Chapter 92 Prove it
~ Lyra's POV ~
The sound of approaching footsteps reached my ears at the exact same moment it reached Taren’s. I had finally managed to eat, finishing the food he brought despite my earlier resistance, and we had been talking about random, meaningless things when the sound cut through the air. It felt deliberate, heavy, and unmistakable, as though the walls themselves were announcing someone’s arrival.
“I will have to leave you now, my lady,” Taren said gently, already reaching for the trolley. “Please have a good night’s rest, and don't worry your heart too much. Everything will be fine.” His voice carried reassurance, but there was also urgency in his movements.
At that very moment, the door opened, and Kael stepped into the room. His scent flooded my senses instantly, tightening something deep in my chest before I could stop it.
“Good evening, Alpha,” Taren greeted respectfully, bowing slightly before turning and leaving the room, shutting the door behind him and leaving me alone with Kael.
The small sense of relief I had felt while Taren was still with me vanished immediately. It dissolved into a hard, unyielding frown. The urge to tell Kael to leave, to turn away from him just as I had done that morning, surged through me again, but I forced it down. I held my ground and fixed my gaze on him, refusing to retreat.
“What are you doing here?” I asked before he could say a word.
He remained silent for a moment, simply looking at me, his expression unreadable. Then he moved toward the sofa and sat down slowly, as if choosing his actions carefully.
“I thought of knocking,” he said finally, “but I realized you would not let me in if I did, so I decided to come in anyway.”
His words made me wonder when he had ever knocked before, and why he would suddenly consider doing so now.
“What do you want?” I asked again, my voice edged with hardness as I maintained my frown.
“I want to talk,” he replied, turning his body until he was facing me directly.
“About what?”
“About what happened last night and this morning,” he said steadily, “and about what led you to denounce what we share and the bond between us.” He paused, and I said nothing, knowing he was not finished. “Things have deteriorated badly between us, and I realized that words alone are no longer enough. The only way to prove that my intentions toward you are pure, and that I have only your best interests at heart, is through my actions. So it is with great pleasure that I tell you that from this moment on, you are no longer a prisoner of Ironfang, nor a prisoner of Kael Thorne.”
My heart jolted violently, and the shock showed clearly on my face. There was no way I could have hidden it.
“I am no longer a prisoner?” I asked slowly. “So I am free to go?” I needed to hear it again, needed to be certain that my ears had not deceived me.
“Yes and no,” he answered, and the confusion hit me instantly.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“You are free to move around the pack house without restrictions,” he explained, “but you are not free to leave the house.”
My expression fell instantly. “So I am still a prisoner, just one with more freedom than before.” I said quietly, the disappointment unmistakable in my voice. “Ironfang is not my home, Kael.”
“And neither is Dorhaven,” he replied firmly. “Your home is Astra Ellis, and it is currently in ruins. You are not a prisoner. The reason you cannot leave is because it is not safe for you outside these walls, and we both know that. If you ever need to leave the pack house, I will go with you. Your safety matters more to me than anything else.”
A bitter smile tugged at my lips.
“Why?” I asked. “Because you need me to defeat the Void Wolf? That is why you are so determined to keep me safe?” I hated that I was thinking this way, but everything that had happened had pushed me there.
“No,” he said without hesitation. “I am determined to keep you safe because you are mine, and I never joke with mine.”
“Lies,” I shot back immediately, refusing to let his words sink in. I remembered too clearly what I had heard.
“Why would I lie to you, Lyra?” he asked calmly. “I know you believe I am deceiving you, but have you asked yourself why I would do all the things you are angry about if deception was truly my goal? I am not foolish. If I wanted to deceive you, I would have taken my secrets elsewhere, not placed them directly in front of you where everything could unravel.”
He paused, and I continued staring at him, struggling to reconcile his words with my memories. Despite myself, my heart felt strangely lighter, and that unsettled me more than anything else.
“I understand that given how we met and what you know about me, trusting me is difficult,” he continued. “That is fair. But if we are to work together, you will need to find some trust for me.”
“Who said we are working together?” I asked sharply, glaring at him. “I am not working with you.”
“Yes, you are,” he replied firmly. “We have a world to save, and we will do it together regardless of misunderstandings.” The warmth his words stirred in my chest startled me, but I remembered Taren’s advice and held onto my anger. “I lost my family when I was very young,” he added quietly. “All I have wanted since then is someone I can call mine again. Why would you think I would deliberately ruin that after finally finding it?”
“So you are saying calling me naive and stupid was not deliberate?” I asked, clinging to the memory that hurt the most.
“You heard me call you that?” he asked, tilting his head slightly.
“I knew you were there,” I said firmly. “I was certain of it. Even if I did not hear your voice, the fact that you did not stop it or correct it told me everything I needed to know.”
“Being there does not mean being fully conscious,” he replied. “You may not believe me, and I do not expect you to, but I truly have no idea what happened last night or how Brenda ended up in my room.”
“That is her name?” I asked sharply. “Brenda?” The sound of it reignited my anger.
As if sensing my emotions, he spoke quickly. “I have nothing to do with her. I never have, and I never will. I'm determined to find out exactly what happened. I would have waited until I had answers before coming to you, but I could not stay away for that long even while knowing you were angry with me. I'm already addicted to you.”
“Prove it then. Mark me. Why have you been hesitant about that if I mean that much to you?” I asked, touching on the next source of doubt and pain, and Lunaris gave a nod of approval at that.
He remained quiet for a while, his eyes never leaving mine.
“Not marking you yet is the hardest thing I have ever done,” he admitted. “You have no idea how much it torments me. But marking you puts a target on your back, and I refuse to make you a target for elimination. There are things I must put in place before making a move that big.”