Lyra hadn't moved from her seat for what felt like hours.
The weather was calm and chilling but there was nothing calm about the storm stirring within her.
The fire in the hearth had burned low, its embers casting a dull, flickering glow across her chambers.
Her fingers were still adorned with the jeweled rings she'd worn to court, but her knuckles were white, tight, cold and trembling.
She replayed it again.
And again.
Damien's voice. His words. The courtroom.
"Danika will not be executed. She will be under my protection… as my concubine."
Lyra shut her eyes sharply. Her nails dug into the arms of her chair. It was one thing for an Alpha to spare the traitor. To show mercy for reasons of power, reputation, or control.
She could have accepted that. Spun it and masked her disgust behind court smiles and forged another path to get rid of Danika.
But this?
This was a claim. In front of everyone.
Her chest heaved. Her lips trembled.
He was supposed to kill her.
