Lyra kept her eyes glued to the window, watching the outside through the tinted glass. She could feel Julian’s gaze on her face more than a few times, but she fought the urge to look at him.The air in the car was heavy with tension. Nobody said anything. And that was just fine with Lyra. There was nothing to say, after all. He had said all he wanted to say, and he was doing as he had said. She was not going to be pathetic and say anything.She was here as a member of the King’s Guard, not as his mate. She wished she felt like that. Instead, it felt like she was being forcibly dragged to hell.It was supposed to be the happiest day of her life for having landed such a job. A job that she never would have thought she could get even in her wildest dream. She wished she could push everything else away and bask in the feeling of a new beginning and a promising future. Instead, here she was, miserable because of a male who was not worth it.Lyra looked at her wristwatch, calculating how mu
Zero led Lyra to a pub in the compound that was only a five minutes’ walk from Alpha Black’s mansion. They got a table in a corner at the back and ordered drinks.“I know my cousin can be tough to deal with sometimes,” Zero said as they waited for their drinks. “But you won’t have to put up with it forever.”Zero had noticed that Lyra’s mood had been subdued lately, and he knew it was because of Julian. She must be hurting due to Julian’s decision to go ahead with his engagement to Crystal. But he knew better than to make comments about her relationship with his cousin.When Lyra had told him that Julian was treating her well, Zero had thought that maybe his cousin had come to his senses. When he heard about the upcoming formal engagement ceremony, he had thought about Lyra. As much as he wanted to comfort her, he was careful to not cross the line.“What do you mean?” she asked, looking at him curiously. Quitting her job was not an option. Even if she had to bear the sight of Julian a
The next day, Julian and Crystal’s engagement ceremony was held at the royal palace. Alphas and Lunas from all over the kingdom, and all other high ranking officials, were present. It was such a huge glamorous affair that Lyra could not imagine how the wedding would outshine it.As part of the security team, Lyra was stationed outside the banquet hall before the ceremony officially began. Guests walked past her on the way inside the palace, and that was how Devon came upon her.Lyra noticed him from a distance. He was not alone–Allison was right beside him, her arm hooked through his. Lyra hoped that they would not notice her, but that turned out to be too much to hope for.As soon as Devon had stepped inside the palace grounds, his eyes had been roving all over the place, searching for Lyra. When he finally saw her, he did a double take. It was definitely her, but she looked so different from what he remembered.And it was not just because sh
As soon as Zero saw Devon, he recognised him as the Alpha of the Red Moon Pack and Lyra’s former mate. He went over to them and stood right next to Lyra, looking down at Devon with a hard look. “What do you think you are doing?”“What is it to you?” Devon snapped, giving him a glare. “This is between me and her, mind your own business.”“You are the one who should learn manners and mind your business,” Zero told him. “Respect the king’s guard or you’ll find yourself enjoying the ceremony from the dungeons.”“The king’s what?” Devon looked from Zero and then to Lyra. Surely, he didn’t mean her. He looked back at Zero. “I have no issue with you,” he told him. He pointed an accusing finger at Lyra. “This female is from my pack, and she dared to insult me. It’s within my rights to discipline her how I see fit.”Zero took a step c
“I’m not sure I can help you with that,” Lyra told him.“What do you mean you can’t?” Devon asked her. “Surely, they don’t pay the king’s bodyguard skimpily, do they?”Lyra looked at him speechlessly for a few seconds. He wanted her to…give him her money? The money she earned? How on earth could she fix his pack’s finances with her salary? It’s not like she was getting paid an insane amount.“I don’t think I can be any help to you with my salary,” she told him.“Oh, come on,” he said, lifting his hand to stroke her cheek. Lyra pushed it away immediately. He snickered, then brought his lips close to her ear. “You seem to have made many important friends in the palace. I’m sure you can find a way to give me what I want. If you can’t, you know what will happen to your belongings.”Lyra did not even want to think about wh
As far as Julian was concerned, the engagement ceremony had been a total failure. He had not gotten what he had wanted from it, contrary to what his guests might think. Instead, annoyingly, he had gotten a fiancée.That had not been part of his plan. If his plan had worked, Alpha Black would be grovelling in the royal dungeon at this point of the night, and the entire Blacksword pack would be at Julian’s mercy. But as it turned out, Alpha Black was playing his cards close to his chest, careful enough to not take one step wrong where Julian could catch him.Julian wondered whether the other male knew that he was investigating him. He had expected to get the final piece of information that would expose Alpha Black’s scheming during the ceremony, but that hadn’t happened.Now here he was, saying goodbye to important guests with Crystal glued to his side. A lot was said, but he could barely hear it–not that it mattered. It was all infl
Julian got up on his elbows, giving her a puzzled look. “What?”Lyra pulled on her pants. “I’m rejecting you. I want you to set me free.”Julian climbed out of bed and faced her. “Forget about it. I don’t accept your rejection.”Lyra looked at him, her eyes hard and unwavering. “Why not? What exactly do you want from me? You don’t like that I’m your mate, and you are getting mated to someone else. Let me go.”Julian shook his head. “You are not going anywhere. Your place is here, with me.”Lyra wanted to scream. He was not making any sense. Could he even hear himself? He did not want a mate as worthless as her. He formalised his engagement to a powerful Alpha’s daughter a few hours ago. So why could he not let her go?“I don’t want to be here, or with you,” she told him. “I reject you as my mate, as you have rejected me in so many ways. Do me a favour and break this bond once and for all, and I’ll get out of your life.”“Who said I want you out of my life?” he questioned.Lyra nodded,
Lyra yelled as she fell through the air before landing onto hard ground. Pain shot from her bottom to her back, causing her to wince. Shortly after she crashed to the ground, commotion rose around her, with the sound of scampering reaching her ears.Forgetting her pain, she quickly reached for her gun and looked around. She was in a chamber of some kind–an underground room. But, despite the commotion, there was no one inside the room.Frowning, she got to her feet and looked upwards. Above her head, there was a wooden trap door covering the hole she had fallen through. Swallowing, she stepped farther into the room. Even though she could see no one, there were many scents in the air, and many different sounds–whispering, breathing–reached her ears.“Who’s there?” she called out, holding her gun ready.There was no answer for a few moments. Slowly, Lyra made her way towards a passage leading away from the chamber. Finally, someone answered.“Who are you?” It was a masculine voice, and s
“Why aren’t you back yet?” Julian’s worried voice came across the phone when Lyra received his call.“I’m on my way,” Lyra told him. “I’ll be back soon.”“If you run into any problem, tell me,” he told her. “I know how Alpha Lucian can be. If he is giving you a hard time, I’ll teach him a lesson.”“Don’t worry, I can handle Lucian by myself,” she told him. “I’ve settled everything and I’ll be at the palace soon.”“Okay, I’m waiting for you,” he told her.Lyra hung up with a smile. Earlier, she had left on a trip to the Luminous Pack for the grand opening of a werewolf academy that would welcome students from all over the kingdom.Julian had been worried that Alpha Lucian would give her a hard time and wanted to go with her, but he had other official duties to attend to. Even though no werewolf in the kingdom could stand up to her, his first instinct was to protect her, whether from mortal danger or rude Alphas.“He really has no idea, does he?” Anna asked.Lyra shook her head. “Nope.”
Many days later, Lyra woke up in the palace. Julian was lying next to her, sleeping peacefully. She smiled as she looked at him, a warm feeling blooming in her chest. She fought the urge to touch his face, afraid to wake him.However, when she turned to leave the bed, his arm shot out and hooked around her waist. “Don’t go,” he murmured sleepily.Lyra’s smile widened in amusement as she looked back at him. “You are awake?”He shook his head, his eyes still closed. “No.”She laughed and tapped his hand. “Get up, Your Majesty,” she teased. “We have a kingdom to run.”He tightened his hold around her, pulling her to him. “They can survive a few hours without us. It’s not like an evil witch is going to fly in and blast us all to hell.”“Haha,” Lyra laughed dryly. “I’m glad you can joke about that.”Julian opened his eyes and smiled. “Me too.”They both burst laughing, with Lyra falling back to his side. Julian reached for her face and kissed her. Lyra kissed him back, getting lost in the
Deciding to attack together, Julian and Lyra ran towards the altar. While they were midway, Valeria waved her hand, sending a wave of energy their way.They braced themselves, but it turned out to be nothing like the attacks they had faced from the other witches. The energy was so forceful that it knocked them off their feet and sent them flying backwards before they crashed into the floor.As they collected themselves from the floor, Valeria’s laugh filled the room. “Did you think you could come here and do whatever you wanted? Prepare for your death!”Just when they had gotten back on their feet, she hit them with another blast of energy. This time, they both crashed into the wall before falling to the ground.“How is she so strong?” Lyra asked Julian through their mindlink. It was impressive that she could knock both of them around like that at the same time.“She is too powerful,” Julian replied. “We can’t let her wear us out. I’ll go all in, and when she is distracted with me, yo
Following Julian’s scent, Lyra found the basement a few minutes later. It was a dank round room solely illuminated by candles.As soon as Lyra walked into the room, she was welcomed by the sound of clapping. Looking up, she saw Valeria standing on a raised altar in the middle of the room. She was the one clapping, a huge smirk on her lips.“We are all here,” Valeria said. “Perfect.”After having her plans thwarted so many times, Valeria had been scrambling to find a way to get rid of the Lycan King and the Luna Queen.She had not expected that the Rogue King would be such a useless ally. Even after she had helped him steal the Lycan King’s identity and made him powerful talismans, he had failed.As if that wasn’t bad enough, all her latest experiments failed. After finding out that the Lycan Kingdom had made significant steps in finding a weapon that could easily eliminate corrupted wolves, she had tried to make them stronger.She had succeeded in making stronger, faster, and more res
Using the tip of her dagger, Lyra pricked her fingertip. When blood pooled at the tip, she pressed it to the barrier. During her research while making the serums, Beryl had read somewhere that the Wolf Mother’s blood could be used to break magical barriers.It turned out to be true as the barrier between them and the beasts dissipated the moment Lyra touched it with her blood. As soon as the barrier was down, the beasts rushed towards them.There were all sorts of beasts, from winged creatures that were as big as horses and serpents with multiple heads. Among the beasts were also corrupted wolves.The division of the troop that had been assigned archery roles released a multitude of arrows, raining them down on the beasts. The arrows were created with special magical metal tips doused in poison, allowing them to deal critical damage to magical creatures with a single hit.The second division of the troop shifted into their wolf forms and met the beasts head on. When it was no longer p
The southern jungle covered hundreds of thousands of hectares, providing a good hiding place for rogues. However, even rogues did not venture into the deepest parts of the forest, since they were considered too dangerous.The forest was rumoured to not only be the witches’ hideout, but to also contain all sorts of magical beasts. While some of the southern packs had led expeditions into the jungle while dealing with rogues, they did not have enough information that could be used to accurately map out the witch’s lair.After hours of walking in the jungle, Lyra finally sensed magical power. Leading the way, she guided the troops deeper into the forest. The farther they got, the more ominous it became. The magical power also got stronger, and everybody could feel it.After close to an hour, they spied a castle through the trees. It was big and old, its walls almost entirely covered by vines.“This is it,” Lyra informed everybody through mindlink. “I’ve felt Valeria’s energy before, and
As soon as Julian and Lyra got back to the palace, Beryl and Spencer took the flower and started making the antidote.They had been gone less than an hour, but Zero’s condition had worsened. Even with Beryl and Spencer’s help, he would not have been able to hold on much longer without the antidote.As for Anna, she was still unconscious, but there were no signs that she was in danger. There also hadn’t been any other incidents in the palace.When Beryl administered the antidote to Zero, his condition started improving right away. As soon as he woke up, he looked around for Anna. When he did not see her, fear washed over him. Before losing consciousness, he had heard people calling for her execution.“Where is Anna?” he asked Beryl, getting down from the hospital bed. “Is she okay? It was not her fault. She is not working for the witches.”“We know,” Beryl told him. “The witch possessed her and made her do it. She is fine now, but she passed out and is in recovery. Don’t worry, she is
The snake had appeared out of nowhere and wrapped itself around Lyra so fast that Julian did not get a chance to warn her. It was long and thick, and its body was coiled around Lyra’s upper body and neck, its head poised to strike.Julian’s heart froze in fear as the gravity of the situation registered. Both of them could not use their magic or werewolf abilities. From the size and appearance of the snake, he could tell it was not a normal one. It must be a magical beast.Magical beasts normally had their own territories and attacked anyone who trespassed. However, Julian had never heard that the Deadly Swamp was territory to any magical beast.The snake had only appeared after Lyra plucked out the flower, so it was more likely that the beast was guarding the flower, not the swamp.“Throw away the flower,” he yelled at Lyra. “It’s guarding the flower. As long as you have it, it won’t let you go.”Lyra did not want to let go of the flower, but she was aware that she could not afford to
After leaving the infirmary, Julian and Lyra instructed staff around the palace to ensure all the guests were catered to, leaving Asher in supervision.They also ensured that security was beefed up around the palace and the capital city in case the witches attempted another attack.Lyra was worried that it might be too late by the time they got to the swamp, found the flower, and brought it back to Beryl and Spencer to make the antidote. The two healers could keep Zero alive with their healing powers, but the poison was powerful and would kill him if not stopped soon.“We are taking the jet, right?” Lyra asked Julian as they got ready in the weapon room, grabbing basic items that would come in handy in the swamp.“No,” Julian said.“If we drive, we’ll never get back in time,” she said.“We are not driving,” he told her. “Come, I’ll show you something.”Moving to one end of the room, he pressed his palm to a panel on the wall next to a door labelled ‘Restricted Access’. The door opened