“Why does it have to be this way?” Lyra protested, as though she wanted to reject her fate. She never expected the Moon Goddess to do this to her.
After meeting Kael, Lyra hurried home that night. Her body was trembling, but not from fear, and something inside her had changed. A strange power had invaded her body.
On top of that, Kael’s aura was still incredibly strong, as though it were following her. Wasn’t that a distinctive sign that the bond between mates had begun to awaken?
“This has to be a mistake. Yes, I’m absolutely sure of it,” Lyra argued.
“What if this fate comes true and destroys the entire Nightfall pack?”
Lyra began to imagine the worst. Her thoughts ran wild, picturing something that had not yet happened.
Lyra fell asleep uneasily and had a nightmare. She saw herself standing in a flowering forest. The full moon was shrouded in a soft glow. A blurry figure slowly appeared before her. Maybe it was an incarnation of the Moon Goddess, she thought.
“The bond between you has already been decided. Prepare yourself! It will not be easy when you accept it with open arms. Are you ready to lose everything to find what truly defines you?”
“What?”
Lyra woke from her sleep, her heart pounding. Cold sweat soaked her back and forehead. Thankfully, it had only been a dream, she told herself with a long sigh.
The next morning, Lyra opened the door to her house and saw an Omega, one of Kael’s underlings, waiting to tell her something. The man said that Alpha Kael had summoned her and ordered her to immediately meet the pack leader at his residence.
“He’s waiting for you,” the tattooed man said. “Hurry up!”
Lyra nodded slowly. “All right. I know.”
When she arrived at a private room in Alpha Kael’s residence, Lyra was invited to sit on a long sofa. She glanced around awkwardly, trying to hide her embarrassment after what had happened the night before. She no longer dared to look Kael in the face, though Kael occasionally warned her with a cold, sarcastic glare.
“Listen, Evren! We are not mates. Just pretend that what happened last night never happened between us. Do you understand?” Kael sternly warned Lyra again, without beating around the bush.
“Never happened between us?” Lyra repeated in confusion. “What do you mean?”
Kael remained silent for quite some time, turning his gaze toward Lyra. Eventually, Lyra found the courage to say what she should have kept to herself.
“You felt it too, didn’t you?” Lyra turned the question back on him.
Kael’s previously calm posture and expression grew tense. It was obvious that he had felt the same thing Lyra had. But Kael was too proud to admit it.
Kael had to clear up the misunderstanding immediately. Then, with ease, he twisted the situation around.
“The Moon Goddess made a mistake. I will never taint the pack’s bloodline by making a traitor’s daughter my Luna. Never,” Kael declared. Lyra turned toward him with a scornful, furious look.
“Don’t tell anyone about this bond, or I’ll exile you. No, wait. I might even kill you if you do,” he threatened.
“So don’t break the rules I’ve laid down! Do you understand?” he ordered.
Lyra felt shattered by Kael’s painful words. The ache in her chest was not merely the pain of rejection, but the agony of a bond being pulled tight and forcibly severed.
“Say something! Don’t just stand there in silence!” Kael snapped. “You can speak now.”
“I don’t want to say anything anymore. I’ll follow all your orders,” Lyra replied.
“Good! I hope there won’t be any problems between us in the future.”
“I’ll make sure there never are,” Lyra said before leaving Kael.
Lyra rose from her seat. As she turned her back on Kael, the Alpha spoke more words that wounded her heart.
“Don’t ever dream of becoming my Luna. You mean nothing to me,” Kael sneered.
“You’re not worthy of being my mate. Remember that!”
Lyra stopped in her tracks. The Alpha’s words were too cruel for her to bear. There was no reason to remain standing before Kael any longer, so she immediately left his office.
“You humiliated me, Kael. I’ll make sure you regret it someday,” Lyra muttered as she walked away.
Lyra hurried off. She could no longer hold back her anger after facing Kael.
“Please, don’t toy with me using this ridiculous fate! How could Kael and I ever be together when he destroyed my entire family? This is driving me insane,” Lyra grumbled as she left Kael’s residence, intending to return to the forest.
After hearing all the insults Kael had hurled at her, Lyra’s body continued to tremble. Her head hung low, and her face looked deeply sorrowful. Shovia happened to notice her and wondered what had happened to her friend. Something was clearly wrong.
“Lyra!” Shovia called. She hurried to catch up with Lyra.
“Lyra, where are you going?” Shovia asked when she reached her. “What’s wrong?” She took Lyra’s hand while looking her friend over.
Lyra’s eyes filled with tears. “I don’t know. I just want to leave this place. He really did reject me.”
“He?” Shovia furrowed her brow. “You mean... Alpha Kael?”
Lyra grew even quieter. Her silence only convinced Shovia that her guess was correct.
“What happened between the two of you?” Shovia pressed.
“Why does fate always choose to hurt me first before revealing its purpose?” Lyra replied.
“What do you mean?” Shovia did not understand Lyra’s words.
Lyra could not speak anymore. She struggled to explain to her friend the fated bond that had been given to her and Kael.
“Don’t tell me you’ve fallen in love with Kael. That’s not true, is it?” Shovia grew even more frightened at the possibility that her guess was right.
“I used to like him, but now I hate him because that damn fate has tied me to him even more,” Lyra confessed.
“Can you explain it to me? I really don’t understand what you just said,” Shovia pressed. She was already too curious after hearing Lyra’s story.
“Fate says that Kael is my mate,” Lyra told Shovia.
“What? Are you sure?” Shovia was utterly shocked.
“Are you going to become Kael’s Luna?” Shovia asked to confirm.
“Never. Before I could become his Luna, he rejected me first. He even threatened to kill me if it happened.”
“How could he kill his own mate? Is he going to defy the fate the Moon Goddess gave the two of you?”
“He rejected me because I’m a traitor’s daughter, just as he accused me of being in front of all of you.”
“Isn’t he afraid that the Moon Goddess will grow angry and curse our pack someday?”
“I don’t want to think about that.”
“Then what’s your plan now?”
“I don’t know.”
Shovia fell silent for quite some time. Without realizing it, Lyra had already walked away and left her behind.
“Lyra! Wait for me!” Shovia called as she ran after her.
Shovia could not catch up with Lyra. The girl had already vanished from sight.
That night, in a pine forest, Lyra stood beneath the moonlight. She stared at the sky and whispered into the silence of the night.
“If he doesn’t want this bond, then I don’t want it either. I’ll kill my own feelings before he can kill me again with his insults.”
“Lyra Evren!” someone called from behind her.