Chapter 87 Hidden Agenda
Chapter 87
Rosa’s POV
Hidden Agenda.
“Lyra! Lyra!”
The sound of my shoes echoed down the hallway, sharp, fast, angry. Each click bounced off the stone walls and chased me forward until I reached her door. I didn’t knock gently. My hand closed around the knob, cold metal biting into my palm as I twisted it open.
“You are not yet up… Lyra,” I said, my voice tight. “Please. I want you in my room. Now.”
Lyra lay on her bed, flat on her back, staring at the ceiling like sleep had long given up on her. Her room looked nothing like a maid’s quarters. Scrolls were scattered across the floor. Books lay open, some stacked, some face-down as if dropped in a rush. Half-burnt candles sat on the table, wax hardened in thick white drops.
She looked worn out. Her eyes were dull with tiredness, her skin pale, her hair loose and messy around her face. She looked like someone who had fought the night and lost.
The sight pulled a memory from deep inside me.
Mila.
My sister used to look like this before surgeries at the clinic. She would stay up all night, candles burning low, reading and re-reading healing texts. Father loved that about her. He would stand at the doorway, smiling with pride, praising her for carrying on his legacy.
I hated it.
I hated how the clinic always came first. I hated how Mila pushed herself until her hands shook. Father once tried to push me down the same path. I refused. I told him I would help around the clinic, fetch tools, clean wounds, but nothing more. I never went past beginner lessons at the healing academy.
I never wanted that life.
But Lyra…
With Lyra, I could not ask questions. I could not demand answers. Everything about her felt locked away, hidden behind careful silence. Sometimes I wondered if she had lied to get this job. Other times, I wondered if she was far more than she pretended to be.
She had saved my life at Crimson Pack. She had saved the pack again not long ago. The way she worked, steady, fearless, told its own story.
If Lyra was truly a trained healer, then why was she here? Why choose a low job like this? Why live quietly as a servant in the palace?
The questions tangled in my head, pulling tighter and tighter.
Alpha Vexhood’s voice cut through my thoughts.
Bring Lyra to the sanctuary.
He had said it once. Then again. And again.
Five times since yesterday, his warning had followed me like a shadow. Each time I heard it, my chest tightened. Chaos. Destruction. His words carried weight, the kind that crushed bones.
I swallowed hard.
What loyalty did Lyra owe me to risk her life like this?
What loyalty did she owe me after everything I had sacrificed… after Mila?
My chest burned. My eyes stung.
Lyra pushed herself up and sat on the edge of the bed. “I will join you in your room,” she said softly. “I’m sorry about the mess. I have been…”
“It’s okay,” I cut in quickly. “Dress properly. You’re going far. You may not return soon.”
She froze. Slowly, she lifted her head and looked at me. Her hands rested on a stack of scrolls.
“Are you sending me to Alpha Vexhood?” she asked.
I studied her face. “You want to go?”
“Yes,” she said at once. Too fast. Too bright. Her eyes lit up like she had been waiting for this moment all her life.
That scared me.
Do you even know who Alpha Vexhood truly is? I wanted to ask. Or are they playing tricks on me?
Her excitement made no sense. I wished she could see the danger waiting at his gates. But she only nodded and went back to packing, calm and focused.
“I’ll send a servant with you,” I said, choosing my words carefully. “But only when you return from where I’m sending you now. You’ll love it.”
Good.
That solved one problem.
I had obeyed Alpha Vexhood, at least on the surface. I wouldn’t need to go to him myself. If he showed up demanding answers, I would lie. I would say Alpha Jax ordered me not to bring Lyra. I would say Jax valued her work too much to let her go.
Another lie added to the pile.
I turned and left her room.
Back in my quarters, I paced, then sat, then stood again. My fingers drummed against the table as I waited.
Minutes later, the door opened.
Lyra stepped inside.
Lyra put-on a deep wine-colored skirt that drew closer to her knee joint . It moved with her, smooth and quiet. Her pale sky-blue blouse fit just right, not loose, not tight. The sleeves were rolled to her elbows, showing slim wrists marked with faint ink stains.
Her hair styled into a Simple ponytail
A few strands framed her face.
No jewelry. No ornaments.
Nothing extra.
She looked modest. Unassuming.
And yet… impossible to ignore.
There was something steady about her. Something calm and strong that pulled the eye without asking for it.
“Take this,” I said, pressing a sealed letter into her hand.
She didn’t ask what it was. She slid it into the inner pocket of her bag, close to her body, then lifted her eyes to mine. She waited, silent and alert.
“You’re going straight to Alpha Dominion Pack,” I said. “The address is attached.”
I reduced my voice and looked around, checking the door, the walls, the space beyond them.
I curved my hand in C-shape telling her to come closer.
She moved toward me. Her feet hardly made a sound on the tiled floor. Her hands folded behind her back.
Lyra didn’t fear me like the others did. But she didn’t treat me like a friend either. There was respect in her posture, careful control.
She stopped an arm’s length away.
“I have a few of my secrets to share with you,” I said quietly. “And today, you will know some.”
I stopped there.