Chapter 1 The Road Where Love Died

A woman dressed in black lingerie stood in the center of the lonely country road.

Her claws were elongated and she held a silver gun by her side, her teeth bared.

“I will kill him before he fucks her!"

The night was heavy with fog and the smell of gasoline. The rumble of engines echoed down the lone stretch of asphalt road.

Lyra didn’t flinch as the first bike swerved past, its tires screeching against the asphalt.

She didn’t blink as another rider yelled for her to move.

She waited, trembling, wild-eyed, for the sound she knew better than her own heartbeat.

Then she heard it.

That low, thunderous growl. The sound of his engine.

Ryker Kael.

Alpha of the Ironfang Riders. Her husband. Her mate. The man whose scent was still tangled in her bedsheets.

The headlight hit her square in the chest.

Through the shimmer of heat and smoke, she saw him, dressed in black leather jacket, broad shoulders, jaw tight with something that looked like guilt.

And behind him, her arms wrapped around his waist, was Sierra. The blonde wolf whose name had been whispered through the pack for weeks. The woman Lyra had refused to believe existed.

Now, staring at her husband’s hands gripping the handlebars while Sierra pressed her cheek against his back, the truth tore through her like a blade.

She stepped forward, her voice shaking.

“Stop the bike, Ryker.”

He didn’t. He hesitated for a heartbeat, then revved harder, the engine roaring as he sped past her.

The wind slammed against Lyra’s body, whipping her hair into her face.

For a moment she just stood there, chest heaving, eyes stinging. Then she screamed.

“Coward!”

The Ironfang Riders slowed their bikes, circling her like vultures. Some laughed, others muttered curses, one spat near her feet and sneered.

“She’s lost it.”

Lyra’s fist connected with his jaw before he could blink. The crack was loud.

Jax stumbled, snarling, and swung back, his knuckles cutting across her cheek. Blood filled her mouth.

She lunged again, half-shifting, the wolf within clawing for control. But there were too many of them. Six, maybe seven, all mounted on their monstrous bikes, trapping her in a circle of humiliation.

Then the sound came again, the deep growl of an engine.

Ryker had turned around.

Hope, raw and foolish, flared in her chest. Maybe he’d come back to defend her. To tell them to stop. To hold her.

But when he cut the engine and stepped off the bike, Sierra was still with him, clinging to his arm like a trophy.

Lyra’s voice broke.

“Tell me it’s not true.”

He said nothing. His eyes, those same eyes that once softened when he looked at her, were cold steel now.

“Tell me she’s not the one you’ve been sneaking off to,” she whispered.

Sierra smirked. “He doesn’t have to explain anything to you.”

Lyra lunged, fury breaking through the heartbreak. But Ryker caught her wrist mid-air and twisted, his grip bruising.

“Don’t,” he growled.

She looked up at him, her vision blurred by tears. “I’m your mate.”

“I unmarked you,” he replied coldly. “The moment you stopped obeying me.”

It was like being gutted.

“You are cheating on me! You're cheating on me and you're bothered about obedience?"

Sierra laughed softly, brushing a strand of hair from her face.

“Let her go, Ryker. She’s embarrassing herself.”

He did.

He swung back onto his bike, wrapped an arm around Sierra, and without another word, the Alpha of Ironfang rode away into the darkness, leaving his mate, standing alone, covered in blood and dust, beneath the hollow moon.

Lyra’s legs gave out. She sank to her knees, gravel biting into her skin. The world blurred into the roar of engines fading into distance.

“Why?” she whispered. “Why am I not enough?”

Her hands trembled. The wolf inside her howled, but there was no strength left to shift. Only the sting of betrayal, the echo of laughter, and the crushing silence that followed.

She didn’t know how long she stayed there until the faint crunch of boots approached.

“Lyra?”

The voice was deep and familiar. Cassian.

Her best friend.The one who’d loved her long before Ryker came into her life.

He crouched beside her as he placed a steady hand on her shoulder. His scent wrapped around her and for a moment, she felt warm and safe.

“Cass…” she sobbed, turning into his chest. “He chose her. He chose her.”

Cassian said nothing for a moment, just held her tighter, jaw flexing. “You don’t deserve this, Lyra.”

He helped her up, guiding her away from the road. The sound of engines had faded entirely now.

“Come on,” he murmured. “Let’s get you somewhere quiet.”

Lyra was still blinded with tears when she climbed on his motorbike, wrapping her hands around him as he died off crazily away from town.

They drove in silence, the moonlight filtering through the trees. Finally, the road opened into a clearing. A broken stone fountain stood in its center, overgrown with ivy.

Cassian killed the engine and helped her down.

Lyra blinked, her breath catching. “This place used to be our rendezvous.”

“Our place,” Cassian said softly. “You remember?”

Memories hit her. There was so much laughter, stolen kisses, promises whispered before dawn. Before Ryker. Before this crushing betrayal.

They strolled down to the lake and he suddenly grabbed her, spinning her into his arms.

When she looked up, his eyes were dark.

Cassian brushed a thumb over the blood on her lip. “He should never have let you go.”

Something in his voice made her pause.

“Cassian?” she whispered.

He smiled faintly. “You think you’re the only one he betrayed?”

Her stomach knotted. “What do you mean?”

“He took everything from me, Lyra. My place in the gang, my freedom. You.”

The words hit like a blow. She stepped back, but his hand shot out, gripping her throat, hard enough to choke her and make her still.

“Cassian, don’t—”

His voice cracked, thick with grief and rage. “I loved you first. I would have burned the world for you.”

“Then why are you hurting me?”

“Because if I can’t have you,” he whispered, tears spilling over, “no one will.”

He shoved her backward. Her body struck the cold stone edge of the lake. She gasped as he forced her down, water splashing around her.

“Cassian!” Her voice broke as she clawed at his wrists. “Please!”

He didn’t stop, he tightened his hold as he pressed harder, forcing her under.

The fountain’s murky depths closed over her face. She thrashed, bubbles bursting from her mouth, her lungs screaming for air.

Cassian’s silhouette loomed above, distorted by the rippling water.

Her vision dimmed. Her heartbeat slowed.

The last thing Lyra saw was the reflection of her best friend in the water.

And then everything went black.