Chapter 3 The Lie That Started It All

• Kael's POV
• The candles had burned down to stubs.
• I sat in my office, staring at the same crack in the stone wall I'd been staring at for hours. Sleep hadn't come. It never did when Lyra was on a mission. But this mission was different. This mission was a mistake.
• The door burst open.
• I was on my feet before the wood stopped shaking. A scout stood in the doorway, breathing hard, his eyes wide with something I couldn't read.
• "Is Rowan dead?" I demanded.
• The scout didn't answer immediately. He was still catching his breath. My hands curled into fists.
• "Speak."
• The scout swallowed. "Alpha Rowan is alive."
• My world tilted.
• "What about Lyra?"
• The scout's face paled. "She was captured, Alpha."
• My blood ran cold. "Captured?"
• "She entered his chamber. He caught her. There was a confrontation." The scout hesitated. "She's being held in the Alpha House."
• I gripped the edge of my desk. My knuckles went white. Captured. The word echoed in my skull like a death knell. Lyra had never been captured. She'd never failed a mission. She was too skilled, too careful, too perfect.
• Until now.
• Until Rowan.
• "Guards?" I asked. "How many?"
• "Heavy. He's not taking chances. She's locked in the east wing. Under constant watch."
• I wanted to break something. I wanted to scream. Instead, I forced my voice to stay steady. "Leave me."
• The scout bowed and left. I was alone.
• I pressed my palms against my eyes and tried to breathe. I'd known this could happen. I'd known the moment the Pack Witch spoke those words, the moment she looked at me with pity in her ancient eyes.
• "The huntress already has a fated mate."
• I'd demanded to know who. I'd demanded proof. And when the witch told me, when she said the name, I'd wanted to tear the world apart. Rowan. Alpha of the Black Fang Pack. The enemy. The rival.
• The man who was Lyra's true mate.
• I refused to accept it. I convinced myself the Moon Goddess had made a mistake. I convinced myself that Lyra belonged with me. She'd always belonged with me. I'd loved her since the day my father brought her home.
• She was seven years old. Small. Terrified. Her eyes were too big for her face. My father had found her in the ashes of her pack's village. The only survivor.
• "She's ours now," Darius had said. "We'll raise her. Train her. She'll be useful."
• I knelt beside her. I offered my hand. "I'm Kael. I won't hurt you."
• She took my hand. She trusted me. And I spent the next fifteen years earning that trust. I trained with her. Fought with her. Watched her become the deadliest weapon in the pack. And somewhere along the way, my friendship turned into something deeper. Something I couldn't name.
• I loved her. And I knew—I knew—that if she ever met her true mate, I would lose her.
• So I lied.
• I told her Rowan's family murdered her parents. I gave her the dossier. I sent her on a mission I knew she'd survive because she was too skilled to fail. But I hadn't counted on the bond. I hadn't counted on Rowan recognizing her. I hadn't counted on him capturing her instead of killing her.
• ---
• I stood and walked to the window. The night was black. I pressed my forehead against the cold glass and let myself remember.
• The day my father died.
• Darius had been old. Sick. I sat beside his deathbed, holding his hand, watching the light fade from his eyes.
• "Promise me," he whispered. "Promise me you'll never tell her."
• "Tell her what?"
• "The truth." His grip tightened. "The attack on her pack. The fire. Her parents. I ordered it."
• I froze.
• "She was a threat," Darius continued. "Her father was planning to unite the packs against me. I couldn't allow it. I killed them all." He coughed, blood staining his lips. "She was the only survivor. I saw her in the ashes. I knew what she could become. So I took her. I raised her. I made her believe she was avenging them."
• "You lied to her," I said. "You used her."
• "I did what I had to do." His eyes found mine. "You'll do the same. You'll keep the secret. She can never know the truth. If she finds out, she'll destroy everything we've built."
• I wanted to argue. I wanted to scream. But I saw the desperation in his eyes. The fear. And I nodded.
• "I promise."
• Darius smiled. Then he died.
• I kept that promise for two years. I watched Lyra hunt and kill and believe she was doing the right thing. I watched her suffer and bleed and never question the narrative I fed her. I told myself it was for her own good. She was too broken to handle the truth. She was too fragile.
• But that was a lie. I knew it was a lie. I kept the secret because I was afraid. Afraid she'd leave. Afraid she'd hate me. Afraid she'd see me for what I really was—a coward who'd rather let her live in darkness than risk losing her light.
• ---
• A knock at the door. "Enter."
• Another scout stepped inside, carrying a folded piece of parchment. His hands were trembling. "Alpha, a report from the Black Fang border."
• My stomach turned to ice. "Read it."
• The scout unfurled the parchment. His voice shook as he spoke. "Alpha Rowan has announced his intention to keep the huntress. He claims she's his mate. He's declared her under his protection. She's staying inside the Alpha House. The servants attend to her. No one is allowed to disrespect or harm her. She's being treated—" He swallowed. "Like a queen."
• I stared at him.
• My mind went blank.
• Captured, they'd said. Held. Locked in the east wing. Under constant watch. I'd imagined her in chains. In a cell. In pain.
• Instead, she was being treated like royalty.
• It made no sense. Rowan should have killed her the moment he caught her. He should have tortured her for information. He should have sent her head back in a box. Instead, he was feeding her. Protecting her. Valuing her.
• Because she was his mate.
• And now everyone in the territory would know it too.
• The candles guttered. The night pressed against the window. If Lyra succeeded—if she killed Rowan and returned home—I'd be free. Free from the fear of losing her. Free from the truth that haunted me. I'd have her forever.
• But if she failed... if Rowan had already claimed her... I'd lose her. Not to death. To something worse. To another man who loved her. To a fate I couldn't fight.
• For the first time in years, I began to fear the Moon Goddess.