, but it was not as fast as the recycling spell.Trust cleaning up spells to be quick and precise.But no bother, like all good and sure things, this revelation spell needed time to make its big entrance.It took longer than expected but it did.“There” Thane said, sensing an abnormality in one of the rabbit holes that were everywhere in this hill.They were littered everywhere.I turned and saw the one which he spoke off.From the smallest rabbit hole by my side, there was a glowin
Rune's POVIt felt like a thousand claws tearing at my skin at the same time.Just as soon as the spell began taking effect on my physical being, I felt the recycling spell take over me, pulling me into that rabbit hole. It was painful, but I had made up my mind to do this, and I was not going to stop until I got through it. I tried my very best to stay in one piece.“Was this worth it?” I kept asking myself.I could feel the force of the spells trying their best to hold out against each other, but the recycling spell was a whole lot stronger. Whatever happened next was a blur; I couldn’t remember anything. It was as though the recycling spell got to my memory. I could only remember a fragment of my time in the rabbit hole that was magical drainage here.I held on for dear life; reconnecting with my family was all that mattered at this point. I woke up to the sounds of tinkering and clanking.“What the fuck is going on here?” I asked myself. I lay flat where I was, and my eyesight was
Lyra's POVThe ground rumbled for a few seconds and opened wide, taking a large part of the rogues inside it. I saw Nikolai's corpse falling in too, but there was nothing that I could do.“Where is he?” I asked without wasting any more time.I turned back and ran, leading Rune to where Xavier lay.The remaining rogues who were there still ran after us, but they were the least of my problems.I just wanted Xavier alive and well.We got to where he was. “Rune? Is that you?” Xavier asked.“Of course, it is me,” Rune called out to him, while his grimoire flew closely.“Lyra, there is a spell here, but the ingredients and the time for this spell are impossible to get and prepare.”“Well, not for me, but given the time and the availability of these materials, I am sorry; there is nothing that we can do!” he said to me.“Do something!”The rogues had already caught up to us and were coming closer and closer.“Hold!” Rune said to me.“That should be able to hold them.” A protective form of li
Lyra's POV“You bastard," I said, slapping him across the face. “You did this. This is all your fault. After all that I have done for you, this is how you decide to pay me back?”“By betraying me? I should take your life right here and now, and there would be nothing that would happen.”“Do that, please,” he said, bleeding seriously from his shoulder; he was not healing.“The poison has got to you badly, has it not?” I asked him, and he shook his head.I thought he had healed from the poison Lucas injected him with, but I was wrong.That bastard strikes and wins again, with Nikolai.“Akira asked me to protect you…”I saw the shock in his eyes. “And that, I swear, I am going to do!”He was teary; his eyes were saddled with regrets. I could see that he was willing to turn back the hands of time just to correct the mistakes he had made before.“That is too late. There is nothing that you can do now. I am still holding on to tell you some things.”“Even if you figure something out, that w
Lyra's POVThere was something uncomfortable on my face. I was too weak to open my eyes, and for some reason, I felt oddly comfortable where I lay. I didn’t want to move a muscle, but the crawling sensation grew worse, becoming unbearable.I tried to brush whatever it was away with my hands, but it was no use. I had to open my eyes. My heart leapt when they finally came into contact with the green leaves hanging and swinging freely above me.The tingling sensation I felt was from a spider trying to weave a web on my face. I remembered why I was here.I could hear thunder and sizzling sounds nearby, and I knew something was happening. Random screams and shouts echoed around me. I realized people were getting hit, and the moment I thought of who might be on the receiving end, I summoned every last bit of strength I had to stand and fight.As I made my way through the bushes, I began to wonder who was fighting. “Nikolai?” I thought in disbelief. There was no way he could have done this.
Xavier's POV“How?” he said, laughing. “I do my study. Not everyone has to tell you everything,” he added with a smirk.“It’s not every day you see a three-tailed wolf laying around at her initiation ceremony.”Pity filled me as I recalled all the times I should have been there for her. But it was too late to turn back now. If I had one wish, it would be to go back and support her then.“Of course, I knew what that meant,” he said, taking a step forward. “I and Lyra have history.”“Remember that one time you subjected me to the human realm, forcing me to live amongst them for over a century? Yes, that one time. I obeyed, and it turned out not to be as bad as I expected.”“It was wonderful. She was one of the reasons—I loved her dearly.”“She didn’t give me a chance anyway, and my punishment was nearing its completion. I was going to make my move until you cut me off.”“I mean, you brought her back to me…”He must have seen the confusion in my eyes. “Oh… I understand how confusing that
Xavier's POVI had heard enough from Rune. I could have found ways to shut him up if this were not true and if he had not just been to hell and back. His explanations gave logical reasons for everything I experienced the very first day I came in contact with Lyra. It could also explain why Ozed was skeptical about me touching her that night and why I felt attracted to her.But there was a catch: if all that Rune had said were true, I was yet to see her as my mate. She was still with her exes, as far as I knew, and I did not want to ruin whatever we had going on between us. I trusted Rune, but this was a significant risk to take. But first, I needed to get to Lyra.He was still speaking when I felt something strange. Whatever it was, I could feel it, and it felt familiar. I needed to get to her.I impulsively entered the bushy road without consulting Rune. This was one of those times I fully trusted my instincts and whatever I felt.“You feel that too?” I asked.He responded in the a
Rune's POVI had been through hell and back, and today felt like the worst of it. I was certain this was the least that could happen to me.I opened my eyes to see Xavier looming over me, his face a mix of concern and confusion. He was calling my name repeatedly, but I was just as lost as I had been moments ago. Where was I? What was happening?As my surroundings came into focus, I realized I was in Kayla's room. I struggled to piece together how I got there, my mind still foggy. Xavier's urgent voice was a constant in my ears, shaking me as if he could rattle the answers out of me.“Rune,” he called again, and I felt a surge of irritation. The pounding in my head was growing unbearable. Just as I was about to respond, an unexpected sneeze overtook me. It felt like a reset button—my heart kicked back to life, and memories flooded my mind.“I remember trying to...” I began, but the thoughts were jumbled, causing a splitting headache. I could barely differentiate between past and presen
Xavier's POVThane quickly noticed my sour mood. “Do not mind me…” I began, but the sounds returned, and this time I was sure something else was in the room with us. I turned to check on Rune and saw he was still asleep. I followed the movement behind the headrest. It was fast—definitely not a rat; they wouldn’t survive long in this meticulously clean manor.The sound moved to the closet. I opened the door and found it—Rune's grimoire. “You sneaky tome!” I chuckled, mentally exhausted. I fell back onto the bed, trying to catch my breath.“Wait…” A bright idea struck me. We didn’t actually need Lyra; I just needed the grimoire.“Your master is sick and not himself,” I told it. The book pulsed with a glow, responding, but I couldn’t understand its message.“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, still unsure how to communicate. The one who could explain everything was unconscious, and I couldn’t risk waking him without facing repercussions.The grimoire pulsed again. I tore open the bag containin
Xavier's POVI needed to handle this matter wisely. Something was going on, and I had to get to the bottom of it. Rune had become audacious. I knew he was bold, but today felt different. He was embittered, fueled by every negative energy I could think of. This wasn’t the Rune who stood for the right things.I had no one to blame but myself. I left him to whatever had changed him. “Lyra was right,” I sighed. I needed to know what was wrong with Rune and, most importantly, if the one I held in my hands was truly him. This was a serious debate in my mind. Certain signs made me believe this was Rune, while others made me doubt. He had knowledge no one else could have about me. He was my right-hand man for a reason, privy to my deepest fears. He was a magic user, and the spells he cast were ones I had seen him use before. But the fact that he couldn’t heal as quickly as usual threw me off. He was a wolf, after all.“Why do I even bother?” I groaned. “Just don’t let him die. Whoever he
Nikolai's POV“You had better start talking!” Lyra said as she opened the door to her closet.It was a close call.She had been a good host to me all this while.Either she knew what she was up against and didn’t care, or she was just foolish to help me. Whatever the case, I was grateful.Luca came inside and saw me.I pleaded with him to spare my life. “What the hell do you want from me? I’m done with this,” I said.“I’m tired of your control and reign of terror. Have you done enough by taking my sister too?”“Just leave me alone. You have a lot of people under you, yet you cling to me like a plague.”He chuckled. “And there he goes, the little pup has begun to grow teeth and thinks it’s okay to nip at the elder wolf! The audacity,” he said, walking closer to the window.“You know Lyra is a lovely wolf,” he said. I knew he was watching her from the window. My heart skipped a beat.“Do what you want with me, but leave Lyra out of this.”“Really?” He laughed. “You think this is about