As Nyma emerged from the training grounds, the coldness clung to her like air bitten into her skin, and she barely flinched. The ignition in her veins had yet to cool. Behind her, the scent of blood and betrayal lingered, and she refused to look back.
A sleek black car idled at the edge of the clearing, came into view, its sight cutting through the her misty darkness. Leaning against the hood, arms crossed, stood Kael—her brother, ever watchful. His hazel eyes locked onto Nyma immediately, scanning her with the precision of a protector.
Beside him, Raina, his mate, sat in the open passenger seat, her usually warm expression twisted with concern. The moment Nyma stepped closer, Raina's brows furrowed.
"You reek of blood," she said, voice careful. Just knowing.
Kael pushed off the car, his nostrils flaring as he took in her scent. His stance stiffened. "Nyma… what happened?" Kael's voice was measured, but his wolf was on high alert.
Nyma didn't answer. She slid into the back seat without a word, her hands still trembling from the lingering energy coursing through her veins.
The car door clicked shut behind Nyma, sealing away the scent of blood and burnt ozone. Kael and Raina too sat inside.
Kael's jaw tensed, his wolf stirring uneasily beneath his skin. He could feel it—the storm raging inside his sister, barely contained beneath the thin veneer of silence.
The scent of ozone and iron clung to Nyma's clothes - the aftermath of unleashed power and freshly drawn blood. Through the rearview mirror, he watched his sister's reflection - her moonstone locket pulsing like a captured star against her throat, casting eerie silver shadows across her
Raina shifted again, her gaze flickering between Nyma's eerily calm face and the rigid way she sat, her hands folded protectively over her stomach. She had seen this before—Nyma holding everything in, locking the world out.
The questions burned behind Raina's clenched teeth: What happened back there? Why do you smell of lightning and tears? Where is your mate?
But the air itself seemed to choke back the words. It crackled with Nyma's unrest - that volatile energy that always preceded either Lunara's fury or Adrain's cruel indifference. Tonight, it carried the acrid tang of both. Both scenario put every body on high alert that made the hairs on their arms stand on end.
Nyma said nothing. She simply stared straight ahead, her fingers absently tracing the moonstone locket at her throat and other held her belly. It pulsed faintly, like a second heartbeat.
Just as Raina opened her mouth—A distant uproar cut through the silence.
Howls. Shouts. The unmistakable chaos of a pack unraveling.
Kael's jaw clenched. "Nyma—"
"Drive. I want to be out of this territory now." A single command. No hesitation. No explanation.
Kael swore under his breath but obeyed, slamming his foot on the gas. The engine roared as they sped down the road, leaving the Lycan territory behind in a blur of dark trees.
As they pulled away, Nyma finally closed her eyes—And let the first tear fall.
The only sound Nyma registered now was the distant uproar of pack members back in the training grounds. She could almost hear them, the voices rising in disbelief and confusion, the weight of her actions rippling through the Lycan Court like a storm that no one had seen coming.
And soon, the entire pack, entire kingdom would know it.
Once Kael saw his sister's tear, he couldn't help but question."Did he do something?" His voice was low, dangerous.
Nyma said nothing. as she shook her head lightly.
Kael exchanged a glance with Raina, then shifted the car into gear. Raina exchanged a glance with him and then mind linking her husband. Their silent conversation passed in the twitch of eyebrows, the flare of nostrils: Not yet. Let her speak first. If she wants to.
It doesn't look like just the fight. It wasn't just Adrain if it as then Nyma wouldn't be this silent. It had to be more—something thrumming beneath her skin, a power that hadn't been there before.
Then, distant but unmistakable—
A roar. Not just one, but many.
The uproar of the pack.
Kael cursed under his breath, checking the rearview mirror. Shit. Whatever Nyma, did it got the entire pack howling. What happened?
Whereas hearing her pack howl, Nyma closed her eyes, her fingers brushing the locket at her throat—the silver moonstone still pulsing faintly, and somehow kept her together.
Nyma barely moved. Her fingers toyed absently with the moonstone locket, the faint pulse of its magic still lingering against her skin.
Kael drove fast. Too fast. His wolf was restless—she could feel it in the sharpness of his grip, the way his jaw clenched.
Raina, normally the peacekeeper, wasn't much calmer. She kept looking back at Nyma, her golden eyes flickering with barely concealed worry. "Nyma dear, you can tell us what happened," she asked softly.
Nyma's lips parted—then closed.
What could she say?
That she had marked Adrain with an Infidelity mark? That she had torn into Lira like she was nothing more than a rogue? After something strange had awakened in her, she had transformed partially something no Luna—had ever possessed? A part of the situation Nyma herself didn't understand as it was a miracle she walked away from a Lycan and warrior she-wolf unscathed.
So instead, she whispered, "Not now, Rain. Please."
Raina studied her, then nodded once, respecting the boundaries Nyma wasn't ready to break.
They drove on. The journey back to Raven's Flock territory was steeped in a heavy silence and tension. Kael drove with a grip too tight while, Raina kept glancing at young mother. Who sat unmoving.
It's been four hours since they began their trip and two more to reach home. Nyma, however, hadn't moved an inch or asked for anything. Raina offered water, food but she declined everything as she sat still in the backseat, hands resting protectively over her stomach, eyes fixed on the road ahead but seeing nothing.
Kael exhaled sharply through his nose. "You don't have to tell us what happened," he said finally, "Just tell me, you're fine, you're not hurt anywhere, right?"
Nyma blinked slowly, as if dragging herself from somewhere far away. Her throat worked, but no words came.
Fine?
She wanted to tell him yes. She wanted to give him something—some small reassurance to ease the storm in his gaze. But the word caught in her throat, strangled by the weight of everything she couldn't say.
She wasn't fine.
She was shattered.
Nyma swallowed hard and forced a nod. "I'm not hurt," she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. It wasn't a lie. Not physically, at least. But the ache in her chest was something no wound could compare to.
Kael studied her through the rearview mirror, his expression dark with doubt. But he didn't push.