LYRA’S POV
The next morning, I pulled my suitcase from the closet and started packing.
I moved with one purpose, folding clothes I didn’t care about and shoving shoes I might never wear again into the corners.
The house felt empty now, as if the walls knew I was leaving and had already started to forget me.
I was zipping the bag when the door slammed open.
Cassian stood in the doorway, his golden eyes blazing with fury.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
I straightened slowly and met his gaze without flinching.
“I’m leaving.
I don’t think I need your permission for that.”
“Leaving?” He laughed, but there was no humor in it.
“You’re my wife, Lyra.
You can’t go anywhere unless I allow it.”
“Allow it?” I stared at him.
“Why would you want to keep me?
You’ve already chosen Sabrina and her daughter.
You’ve chosen your new family.
So why won’t you just let me go?”
He stepped closer, his jaw tight.
“I have an important deal tomorrow, and the investors require you to attend in person.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“Your name, Lyra.” He said it as if it were obvious.
“Your family background, inheritance rights, and public image…
they’re all part of the deal.
The investors want the Moonveil heiress standing beside me, not the broken wife I’m about to cast aside.”
I already knew this.
So why did hearing it again still hurt?
He wasn’t keeping me because he loved me or cared about me.
He was keeping me because he still needed to use me.
“How dare you,” I whispered.
“After everything you’ve done…”
“Enough.” He grabbed my suitcase and hurled it across the room.
Clothes scattered across the floor.
“You’re not going anywhere, Lyra.
No matter how much you cry.
No matter how much you beg.
You don’t leave without my permission.”
“Cassian…”
He grabbed my arm, his grip bruising.
“You’re also going to apologize to Sabrina and Natasha for the kidnapping.
You’re going to make amends.
And if you refuse…” His eyes darkened.
“I’ll make you regret it.”
He forced me down into a chair and walked to the door.
“Cassian, what the hell…”
The door slammed shut behind him.
Before I could rush after him, I heard the lock click from the outside.
He’d locked me in.
I stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by scattered clothes.
Suddenly, the walls felt like they were closing in.
‘This isn’t a marriage,’ Kiara whispered.
‘It’s a prison.’
I sank to the floor as the tears finally broke free.
I’d given him everything: my love, my loyalty, my entire future.
And in return, he’d taken my child, my freedom, my very identity.
I dropped my head to my knees and buried my hands in my hair, tugging hard.
Who the hell was I anymore?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That night, I lit a small white candle I’d kept hidden in my drawer, the one I’d bought for the nursery and planned to place beside my baby’s crib.
I set it on the windowsill and watched the flame flicker.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered to the child I’d never get to hold.
“I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you.
I’m sorry I failed you.”
The flame danced in the darkness.
“I wanted a family,” I continued, my voice breaking.
“I wanted a peaceful future.
But I can’t have that here.
Not with him.
Not anymore.”
I said my final goodbye to the dreams I’d once believed in.
When the candle burned low, I wiped my tears and stood.
I tried the door.
Locked.
I called out to the household staff, pounding on the wood.
“Is someone out there?
Anyone at all?
Please…
someone let me out.”
Relief washed over me when I heard footsteps in the hallway.
It vanished just as quickly when I heard the footsteps retreat.
They knew.
They’d heard me.
But no one dared to disobey Cassian’s orders.
I was truly alone.
“I can’t stay like this.” I paced the room from one end to the other.
“I can’t.”
Think, Lyra.
Think.
The moment an idea struck me, I pulled out my phone, my fingers hovering over his name on the screen.
Alpha Kael answered on the first ring.
“Lyra?”
“Alpha.” I kept my voice low.
“I need your help.
I have to get out of here.
I’m locked in.”
He sucked in a sharp breath.
“Where are you?”
“Silvercrest Pack House.
Second floor, east wing.”
“Stay on the line.
I’ll send someone…”
“No.” I shook my head.
“I have a plan.
I just need you to pick me up.
Now, please.”
“I’m on my way.”
He hung up.
I shoved the phone into my pocket and moved quickly.
I placed the finalized divorce documents in the center of the desk.
Beside them, I left my wedding ring and a final message: “I’m done.”
I took my passport and the flash drive, wrapped myself in a shawl, and pulled a hoodie over my head.
I left the clothes Cassian had scattered across the floor.
He could keep them.
They meant nothing to me anymore.
Then I opened the closet and dragged out a long bedsheet.
I twisted it into a makeshift rope and fastened it to the balcony railing.
I tugged hard.
It held.
I climbed onto the railing and looked down.
The drop was high, but it was nothing compared to the prison I’d be trapped in if I stayed.
I swung one leg over the edge and started climbing down.
My arms ached.
My hands burned.
My feet slipped twice, scrabbling against the wall.
The bedsheet bit into my palms, and I felt my skin tear.
But I kept going.
I had to.
When I was close enough to the ground, I let go and landed hard in the rosebushes below.
Thorns tore through my clothes and sliced my hands and legs.
Pain flared through my body, but I bit my lip to keep myself from screaming.
‘Get up, Lyra,’ Kiara urged.
‘Get up, get up, get up…’
I pushed myself out of the bushes, ignoring the blood and the sting.
I ran through the garden, through the woods, and toward the estate gate.
The night wind whipped against my face, and the moon hung above me, silver and cold.
There, in the driveway, a sleek black car waited.
Alpha Kael stepped out as I emerged from the trees.
His eyes swept over my torn clothes, bleeding hands, and fresh injuries.
“What the hell happened to you?” he demanded.
I couldn’t stop shaking.
“He locked me in the bedroom.
I had to climb down from the second floor.”
He moved closer, his gaze shifting to the building behind me.
“The second floor?”
I nodded slowly.
“I had no choice.
No one was willing to help me.”
Kael shrugged off his coat and placed it around my shoulders.
The warmth was almost enough to make me cry.
“You’ll never have to go back to him,” he said, his voice cold.
“I promise.
You’ll never set foot in that house again.”
I nodded, too exhausted to speak.
He guided me to the car.
I slid into the passenger seat, and he climbed in behind the wheel.
The engine purred to life, and soon we were on our way to the Bloodmoon Pack.
As we pulled away from the estate, I watched the Silvercrest Pack House shrink in the side mirror.
The home I’d shared with Cassian.
The prison I’d escaped.
I pulled the SIM card from my phone, snapped it in half, and tossed it out the window.
By the time Cassian returned home, I’d be gone.
And this time…
he’d never find me again.