Kade
The blood wouldn't wash off his hands.
No matter how many times he scrubbed them raw beneath scalding water, he could still feel it—sticky, hot, clinging to his skin like guilt.
Kade stared at his reflection in the cracked mirror of the Obsidian Fang Pack's infirmary. His golden eyes were hollow, rimmed red from sleepless nights. The man who looked back at him wasn't the Alpha everyone feared. He was something else entirely. Haunted. Wrecked.
The scent of wolfsbane still lingered in the air.
Celine had been reckless again.
Another spar turned brutal. Another warrior left broken in her wake. And every time he reprimanded her, she smiled sweetly and told him she was only keeping the pack strong.
But Kade knew better.
She was preparing for war. One that hadn't yet begun—but was drawing closer with every breath.
He dragged a hand down his face.
The last few days had been a blur. Since Lyra had vanished from the war room—after that explosion of power—he hadn't been the same.
That moment had split him open.
Her voice. Her magic. Her pain.
She had been alive all this time. Stronger. Fiercer. Something else entirely. And she hated him.
He felt it in the way her eyes sliced through him. In the tremble of her voice when she'd said, "I'm not yours."
But once, she had been.
And once… he had been hers.
---
Flashback: Two Years Ago
The rain came down in sheets, soaking the training yard until the mud clung like quicksand. Kade stood beneath the eaves of the barracks, arms crossed, watching Lyra spar with one of the newer recruits.
She moved like fire—quick, reckless, beautiful. Her braid whipped behind her, soaked and slapping her back as she ducked and rolled, knocking the boy flat on his ass.
"You're gonna kill him," Kade called out.
Lyra turned, grinning through the rain. "Then he shouldn't have called me delicate."
Kade smirked. She bounded toward him, cheeks flushed, wild joy lighting up her face. When she was like this—unfiltered and raw—he forgot every reason he'd ever been told to keep his distance.
She stopped right in front of him, close enough he could smell her—jasmine and wildflower.
"You watching me for tips, Alpha?" she teased, pushing her hair back from her face.
He tilted his head. "Always. You're poetry when you fight."
She blinked. For a second, the flirtation fell away.
And then her smile faded into something softer. "Do you ever regret it?"
"Regret what?"
"Not choosing someone else. Someone stronger. Like Celine."
His heart squeezed.
He didn't answer with words.
He kissed her, instead.
Right there in the rain.
Her fingers tangled in his shirt, her mouth fierce against his, and for one breathless moment—everything else disappeared. The burdens. The pack. The legacy. None of it mattered.
Only her.
---
Present
Kade slammed the faucet off.
He couldn't afford those memories now. Not when the threads of his world were unraveling.
Celine had been circling him like a vulture since Lyra disappeared. Pushing the elders to name her Luna. Demanding territory raids. Digging into things she had no business knowing.
And now… now Lyra was back.
He didn't know where she'd gone, or what she'd become, but it was clear she had power. Power unlike anything he'd seen in a wolf.
And she had no intention of forgiving him.
A knock broke his thoughts.
He turned as Ash, his Beta, stepped into the room, grim-faced.
"She's back in the territory," Ash said.
Kade's chest tightened. "Lyra?"
Ash nodded. "Scouts spotted her near the eastern ridges at dawn. Alone."
"She wouldn't be alone," Kade said, already reaching for his weapons. "Ronan's likely nearby."
Ash frowned. "You think she's here to fight?"
"No," Kade muttered. "She's not ready for that. Not yet."
"But Celine—"
"She doesn't get near her." Kade's voice was a growl now. "Not unless she wants a war before the real enemy even shows his face."
Ash looked at him like he wanted to argue—but he didn't.
Smart man.
Kade stalked out into the morning light, his mind spinning with questions.
Why had she come back now?
And what had happened to her in those six months?
---
Flashback: Six Months Ago
He'd stood in the middle of the woods, Lyra on her knees in front of him, his mark burning on his skin.
"You can't do this," she whispered.
But he had to.
The seers had warned him. The elders had demanded it. Celine had manipulated every shadow she could.
And in the end, Kade had believed he was saving her.
By rejecting her.
"I release you," he said, voice shaking. "You are no longer mine."
Her scream shattered the forest.
And he turned away before his wolf could stop him.
---
Present
Kade found her where the mist curled around the trees—standing in the same spot he'd once broken her heart.
She didn't turn as he approached.
"You always find me here," she said softly.
His chest clenched. "I remember everything about you. Every place you bled in."
She turned then.
Gods, she looked different.
Her silver eyes were brighter. Her skin glowed faintly with power. And when she looked at him, it wasn't with longing anymore—it was with control.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," she said.
"I have."
Silence stretched between them.
Then: "Why are you really here, Lyra?"
"I need answers."
"To what?"
"To everything." Her voice cracked. "My parents. The curse. Why I'm not… normal. Why you left me when I needed you most."
Kade took a step forward. "I thought I was protecting you."
"You weren't," she snapped. "You were protecting yourself."
He swallowed hard. "I was afraid. Afraid of what they'd do to you. Afraid of how much I loved you."
"And now?"
"I still love you," he said, the words breaking out of him like a confession. "Even when you hate me. Even when you scare me."
She stared at him, eyes wide, expression unreadable.
Then she whispered, "I think I died the day you said those words."
---
Flashback: Years Ago
They'd laid beneath the stars, her head on his chest, the night whispering secrets through the pines.
"Do you believe in destiny?" she asked.
He smiled. "I believe in you."
---
Present
Lyra turned away again, but not before he saw the tears glistening in her lashes.
"I can't trust you," she said. "Not yet."
"I know."
"But I want the truth. About everything."
He nodded. "Then stay. Just for a little while. Let me show you what I've learned… what I've uncovered."
She didn't respond.
But she didn't walk away either.
And maybe, for now, that was enough.
---