Chapter 263 A Miracle

Chapter 263 A Miracle

The darkness didn't leave her easily this time. It faded slowly and left her dizzy and her eyes foggy.

Lyra let out a soft groan, her entire body felt like it had been dragged through a rock quarry. Her ribs were tender, her shoulders were stiff, and the painful sting on her cheek from Dax’s slap was still throbbing under her skin.

She could smell the scent of antiseptic and some sort of fresh linens and herbs.

She wasn't on the gravel ridge anymore, that was for sure. The sound of howling wind was gone.

"Lyra," a deep, rough voice whispered right beside her ear.

She blinked her blue eyes open, staring into the familiar white ceiling panels of the estate clinic.

Standing directly over her was Ryker.

"Ryker..." Lyra croaked, her throat feeling like dry sand.

She tried to sit up, but a wave of dizziness made her drop her head back onto the pillows. "Where... where are we? What happened to the bike?"

"You're back home, baby," Ryker said softly, his voice trembling as he leaned over the bed.

He reached out, his large, warm hand covering her forehead as his thumb gently wiped away a stray streak of dirt near her hairline.

"We’re in the clinic, baby. We brought you back home. The doctor is right outside."

Lyra looked around the room, her mind still spinning with confusion.

Two pack nurses were standing near the counter, quietly organizing some glass vials and checking the fluid levels on her IV line, but they were waiting for the head doctor to bring the final observation records from the lab.

The memory of the crash suddenly flooded back into her brain and she sat up.

"Dax," Lyra gasped, her fingers weakly tightening around the sleeve of Ryker's shirt. She looked up at his brown eyes, her voice rising with sudden panic. "Ryker, what happened with Dax? Where is he?"

Ryker shushed her and nodded. "He's been caught, Lyra. He survived the crash with a broken shoulder and some deep lacerations. He’s resting behind the silver bars right now, fully secured. He isn't going anywhere."

Lyra let out a long, shuddering breath, her shoulders slumping against the mattress as the tears she had been holding back all morning finally broke through.

"I was so scared, Ryker. He’s completely gone mad. He isn't the brother you think he is anymore. He’s entirely obsessed."

"I know," Ryker muttered and took her bound, scraped hand into his palms, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. "I always knew my brother had some kind of twisted infatuation with you, back from when we were just boys. He always looked at you like he was tracking a prize. But I never, ever knew his envy was this bad. I never knew he would turn on his own family just to force a bond."

"It's worse than that, Ryker," Lyra sobbed, the tears spilling over her cheeks as she pulled herself up slightly, her voice shaking. "He didn't just snap last night because he was drunk. He’s been planning this for years. While we were out in the mountains, he confessed everything to me in that empty warehouse. He’s been working directly with the Blood King behind our backs, he's the one that brought Cassian back to try and seduce me!"

Ryker froze. "What did you say?"

"He’s the one who invited Cassian back into our pack," Lyra explained. "He knew Cassian was my closest friend from the southern border territory. Dax thought that if Cassian came back inside our walls, he would be able to steal me away from your bed. He wanted our marriage to break down completely so he could kill Cassian, play the hero, and force me to fall in love with him out of grief. He’s been envious of you all along, Ryker."

Ryker stared at her, thinking about Cassian and Sylvester suddenly showing up and all the times he couldn't explain why Lyra and himself seemed to be fighting over one thing or the other.

It had been Dax all along.

His own blood brother. And somehow, he'd been blinded by loyalty and love to actually see that Dax was out of his mind.

He leaned forward, wrapping his large, muscular arms around her shoulders and pulling her body close against his chest.

Lyra buried her face into the crook of his neck, crying loudly.

"I’ve got you," Ryker whispered fiercely against her hair, his arms locking around her waist to hold her steady. "I’ve got you, baby. He’s never touching you again. I don't care if he’s my brother; he will rot in that silver cell until the Goddess judges his soul. It’s over."

"Uhm,” the doctor cleared his throat from the door and both of them pulled apart.

"Is this a good time?”

The head pack doctor walked inside, holding a thick leather clipboard.

The two nurses quickly stepped back, standing at attention as the doctor approached the foot of the bed.

Ryker slowly let go of Lyra and wiped the dried tears from her cheek with his thumb, turning his head to look at the older man. "What’s going on? Did she break her ribs? Is she going to be okay?"

The doctor set the clipboard down on the rolling table, “yeah, none of the injuries affected anything. So, she's a little bruised here and there and she'll need care to heal. But the baby's fine."

Lyra frowned, “What baby?"

"Congratulations to you both," the doctor said softly.

Ryker and Lyra both blinked, looking at the older man in confusion.

"What?" Ryker stammered, his brow furrowing as his jaw tightened. "Doctor, what are you talking about? Why are you saying congratulations?"

The doctor let out a soft, delighted chuckle, shaking his head as he stepped closer to verify the monitor grid. "Nothing is wrong with you Luna. In fact, we ran the deep hormone panel three times in the lab just to make sure your hybrid form wasn't affecting the results. But the charts don't lie."

He looked directly into Lyra’s blue eyes, his smile widening. "You're pregnant, Lyra. You are carrying the next Alpha heir of the IronFangs."

Lyra’s breath left her lungs in an instant.

She froze against the pillows, her hand going completely limp inside Ryker’s palm as she looked down at her flat stomach, her fingers trembling as she touched herself.

A child was growing inside her after all the violence.

Ryker sat perfectly still on the edge of the mattress, his mouth dropping open slightly.

"A baby..." Ryker whispered and dropped to his knees right beside her and reached out to cover her fingers on her stomach. "Lyra... we’re going to have a child."

Lyra looked down at him and let out a small, trembling laugh. "A child, Ryker. An heir."