Lyra The bus rocked gently beneath me as I finally let my eyes close, though sleep wouldn’t come.
Not with Felix sitting so close, his hand resting on the back of my seat like he was afraid I’d disappear if he looked away for even a second.
“You’re not sleeping,” he said quietly.
“How can I?
You basically just told me you’re not human and then asked me to wait for answers.” I kept my voice low, aware of the other passengers settling back into their seats, some already dozing, others whispering amongst themselves about the wolves that had attacked us.
“I didn’t say I wasn’t human.” “You didn’t have to.” I turned to face him fully, ignoring the way my body still trembled from exhaustion.
“No ordinary man carries someone’s bridal style through miles of forest without breaking a sweat, no ordinary man finds someone in the middle of nowhere without a single clue where to look.” Felix’s jaw tightened, and for a moment I saw something flicker behind his eyes, something old and tired, like he’d been carrying a secret so long it had started to weigh on him.
“Not here,” he murmured, glancing at the woman two seats ahead who kept sneaking looks at us.
“When we stop, I promise, I’ll tell you everything.” “You keep saying that.” “And I keep meaning it.” I wanted to push further, to demand answers right there on that rickety bus with strangers pretending not to listen, but the ache in my body reminded me I didn’t have the strength for a fight, not even a verbal one.
So I let it go, for now, and rested my head against the cool window instead, watching the darkened road blur past.
It wasn’t long before my mind drifted back to Darius.
The way his men had descended on the bus without warning, without mercy, still made my skin crawl.
I had run from him because I refused to be another pawn in whatever twisted game he and my father were playing, and yet here I was, barely a day into my escape, and he had already found me.
“You’re thinking about him,” Felix said, not a question.
“How did you know?” “Your whole body just went rigid.” He reached over, hesitating for a second before he covered my hand with his.
His skin was warm, warmer than it should have been for someone who had just spent hours outside in the cold.
“He won’t get to you…not while I’m here.” “You don’t even know what you’re up against.” “Don’t I?” His lips curled into something that wasn’t quite a smile, more like a memory of pain trying to disguise itself as amusement.
“Trust me, Lyra.
I know exactly what Darius is capable of.” Something in the way he said it made my stomach twist.
“How do you know his name?
I never mentioned it.” The color drained slightly from Felix’s face, and I watched him scramble for an answer that didn’t come fast enough.
“Felix.” “It’s not what you think.” “Then tell me what it is.” My voice rose, drawing a glance from the woman up front again, but I didn’t care anymore.
Too many secrets, too many half truths, and I was done being kept in the dark.
“Because right now, it feels like you know more about the people hunting me than a stranger who happened to save my life twice in one day should.” “I’m not a stranger.” The words hit differently than I expected, quiet but heavy, like they carried the weight of something unspoken for far too long.
“What do you mean you’re not a stranger?” Felix opened his mouth, then closed it again, his gaze flicking toward the front of the bus where the driver had slowed to a stop.
Blue and red lights flashed faintly through the windshield, painting streaks across the ceiling.
“We need to keep this conversation for later,” he said, already straightening, already pulling his hand back from mine like he’d been burned.
“No, you don’t get to do that…not again.” I grabbed his wrist before he could stand.
“Tell me right now, how do you know Darius?” The bus doors hissed open, and two uniformed officers stepped inside, their eyes scanning the passengers with the kind of practiced calm that told me this wasn’t the first attack they’d responded to that night.
“Ma’am, sir, we’re going to need everyone to stay seated while we take statements,” one of them said, his gaze lingering just a second too long on me, like he was searching for something specific.
I froze because for the briefest moment, his eyes flashed gold and it was not the warm amber of sunlight through leaves, it was not something my exhausted mind could explain away.
It was actual gold, sharp and inhuman, the same shade I’d seen flash in Darius’ eyes right before his men surrounded the bus in the first place.
My grip on Felix’s wrist tightened, and I felt him go rigid beside me, his whole body suddenly alert, coiled like a predator waiting to strike.
“Felix,” I whispered, my voice barely audible.
“That’s not an officer.” “I know,” he said, so low only I could hear it, his hand slowly moving to shield me from view.
“Stay behind me and whatever happens, don’t move.” The officer’s smile widened as he stepped further down the aisle, his gaze never leaving mine, and I realized with a sinking heart that whoever, whatever, he really was, he hadn’t come alone.
The second officer moved to block the door, his shadow stretching unnaturally long under the flickering bus lights but something about his stiff posture struck a chord of recognition in me.
“You’re one of my father’s scouts,” I breathed.
“Alpha Ronan’s men.” The officer’s mask of calm cracked slightly, confirming it.
Before I could say another word, a low growl rumbled from beside me, deep and guttural, nothing like the composed man I’d known hours ago.
Felix rose slowly, his frame seeming to fill the narrow aisle, shoulders squared, every line of him coiled with a warning that needed no translation.
“Leave…now.” His voice had dropped an octave, something ancient bleeding through it.
The fake officers exchanged a glance, and for the first time, I saw hesitation ripple through them.
Whatever Felix was, they clearly knew better than to test it.
Within seconds, they backed out of the bus, disappearing into the night as quickly as they’d appeared, leaving me staring up at a man I was only just beginning to understand.