Chapter 168 Sister's Plea
Chapter 168 Remembrance
Lyra POV
The silver knife pressed deeper into my skin, drawing me back to the present. Malcolm continued his ritual, preparing to claim me as his own.
I finally remembered everything, right as I was about to be forcibly claimed and everyone I loved was about to die... Was it too late? No! It couldn't be! I wouldn't allow it!
With the flood of memories came a surge of energy within me. This wasn't just anger or desperation. This was something deeper, more primal. The white wolf's energy, dormant since my my awakening from amnesia, now roared back to life. I closed my eyes, opening myself to this power, feeling it build and pulse through every fiber of my being.
The sensation was unlike anything I'd ever experienced, like liquid moonlight flooding my veins. Each heartbeat sent waves of tingling heat from my core to my fingertips, my toes, the roots of my hair. I could feel the boundaries of my physical body blurring, expanding beyond my skin to create an invisible field around me. Within this field, I sensed every living being as points of warmth—some bright and strong, others flickering weakly.
The council soldiers glowed like malevolent stars, their energy signatures tainted with something dark and unnatural. Without understanding how, I reached out with my consciousness and pulled, creating channels between their life force and mine. Their energy resisted at first, then surrendered, flowing into me in rushing streams that tasted like metal and ash on my tongue. Each connection made me stronger, more aware, as if I were awakening from a lifelong sleep into true consciousness.
Malcolm's voice broke through my concentration, high with panic. "Shit, this shouldn't be happening now! Fall back!"
When I opened my eyes, the world seemed sharper, clearer. The council soldiers who had been so formidable moments before now appeared weakened, their movements sluggish. I realized with startling clarity that I was draining them, pulling their energy into myself like water into parched earth.
Without conscious thought, I redirected this stolen power, channeling it toward Gabriel and my fallen pack members. I watched as their wounds began to close, their strength visibly returning.
Malcolm dropped his silver dagger and scrambled backward, abandoning me without a second thought. The council soldiers followed suit, their retreat quickly becoming a rout. Kade tried to slip away in the confusion, but Gabriel, newly empowered, lunged forward and pinned him to the ground.
"Don't let him escape," I commanded, my voice carrying an authority I'd never possessed before.
The battlefield fell silent as the last of our enemies disappeared into the forest. Victory. We had actually won. I stood shakily, wrapping my arms around my naked torso as I surveyed the damage.
"Gabriel," I called. "Take Kade and any others who couldn't escape to the holding cells. Keep them alive."
He nodded, his eyes wide with a mixture of awe and concern. "Are you alright?"
"I will be," I assured him, though I wasn't entirely certain. "Have someone clean up this mess and tend to the wounded."
As my pack members moved to follow my orders, I scanned the clearing for Dominic. The auburn wolf who had fought so fiercely beside us was nowhere to be seen. My stomach twisted with a complicated mixture of emotions: rage, hatred, and something else I couldn't name.
I knew where he must have gone.
---
The medical center was chaotic when I arrived, packed with wounded pack members. Voices called for help, healers rushed between beds, and the air was thick with the metallic scent of blood. Yet amid this cacophony, I felt something new—an awareness of energy signatures pulsing around me like beacons in fog. One signature in particular drew me forward, familiar yet different. Without hesitation, I followed this energy trail through the maze of corridors, past rooms filled with the injured, until I reached a private room tucked away at the far end.
I pushed the door open without knocking. Just as I'd suspected, Dominic sat beside Isabella's bed, his large hand enveloping her much smaller one. They both looked up as I entered, their expressions a study in contrasts: Isabella's happy, Dominic's resigned.
Without hesitation, I summoned the white wolf's power again, lifting Dominic from his chair and pinning him against the wall with invisible force.
Isabella gasped. "Lyra, stop! What are you doing?"
"I remember everything," I snarled, advancing toward Dominic as he struggled against my hold. "Everything you did to me."
My mind was a kaleidoscope of recovered memories: Dominic rescuing me from enemy wolves, using our mate bond to control me, planning to use me as nothing more than a breeding vessel, intending to transfer Isabella's illness to me through blood magic... I remembered my pregnancy and subsequent miscarriage, my friendship with Eliza, and the horrifying realization that Dominic had orchestrated her attack as well...
"I'm fucking kill you, bastard, for what you did!" I growled, tightening my invisible grip around his throat.
Dominic gasped for air, his face reddening. "Listen to me, Lyra," he choked out. "I won't hurt her... I love her..."
"Liar!" I screamed, drawing more energy from him. I could feel his strength flowing into me, his life force diminishing with each passing second.
My inner wolf tried to caution me, urging restraint, warning that this wasn't who we were, that white wolves healed, they didn't destroy. But I pushed her voice away, focused only on making Dominic suffer as I had suffered.
"Lyra! What are you doing?" Gabriel's horrified voice came from behind me.
"I remembered everything," I said coldly without turning around. "I'm making him pay for what he did to me."
Gabriel moved to stand before me, his expression pained. "Lyra, Stop!"
"Move!" I commanded, infusing my voice with power. "Or I'll kill you too!"
The force of my command drove Gabriel to his knees, his body physically unable to resist my will. The sight of him kneeling before me should have satisfied me, should have felt like justice, but instead, a cold horror began to seep through my rage.
Isabella scrambled from her bed, tears streaming down her face. "Lyra, please! Dominic just saved me! If I stand between you and him, will you kill me too?"
Her words barely registered through the red haze of my rage. Would I? Had I become so consumed by vengeance that I'd kill an innocent—my sister—to achieve it?
I felt suddenly disoriented, my certainty wavering. What was happening to me? This bloodlust, this cruelty... it wasn't me. My wolf seized this moment of doubt, pushing harder against my consciousness.
"This is not our way," she insisted. "We are protectors, not destroyers."
The momentary distraction weakened my hold on Dominic and Gabriel. Gabriel immediately rose to his feet and wrapped his arms around me, not restraining but embracing.
"Come back to me," he whispered against my hair. "This isn't you, Lyra..."