Chapter 8 8
He cupped my face with his other hand, his thumb brushing over my lower lip, pulling it down slightly. The air between us was thick, charged with a hunger that was becoming harder to ignore.
"Listen to me, Lyra," he vowed, his forehead resting against mine, his breath warm against my skin. "I don't care about the Goddess's whims.
If the moon doesn't choose us, I will choose you anyway. I would reject a thousand fated mates just to keep you by my side. To me, you aren't an Omega. You are the woman who tamed the wolf.
I would choose you in every lifetime, in every pack, under every moon. I will protect you with my last breath. No one, not even my father, will ever come between us."
My heart was hammering so hard I thought he could feel it through my ribs. I wanted him to mark me right then, to bypass the laws of nature and make me his by choice rather than fate.
I reached up, my fingers grazing the pulse point at his neck, feeling the same frantic rhythm in him.
He kissed me then. It wasn't the violent claim of tonight, but it was far from innocent. It was a slow, deep promise that tasted of desperation and forever.
His tongue swept against mine, a lingering caress that made my toes curl in the grass. His hands tightened on my waist, pulling me closer until there was no space left between us, until I could feel the hard lines of his body demanding a surrender I was more than willing to give.
I remember thinking that as long as Silas was by my side, I could survive anything. I believed his words. I believed that even without a bond, his love was an unbreakable shield.
How wrong I was.
The shield hadn't been unbreakable; it had been an illusion made of glass, shattered by the very hands that promised to hold me.
The memory shifted, turning dark. I remembered the day of the accusation, the way those same honeyed eyes turned into ice as he watched them drag me away.
He didn't say a word. He didn't step forward. The man who promised to protect me with his last breath stood silent as my world was set on fire. The shield hadn't been unbreakable; it had been an illusion.
The scalding water snapped me back to the present. I gasped, leaning my forehead against the damp tiles as the memory faded, leaving a hollow ache in my chest. That Lyra was dead. The Silas who loved her was a ghost.
I stepped out of the shower and stood before the fogged-up mirror.
With a trembling hand, I wiped away the condensation, forcing myself to look at the mark on my neck. It pulsed, a cruel, beautiful brand that tied my soul to a monster.
My wolf stirred, whispering of submission, of returning to his side, but I bared my teeth at my own reflection.
"I am not your toy, Silas," I whispered, my voice gaining a jagged edge.
I reached for a heavy concealer, frantically dabbing the thick cream over the bite mark until the angry violet hues vanished beneath a mask of beige.
I put on my uniform, buttoning the collar to the very top, feeling the fabric chafe against the wound. It was a physical lie, a temporary fortress.
I took a deep breath, focusing on the cold, hard spark of the Moon Wolf hidden deep within me.
If the world was going to burn again, I wouldn't be the one on the pyre this time. I applied a bold, dark lipstick, a shade Lyra would have never worn, and let the mask settle over my features.
I was barely out of the shower, shrouded in steam and with my skin still red from the scalding water, desperately trying to erase the mark of Silas, when my phone roared on the nightstand.
"Lyra? Where the hell are you?" Sienna’s voice sounded on the verge of collapse. "It’s chaos! The restaurant is bursting with the Valentine’s brunch crowd and we’re sinking. You have to get here right now!"
"I... I’m not supposed to work today," I tried to say, but my voice was a brittle thread. "I don’t feel well, Sienna…”
Before I could finish, I heard the sharp sound of the phone being snatched away. Delilah’s voice thundered in my ear, stripped of any trace of humanity.
"I don’t give a damn about your excuses! I want you here in ten minutes or don’t bother showing up tomorrow. Move your ass, Lyra! Now!"
The final beep was like a lash. I couldn’t refuse. Delilah was my only safety net; she was the owner of my time and the one who kept a roof over my head and the children's.
I was caught in a lethal pincer: on one side, the Alpha who wanted to claim my soul, and on the other, a servitude that consumed my dignity.
I put on the new uniform Delilah had forced upon us: a piece of black fabric, criminally tight and so short it barely covered the essentials.
It clung to my curves like a second skin, exposing my legs and highlighting my cleavage in a way that made me feel dangerously vulnerable.
I looked at myself in the mirror and saw a woman who looked ready for a hunt, though I didn't know if I was the hunter or the prey.
As I walked toward the restaurant, the mark on my neck burned. It wasn’t a physical heat; it was Silas’s presence, his Alpha scent of rain and cedar still clinging to my pores despite the scalding shower.
Every step I took felt like I was dragging chains. My wolf was restless, whining for the man who had abandoned me to the flames, while my human heart screamed for vengeance.
The morning sun streamed into the restaurant with a piercing clarity.
The moment I crossed the threshold, the chaos of orders and the clinking of silverware hit me, but my mind remained anchored in the alley, in the heat of Silas’s lips. His kisses hadn't been a display of affection; they had been a declaration of war against my will.
"Dammit, Lyra! Are you even on this planet?" Sienna shook me by the shoulder, snapping me out of my trance. She looked at me with a mix of suspicion and concern. "You’ve been looking like a ghost walking between the tables since those guys from the city arrived."
"It’s nothing," I lied, frantically straightening napkins that were already perfect. "Last night was... crazy. I’m just tired."
Sienna crossed her arms and let out an indignant huff, lowering her voice. "Well, you were right about those guys in the expensive suits. They’re pigs of the worst kind. Haven't you heard?"
"What happened?" I asked, feeling a knot in my throat.
