Chapter 5
Lyra's pov
The mark on my wrist still shimmered faintly as I stepped into the hallway, my heartbeat thundering like it was trying to claw its way out of my chest.
Everything felt sharper now…too sharp. Even the torchlight along the stone walls seemed to bite into my eyes, throwing long, claw-shaped shadows that stretched and curled like they knew my secret. Like they knew what I’d just read.
Something was happening to me. Something I couldn’t undo.
I wasn’t just remembering Seraphina.
I was her.
And yet… I wasn’t.
I followed the hum in my chest…that invisible pull that led straight to him.
Draven’s scent lingered in the air, cedarwood and rain and something darker beneath, something I could almost taste if I breathed too deeply.
The Alpha’s doors loomed at the end of the hall. Scarred wood. Iron hinges. My pulse quickened.
I raised my hand to knock—
The door swung open.
Draven stood there, shirtless, damp hair clinging to his temples, moonlight sliding across the jagged scars on his shoulders. His silver eyes went straight to my wrist. Then to my face.
He froze.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he said, his voice low and rough, like gravel dragged over stone. “Especially not with that.”
I glanced down at the faintly glowing rune under my skin. The silver lines pulsed softly, like they had their own heartbeat.
“I didn’t come here for a bedtime story,” I said, forcing steel into my voice even as it trembled. “I read the journal. All of it.”
His jaw tightened. “You shouldn’t have.”
“Too late,” I snapped. “Now I remember things I never lived. I feel things I shouldn’t feel. And your pack isn’t the only one with secrets, is it?”
For just a second, his face cracked….grief, guilt, something raw flashing through before his walls slammed back into place.
“You need to come inside,” he said.
I hesitated, then stepped through.
⸻
The fire in his room burned low, painting everything in gold and shadow. Weapons lined the walls...blades that gleamed like they were waiting for blood. The air was heavy, smelling faintly of steel and smoke.
Draven didn’t look at me as he poured something amber into a glass. His hand shook.
“She wasn’t supposed to die,” he said finally, his voice so quiet it almost wasn’t there. “I was supposed to protect her.”
“Then why didn’t you?” I asked, softer now, but no less sharp.
“I tried,” he whispered. “But I didn’t see it coming. Not from him.”
The air seemed to thin.
“Dorian,” I said, my stomach dropping.
Draven turned then, his eyes glowing faintly in the firelight. “I suspected. But he was my brother in everything but blood. We fought side by side. Bled for the same pack. I never thought…” He swallowed hard. “I never thought he’d betray her.”
I took a step closer. My voice shook. “He tried to curse her. That’s what Seraphina wrote. He wanted her to forget you. To choose him instead.”
Draven’s expression darkened. “And the spell backfired. Instead of wiping her bond, it… tore her soul apart. I found her in the forest. Burned. Bleeding.” His voice cracked. “I held her until she couldn’t speak anymore.”
I didn’t realize I was crying until his gaze caught on my cheek.
“What were her last words?” I whispered.
“They were wrong about me,” he said hollowly.
The silence pressed down, thick as smoke.
“I buried her myself,” Draven said at last. “And the next night, the Elders lied. They told the pack it was rogues. They said it was over.”
“But it wasn’t,” I breathed. “Because now I’m here.”
He looked at me then….really looked, and for the first time, he didn’t seem like an Alpha. He seemed like a man who’d lost everything.
“I smell her in you,” he murmured, stepping closer, slow like a predator. “But you’re not her. You’re… more.”
My voice was barely there. “What does that mean?”
Before he could answer—
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Three slow, deliberate knocks on the heavy door.
Draven’s whole body went rigid. His eyes flicked to mine, sharp, warning.
Then came the voice.
“Alpha,” Dorian called smoothly, “we need to talk.”
My breath caught.
“Get out,” Draven hissed under his breath, jerking his head toward a side door. “Back hall. Now.”
“No,” I whispered.
His eyes burned into mine. “Lyra—”
“I need to see him. I need to know if what I felt was real.”
He caught my wrist gently, his thumb brushing the glowing mark. His touch sent a shiver straight through me. “If he realizes you remember, he won’t hesitate. He’ll make it look like an accident.”
I pulled free, trembling. “Then let him try.”
The door creaked open.
Dorian stepped in, rain in his hair, cloak dripping onto the stone floor. His golden eyes went to my wrist first, then to me.
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Well,” he said softly, “I guess we’re done pretending.”
Draven moved between us instantly, voice low and dangerous. “What do you want?”
Dorian ignored him. His gaze lingered on me like a knife pressed against my throat. “It’s strange,” he murmured, “how the soul never forgets. Even when the body is new.”
My skin crawled. “I saw what you did,” I said, my voice shaking but clear. “To her. To me.”
For just a moment, his smile faltered. Then his mask snapped back into place. “I only ever wanted to protect her.”
“You tried to erase her.”
“She was suffering,” Dorian said sharply, anger breaking through his calm. “You don’t understand. The pressure. The whispers. The bond. She came to me—”
“She chose him!” Draven roared, the sound rattling the walls. The fire in the hearth flared high, shadows lashing across the room.
I flinched, but Dorian didn’t. He simply adjusted his cloak and said coldly, “The Elders know. She’s marked. If she bonds with you, Alpha, if the truth comes out…they’ll burn this entire pack to the ground.”
He looked at me again, something dark and unspoken in his stare. “You can’t survive what’s coming.”
And then he left.
The door slammed.
I stood frozen, my heart slamming against my ribs.
“What did he mean?” I whispered. “About the Elders. About the bond.”
Draven didn’t answer at first. He moved to the fire, fists clenched, breathing hard.
“There’s a prophecy,” he said finally, his voice low. “A bloodline older than any Alpha. A Luna born twice. Marked by flame. If she bonds with her mate beneath the Lunar Alignment… the Elders fall. The truth comes out.”
My stomach turned to ice. “That’s me.”
“You weren’t supposed to survive,” Draven said, turning toward me. “But the curse didn’t kill you. It scattered your soul. It sent you forward…gave you a second chance.”
“Why?” I whispered.
His eyes softened. “To finish what she started.”
Silence stretched. Only the fire popped between us.
“The Lunar Alignment is two weeks away,” Draven said.
“That’s when everything changes.”
My throat tightened. “What happens if we… bond?”
His gaze locked with mine. “You become what you were always meant to be.”
“And if we don’t?”
“They kill you.”
The weight of it settled heavy in my chest. But underneath the fear, there was something else. Something I couldn’t name.
I stepped closer. My wrist glowed brighter between us. My body hummed like every nerve had woken up.
“I don’t know who I’m supposed to be,” I whispered. “I’m not just Seraphina. I’m me too.”
Draven reached out, brushing my hair back with a touch so careful it hurt. “Then we figure it out together.”
Our foreheads touched. My breath caught.
And just as our lips almost met—
The howling began.
Not one wolf. A dozen. Maybe more. The sound split the night, sharp and urgent, echoing through the keep.
A warning.
A war cry.
I jerked back, heart racing. Draven’s expression hardened instantly, all Alpha again.
But the taste of what almost happened lingered between us….hot, reckless, impossible to ignore.
The storm was coming.
And time was running out