Chapter 3

Lyra

I didn't stay unconscious forever.

When I finally opened my eyes, the sharp stench of healing herbs and bleach burned my nose.

"Lyra!" A familiar voice cracked.

"Lena..." I forced the word out. My throat was raw.

Lena hovered over my bed, eyes red and puffy. "You were out for three days. You terrified me."

Three days.

I blinked against the harsh lights. Three days meant my countdown was almost up. I only had twenty-four hours before the Royal chopper arrived.

Lena covered her mouth, choking on a sob. "Goddess, Lyra... you lost the pup."

The heart monitor beside my bed spiked.

"Pup?" I whispered.

Tears spilled down her cheeks. "You were six weeks along. You really didn't know?"

No. I didn't know.

A cold emptiness hit my stomach. The tearing agony I'd felt when Cole kicked me suddenly made sickening sense.

Tears flooded my eyes. I didn't care about Cole anymore, but this was my pup. My flesh and blood. And it was gone before I even knew it was there.

I choked on a sob. Lena hugged me, crying into my shoulder.

Before I could even process the grief, the clinic door exploded open.

BAM.

The heavy wood slammed against the wall, splintering the drywall.

Cole stormed in. His face was sheer fury, his Alpha aura flooding the room, thick and suffocating.

He didn't ask how I was. He went straight for the kill. "Why the hell did you try to kill Thea's baby?!"

I glared at him, swiping the tears off my face. "I didn't! She used witch-fire to push me! Her belly is a fake! Get a real healer to check her!"

Cole's eyes flashed feral red. He lunged, his massive hand clamping around my throat.

"You make me sick," he growled.

He yanked me out of the bed. My bare feet hit the freezing tiles. My knees buckled, but he just hauled me by my arm into the hallway.

"Cole! Stop!" Lena shrieked, shoving his shoulder. He pushed her back effortlessly.

"Are you insane?!" Lena screamed. "She didn't attack Thea! She has amnesia, Cole! She doesn't even want you! Lyra just—"

"Shut the fuck up!" Cole roared.

"Take her side again, and I'll exile you to the rogue lands tonight!" His fangs bared. "That's my heir you're talking about! I won't let you conspire against my family."

He dragged me into the VIP recovery room next door and shoved me forward.

I hit the linoleum floor hard on my hands and knees. Fresh pain ripped through my ribs and empty womb. I gasped.

Thea was in the plush clinic bed. Seeing us, she weakly propped herself up, playing the perfect victim.

"Lyra," she whimpered, squeezing out a tear. "I know you're jealous, but how could you be so cruel?"

She covered her stomach, breaking into an exaggerated sob. "The healer checked me... she said my little girl is gone."

Cole rushed to the bed. He pulled Thea into his arms, fiercely protective. "Shh, it's okay. We'll have another pup. I won't let her near you again."

Two massive Pack Enforcers stepped up behind me, pressing heavy hands on my shoulders to pin me to the floor.

I looked up at Cole, completely hollowed out. "She doesn't have a pup," I croaked. "It's a silicone prop packed with blood magic."

Cole stared down at me with pure disgust. "You expect me to believe your pathetic lies over the mother of my child?"

He stepped away from the bed, towering over me.

"You never learn," he growled. "If you still want the Luna title, go to the pack graveyard. Kneel in the dirt and beg the ancestors for forgiveness. If you don't, pack your shit and get out. The Luna title goes to Thea."

My heart flatlined.

The last thread tying me to this pack snapped.

I gritted my teeth, ignored the pain, and forced myself up. I shook off the Enforcers and looked Cole dead in the eyes. No yelling. No crying.

"Okay," I said. Dead calm.

Cole frowned. My sheer emptiness completely threw him off balance.

"Consider it done," I whispered. "I'm out."

I turned and walked out of the room. I didn't look back once.

A weird spike of panic hit Cole, but his ego shoved it down. He turned his attention back to Thea.

He stayed by her bed for hours, babying her fake tears. Well past midnight, he finally dragged a hand through his hair and drove back to the Alpha Estate.

But when he pushed the front doors open, something was off.

The massive packhouse was dead quiet. And my scent—the vanilla and rain that used to cover every room—was bleach-scrubbed away.

"Lyra?" Cole called out.

Silence.

He took the stairs two at a time. He pushed open his bedroom door. Gone. The closet? Empty. The bathroom? Cleared out. It was like I had never lived there.

Pure dread clawed at his throat.

He pulled out his phone. His hands shook slightly as he dialed Lena.

"Lena," Cole barked the second she answered, masking his panic with Alpha authority. "Where the hell is Lyra? Is she at your place?"

Dead silence on the other end.

Then, Lena let out a cold, bitter laugh.

"Lyra? You told her to pack her shit and get out. She's gone, Cole."

"Gone? Gone where?!" Cole snapped, pacing the empty room. "I was just pissed off! She has nowhere to go!"

"She went back to the capital. Her Royal match chopper picked her up an hour ago."

Cole froze. His blood ran ice cold.

"Oh, and by the way," Lena sneered, her voice dripping with pure hatred. "Before you threw her to the floor and made her apologize to that bitch..."

Lena paused, making sure he heard every single syllable.

"Lyra had just miscarried your actual pup."

Cole stopped breathing.

His fingers went completely numb. The phone slipped out of his hand, hitting the hardwood floor with a deafening crack.