Lyra’s POV

“Kill me, Kael. Isn’t that what you were born to do?”

The words left my mouth before I could call them back, jagged and raw, cutting the clearing sharper than any blade. My voice shook, not with fear, but with fury, with grief and with the ache of betrayal already clawing at me.

I feel the Hollow Wolf inside me pushing me toward Kael’s throat, whispering that he is her prey. Yet part of me clings to the mate pull, craving him as much as I want to tear him apart.

The clash is not just physical; it’s soul-deep and the bond itself is fracturing.

Kael’s eyes burned into mine, black and endless, his blade raised between us. His chest rose and fell with ragged breaths, the moonlight glinting off the silver runes etched along the Oathblade’s edge. His stance was steady, trained and controlled. He looked every bit the weapon he was made to be and I hated him for it.

The bond between us pulsed like an open wound. My heart throbbed with it, dragging me toward him even as my claws twitched, aching to carve him open. Every strike we traded sent fire down the tether, tying us together. Mine... not mine. Both truths cut through me at once.

I lunged, half-shadow, half-wolf, with my claws slashing against his blade. Sparks flew as steel shrieked against claw, the sound rattling through my bones. He grunted and twisted, forcing me back with brutal precision. His blade caught my arm, shallow but searing and a hiss tore from my throat.

He spun, his movements clean and practiced, every step echoing years of training. I struck wild, fast and furious; he struck like he’d been waiting for me his whole life.

And then the bond cracked open between us. Not just heat and not just the mate-pull.

Immediately, memories spilled for one blinding breath. I wasn’t in my body; I was in his.

A boy kneeling in blood, while his father was towering above him, holding the Oathblade. The steel pressed into his skin, carving runes into his flesh while the boy bit back screams. His father’s voice was steady and merciless: “When the Hollow rises, it must fall. You are my son. You are the blade.”

The vision snapped away, but it burned in me like fire.

My chest seized. Rage tore through me. “It’s true,” I spat, my voice breaking, raw. “You were made for this. You were raised to kill me.”

Kael froze for the briefest moment. His jaw locked, and his breath shuddered. Then he lifted his blade higher, his voice low and strained. “I was raised to end the Hollow. Not you.”

“Don’t lie to me!” I snarled, my claws slashing again, fury and heartbreak exploding in every strike. The bond burned hotter with each word. “You knew what I was before you ever looked at me. And still you...”

I couldn’t finish. Couldn’t force the words out past the fire in my chest because his eyes flickered, not cruel, not cold, but longing and regretful.

It made me want to rip his throat out. The forest shook with footsteps, and a mocking voice cut through the tension.

“Well, well. What a lovely show.”

There came Rowan.

He stepped into the clearing with a pack of warriors behind him. Their eyes gleamed, their lips peeled back in hungry grins. My gut twisted. Their gazes weren’t just hateful. They were eager. Waiting.

Rowan smirked, his voice dripping venom. “Your father was right. You’re a curse. And now we’ve got Blackthorn’s heir proving it for us.”

The words sliced sharper than claws. My chest hollowed. “What did you say?”

He tilted his head, savoring it. “Didn’t you know? Your father gave the order. If you turned, if you shifted into this...” He waved a hand at me like I was filth. “...we were to end you. For the good of the pack.”

The clearing erupted in murmurs. Wolves shifted uneasily, some growling low, while others were backing away as though his words had freed their fear.

My father, my Alpha, is the man whose approval I’d clawed and bled for. The man who raised me in silence and distance. He’d been preparing for this moment all along.

My knees nearly gave. The air thickened until I could barely breathe.

The Hollow Wolf’s laughter slid through my head, silken and cruel. “See? I told you. They will all betray you. But if you stop fighting me, if you let me in, I will make them kneel. I will burn their throats open for daring to call you a curse.”

My heart trembled and my claws shook. The whispers didn’t feel foreign anymore. They felt like the truth.

Kael snarled, stepping between me and Rowan, his blade raised. “Back off.”

Rowan barked a laugh. “Yours? That’s what this is? Pathetic. You’d side with the monster? Then you’ll burn with her.”

The warriors behind him snarled, claws glinting, eyes wild. The pack was split; some were circling, some were retreating, while some were watching with wide, terrified eyes. Mothers clutched their pups. Elders whispered prayers. The clearing pulsed with chaos, waiting for a spark to ignite it and then he came.

My father stepped from the shadows, silver hair catching the blood-red moonlight, the Oathblade gleaming in his hand. The runes glowed faintly, feeding on the air and hungering for blood.

His face was carved from stone, with no warmth and no hesitation. His eyes, pale gray like tombstones, locked on me, not like a daughter, not like a wolf, but like prey.

Rowan smirked, stepping aside, his chest puffed with triumph.

My throat burned. “Father…” My voice cracked, small and weak. I hated myself for it.

He didn’t answer. He raised the blade higher, his voice carrying like thunder, cold and final. “This ends tonight, daughter.”

The words gutted me. Gasps rippled through the pack. Some wolves bowed their heads, others bristled and some turned away like they couldn’t watch.

Kael stiffened beside me, his blade twitching in his grip as his jaw clenched. His eyes darted between me and the Alpha. Now I feel my heart is shattered.

My father’s betrayal cut deeper than Kael’s blade ever could. Rowan’s sneer twisted deeper. The Hollow’s whispers coiled tighter.

“See? None of them wants you. Not your father, not your pack, not even your mate. They will all choose oath over you. But me, I will never leave you. I will never deny you. Let me in, Lyra and I’ll give you what they never will. Power... Freedom... Blood.”

My claws dug into the dirt. My lungs burned and rage clawed up my throat.

The bond with Kael burned, while my father’s blade gleamed and Rowan’s grin widened.

I stood in the middle of them, torn open, drowning in betrayal, rage and the hungry whisper of the Hollow begging me to surrender.

It is giving blood on one side and bond on the other. I was breaking between them both.

The pack held its breath, the air trembling on the edge of eruption. Every wolf’s eyes are on me. Some were praying, while some were waiting for blood and some were ready to strike.

My father stepped forward and raised the Oathblade. Kael shifted his stance, his blade angled, not at me, but between me and the Alpha. His voice dropped low, meant only for me, but the pack still heard.

“Choose, Lyra. Fight him… or fight me.”

The Hollow’s laughter howled through me, too loud, too sweet.

And I didn’t know who I was anymore.

“If I let the Hollow take me now, would it make me free… or would it make me nothing at all?”