Lyra “An army?” I shot to my feet so fast the room spun, and Darius’s hand shot out, gripping my wrist before I could stumble.
“Careful,” he muttered, even weak and pale against the pillows, still trying to look after me instead of himself.
“How many?” Darius demanded, ignoring his own advice about staying still, pushing himself upright against the headboard with a wince he tried to hide.
“At least thirty warriors, Your Majesty,” the guard said, still catching his breath.
“Alpha Ronan is at the gates demanding an audience.
He says it concerns his daughter.” My stomach twisted into a cold, hard knot.
“He means me.” “He has no daughter here,” Darius growled, swinging his legs over the side of the bed despite my hands pressing against his chest to stop him.
“Darius, you can barely stand.” “I can stand just fine.” His jaw tightened, gold bleeding into his eyes, and I recognized that look now, the one that meant his wolf was clawing for control.
“He abandoned you, expelled you from his own pack.
He doesn’t get to show up now with an army and pretend he cares.” “Maybe he’s not here for me at all,” I said, though the words tasted like a lie even as I said them.
“Maybe he heard what happened to Selene.
Maybe…” “Lyra.” Darius’s voice softened, just slightly, and he reached for my hand again.
“Whatever he wants, I won’t let him take you anywhere.
You understand that?” My throat tightened, and for a moment I couldn’t speak past the lump lodged there.
Nobody had ever said something like that to me before, not with such certainty, like my safety was simply a fact of the world and not something up for negotiation.
“I don’t want to see him,” I admitted quietly.
“I don’t have anything to say to him.” “Then you don’t have to.” Darius turned to the guard.
“Tell Alpha Ronan I’ll speak with him.
Alone.” “You’re in no condition to…” “I said alone,” Darius snapped, and the guard flinched, nodding quickly before disappearing back through the door.
“Absolutely not.” I planted myself in front of him, arms crossed.
“If you think I’m letting you walk out there half healed to face a man who brought thirty warriors to your front gate, you don’t know me at all.” The corner of his mouth twitched despite the tension in the room.
“Feisty, I like it.” “I’m serious, Darius.” “So am I.” He caught my hand again, thumb brushing over my knuckles.
“I don’t want him anywhere near you, not until I know what he’s really here for.” “And what if he’s here to apologize?” The words came out more bitter than I intended.
“What if he finally realized what he did was wrong?” “Do you believe that?” I thought of my father’s face the day he expelled me, the coldness in his eyes as he told me I’d brought shame to the pack simply by existing, by daring to be jealous of a sister who’d stolen the only man who’d ever claimed to love me.
I thought of the silence that followed, the way no one in the pack had spoken up for me, not even once.
“No,” I whispered.
“I don’t believe that.” “Then let me handle him.” Darius reached for the robe draped over the chair, pulling it on with obvious effort, jaw clenched tight against whatever pain the movement cost him.
“I promise you, whatever he wants, I won’t let it touch you.” I wanted to argue further, but the resolve carved into his expression told me it would be useless.
Instead, I followed close behind him as he made his way down the hall, ignoring his protests that I should stay back, that I should let him deal with this alone.
“I’m not leaving your side,” I told him firmly.
“You almost died three days ago.
I’m not about to let you walk into a confrontation without me there.” “Stubborn,” he muttered, though there was no real heat in it.
“You like it,” I reminded him, echoing his own words back at him, and he huffed out something close to a laugh despite the tension radiating off him in waves.
We reached the main hall just as the doors opened, and my father strode through with a handful of his warriors flanking him, expression carved from stone.
His eyes swept the room before landing on me, and something like relief flickered across his face before it hardened again into the same cold indifference I remembered so well.
“Lyra.” He said my name like it cost him something.
“You’re alive.” “No thanks to you,” I said, the words slipping out before I could stop them.
His jaw ticked, but he didn’t respond to that, turning his attention instead to Darius.
“Your Majesty.
I’ve come to discuss the matter of my daughter.” “You have no daughter here,” Darius said coldly, echoing his earlier words, and I felt a fierce swell of gratitude at the way he positioned himself slightly in front of me.
“Only my mate.” My father’s eyes flicked to me again, something unreadable passing behind them.
“That’s precisely what I wish to discuss.
You withdrew all economic support from my pack, my people are suffering because of a misunderstanding between us.” “A misunderstanding?” Darius’s voice dropped low, dangerous.
“You expelled your own daughter to protect the reputation of the one who wronged her.
I’d hardly call that a misunderstanding.” “I made a decision I believed was best for my pack at the time,” my father said, and I nearly laughed at the audacity of it, the way he still couldn’t manage a single word of apology even now.
“Best for your pack,” I repeated, stepping out from behind Darius despite the way his hand tried to hold me back.
“Or best for Selene?
You’ve always protected her even when she was wrong and even when I was the one who got hurt.” “Lyra…” “No.” My voice shook, but I didn’t stop, three years of swallowed resentment finally breaking free.
“You knew about Marek and Selene for weeks before I caught them.
Didn’t you?
You knew, and you said nothing, and then when I finally saw the truth with my own eyes, you punished me for reacting like a person instead of a doormat.” My father’s face paled, and behind him, several of his warriors shifted uncomfortably, clearly hearing something they hadn’t been privy to before.
“That’s not…” he started, but I cut him off again.
“I don’t want your apology and I don’t want your pack’s support.
I don’t want anything from you ever again.” My chest heaved with the effort of finally saying words I’d choked down for months.
“You made your choice so live with it.” Silence stretched thick and heavy across the hall, and for a moment, I thought that might be the end of it, that he might simply turn and leave with his tail between his legs like the coward he was.
Instead, his eyes hardened, and he squared his shoulders in a way that sent unease crawling up my spine.
“I’m afraid it isn’t that simple, Lyra.” His gaze shifted past me, toward Darius, calculating in a way that made my stomach drop.
“You see, as your father and Alpha, I still hold certain rights over you until a formal claiming ceremony takes place and given the circumstances of how this…
relationship began, I have reason to petition against it entirely.” “You can’t be serious,” Darius growled, stepping forward.
“I assure you, Your Majesty, I am completely serious.” My father’s mouth curved into something that might have passed for a smile if it weren’t so cold.
“I’ve already filed the petition with the Elder Council.
Effective immediately, Lyra is to return to Ashmoor Pack pending review of this claim.”