Chapter 99 I miss you
~ Lyra's POV ~
My day unfolded far more smoothly than I had anticipated. After everything that had happened, I had expected tension to cling to me like a shadow, but instead there was a surprising calmness that followed me from one hour to the next.
Taren kept his word and showed me several other parts of the pack house. Each place we visited carried its own charm and quiet grandeur. The architecture alone was enough to leave me in awe, with wide hallways that seemed to echo with history and rooms decorated in ways that reflected both strength and elegance.
He showed me a sitting hall with tall windows that allowed golden sunlight to pour in freely, illuminating polished floors and carefully arranged furnishings. He led me through a training wing, a place alive with discipline and resilience. He even pointed out a private library tucked away in a quieter section of the house, its shelves lined with countless volumes that whispered promises of knowledge and secrets yet to be uncovered.
They were all beautiful in their own ways. There was no denying that the pack house was magnificent, far more than I had imagined when I first arrived here under very different circumstances. Yet despite all of it, despite the elegance and power that radiated from every corner, I still found myself preferring the garden. The garden felt alive in a way the walls never could. It welcomed me without expectation.
As evening approached and the sky slowly began to trade its brightness for softer shades of orange and gold, I realized Kael had not returned. The earlier tension surrounding the cloud had settled, but a new unease quietly replaced it. I tried not to let it show, but my thoughts kept drifting toward him.
After a while, I finally asked Taren, and he gently assured me that Kael was fine. He mentioned overhearing someone say that he had gone on another errand after handling the earlier situation and that he would return once it was completed.
Eventually, night fell. I returned to my room, closing the door behind me and allowing myself a long breath. It had been my first full day of freedom, and despite the complications and lingering worries, I was grateful for it.
Yet even in that gratitude, my heart drifted back to Kael once more.
As though my thoughts had reached out and pulled him toward me, a knock sounded on my door almost at the same time as his scent reached me.
“Come in,” I called, and the door opened slowly.
He stepped inside wearing the exact same attire he had left in earlier that day. The sight of it told me everything I needed to know. I had not heard any movement from his room, no door opening or closing, no sign that he had stopped anywhere else first. It was clear that the moment he returned, he had come straight to me.
When my eyes landed on him, all the worry I had been carrying throughout the day seemed to dissolve into the background. Instead, I was reminded of the unresolved tension that still lingered between us.
I refused to bring it up. So I simply stood there and stared at him.
He stared back at me just as intently, the silence stretching between us as though both of us were waiting to see who would dare to break it first.
“Taren told me about the cloud and what you did,” he said as he walked further into the room. His movements were measured and controlled as he made his way to the sofa and lowered himself onto it. “Thank you for caring about my safety, but I still want to know why exactly the cloud gave you so much concern.” His expression was serious, his gaze unwavering as it locked onto mine with an intensity that made it impossible to look away.
“Have you ever seen something like that before?” I asked, allowing my emotions to settle because this was not a light matter. Whatever tension lay between us had to step aside for this conversation.
“No, and I am positive it has something to do with witchcraft,” he replied without hesitation.
I nodded slowly. “It does have everything to do with witchcraft. There is a witch’s circle in the middle of that forest,” I informed him, uncertain whether Taren had already shared that detail.
I expected acknowledgment. Instead, his eyes narrowed slightly.
“How did you know it was a forest?” he asked.
“Because I saw it in a dream,” I answered, forcing myself not to retreat from the truth. “And in that dream the witches hurt you badly. When I found you, you were dying. I noticed they carried no visible weapons, so it had to be magic that brought you down.” I released the words carefully, deciding there was no point in holding back anymore.
“Magic?” he repeated, disbelief flickering across his features before he shook his head faintly. “Baby, I am immune to magic,” he reminded me.
“You were not immune to this one,” I insisted. “And I believe that cloud was connected to it. You have to destroy the circle there. If you don't, I fear the cloud will return.”
Only then did I truly register the look he had been giving me. There was something softer behind his seriousness now, and the corners of his lips began to curve upward.
“What’s funny? Why are you smiling?” I asked.
“I miss you,” he said simply. “I didn't realize how much until now.” He rose from the sofa and crossed the space between us, sitting beside me on the bed. “Staying away from you is not only torturous, it is impossible.” Without warning, he lifted his hand and gently cupped my cheek.
“What are you doing?” I tried to pull away, but his fingers tightened slightly against my jaw.
“Admiring my queen. Am I not allowed?” he asked softly.
“Leave me alone. I’m still mad at you,” I said, frowning even though I could not deny that I had missed him too, and that the warmth of his touch sent a familiar ache through me.
“You have every right to be mad at me,” he replied. “But I am not mad at you, so I cannot stop myself from wanting to touch you, hold you, kiss you, and bury myself deep inside you.”
“You have no shame,” I muttered.
“Indeed I don't, especially when I am with you,” he answered, his smile deepening as he leaned closer.
Then he froze.
His expression shifted, and his eyes took on that distant look I had come to recognize, the look he wore whenever he was communicating through the mind link. The change was immediate and unsettling.
“Lyra’s father?” he said aloud suddenly.
“Huh?” Confusion struck me at once. What was he talking about? Was there another Lyra in Ironfang that I did not know about?
“Is your father still alive?” he asked abruptly, his attention fully on me again.
“I don't know,” I replied honestly. “I told you I never met him and I know nothing about him. Why are you asking?”
“Someone is at the border claiming to be your father and insisting on speaking with me,” he explained as he stood up. “Give me some time to check it out. I will be back.”
My heartbeat became uneven, pounding hard against my ribs for reasons I could not fully understand. “I’m coming with you,” I said, rising to my feet.
“No, you are not,” he refused immediately, his tone firm and final. The look he gave me warned against argument, but I refused to yield.
“Why not? If he claims to be my father, then I need to see him.”
“There is no way I am risking your safety like that,” he said decisively. “If he is who he claims to be, then I will return to get you. But until I confirm that he is harmless, you are going nowhere near him.”
With that, he turned and stepped out of the room, leaving me standing there with my thoughts racing faster than my heart.