Chapter 6
Lyra stood where I used to stand.
Not physically.
But I felt it anyway.
The pack yard buzzed in that low, restless way it always did when something important was happening. Wolves clustered in loose knots, voices murming, heads turning as one body. The air smelled like pine, sweat, and anticipation.
I stayed near the outer ring. Habit now.
No one told me to move. No one had to.
Then I saw her.
Lyra Moonveil stood at Kael's right side like she'd always belonged there. Close enough that their shoulders almost brushed. Not touching. Just… aligned.
My chest tightened sharply. Not jealousy. But
Recognition.
She wore pale gray, simple and soft. Luna colors without claiming them. Her hair was braided low, neat, deliberate. Not a single strand out of place.
Just perfect.
She smiled when someone spoke to her. A small smile. Careful. Gracious. The kind that said she didn't need to try.
The pack responded instantly.
Heads dipped. Postures softened. Approval rippled outward like a stone dropped into water.
I swallowed.
That should've hurt more.
Kael spoke, voice carrying easily. Calm abd Controlled. Alpha-perfect.
"…temporary adjustments to pack duties. Until stability is restored."
Stability.
That word again.
Lyra nodded beside him, serene. When he paused, she leaned in just enough to murmur something I couldn't hear.
Kael's jaw flexed. Then he nodded once and continued.
They moved together easily. Too easily.
Like practice.
My wolf pressed closer to the surface, bristling.
She doesn't belong there.
I didn't answer her.
Because a colder thought slid in behind the anger.
What if she does?
I forced myself to look away, but it was like watching a wound close where you thought skin would never heal again. The pack was already adjusting. Already rewriting the shape of things.
I caught Darian's eye across the yard.
The Beta stiffened.
Not with anger. With discomfort.
He looked away first.
That mattered.
"She suits him," someone murmured nearby.
Another voice answered softly. "She brings calm."
Calm.
I laughed under my breath. It came out wrong. Broken.
Lyra's gaze flicked toward me.
Just for a second.
Her eyes were warm. Brown. Unthreatening.
She inclined her head slightly. Polite. Almost apologetic.
My fingers curled into my palms.
That was worse than a smirk.
She approached later, when the gathering thinned and the moon climbed higher. When Kael was pulled aside by elders and I was left alone near the edge of the torchlight.
"I was hoping to speak with you," she said gently.
Her voice matched her appearance. Soft and careful. Designed to soothe.
I didn't turn. "You're already doing plenty of that."
She paused. "I don't want there to be… tension between us."
I finally faced her.
Up close, she smelled like lavender and clean air. No fear. No sharp edges.
Just control.
"That's considerate," I said. "Given you're standing in my grave."
Her breath caught.
Not much. Just enough.
"I'm not trying to replace you," she said quietly.
The lie wasn't in her words.
It was in her certainty.
"I was chosen," she continued. "By the council. By the moon's signs."
I tilted my head. "Funny. The moon hasn't spoken to me in a while. But when it did, it didn't sound like approval."
Her brow furrowed, concern slipping through the cracks. "You're hurt. Anyone would be."
I stepped closer. Close enough that she stiffened despite herself.
"Listen to me," I said softly. "If you think this ends with you standing beside him and me fading quietly into the trees, you're mistaken."
Her lips parted. "I don't want you harmed."
"I believe you," I said. "That's the problem."
She studied me, really studied me now. Like she was cataloguing something she hadn't planned for.
"You don't see yourself clearly," she said at last.
A chill slid down my spine.
"No," I agreed. "But neither do you."
Footsteps approached. Kael.
Lyra straightened instantly, stepping back into place like water filling a mold.
Kael stopped when he saw us together.
His eyes flicked over me. Lingering and sharp. Something raw moved there before he crushed it down.
"Everything alright?" he asked.
Lyra smiled. "Of course."
I didn't.
Kael waited.
I met his gaze. Held it.
"Congratulations," I said flatly. "You found stability."
His jaw tightened. "This isn't what you think."
"That's getting old," I replied. "And it's starting to sound like a habit."
Silence stretched. Thick. Dangerous.
Lyra touched his arm lightly. A grounding gesture.
The bond reacted.
Pain sliced through my chest, sudden and vicious. I sucked in a sharp breath, staggering back a step.
Kael's head snapped up.
"Elowen…"
I turned away before he could finish.
I wouldn't give him the sound my lungs wanted to make.
I didn't stop walking until the pack lights blurred behind me and the trees closed in.
Only then did I let myself breathe.
My hands shook.
This wasn't jealousy. It wasn't heartbreak.
It was displacement.
Like the world had moved a piece on the board and pretended it had always been there.
My wolf paced restlessly inside me.
She wears the face of peace, my wolf growled. But she smells like endings.
I pressed my back against a tree and slid down until I was sitting in the dirt.
"What am I missing?" I whispered.
The answer came not as words, but as sensation.
A pull.
Not toward Kael.
But toward Lyra.
It made no sense.
My mark burned faintly, just under the skin. Not pain. Awareness.
A memory brushed the edge of my mind.
A woman standing in moonlight.
Not me.
Not Lyra.
But… similar.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
"No," I muttered. "Not now."
Footsteps again.
Darian emerged from the shadows, expression tight.
"You shouldn't be alone," he said.
"Neither should liars," I shot back.
He flinched. "I didn't come to argue."
"Then say what you came to say."
He hesitated, then lowered his voice. "Be careful around her."
I stilled. "You just said she brings calm."
"I said the pack thinks she does," he corrected. "There's a difference."
"What aren't you telling me?" I demanded.
His jaw worked. "I don't know yet."
That wasn't comforting.
"She didn't push for your punishment," he added quietly. "That matters."
"So does intent."
He met my eyes. "So does timing."
Before I could respond, a sharp cry split the night.
The ground thrummed under my feet. The trees shivered. The moon flared brighter, light slicing through the canopy like a blade.
Darian swore. "That's the circle."
My heart slammed violently against my ribs.
Because whatever was waking up didn't feel like judgment.
It felt like recognition.
And somewhere behind us, Lyra screamed my name.