Lyrean's pov
"He didn't lie to you! He just didn't tell you, he weakened the mate bond between you two because he knew you loved Talon, wasn't that enough of a sacrifice? He watched you get betrayed by the man you loved and you think that was the right time to tell you he also felt the mate bond?"
My lips parted, but nothing came out. Elena's words struck deeper than claws, deeper than any blade.
Raze's mother's pack? Burnt down by his father?
I wanted to laugh, to scream, to shake Elena until the truth rattled free. Instead, my body betrayed me—my legs trembling under the weight of what I'd just heard.
"You're lying," I whispered, because the alternative was too much to carry. "You're trying to soften it. You're making excuses for him."
"I'm not." Elena's voice broke, sharp and heavy at once. "I was there, Lyrean. I saw what his father did. I saw how she was dragged into chains, stripped of everything but the name of 'maid.' And I saw the boy who grew up in that shadow, carrying her shame like it was his own skin. Don't tell me he lied to you. Don't you dare. He has been lying to himself his entire life just to survive."
Her words tore through me like a storm.
I staggered back, pressing my palm flat against the wall, needing something solid to lean on. "And what, Elena? That makes it right? That makes it right that he—" My throat closed, my chest seizing. "That he took me when I was too far gone to know who I was in bed with?"
Elena's face softened then, the wolf in her retreating. She looked at me—not as a guard, not as a woman bound to Raze's loyalty—but as my friend. "It doesn't make it right. But it makes it human. And sometimes the human parts of us are the ugliest."
Tears pricked my eyes. "Don't. Don't defend him to me. Not now. Not when I can still feel—" My voice cracked, and I swallowed hard, forcing the words out. "Not when I can still feel the bond humming every time he's near. I hate him, Elena. And I hate myself for not hating him enough."
Her eyes softened, but she didn't move closer. She just stood there, as if giving me space was the only gift she could offer.
Silence stretched between us, heavy and suffocating. My mind spun with images I didn't want—Raze's eyes burning into me, Talon's back as he stormed out in anger, Eryx's small fingers curled around mine.
"I need space," I whispered, almost to myself.
"What?" Elena asked gently.
I raised my chin, forcing the tremble out of my voice. "I need space. From him. From you. From all of this. I can't breathe when I'm caught between truths and half-truths, between two men who've both broken me in their own ways. I need space to decide if I'm going to survive this—or if I'll let it drown me."
Elena's mouth opened, then closed. She nodded slowly, her gaze unreadable. "If that's what you need, then take it. But Lyrean—don't confuse space with running away. Because no matter how far you go, the bond will follow."
I closed my eyes, her words a blade and a balm all at once.
When I opened them again, I whispered, "Then let it follow. I just won't turn around to face it."
And with that, I walked away.
...........
The corridors felt narrower than they ever had before, walls pressing in as if they wanted to force me back to him, back to Elena, back to truths I wasn't ready to bear.
I found myself in the small chamber I'd been given, the door clicking shut behind me like the world sealing me off.
I collapsed onto the bed, clutching a pillow to my chest. For the first time in days, maybe weeks, the tears came without restraint. Hot, stinging, endless.
I thought of Talon—his betrayal, his love I thought was unshakable, the way it shattered me into pieces I didn't know how to pick up.
I thought of Raze—his storm-grey eyes, the way he looked at me like I was salvation and destruction wrapped in one, the way he had taken from me without asking, yet still somehow given me Eryx.
And I thought of Eryx, my sweet boy. My heart. My reminder that even in the darkest nights, life could bloom.
"Eryx," I whispered through sobs, my voice raw. "I'll protect you. Even from the truth if I have to."
---
Hours must have passed before I stirred again. My body ached from the weight of it all, my eyes swollen from crying.
A knock came at the door. Gentle, hesitant.
"Lyrean?" Raze called from outside the room, I thought he'd left.
I froze, my heartbeat slamming against my ribs.
"I'm not here to fight," his voice came through, quieter than I'd ever heard it. "I just… I need you to know one thing."
I didn't answer, but my silence must have been enough.
"I'm not asking for your forgiveness," he said. "Not now. Maybe not ever. I just want you to understand… I didn't take you that night to win. I didn't even take you because you were drunk. I took you because—for one breathless, terrifying moment—I thought fate had finally given me something worth living for. And I was too weak to let it go."
I squeezed my eyes shut, tears spilling anew.
His voice cracked then, a sound I'd never imagined I'd hear from him. "I'll give you space, Lyrean. But don't doubt this—I will protect you. Even if it kills me."
His footsteps faded, leaving me in silence once more.
I buried my face in the pillow, my body trembling.
Space. That's what I asked for. But gods, space had never felt so full of him.