Chapter 6 - The Woman Lyra Called Aunt Had Been Lying Her Entire Life
Lyra woke in the infirmary.
Nathaniel was sitting beside her.
His shirt was torn.
A cut crossed his cheek.
He hadn't slept.
“You stayed.”
He looked at her.
“Of course.”
She smiled weakly.
Then remembered the voice.
Father.
Nathaniel noticed her expression.
“What did you hear?”
“I don't know.”
“My wolf heard something too.”
“What?”
“She recognized another scent.”
Lyra sat up.
“Whose?”
Nathaniel's jaw tightened.
“Your father's.”
Lyra stared.
“My father died before I was born.”
“That is what you were told.”
Marin entered.
She saw their faces.
She stopped.
“You know.”
Lyra's voice became cold.
“Tell me everything.”
Marin closed the door.
“You deserve the truth.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
Marin sat.
“Your father was named Lucian Blackwood.”
Lyra had never heard the name.
“He was Alpha of a hidden Moonborn territory.”
“What happened?”
“He disappeared.”
“When?”
“Before your birth.”
“Why?”
Marin struggled.
“Because he was betrayed.”
“By whom?”
Marin looked at herself.
“By me.”
Lyra's face went blank.
“You?”
“I helped your mother escape.”
“Escape from what?”
“An arranged mating.”
Lyra stared.
Darius had said her mother was his sister.
That meant Lucian belonged to another bloodline.
Marin explained that Elena had been promised to another Alpha to preserve political alliances.
She refused.
She fled.
She met Lucian.
They fell in love.
But the council considered their bond dangerous.
They hunted them.
Elena was pregnant with Lyra.
She hid in Silver Crest.
Lucian returned to protect them.
He disappeared after the rogue attack when Lyra was seven.
Everyone believed he had died.
“Did he?”
Marin shook her head.
“We never found his body.”
Lyra's heart pounded.
“So my father may be alive.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Marin lowered her voice.
“The northern mountains.”
Nathaniel stood.
“We're going.”
Marin grabbed his arm.
“You cannot.”
“Why?”
“Because the people who took Lucian are still there.”
“Who?”
Marin looked at Lyra.
“The council's ancestors.”
The room fell silent.
Lyra realized something terrible.
The Moonborn had not been hunted by one enemy pack.
They had been suppressed by an alliance of powerful wolves who feared what Moonborn blood could accomplish.
Her mother had died protecting her because she had refused to surrender Lyra.
Her father had disappeared trying to save them.
And Marin had carried the guilt ever since.
Lyra looked toward Nathaniel.
“I need to find him.”
“I know.”
“We leave at dawn.”
He nodded.
Kira entered.
“I heard.”
She was carrying a map.
“I know where the northern route begins.”
Nathaniel studied her.
“Why help?”
Kira smiled sadly.
“Because I owe Lyra more than an apology.”
The journey took three days.
On the second night, they were ambushed.
Not by Black Claw.
By Silver Crest warriors.
Traitors.
Nathaniel recognized one.
“Bram.”
The elder stepped from the shadows.
“You should have listened.”
Nathaniel's eyes hardened.
“So this was you.”
Bram nodded.
“The council cannot permit a Moonborn to unite the packs.”
Lyra stepped forward.
“Who hired Darius?”
Bram smiled.
“You still don't understand.”
He turned toward the mountain.
“Darius isn't the enemy.”
“Then who is?”
Bram answered:
“The First Blood.”
Lyra's wolf recoiled.
The ancient term meant nothing to her.
Bram continued.
“The first wolves who founded the supernatural bloodlines.”
“They're still alive?”
“Some are.”
“Where?”
“Behind the mountain.”
Nathaniel drew his sword.
“Move.”
Bram laughed.
“You won't survive what comes next.”
The warriors attacked.
Nathaniel and Kira fought side by side.
Lyra's silver wolf surfaced.
She didn't attack.
Instead, she reached into the bond connecting the fighters.
She felt their fear.
Their doubt.
Their loyalty.
Then she severed the fear.
The traitors dropped their weapons.
Bram stared.
“You can break loyalty bonds.”
Lyra looked at him.
“No.”
Her eyes glowed silver.
“I can reveal them.”
The warriors realized who Bram had betrayed.
Several turned on him.
Bram fled.
They continued toward the mountain.
At the summit, they found a stone chamber.
Inside stood a man.
Tall.
Silver-haired.
Older than the photograph Lyra carried.
He turned.
His eyes widened.
“Lyra.”
She couldn't breathe.
“Father?”
He fell to his knees.
“My daughter.”
She ran into his arms.
For the first time in fifteen years, Lyra heard a word she had never allowed herself to hope for.
“I'm sorry.”
Lucian held her tightly.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I thought you were.”
Nathaniel stood behind them.
Lucian looked at him.
Then at the mark on their wrists.
“You bonded.”
Nathaniel nodded.
Lucian's eyes darkened.
“You don't know what that means.”
“Tell me.”
May you like
Lucian looked at Lyra.
“It means the prophecy is already moving.”
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