Chapter 56 Containment like a rabid dog
I stared up at the sky, chest aching. “We should get going”. I said and stood to my feet.
Darius didn’t hesitate, he shifted again, bones cracking, skin reforming, power exploding outward in a way that still stole the air from my lungs. His direwolf form was massive, impossibly so. Bigger than any wolf I’d ever seen. Bigger than anything that should exist.
He was the size of a buffalo, his body a living wall of muscle and dark fur, eyes glowing with intelligence and command.
He lowered himself instinctively.
I didn’t ask what he was doing. I just understood.
My hands sank into the thick fur at the back of his neck as I climbed onto his back, my heart pounding,not with fear, but with the weight of everything that had happened and everything I knew was coming. The moment I settled, he surged forward, powerful legs eating the distance between the lake and the estate in seconds.
The wind tore past us, cold and sharp, but his heat anchored me. I pressed low, clinging to him as the world blurred into streaks of shadow and moonlight.
This felt wrong.
And right.
When the estate came into view, my stomach dropped.
SUVs lined the drive. Black. Armored. Too many.
The Blood Guard.
My grip tightened.
Darius slowed, then stopped abruptly at the edge of the property. His growl rumbled deep and low, vibrating through his massive frame.
Something was very wrong.
I slid off his back just as he shifted again, disappearing behind a cluster of trees. Seconds later, he reappeared, human once more, wearing only loose pants pulled on in haste. His chest rose and fell with controlled fury as his eyes swept the scene.
Blood Guards stood everywhere.
Not just his.
Others.
Different insignias.
Divided.
Weapons raised.
Thane and Vincent stood near the front steps, flanked by guards I recognized,men loyal to Darius, their guns trained not outward, but inward. Toward other Blood Guard units standing with a familiar tall, elegant woman in a long coat.
My chest tightened.
Celeste.
Faruk’s mother.
She stood calmly at the center of the opposing group, hands folded, posture serene, as if she weren’t standing on the edge of a civil war.
“You’re making a big mistake,” Vincent barked, his weapon unwavering as he aimed it at the guards beside Celeste.
Celeste didn’t flinch.
Darius stepped forward, placing himself slightly in front of me without even looking back. His presence was a shield.
“What is this?” he demanded, voice carrying authority that made the air tremble. “Why is the Council Blood Guard on my land without my consent?”
Celeste turned to him slowly, a polite smile curving her lips.
“Alpha King,” she said smoothly. “We are here to take Lyra Soren in for questioning.”
The words hit like a blade.
“For questioning?” Darius echoed. “You didn’t ask my permission.”
Her smile sharpened. “We didn’t need it.”
A murmur rippled through the guards.
Celeste lifted her chin. “The council voted.”
Darius’s jaw clenched. “Under what authority?”
She met his gaze without fear. “The emergency clause. When more than six council members vote that a supernatural threat poses immediate danger to our species, we may act independently of the Alpha King’s authority.”
My breath caught.
“How many?” Darius asked.
“Eight to four,” Celeste replied.
The silence that followed was heavy and suffocating.
Darius took a step forward, power rolling off him in waves. “You will regret this.”
She regarded him coolly. “You are letting your bond cloud your judgment. The hybrid creatures appeared when she did. They attacked when she arrived. She must know something.”
“I don’t,” I said sharply, stepping out from behind Darius before I could stop myself. “I didn’t create them. I didn’t control them.”
A red dot appeared on my forehead.
Everything froze.
Celeste’s voice was calm. “One more step, Lyra, and you will be shot.”
The dot didn’t move.
My heart pounded so loudly I was certain everyone could hear it. The air smelled of oil, metal, fear,and underneath it all, blood. So much delicious blood. My senses were too sharp, too awake. Every heartbeat around me echoed like a drum.
And then the fear snapped.
My beast surged forward.
I didn’t decide to shift.
I reacted.
Power tore through me, violent and immediate. My bones burned, my skin tightening as my body reshaped itself in a way that was no longer human, no longer anything the council had prepared for. The night seemed to recoil as my form expanded, darkened, sharpened.
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
Weapons wavered.
I stood taller than before, my shadow stretching unnaturally across the ground, claws sliding free with a sound like steel being drawn. My vision sharpened into cruel clarity, every breath, every twitch of fear visible to me now.
A beastly abomination, they would call it.
I could hear it in their thoughts.
“Lyra!” Darius shouted. “Stop,don’t let them see you like this.”
But it was too late.
I was already seen.
Already judged.
Darius moved instantly, placing himself between me and the guns, his arms spreading slightly as if his body alone could shield me from bullets and law alike.
“They are not taking her,” he said again, louder this time. “Not tonight. Not ever.”
Thane stepped in beside him without hesitation, weapon raised but angled outward, not at me. Vincent followed. A handful of Blood Guards loyal to the estate shifted position, forming a protective arc around us.
That was when it hit me.
They were choosing me.
Despite what I was.
Despite the danger.
Despite the council.
Something twisted painfully in my chest—a feeling I didn’t want, Gratitude tangled with guilt, hope with dread.
Because I knew the truth.
We were outnumbered.
Celeste sighed, as if disappointed rather than threatened.
“Step aside,” she ordered coolly. “The Alpha King is allowing personal attachment to compromise the safety of our species. That bond”—her eyes flicked to me—“has already proven dangerous.”
Her gaze hardened.
“Any who stand in our way will be labeled traitors.”
The word hit harder than any weapon.
Traitors.
I saw hesitation ripple through the guards. Loyalty warred with survival. Fear was a powerful persuader.
Mara’s voice rang out suddenly, furious and trembling. “This has gone too far, Celeste.”
Celeste turned on her with open disdain. “Be silent, old woman.”
The insult landed like a slap.
Something inside me broke, not violently, but quietly. A brittle fracture of hope.
I looked at Darius then. Really looked at him.
At the tension in his jaw.
At the fury in his eyes.
At the way his body leaned toward me, instinctive, protective, real.
And I knew.
If this continued, people would die.
For me.
I took a step forward.
Darius turned sharply. “Lyra, no.”
“It’s fine,” I said, forcing the words past the tightness in my throat. “I’ll go.”
“No,” he said again, more urgently. “You don’t have to—”
“I do,” I whispered.
I let the beast recede.
The shift reversed slowly, painfully, leaving me trembling and exposed in my own skin once more. I stood there, smaller, vulnerable, human-looking enough to be handled.
A large armored truck rolled forward, its presence looming and final.
Several Council Blood Guards approached me cautiously. I could smell their fear now, sharp and acrid. Their hands shook as they produced the cuffs.
Silver.
The moment they snapped around my wrists, pain exploded up my arms like fire. I gasped, biting down on a scream. My knees threatened to buckle, but I forced myself to stand.
More cuffs followed,my ankles this time,before my hands were wrenched behind my back and strapped together.
I was restrained.
Contained, like a rabid dog.
“Don’t treat her like a monster,” Darius growled, his voice thick with barely controlled rage.
Celeste didn’t even look at him.
“She is one.”
The words hollowed me out.
They led me toward the truck, every step heavy, every movement burning. The door opened with a harsh metallic groan, and I was shoved inside, forced onto a cold bench bolted to the floor.
More restraints.
Four council Blood Guards entered after me, their guns already raised, silver barrels aimed steadily at my chest.
The doors slammed shut.
Darkness swallowed me whole.
Through the small reinforced window, I caught one last glimpse of Darius.
Worry etched deep into his face.
Helplessness.
Fear.
“You’ll be fine,” he said, his voice muffled but fierce. “I’ll clear this up. I promise.”
I held his gaze for as long as I could before the truck lurched forward.
I had always known this day would come.
That the world would eventually decide I was too dangerous to be free.
I just never imagined the man who killed my father would be the one standing there,trying to save me,while I was taken away in chains.