Chapter 47

Chapter 47
Lyla’s POV

I hadn’t planned to leave. Not at first.

It all happened so fast, and yet every moment of it replayed in my mind like a slow, painful movie I couldn’t force myself to stop watching.

One minute, I was being accused of stealing a diamond I didn’t even know existed and the next, I was being called a thief in my own room, surrounded by people I lived with, worked with, and trusted. 

Guards stood beside my bed like I was nothing but a threat. And Dalia… Dalia just stood there with triumph painted all over her face. Like all she’d ever wanted was finally becoming real.

That was the final thing that pushed something inside me to break.

Even when I cried, Rowan looked like he believed me but there were others in the room too, and I couldn’t breathe as every accusing stare started swallowing me whole. So I did the thing I swore I wouldn’t do again.

I ran.

I put on my coat, threw one bag over my shoulder, and slipped out my window into the dark. I didn’t have a plan, I didn’t have a destination, I just knew staying would keep making everything worse. I didn’t want to be the reason people argued, fought, and doubted one another. I didn’t want to let Dalia win, but at the same time, I felt too defeated to fight back.

So I left.

I didn’t take long. Didn’t even look back at the pack I’d learned to call home.

I just walked.

And walked.

And kept walking until the howling wind drowned every voice in my head.

I didn’t know how far I went. The full moon kept the night bright, but the forest trees leaned close like they were watching me. Everything was cold. The wind bit my cheeks. My tears felt hot in comparison as I wiped them away, telling myself I’d be fine. Over and over. I’d be fine.

But every lie I told myself was harder to believe.

And then I heard it.

Footsteps.

Leaves crunching.

Someone was near.

I stopped walking, every instinct in my body screamed, “Run.” But I just froze. I couldn’t turn back, couldn’t go forward, so I turned slightly to the side.

A figure emerged from between the trees. Not Damon. Not Rowan. The moonlight revealed his face slowly.

My heart stopped.

It was the same man who’d grabbed me during the party, the same one who said he knew Alpha Kaiden.

He smirked as if he’d been expecting me.

“Not a very smart idea, running through the woods alone,” he said. His voice was smooth and dangerous, like a shadow pretending to be a person.

“What do you want?” I whispered. My voice was small, trembling from more than fear.

He stepped closer, stopping just a foot away from me. I stepped back but there was nowhere left to go.

“You,” he said simply. “But don’t worry… not tonight.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m only here to deliver a message,” he said, and the smile that stretched across his lips chilled me from the inside out. “Kaiden knows you’re alive. And he’s coming. For you. For what’s his.”

Something inside my chest dropped. I couldn’t find my breath.

“No,” I whispered. “No... he doesn’t even care about me. He rejected me. Humiliated me. He—”

“That was before you ran,” he said, interrupting me. “Before you made him angry. Before you made him feel like he lost.”

He leaned close, lowering his voice. “Men like him don’t like losing.”

I couldn’t move. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t scream.

Before I could react, he reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, his hand cold and wrong on my skin.

“You should’ve died that night,” he said softly. “It would’ve been easier.”

Then, we both heard it.

A growl.

Low. Deep.

Coming from behind the trees.

I stepped back, heart pounding, and the man’s smile faltered. He turned just as a massive wolf appeared, dark brown fur, eyes glowing with warning.

My breath caught.

Not Rowan. Not Damon.

Some other wolf; a guard, maybe.

The stranger backed away slowly.

“This isn’t over,” he said, backing into the shadows. “Kaiden wants you back.”

The wolf inched forward, keeping itself between me and the stranger. The man vanished into the night, and the silence that followed felt thick and heavy.

My legs weakened.

I leaned on the nearest tree, tears slipping down my cheeks again.

The wolf slowly stepped closer, sniffing the air around me. When its glowing eyes met mine, I felt something I hadn’t felt all night.

Safety.

Not comfort. Not peace. But safety.

The wolf lowered its head slightly not in threat, but acknowledgment. When it turned and started walking toward the path back to the pack, I understood.

It was leading me home.

Not because I deserved it.

Not because I asked for it.

But because I wasn’t alone, even if I felt like I was.

I followed quietly, my steps dragging as I cried softly the rest of the way, too tired to pretend anymore.

By the time we reached the border, I heard voices.

I didn’t even need to see them yet to recognize them.

Damon. Rowan. Both of them were shouting at the guards, demanding updates, desperate and angry.

The moment I stepped into the light, gasps filled the air.

Rowan froze.

Damon turned, his eyes wide, shoulders falling like he’d been holding his breath the entire time.

Then Rowan moved and before I fully understood what was happening, I was being lifted.

Strong arms around me.

His scent flooding every inch of me.

His heartbeat shaking through my skin.

I didn’t fight him.

I didn’t speak.

I just let him hold me, even though I knew this moment was a mistake, a moment built on panic and instinct, not on reason.

But right then, wrapped in his arms, I didn’t want to move.

Not until I heard another voice. Damon.

“Put her down,” he said quietly but the edge in his tone wasn’t quiet at all.

I didn’t turn.

Rowan stiffened.

And the world around me faulted again but this time, it wasn’t fear.

It was something else. Something I couldn’t name.

But I felt it.

I wasn’t just the center of the chaos anymore.

I was the reason it had already begun.

I didn’t know how long Rowan held me. All I knew was that even though I’d been gone for only a few hours, the way he held me felt like I’d been missing for days… or like something in him couldn’t breathe without knowing where I was.

His grip wasn’t crushing, and it wasn’t gentle either. It was desperate. There was something in the way his arms wrapped around me, something that told me he’d been scared too. 

That maybe, even if he didn’t say the words out loud, the thought of me being gone had hurt him in a way he wasn’t prepared for.

But then...

“Put. Her. Down,” Damon repeated, louder this time.

And the quiet broke.

The guards looked away awkwardly. The wolf who brought me back shifted back to human and looked anywhere else but at us. I slowly raised my head from Rowan’s chest, and as soon as I did, his arms loosened. He set me down carefully, like he wanted to make sure I didn’t shatter.

His eyes found mine the moment my feet touched the ground.

They were full of something I didn’t want to name.

Something dangerous.

Something he shouldn’t be feeling for me.

“Lyla…” he said softly.

But before I could say anything, Damon was there, stepping between us and pulling me into his side gently not forceful, but protective. His touch made my chest tighten.

“Let’s get her inside,” Damon said. “She’s cold. She’s exhausted. She needs rest, not more commotion.”

Rowan didn’t move.

He just stared at Damon like he was one second away from starting a fight neither of them were ready for.

Then his gaze fell back to me.

“You shouldn’t have left,” he said. “You didn’t have to run.”

Run; that word stung.

I didn’t run because I wanted to.

I ran because I couldn’t breathe.

But all I could do was lower my eyes, unable to answer.

Rowan turned away then, his shoulders tense, and walked ahead into the house. Damon walked me behind him, holding me close against him. I leaned into him, not because I was weak, but because I didn’t have the strength to stand alone just yet.

Everyone stared at us when we walked in.

Whispers followed, like shadows.

“She’s back.”

“Where did she go?”

“Did she leave because she was guilty?”

The words cut, but I kept walking, stepping past every pair of eyes until we reached my door.

Damon opened it for me and walked inside with me. Rowan didn’t follow. He just stood at the end of the hall, watching.

I couldn’t read his expression, but it made my stomach twist.

It looked like disappointment. Or maybe something worse.

Damon helped me sit on the bed, then closed the door and knelt in front of me.

“You okay?” he asked softly.

I didn’t answer right away.

My hands were trembling, and when I looked at them, the tears finally fell.

“I didn’t steal anything,” I whispered. “I don’t know why Dalia keeps doing this. I didn’t do anything wrong, Damon. I swear I don’t want trouble. I help in the bakery. I keep to myself. I stay out of the way. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

I finally looked up at him and he looked broken for me.

“You don’t hurt anyone,” he said firmly, brushing a strand of hair from my face. “You’re the one getting hurt, Lyla. Again and again. And you shouldn’t be.”

I shook my head, voice shaking. “I shouldn’t have run. I thought... I thought maybe if I left, it would make things easier for everyone. I thought maybe I was the reason things were getting bad.”

“Never,” Damon said. “Lyla, listen to me. You’re not the problem. The people causing trouble are the problem. Not you. You’re the part of this pack that makes it better. Everyone knows that, even the ones pretending not to.”

I swallowed hard.

“I’m tired,” I whispered.

“I know,” he said. “But don’t give up. Not like this. Not because of her.”

I slowly nodded, trying to breathe through everything that wanted to swallow me whole.

Then I remembered.

The man.

Kaiden.

The threat.

My body tensed, and Damon noticed immediately.

“What?” he asked.

I looked him in the eyes, fear tightening my chest again.

“He found me... I saw him,” I whispered. “The man from the party—the one who knew my old alpha. He found me in the woods. He said Kaiden knows I’m alive. He said he’s coming.”

Damon’s entire body went still.

His hands didn’t move.

His eyes didn’t blink.

And when he finally spoke, his voice was low.

“He threatened you again?”

I nodded.

“He said I should’ve died that night.”

Damon stood slowly, and for the first time since I met him, I saw something terrifying in his eyes.

Not anger.

Not panic.

But a promise.

“He won’t touch you,” he said, voice quiet but heavy in the room. “Not while I’m alive. Not while Rowan is alive. Not while this pack stands. You’re safe here, Lyla.”

Safe.

The word echoed inside me.

I wanted so badly to believe it. But my heart wasn’t ready yet.

A soft knock sounded behind the door. Damon turned but didn’t open it.

“Is she okay?” Rowan’s voice came through.

Damon looked back at me, as if silently asking if he should let him in.

I didn’t speak, but I nodded, not because I was ready to talk, but because avoiding Rowan would only make things worse.

Damon opened the door.

Rowan stepped inside.

He didn’t look at Damon first.

He looked at me.

And it felt like the air shifted.

“Are you hurt?” he asked. “Did something happen out there?”

His eyes trailed from my head to my hands like he was looking for injuries.

“No,” I said quietly. “I’m alright.”

“You don’t look alright.”

I looked away, unable to deny that.

My voice was barely a whisper when I spoke again.

“I’m sorry for leaving,” I said. “I just... I couldn’t take it anymore.”

Rowan didn’t move, but something in his expression softened.

“You don’t have to run to be safe here,” he said, and there was something raw in his voice, something he wasn’t used to showing. “Not even when it feels like the whole world is pulling against you.”

I looked up and finally met his gaze, and the weight of everything that happened pressed tight in my chest again.

Not just the accusations or the fear.

But the way Rowan looked at me, like I was something he wanted to protect but didn’t know how.

“I should let you rest,” he finally said, stepping back toward the door.

But before he left, he turned slightly.

“And Lyla,” he said quietly. “Don’t ever think you’re alone in this pack. Not while I’m still its Alpha.”

Then he walked out.

Damon stayed a moment longer, kissed my forehead gently, and promised he’d be back in the morning.

When the door closed, the room felt too quiet.

Too empty and full of everything left unsaid.

I curled into my pillow, body heavy with exhaustion, and fell asleep wishing the world would slow long enough for me to breathe again.