LOGINLyra's POVThe walls were closing in on me. Not really, but that's how it felt, like the room was shrinking with every breath I took. I sat on the floor with my back against the bed, my knees pulled up to my chest, staring at the locked door and imagining all the ways I wanted to hurt every last one of them.I could picture it so clearly. Walking downstairs, grabbing Silas by the collar, slamming Jeremy into the wall, throwing Caspian through the kitchen window. The images were satisfying in my head. Brutal and clean and final.But that's all they were. Images.Because the truth, the ugly, humiliating truth, was that I would lose. If I went down there right now and tried to fight them, I wouldn't last thirty seconds. The last time I shifted, I was a disaster. I didn't just attack the rogues. I attacked everyone. The brothers, the pack members, people who were trying to help me. I was a weapon with no aim, swinging in every direction, and the only reason nobody died was because Raphael
Jeremy's POVThe sound of that lock clicking shut was still ringing in my ears when we gathered in the study. I couldn't sit down. I kept pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace, my hands running through my hair like that would somehow make the knot in my stomach go away.I did this, I thought. I called them. I told them where she was. And now she is locked in a room upstairs hating every single one of us because of me."Stop pacing," Silas growled from the armchair, his voice cutting through the room like a blade. "You look pathetic.""I feel pathetic," I admitted, stopping long enough to look at him. "She was happy, Silas. She had her own place. She was unpacking her things and setting up a life for herself, and we showed up and ripped it all away from her."Silas leaned forward, his icy blue eyes burning with a fury that had nothing to do with me. "You did the right thing by telling us immediately, Jeremy. Don't you dare start feeling guilty about that. The best thing you c
Lyra's POVThe apartment was small. One bedroom, a tiny kitchen, a bathroom with a door that didn't close all the way. But it was mine. For the first time in months, I was standing in a place that belonged to me and nobody else.It wasn't fancy. The walls were a faded cream color and the carpet had seen better days, but the location was perfect. Two bus stops from school, ten minutes from the cafe where I had picked up a waitressing job last week. I could make this work. I could build something here that didn't involve mating bonds, pack politics, or men who locked me in rooms for my own good.This is what freedom feels like, I thought, setting my bag down on the kitchen counter. It's small and it's quiet and nobody is watching me.I spent the next hour unpacking. I didn't have much, just two bags of clothes, some toiletries, a few books I had taken from the estate library before I left. I folded everything into the narrow dresser in the bedroom and lined up my shoes by the door. I c
Jeremy's POVI watched her laugh at something Raphael told her, her whole face lighting up like the sun had decided to live inside her. She touched his arm. She leaned close to hear him better over the noise of the kitchen. She was warm and easy and kind, the way she always was with everyone.Everyone except me.I stood by the door, my hands shoved in my pockets, watching a version of her I never got to see anymore. Three days. It had been three days since she looked at me like I was actually in the room. She walked past me in the hallway this morning like I was a piece of furniture.Why does she still smile at him and not me, I thought, my jaw tightening. Raphael is getting married in two weeks. Everyone is fussing over him, and she has every right to be happy for him. But does she have to be this happy for him while I don't even get a glance.I told myself I didn't care. I told myself a hundred times over the last three days that it didn't matter what she thought of me. But watching
Lyra's POVMy hands were still trembling as I slammed my bedroom door shut. I was so incredibly angry that I could feel the heat radiating off my skin. I hated the way they looked at me, like I was a piece of furniture they owned rather than a person with a life of my own. They had absolutely no right to monitor who I talked to or who I went to coffee with."They don't even give me a chance to do anything," I whispered to the empty room, my voice shaking with frustration.They kept trying to explain how Joshua wasn't supposed to be around me, acting like his friendship was some kind of betrayal. They treated me like a nightstand, something to be dusted and placed wherever they wanted. They only came to me when they needed my body or when they needed to satisfy their own possessive urges, yet they had the audacity to talk about how I needed to be with no one but them? It was hypocritical and disgusting.I paced back and forth, the anger fueling my every move. I decided right then that
Lyra's POVThe ride back to the estate felt like a dream. Joshua drove his car with such smooth confidence, his hands relaxed on the steering wheel, and I found myself just staring at him in total awe. He had opened the car door for me earlier, treated me like a princess, and paid for my coffee without a second thought. These were the normal things I would see in movies or read about in stories, things that I always thought were reserved for girls who had perfect, quiet lives.I couldn't believe a guy like him actually existed. None of the brothers had ever done simple things like that for me. They were all so rough, so intense, and so focused on their own agendas that they never stopped to just be kind. They treated every interaction like a battle or a negotiation. Being around Joshua was like stepping into a different world where I was allowed to be soft. It made me feel genuinely happy, and for the first time in forever, I let myself believe that someone was actually interested in
LYRA'S POVThe walk back to the mansion was a blur of cold air and hot shame. Raphael’s jacket was heavy on my shoulders, but it didn’t warm the ice in my chest. He tried to talk to me in the car, his voice low.“They’re nothing. Vicious little girls playing at being queens. I’ll deal with them. You
JEREMY’S POVI smelled the blood before I even reached the house.My wolf surged forward, clawing at my insides. Something was wrong. Very wrong. I pushed through the front door and the scent hit me full force—death, fear, and underneath it all, her.Lyra.I ran up the stairs three at a time, follo
LYRA’S POVI stared back at Silas, trying to keep my face calm even though my heart was pounding. "Such as?"Rowan's mouth curved into a mean smile. He leaned close until his shoulder pressed against mine, getting right into my space. "Let's keep it simple, little stepsister. Rule one: no boys in t
Lyra’s POVThe dining room was ridiculous—a table that could seat twenty, crystal glasses that caught the light like diamonds, plates with gold edges. I sat between Iris and an empty chair, feeling like an imposter in my cheap dress.Marcus sat at the head of the table, looking like a king. Caspian