“There she is!” one of the women whispered to the male friend standing beside her.
Lyra turned after hearing them whispering about her. Their voices were quiet, yet perfectly clear to her ears.
*Damn it! They’re still looking at me with those mocking eyes. They see me as though I’m some dangerous contagious disease,* Lyra thought.
“Lyra Evren!” one of them called, crossing her arms over her chest as if challenging her.
“Lyra the traitor,” the man added.
Lyra walked past everyone gathered for the morning training session as the Nightfall pack assembled in an open field that looked much like a dry meadow. Every eye turned toward her in disgust. Perhaps the rumor had spread throughout the entire pack, and now she was trapped beneath the label of “traitor” branded into her very being.
“Isn’t she the daughter of that traitor who was executed by Kael two years ago?” a man sneered at Lyra as she passed him with tears glistening in her eyes.
Ever since her Beta father had been accused of being a traitor and then killed by Alpha Kael, the supreme leader of the Nightfall pack, Lyra’s life had changed drastically. After that incident, she became known as “Lyra the Traitor.” Her very presence was never even acknowledged within the pack.
“Who allowed you to come here?” Kael demanded, his face twisted with anger. He didn’t like having a traitor’s family join the full-moon ritual.
“I’m still part of your pack. I want to take part in tonight’s ritual,” Lyra replied pleadingly.
“No!” Kael refused firmly. “Leave! You’re not welcome here,” he ordered harshly.
“Kael, please,” Lyra begged, her eyes brimming with tears.
“Take her away!” Kael ordered his two underlings to remove Lyra.
“Kael…” Lyra struggled against them. But she was no match for the two Omegas sent by Kael.
The two vicious Omegas dragged Lyra along and shoved her until she fell hard onto the ground. Lyra tried to get back up while begging them again.
Unfortunately, the two bodyguards had no mercy. They had been ordered to maintain security throughout the full-moon ritual, including removing Lyra from the area.
Lyra had no other choice. In the end, she gave in and decided to return home—a small house on the outskirts, near the Nightfall pack’s territory. Ever since she had been exiled from her pack, she had chosen to live alone in the dilapidated shack.
Lyra had no one left there after her entire family had been brutally slaughtered by Alpha Kael. Fortunately, her only friend, Shovia, was still willing to talk to her, even if Shovia had to steal moments to do so. Shovia was also facing social pressure within the Nightfall pack after being caught secretly meeting Lyra in the forest.
“I’m not defending my father, but at the same time, I’m certain he wasn’t guilty of what Kael accused him of in front of everyone. So what am I supposed to do now? Whose side should I take?” Lyra asked as she stared at her reflection in an old mirror inside her shack.
Lyra still questioned what had truly happened to her family. If, as she believed, her father was innocent, she had to erase the stain Alpha Kael had placed on him and clear her father’s name as soon as possible.
The next day.
Lyra secretly went to the Nightfall pack’s training grounds. While she was fetching water, she suddenly slipped and fell right in front of Kael Blackthorn. As she was about to get up, she accidentally lifted her face and stared at Kael for several seconds.
“What are you looking at? Lower your gaze!” Kael ordered.
“I’m sorry,” Lyra said remorsefully. She immediately lowered her gaze. Her hands trembled as Kael stared at her with mockery and hatred in his eyes.
“How dare you look at me like that?”
“I’m sorry,” she apologized again. “It was an accident.”
“Don’t wander around me! You’re extremely irritating. You’re nothing but a traitor’s daughter who doesn’t deserve to live with us,” Kael warned her.
“I’m still one of you. Whether you like it or not,” Lyra defended herself.
Kael smiled mockingly at Lyra’s defense. “Still one of us? How amusing.”
“You’re nothing but useless trash. If you hadn’t begged me for mercy back then, I would have killed you and your entire family right there.”
Lyra could no longer bear the insults pouring from Kael’s mouth. She held her ground. “My father was innocent.”
“What did you say?”
“Yes. He was framed. He wasn’t the person you claimed he was, Kael,” Lyra argued. “I’m certain of it.”
Lyra held back her anger. She did everything she could to keep her emotions from boiling over and taking them out on Kael. She always wanted to avoid that Alpha. Unfortunately, this time he had enraged her so much that she ended up arguing with the arrogant man.
Kael stepped forward, approaching Lyra. He stared at the face of the brave girl who had just contradicted him.
“How dare a lowly girl like you defy me?” Kael said, secretly impressed by Lyra.
“I’m not defying you. I only want to defend myself,” Lyra said, her voice trembling.
As Alpha Kael stared into her face, something suddenly trembled violently inside his chest.
Lyra felt the same thing after looking into the red-gold eyes of the Nightfall leader. Her chest tightened, and her breath caught for several seconds.
“No! It can’t be.” Kael suspected that something had happened between them.
Lyra stared at her trembling hands. Her heart pounded wildly out of control.
*What’s happening? Why do I feel like this?* Lyra wondered.
“Is that coming from your power?” Kael asked curiously. Lyra slowly shook her head, not knowing the answer.
*Don’t tell me that was the power,* Lyra denied inwardly.
“No! Not him,” Lyra muttered.
“The Moon Goddess couldn’t be that cruel,” Kael said.
Lyra tried to move away from Kael. Then she realized something and ran, leaving Kael standing frozen as he processed the sudden incident.
A short while later, Kael realized there was a bond between him and Lyra—the Moon Goddess had revealed the sign to him. Yet he denied it with all his might, as though he couldn’t accept that Lyra was his fated mate.
Meanwhile, Lyra began to feel a massive conflict within herself. What if the man who had destroyed her life and her entire family was her fated mate?
“NO!” Lyra screamed, as if defying fate.