Lyra jerked awake with a gasp, drenched in sweat. Her chest heaved as though she had been running, her hair clinging damply to her temples. The dampness of sweat clung to her dress, and as the cool air swept across the room, it chilled against her skin. The sudden change made her shiver.
"W-Where am I?"
She suddenly sneezed, shivering, and instinctively reached for the blanket tangled around her waist.
The movement sent a sting down her neck. Her hand flew to the spot, and when her fingers brushed the tender flesh, her breath hitched.
Her mind flew to the moments before she passed out. Her eyes widened remembering the massive beast that bit into her neck while pinning her down. 'I'm alive?' For a moment when the beast clamped his huge teeth into her she felt that it was her last day living. It wanted to unalive her.
That was when she felt it, the weight of a gaze.
Her eyes darted across the dimly lit room. The room looked like the room she met Rina before but this one was spacious and more fancier.
There he was.
A man sat in the chair by the window, his presence commanding the space like a shadow made flesh. He didn't move. He didn't need to. His eyes, sharp and merciless, pinned her where she sat.
Lyra's lips parted, trembling. Nothing came out from her mouth, not a sound.
The man rose. Slowly. Deliberately. The sound of the chair legs dragging against the floor made her heart pound. He moved with a predator's patience, every step calculated, until he stood before her.
"What were you doing in there?" he said at last, his voice low, cold, final.
Lyra's throat bobbed as she swallowed hard. Her hand remained pressed to her neck, the sting intensifying beneath his piercing gaze. Her mind stalled, she couldn't think about what he was asking, what he was even talking about.
"W... Who are you?" She stammered feeling the anger from the man.
Kross couldn't believe the guts this girl had to lie to his face and pretend she didn't know him. What games was she playing?
"Who sent you?"
His eyes flicked to her fingers on her neck. His jaw tightened. "Touch it all you want. It won't change what you did." His patience thinned, his jaw kept clenching harder
Her brows furrowed, panic flashing across her face. "I… I didn't do anything, That beast," she tried explaining. "It broke the door and... and came at me."
"Don't." The single word cut like a blade. His tone held no room for denial. The man in front of her looked scary more like the replica of the beast.
Lyra froze.
Kross leaned closer, not touching, but the sheer force of his presence smothered her. His voice dropped lower, colder. "No one tricks me. No one."
Tears welled in her eyes, unbidden. "I didn't… I swear… I don't even know!"
His hand shot forward, bracing against the headboard beside her head. The bed dipped slightly under his weight, though his touch never landed on her. His face was close enough that she could see the scar on his face that cut through the corner of his eyes to his cheek. Her eyes were the most greenest eyes he ever saw like moss but greener than that.
"The beast marked you."
"Why?" She wondered. He looked ominous, terrifying. He didn't know the reason too but that wasn't the issue here.
"This is your final chance. Why were you in there?"
""I-I was… I was locked in there," she stammered, her words tumbling out too fast. "I… I just came from the healer-Joy, yes, Joy can vouch for me. I got my herbs, and then-then the door, it closed, it locked, and I… I couldn't get out of the laundry room.
He narrowed his eyes. "Who locked you in?"
Her lips trembled, words breaking as they spilled out. "I-I don't know… I didn't see. The door just slammed, it, it wouldn't open. I swear, I tried, I tried so many times. Please, you have to believe me… I don't know who did it."
But as her gaze darted away and she continued looking down, just for a fraction, he saw it; the flicker of something hidden. The lie.
"Zane, Axel come inside now!" Kross mindlinked them who were guarding outside. This girl dared to treat him like a fool!
Zane and axel within some seconds they barged inside the room. Lyra was scared and she tensed up looking at the people who barged inside.
"Alpha!" They called out in unison.
'Who?' Lyra's eyes widened, her eyes turned to look at Kross. 'Alpha? The new Alpha?' Why was she with the Alpha?
Kross looked at the twins, "Take her to the dungeon!"
He wasn't going to waste his breath with her lies but maybe the dungeon will do her some good and make her confess.
Watching the two bulky men approach her, "Wait." She moved back, which was very useless. Her neck caught and blood flowed down his neck, it seemed her wound tore because of her sudden movement. "I told you everything!"
Before she could react, rough hands seized her arms, one on each side. The sudden grip bit into her skin, forcing her balance off the mattress. Her legs tangled beneath her as they hauled her upward, her body twisted helplessly under their strength.
She wasn't even standing at this point, she was floating, her leg didn't reach down. They manhandling her like she was nothing more than a rag doll.
Lyra's lips quivered, her voice breaking. "Please… I won't tell anyone." The pressure on her wound exceeded as they carried her by the arms.
He straightened, stepping back, as if even proximity to her burned him. His gaze lingered one last time on the mark on her neck, sharp, condemning, before he turned away.
At that moment, Noah and Ryan got inside the room panting heavily. Turns out when Kross mindlinked Zane and Axel, he hadn't blocked his mind link with his beta and Gamma, so they received the same message.