Lyra’s POV
Why wasn’t Alpha Ronan saying anything about the mate bond?
Lyra sat rigid on the couch, gripping the soft fabric with both hands just to have something to hold onto.
The room stayed quiet, almost too quiet, except for one thing she couldn’t escape: his scent.
Alpha Ronan’s scent.
Her mate’s scent.
It clung to everything, the furniture, the walls, the very air she breathed.
Sharp pine, cold smoke, and something underneath that pulled at her wolf with a force she couldn’t explain.
She didn’t need anyone to tell her whose office this was.
His scent said it all.
He sat perched on the edge of the table across from her, tall, stiff, arms crossed over his chest.
His eyes never left her face.
It wasn’t a stare full of anger or suspicion.
It was something worse.
He looked at her like she was a puzzle he hadn’t solved yet, or a threat he hadn’t decided whether to keep or destroy.
He hadn’t said a single word since they’d left the hall.
He hadn’t acknowledged the mate bond at all, the bond he should have been feeling right now but clearly wasn’t.
Lyra kept her eyes on the floor.
She didn’t dare look up at him, not into those eyes, not when even the smallest glance set her chest on fire.
Her wolf whined and paced inside her, desperate to reach him.
Mate.
The word thudded through her like a heartbeat, and she curled her toes into the rug like that might quiet it down.
But he didn’t feel it.
Not once had he reacted.
Back in the hall, he’d looked straight into her eyes and there had been nothing there but sharp curiosity.
No bond.
No pull.
Nothing.
She should feel relieved.
Truly.
A second rejection would have broken her completely.
Surely the Moon Goddess wouldn’t be cruel enough to hand her another mate who didn’t want her.
But if he couldn’t feel it, why could she?
Why did her wolf shake just looking at him?
Why did some part of her want to drop to her knees and press her face into that scent she couldn’t shake?
Something was wrong.
Something was missing.
And not understanding it terrified her more than anything else in this whole nightmare.
He cleared his throat, and his voice cut clean through the silence.
“How did you identify the poison?”
Her stomach dropped.
She glanced up for half a second before looking away again.
“I worked in the pack kitchen for years,” she said quietly, twisting her fingers together in her lap.
“I was trained to recognize different poisons, by sight and by smell.
Our head cook, my master, made sure of it, in case someone tried to slip something into the food.”
He nodded slowly.
“So I can assume you’re not from a noble family.
Noble daughters don’t work kitchens.”
Her heart stopped cold.
Dread shot straight through her chest.
She forced herself to breathe evenly.
If he found out she’d been switched in secret, what would he do to her?
Would he kill her for lying about who she was?
Would he send her back to her old pack?
Something told her Keller would kill her the moment he saw her again.
She swallowed hard, mouth suddenly dry.
She opened her mouth, unsure whether to lie or just confess everything.
He cut her off before she could decide.
“Don’t bother answering.
I already know you’re not noble.
My people are confirming your background as we speak.”
Her stomach twisted painfully, and she dropped her gaze.
She could already imagine what would happen the moment they confirmed she was the wrong tribute entirely.
Tears burned at the back of her eyes, but she blinked them back hard.
She’d cried enough for one lifetime already.
Before she could say a word, the door burst open and a beta walked in, dragging a trembling woman behind him.
One look was all Lyra needed.
The head cook.
The Alpha had been poisoned, and there was only one person who’d have to answer for that, whoever had been in charge of his meals.
The woman looked like she wanted to sink into the floor and vanish.
Her hands shook violently as she was shoved forward into the room.
The instant she spotted the Alpha, she collapsed to her knees, sobbing.
“Please, Alpha, mercy,” the woman cried, pressing both palms flat against the stone.
“I was only told to add it to your food.
I didn’t know it was poison.
I swear on the Moon Goddess, I didn’t know.”
Ronan straightened slowly.
“You didn’t know,” he repeated, voice low and dangerous.
“No, Alpha, please.
The woman who gave it to me swore nothing bad would happen.
She said it would help you.
She said it would break your curse.”
Ronan’s head snapped up instantly.
His eyes hardened.
“My curse.”
The woman nodded frantically, tears streaming.
“Yes, Alpha.
She said you were cursed.
That your wolf could never sense a mate, that you’d stay mateless forever.
She said the mixture would help break the curse.
That’s exactly what she told me, I swear it.”
Lyra’s breath caught in her throat.
She stared at Ronan, her heart slamming against her ribs.
Cursed.
He was cursed.
That explained everything.
That explained why he hadn’t felt the bond.
That explained why she’d sensed him completely while he’d felt nothing at all.
That explained why he collected tributes like some kind of emperor demanding tribute gifts, women dragged from every pack whether they wanted to come or not.
He’d been searching this entire time.
Searching for anything, anything at all, that might break the curse.
Anything that might let him feel what she already felt for him.
She was his mate.
He simply didn’t know it yet.
The realization rolled through her slowly, leaving her shaking in its wake.
The Moon Goddess had given her a second mate.
A second chance.
Except this one couldn’t even feel the bond connecting them.
Ronan pushed off from where he’d been leaning against the table.
The air around him shifted, growing thick and heavy, sharp with fury.
“Who told you this,” he demanded.
The cook shook even harder, tears pouring down her face.
“I don’t know.
I never saw her face.
She threatened my child’s life if I refused.
I was desperate, Alpha.
I was scared.
I thought, if it could help you, maybe it wasn’t wrong to do it.”
His jaw tightened.
His eyes flicked briefly toward Lyra before sliding away again.
“Only five people know about this curse, Ash,” he said, his voice dropping even lower.
“Three of them are standing in this room right now.”
Ash nodded grimly.
“I’ll find out who leaked it the moment we’re finished here.”
“Take her to the dungeons,” Ronan ordered.
“She stays there until I decide what happens to her.”
Ash called for two guards, who entered immediately.
The cook wailed louder, struggling as they hauled her to her feet.
She begged, screamed for mercy, insisted over and over that she’d had no choice, but Ronan didn’t look at her again.
His face had turned to stone.
Once the door shut behind the guards and her cries faded down the hallway, Ronan turned his attention back to Lyra.
The full weight of his stare hit her chest like a blow.
“You said you worked in the kitchen at your old pack.”
“Yes, Alpha.” Her voice trembled.
Ronan’s gray eyes studied her carefully.
“Good.
That experience could be useful.
You’ll work with the pack physician to find a cure for this ashvine poison, I assume that’s what it is.”
She blinked, caught off guard.
“You mean…
make an antidote?”
He nodded, tone sharp but measured.
“If anyone here can help with that, I’d guess it’s you.”
Her mind raced.
She’d spent years studying poisons and remedies back in the kitchens.
She knew herbs, their properties, how to counter different toxins.
She knew exactly what was needed to reverse ashvine’s effects.
“I…
I can help, Alpha.
I know which herbs counter it.
I can make a mixture.”
“Good.” He straightened his shoulders.
“Congratulations.
You’re replacing the head cook.”
Lyra blinked again, staring at him, waiting for the rest of the sentence.
The part where he admitted he was joking.
The part where he decided she deserved punishment or death after all.
But he simply turned to Ash.
“Take her to her rooms.
Explain what’s needed.”
Then he walked out of his office without a single glance back.
Lyra sat frozen, watching the door swing shut behind him.
Her heart pounded painfully in her chest.
She was alive.
Not just alive, but handed another mate, a new position, a purpose.
The Moon Goddess had thrown her straight into a nightmare, but somehow, she’d survived it.
For now.