Chapter 3 TWO

[NYRA'S POV]

I wiped away the last tear from my eye as I stared at my sister's body going up in flames. The guards had gotten to her last night. She had put herself on the line to distract them, but it cost her her own life.

I blamed myself for listening to her and leaving her alone.

“There was nothing you could have done, Nyra. Rather we'd all be dead by now, vultures featuring on our corpses," Lyrica, my wolf murmured.

Maybe she was right.

I mean the guards were too many and there was absolutely nothing I could do to fight them. But I can't help but feel guilty. I can't help but know that the life we planned to live in the rogue territory would not happen. The freedom we had both planned to enjoy is now left in the imaginary world.

“We're seriously going to Blackthorn ridge?" Lyrica asked. I rolled my eyes despite the fact that she couldn't see me. “Are we sure that's where we want to go?"

I rose to my feet, slung my bag over my shoulder, turn around and walked away from my sister's burning body. " That's where I want to go. The only thing you are doing is following me.”

" That's not a good idea, Nyra. The rogue Alohas don't take well to strangers.”

I didn't fail to notice the warning beneath her voice, but there was little I could do. Right now I have just two options

Option one; Wander these woods and risk my uncle Jackson finding me and locking me up.

Option two; Head south to Blackthorn ridge and hope the rogue Alphas don't kill me.

I'll go with option two, thank you very much. There's no way in hell I'm risking Jackson catching me. Not after what I heard him tell two of his elders last night.

I'd rather be killed by the rogue Alphas than let Jackson get his filthy hands on me.

“You do know this is like walking into a death trap, right?" Lyrica says, as I head deeper into the woods. “You don't even know where to go!”

" Of course I do,” I reply out loud. Finding Blackthorn ridge shouldn't be that difficult, right?

Lyrica lets out a frustrated groan and I sigh. " Can you just stay silent? You're …"

“Someone's coming!*

I dive behind the nearest tree before I hear the voices.

" She couldn't have traveled through the night. She'll still be here somewhere,” a male voice says as the footsteps grow closer by the second. My heart pounds in my chest as I struggle to control my breathing.

These men are not just guards, they're trained wolves who can pick up on the slightest sound I make.

“Maybe she headed south?" Another man asked.

“She won't be so stupid as to head into rogue territory. Even babies know better “

" See?" Lyrica murmured. I don't respond. I can't see the men talking but I can hear them, every sync of their heartbeat. And now those two heartbeats are getting closer and closer to where I'm hiding.

I don't waste another second before bolting out of my hiding place and further into the woods. The men's screams are replaced by loud growls and in an instant they are on my heel, chasing after me.

Oh, fuck! Not again.

Branches whip at my face as I sprint through the forest, heart hammering so loud it drowns out everything else. The cold night air burns in my lungs, but I don’t stop.

I can’t stop.

Behind me, claws rip into the earth, two wolves, maybe three, snarling and snapping as they close the distance. Their growls rumble through the trees like thunder.

“Faster, Nyra!” Lyrica’s voice booms in my head, sharp and urgent. “Those random thoughts are not needed right now. Just run!”

I leap over a fallen log, nearly slipping on the moss, but my body moves on instinct now. I can smell the wolves behind me, wet fur, rage, bloodlust.

They’re too close.

The forest blurs around me. My human legs can’t carry me fast enough, and I can already hear the Alpha’s command in their minds.

They won’t stop until they've taken me, alive or dead .

“Lyrica, we need to shift,” I pant.

“Not yet.”

“What do you mean, not yet?! They’re right behind…”

Something crashes into me from the side, sending me sprawling into the dirt. I roll instinctively, just in time for a massive wolf to slam its claws where my chest had been a second ago. The ground shakes with the impact.

A snarl tears from my throat as I scramble to my feet. My hand closes around a broken branch, useless against a creature twice my size, but it’s all I have. The wolf lunges, and I swing blindly, the wood cracking against its muzzle. It yelps but doesn’t stop.

“Now,” Lyrica growls. “Let me out!”

"Okay fine!” I grumble. The world tilts as the change tears through me, bones snapping, blood rushing, flesh burning. My scream warps into a howl as the transformation completes in seconds.

My vision sharpens. Every scent, every sound, every heartbeat explodes around me in clarity.

I whirl on the wolf who attacked me, lips curling back over my fangs. He hesitates, clearly not expecting the frightened girl to turn into a silver-furred beast ready to whoop his ass off.

Ha!

Lyrica takes full control.

We launch at him, claws slashing across his chest. He yelps and stumbles back, but another wolf joins the fight, then another.

Three against one.

A fair fight indeed.

We dart through them, fast and fluid, every move guided by instinct. One lunges for my throat; I twist, sink my teeth into his shoulder, and fling him into a tree. Blood sprays across the forest floor. The second wolf bites into my hind leg, but I whirl and rake my claws across his snout until he lets go.

The third doesn’t attack. He just stares, eyes wide, tail low, sniffing the air.

“Oh , fuck," Lyrica murmurs. " The mark, he can sense it.”

Realization flickers in the wolf’s gaze before he lets out a whimper and bolts back the way he came, dragging the wounded one with him.

For a moment, silence reigns. My chest heaves, blood and dirt on my fur, but I stand my ground.

Then a low growl echoes from somewhere deeper in the forest. Not a pack wolf, and definitely not one of Jackson’s men.

Something older, wilder.

The air shifts, heavy with power.

“Nyra,” Lyrica whispers, uneasy now. “I have the feeling we got company."

Through the trees, two figures emerge—wolves larger than any I’ve ever seen, their fur dark as midnight, eyes glowing like molten gold.

Rogues.

But as they approach, the mark on my back begins to burn again, hot and pulsing, as if it recognizes them.

And when the taller one steps into the moonlight, his gaze meets mine… and everything inside me stills.

The world falls silent except for the sound of our heartbeats.

It’s not fear that rushes through me this time. It’s something else. Something electric.

And Lyrica’s voice trembles with awe. “Mate.”

My head spins, and everything goes black.