Lyra's POV
The tremors of shock coursed through my veins as the heavy wooden door of the admissions office crashed shut behind me. My mind reeled, unable to process what I had just witnessed. The one person who had stirred something real within me, someone I could envision a future with, had turned away from our bond.
How could he dismiss everything we both felt? All those signs he had taught me to recognize?
Perhaps he fabricated it all, whispered the cruel voice in my head. Perhaps his sincerity was nothing more than an elaborate performance.
Yet memories flooded back of how he had intervened during the Hunt. How he had shielded me from the pack while I healed. How gently he had dressed my injuries. How his touch had sent fire racing across my skin.
Stop it, I commanded myself.
Scalding tears burned behind my eyelids. I forced them back and did what I always did when emotions overwhelmed me. I fled.
