Lyra
The moment they came fully into view beneath the torchlight, my jaw went completely slack.
My mouth parted in pure, unadulterated shock.
It was them—there was no mistaking that posture—the former Grand Alpha and Grand Luna, commanding the space in all their terrifying glory.
Their presence swamped the courtyard like a winter storm rolling down from the peaks.
They glided toward the elevated dais with silent, rhythmic precision, every step calculated and unyielding.
Their heavy velvet tunics shimmered in the moonlight, and their faces were carved from cold granite—hard, unreadable, and radiating absolute, undisputed rank.
The noisy crowd that had been cheering moments ago died down into an icy silence, as if the air itself had been sucked from the courtyard.
Warriors dipped their heads instinctively; elders bowed out of deep-rooted fear.
My fingers tangled tightly in the fabric of my dress, my heart hammering a frantic rhythm against my ribs.
Whatever reason they had for stepping forward with such chilling resolve, whatever decree they were about to drop onto the pack, it had nothing to do with me.
Not anymore.
That was the lie I forced into my head.
Because I was done caring.
I wasn’t supposed to feel a single spark of hope or fear.
None of this mattered—not the grand feast, not the political games, not the arrogant declarations.
All that mattered was the quiet plan resting at the bottom of my heart: when the sun breached the horizon tomorrow, I wouldn’t be here.
By the time the pack woke up to begin the wedding preparations, I would be long gone.
Free.
A ghost.
Just a painful memory they could choke on if they ever dared to speak my name.
I held onto that single truth—right up until the former Grand Alpha opened his mouth.
“The wedding will take place tomorrow at dusk as intended,” his voice boomed over the crowd, carrying the absolute weight of an Alpha command that shattered any thought of resistance, “however, it will not be with Selene.
The triplets will take their true mate, Lyra, to the altar.”
Time stopped dead.
The words struck my chest like a falling beam, knocking every trace of air straight out of my lungs.
A sudden wave of gasps erupted outward across the courtyard, sharp and frantic.
The crowd exploded into a sea of frantic murmurs—sharp, overlapping whispers that clawed at my ears like talons.
In a fraction of a second, dozens of pairs of eyes pivoted toward the shadows near the pillar, stabbing and slicing into me like physical blades.
My stomach twisted into a knot of sheer terror.
Mate?
Wedding?
Tomorrow?
Me?
No.
That wasn’t the plan.
That was no longer the path fate had laid out for me.
“No, no, no…
this can’t be,” I choked out beneath my breath, shaking my head violently back and forth.
My quiet panic was instantly swallowed by the rising storm around me, drowned out by the rising tide of outrage, shock, and disbelief.
“Father, what are you saying?” Kael’s voice tore through the hall like a whip, dripping with raw fury and absolute defiance.
He took a heavy step forward, his fists clenching, his jaw set so tight the bone threatened to snap.
“We settled this weeks ago!” Ronan snarled, stepping up beside his brother.
“Selene is the only Luna we will ever accept!”
His eyes flashed a bright, dangerous crimson—the first signs of his wolf threatening to break through his skin as waves of hostile aura rolled off his shoulders.
Lucien remained rooted to the spot for a fraction of a second, his expression completely locked down, before a visible tension snapped through his spine and he joined his brothers, his body trembling with contained violence.
A wave of scalding humiliation swallowed me alive.
Right there, in front of the entire pack—in front of the warriors, the high council, the servants, and the guests—the triplets openly rejected the decree simply because it bore my name.
Their parents’ declaration had dragged my soul back into the fire, and their public disgust was wiping it through the dirt.
Their frantic outrage, their disgust, their refusal—it all pointed to one devastating truth: I was the absolute last creature on earth they wanted to claim.
I was nothing more than a nuisance, a mistake the Moon Goddess had shoved into their hands.
Heat flushed up my neck, burning my cheeks, and I fought the overwhelming urge to dissolve into the stone floor.
Every passing second branded me with an invisible mark: Unwanted.
Unworthy.
Trash.
Without even looking in my direction, they had reduced what was left of my spirit to ash.
And everyone was watching.
“Enough!” Grand Alpha Kael’s voice detonated across the courtyard, so loud it instantly killed every single whisper in the hall.
His dark eyes narrowed, his jaw locked, and his command crushed the air out of the space.
“Listen to me carefully,” the old Alpha continued, each syllable striking with a weight that forced every wolf in attendance to lower their posture.
“The ancient laws will be honored.
You will not risk bringing the wrath of the Moon Goddess down upon this territory.
Not one of you possesses the power to survive her punishment.”
A cold shudder ran through the crowd.
Even the high council members who had looked ready to speak dropped their eyes to the flagstones.
The threat wasn’t delivered with a roar; it didn’t need to be.
It vibrated beneath his words—a terrifying reminder of what happened to packs that defied sacred bonds.
My knees buckled slightly….
The Goddess…
the ancient laws…
Every phrase felt like an iron collar tightening around my throat.
With one final, unyielding look that promised death to anyone who dared object, the former Alpha turned back toward the center of the hall.
His voice dropped into a smooth, formal register, though the underlying power remained absolute.
“We apologize for the brief disruption,” he announced to the room.
“My sons will be bound to Lyra tomorrow evening.
And that decision”—his cold gaze swept across the crowd, daring a single soul to blink—”is final.”
A suffocating, agonizing silence blanketed the courtyard.
Grand Luna Caroline stepped up to her mate’s side, placing a quiet hand over his wrist.
He clasped her fingers tightly, anchoring them both as they turned toward the main archway.
Together, they walked through the parted crowd like ancient monarchs leaving a field they had easily conquered.
The moment their backs passed through the threshold, my pulse spiked into overdrive.
I shrank back into the shadows, pulling my shoulders inward, trying desperately to make myself smaller than the stone pillar beside me.
I dropped my head, tucking my chin into my collar, and began sliding backward—inch by inch—escaping the prickle of a hundred judging eyes.
Don’t look over here.
Don’t see me.
Don’t call my name.
I felt like an animal exposed under a harsh light.
The second I spotted a gap in the dense crowd of nobles, I slipped through, moving like a shadow dodging torchlight.
My quick steps turned into a full sprint the moment my feet hit the quiet stone corridor leading away from the main courtyard.
By the time I reached the hallway of the servant quarters, my lungs were burning, my breath coming in shallow, frantic gasps.
I didn’t care what proclamation the former Alpha had shouted into the night.
I didn’t care about the ancient laws, the sacred mate bond, or the pack hierarchy.
I was done.
I wanted no part of their wedding, no part of their title, and no part of them.
I was leaving tonight.
Right now.
Before anyone realized I had left the hall.
I threw open the door to my room, threw my weight against it to push it shut, and leaned against the wood for a single second while my pulse hammered in my ears.
Then I moved.
I sprinted straight to the foot of the bed, dropping to my knees to drag out the small wooden chest I had packed hours earlier.
My hands were shaking so hard I could barely undo the latch, my heart pounding a terrifying rhythm against my ribs.
Everything was already inside.
The clothes, the blanket, the comb, my mother’s stone pendant.
Grab it.
Run.
Don’t pause.
Don’t look back.
I hoisted the heavy chest into my arms, turned toward the entrance, my mind already ten steps ahead—past the quiet courtyard, through the northern iron gate, and out into the endless freedom of the outer woods.
I yanked the heavy door open—and slammed full-force into a wall of solid muscle.
A broad shadow completely filled the doorway, blocking the corridor outside.
A massive figure—unmoving, towering, shutting off my only escape.
“And where, exactly, do you think you are going?”
The voice was low, smooth, and dangerously calm—a quiet growl that instantly froze the blood in my veins.
I stood petrified, the chest locked in my grip, caught in the middle of my flight.
There was nowhere left to run.