LYRA'S POV
They say the shift will kill you if you don't have a mate bondmark. And I used to believe that.
I swore I really did, until tonight of my nineteenth birthday.
It started like a fever. No... not a fever, a fire. Writhing beneath my skin, crawling up my spine, coiling between my legs.
I was burning alive.
My knees buckled before I even made it to the bathroom. I collapsed onto the cold floor, drenched in sweat so cold it felt like ice but left heat in its wake.
Then came the first crack... I screamed, but no help came. I absolutely had nobody to come anyway.
My parents died years ago, and my only aunt, she stays miles away from where I stay alone.
My spine bent violently, bones snapping, muscles tearing as something inside me fought its way out.
My vision blurred... then cleared with sharpness. I saw my reflection in the mirror, glowing eyes and a bloodied mouth.
My own face, distorted... wild. My breath came in rapid, panting gasps, and chest heaving.
I should've died... I was supposed to die.
But then I felt it. A low, maddening pulse, not from my heart, but deeper. It was from the bond.
"Mate..." My wolf voice curled through my mind because she remembered him.
"Kade," I gasped in rage.
Even through the agony, I knew. He'd felt it, too. The bond he rejected, the one I'd tried to bury... had never died.
It had waited. Waited for a cursed night like this.
In a blink of an eye, the wind howled outside and I staggered to my feet. My body trembled but back to normal.
My skin glistened, scraped raw from the shift, my pulse still hammering wildly.
Then came the sudden knock at the front door, hard and demanding, but I didn't move. Another knock came, louder and fiercer this time around. I didn't need to open it to know who it was.
Still, I did... I did open the goddamn door!
And there he stood, soaking wet, golden eyes blazing, and dark hair slicked against his sharp cheekbones.
Dressed in black, leather jacket clinging to his broad chest, jaw tight with restraint. A walking storm.
Kade Renwick, Iceborn Alpha and my fated mate... sorry, my ex-fated mate because I considered him an enemy now.
"Lyra," he uttered MY NAME, but his voice was rough as before.
"You've got some damn nerve showing up here," I growled, yanking the towel tighter around my breasts.
The damp white cloth clung to my curves. It barely covered the swell of my breasts, the peak of my nipples pressing stubbornly through the fabric.
His eyes dropped instantly, locked on my chest. A slow drag, dark and unapologetic. A muscle ticked in his jaw, and his lips parted just slightly.
My core clenched.
I caught my breath and pulled the towel tighter, pretending it didn't make his gaze hungrier.
His eyes rose, meeting mine, and they were molten with unfiltered want.
"You shifted," he finally said, hoarsely. "Without a bond... you shouldn't be alive."
"But sorry to disappoint you, I'm alive." I shot back. "Bet you were hoping I'd die quietly, isn't it?"
"Not really... I thought I was protecting you," he said, but his voice lacked conviction.
"By rejecting me? By throwing me to the wolves, literally?"
"You don't understand—"
"You're damn right, I don't!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.
And then, the towel slipped. Not much, just an inch lower, but enough. His gaze crashed back down again, dragging over every inch of my bare skin.
Kade's breath paused... so did mine too.
He stepped forward, close enough for me to feel the heat of his body, the wet leather brushing my arm, the masculine scent of rain, woods, and HIM.
I stood frozen whilst my blood roared and my thighs clenched.
His hand twitched at his side like he was fighting not to reach out and rip the towel away.
And Goddess help me... I felt it too because of the bond.
"No!" I snapped, the word shattering the haze.
I shoved him hard in the chest and his muscles tensed beneath my palms. He stumbled back a step, eyes wide and wild.
"Don't touch me!"
"Lyra..."
"Don't," I warned, my voice sharp, breath uneven. "I don't care what the bond says. You don't get to look at me like that. You don't get to want me anymore!"
Even though I'd wanted him to, and my body still pulsed with heat from that single near-touch.
But I remembered the cold in his eyes two years ago when he said, "I reject you, Lyra." I remembered the pain.
Now he shows up when I've already bled for this bond? He must be a joker!
"To hell with you," I snarled. "Go back to your precious Luna!"
Following my words, his jaw flexed. "You need to come with me now," he ordered.
"I'm sorry...what?" I blinked, confused. "You think you can just waltz in here and—"
"You shifted without approval, Lyra...without claiming you! That makes you unstable and dangerous to the pack, and to yourself as well."
I stepped forward, the towel shifting dangerously low again. The glowing silver bondmark shimmered across my collarbone like a brand.
"Unstable?!" I roared. "I survived something you said would kill me... alone. And that makes me more powerful than any of you!"
"You don't know what you've awakened."
"And you don't get to command me anymore, Alpha!"
Then I suddenly felt it, the shift in the air. The surge of Alpha pressure. "End of discussion Lyra," he snapped. "You will follow me... Now!"
My body jerked forward, betraying me. My wolf whimpered in submission, spine bowing.
"No..." I gritted out, fingers digging into the towel. "I won't."
"You don't get to disobey me, girl."
"I don't belong to you anymore!" I spat. "Not anymore!"
He dangerously took a step forward, and his hand reached out... not to touch, but to take.
"The hunters will come if I don't bring you back," he said. "They won't ask, they'll drag you."
"Then let them try," I hissed.
"You're acting like a reckless pup, Lyra! You're coming with me, willing or not."
"Then drag me, Alpha," I smirked bitterly, turning away. But that was his trigger...
In a blink, his arm was around my waist. His body flush against mine and his chest pressed to my back.
"Don't touch me!" I snarled, elbowing him hard, but he didn't flinch.
"You want to disobey me?" he growled in my ear, voice like thunder. "Fine, but I'm not leaving you here to die. You're mine, Lyra. Whether you like it or not!"
He yanked the truck door open, hoisted me effortlessly, and threw me into the passenger seat.
The door slammed shut, and the storm opened up above us with heavy downpour.
I should've died the day I turned nineteen... Instead, I was caged beside the man I detest the most!