Chapter 01:
Lyra's POV
I glanced at Thorne, my breath ragged, my heart racing in my chest. His eyes, icy and distant, met mine, and the weight of his rejection sank over me like an iron prison.
It seemed as if the air had thickened, driving the breath out of my lungs.
"You're not my mate," Thorne replied, his voice steely, devoid of the compassion it previously possessed.
The words cut deeper than any blade ever could.
For a time, I couldn't breathe. This wasn't how it was meant to go.
This wasn't how we were meant to go.
Thorne was my fated mate, the one I had been promised to since birth.
Our destiny had been written in the stars, or so I had been made to think. And yet, in front of the entire Blackthorn pack, he stood there, rejecting me with nothing more than frigid disdain.
My hand curled into a fist at my side, claws cutting into my palm.l
"What do you mean?" I forced the words out, but they sounded strange in my mouth.
Thorne didn't flinch. He didn't even hesitate. He merely glanced at me with eyes full of remorse... or was it relief? It was "I can't be with you, Lyra. I'm not the man you need."
Tears stung at the back of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Not here, not in front of the pack. I had too much pride. Too much hatred bubbling inside me to let him see my frailty.
I took a step back, my head swirling with uncertainty and wrath.
"This is ridiculous. You're my mate, Thorne. You don't get to just"
"You don't understand." His voice got harsher. "I never wanted this. Not with you."
And just like that, the last piece of hope I had held slid away, and my world disintegrated.
The rejection was decisive, irreversible. But I wasn't ready to give up on us. I couldn't be.
I grabbed for him, my voice cracking as I begged, "Please… I don't comprehend. What changed? Why are you doing this?"
For a fleeting second, I thought I detected a glimmer of hesitancy in his eyes.
Maybe, just maybe, there was a part of him that still cared. But it was gone in the blink of an eye.
Thorne's stare intensified, and with a last, spiteful look, he turned away.
"You deserve better than me, Lyra. Forget about me. Forget about us."
My chest tightened as if someone had smashed a fist into it.
The words rang in my thoughts, drowning out everything else. Forget about us. I was being set aside, thrown away, left to pick up the pieces of a future I had never envisioned.
I stood there, transfixed, feeling the eyes of the pack on me.
Every word, every judgment, every unkind gaze sliced through me like daggers. I wanted to shout, to rage, to tear everything apart. But I couldn't.
I was the future Luna of the Blackthorn pack. I was meant to be powerful, composed, in charge.
But just now, I felt more exposed than I ever had in my life.
As I turned to go, I caught sight of Zane Blackthorn, my elder brother, standing in the corner of the room.
His eyes sparkled with a look I couldn't quite place, something deadly, something calculating.
I knew him well enough to recognize that expression.
I swallowed hard, pushing myself to keep going, to ignore the gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach.
The sensation that something wasn't right, that there was more to Thorne's rejection than he was letting on.
But I couldn't figure it out right now. Not with the pack looking, not with my heart still hurting from the massive hole he had left behind.
The days that followed were a haze of stillness and worry. I kept shut up in my room, my thoughts a continual maelstrom.
I wanted to detest Thorne for what he did, for destroying my heart so easily. But I couldn't. I couldn't ignore the notion that there was something more going on. Something dark.
I tried to ignore the whispers that floated about the pack, attempting to ignore the knowing glances exchanged between members.
Everyone had seen the rejection, and I knew they were all asking the same thing: Why?
Why had Thorne rejected me?
I walked to my chamber, unable to find calm. My thoughts were occupied with him, his rejection, his words, his treachery.
And then there was Caleb Nightwalker, the renegade Alpha who had always been a mystery to me.
He had come on the boundaries of our domain numerous times in the preceding few months, but I'd never taken much notice.
That was until he approached me in the woods one evening, a look of desperation on his face.
"You need to leave," Caleb had whispered, his voice low and fierce, eyes scouring the trees as if looking for something.
"It's not safe for you here anymore."
"Why?" I asked, my perplexity clear.
"What are you talking about?"
He glanced at me over, his gaze lingering on the small symbol on my neck—the mark of the tie between Thorne and me.
"Because your children are going to be the key to a conflict you're not prepared for.
The group has deceived you, Lyra. And it's not only Thorne who has things to conceal."
His comments hit me like a blow to the belly. "What are you saying? What about my children?"
Caleb drew closer, his words barely above a whisper. "You're not just the future Luna of the Blackthorn pack, Lyra.
You're the mother of something far more powerful than you could think. Something that the opponent would stop at nothing to control."
I gazed at him, my mind racing. "Who's the enemy?"
Caleb's eyes darkened. "I can't tell you yet. Not until I know you're secure. But you need to trust me. The longer you stay here, the greater risk you and your children will be in."
I gulped hard, every instinct in me screaming to go, to leave everything behind.
But something in Caleb's gaze made me hesitate. He wasn't lying. I could feel the truth in his remarks.
"But Thorne…" I paused, my heart a tangle of emotions. "He wouldn't"
"Thorne's not the man you think he is,"
Caleb interrupted, his voice steely. "He's not the same man you fell in love with. The instant he rejected you, everything changed."
The weight of his words crept over me, choking me. I had trusted Thorne, and believed in him. But now… I didn't know what to trust.
"Leave with me now, before it's too late," Caleb encouraged, his tone harsh. "I can protect you. But only if you come with me."
I didn't know what I was doing. But something inside me told me that Caleb was correct.
I took a long breath, steeling myself for the decision that may alter everything. As I turned to face Caleb, I saw a shadow move at the edge of the woods.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I wasn't alone.
Suddenly, a deep growl rang across the night, as a figure stepped from the darkness. It was Thorne.
"I told you to stay away from her," Thorne muttered, his voice thick with fury and something worse.
I froze, my heart missing a beat. What is he doing here?
Before I could respond, Caleb rushed forward, standing in front of me protectively. "You're too late, Thorne."
Thorne's eyes flared with something savage. "This is my pack, Caleb. And I'm not going to let you steal her."
The tension in the air was heavy, crackling with raw force. I stood there, stuck between two forces, two men who each possessed portions of my heart, and the reality I still couldn't fathom.
What had happened to Thorne?
And why was Caleb so desperate to protect me?
But as the night air became colder, something more evil seemed to be closing in.
A howl broke out in the distance, loud and terrifying.
A warning. From someplace deep within the jungle, a black figure appeared, traveling too quickly to see properly.
My pulse raced as the knowledge hit me—this was merely the beginning.
And soon, the darkness will come for us all.