Chapter 81 Questions

Chapter 81 Questions
The cool air filled my lungs as I slowed my pace, wiping the sweat from my forehead with the back of my arm. The familiar wooden fences surrounding the settlement came into view between the trees, and despite everything that had happened over the last few months, I found myself smiling.

But the smile disappeared almost immediately. Something was wrong. I slowed to a walk, my brows knitting together as I stared ahead.

There was no one. The entrance that usually had at least four guards standing watch was completely abandoned. Their spears leaned against the watchtower exactly where they had been left, but the men themselves were nowhere to be seen.

A strange feeling settled in my stomach. "Hello?"

My voice echoed across the empty settlement. There was no response. Every house stood open exactly as though their owners had simply... walked away.

A wooden bucket had overturned beside the well, water still dampening the dirt beneath it. Fresh bread rested unattended on a windowsill. Someone had been carving a chair outside one of the houses. The knife remained buried in the unfinished wood.

None of it made sense. "Nira!"

I broke into a run. My heartbeat quickened with every step as I raced toward our house. I shoved the door open so hard it slammed against the wall.

The room was empty. Her knitting basket rested beside her chair with the wool still hanging from the needle as though she had been interrupted halfway through a stitch.

My eyes darted around the room. She was nowhere to be found.  "Nira!"

My voice cracked. For the first time in a very long time… I panicked.

Every horrible possibility flooded my head at once. ‘Had someone attacked? Had rogues found us? Had another Alpha discovered the settlement?’ 

I rushed back outside, moving from house to house, throwing open doors, shouting names until my throat burned, but only silence answered me.

I stood in the center of it all, turning slowly in every direction as my pulse thundered in my ears.

Then… I could hear movements, far beyond the boundary. My head snapped toward the eastern trail.

And I saw figures, dozen of them walking toward the settlement. Relief hit me so suddenly my knees nearly gave out.

Without thinking, I sprinted towards them.  I didn't care who else was there. I only searched for one face; Nira’s. I scanned desperately through the crowd until I finally saw her.

The moment our eyes met, I ran even faster. She barely had time to react before I wrapped both arms around her and pulled her tightly against me.

"Oh, the moons..." The words escaped me in a shaky breath. "Where did you go?" I held her so tightly I was almost afraid I might hurt her. "I came back and everyone was gone."

She laughed softly against my shoulder, though I could hear the relief in it too. "I'm okay."

I pulled back just enough to cup her face, checking every inch of her.

"Are you hurt?"

She shook her head. "No." I let out a long breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding before pulling her into another embrace.

Only then did I finally lift my head to look beyond her. Every member of the settlement stood behind her wearing nearly the same confused and uneasy expression.

"What happened?" I looked from one familiar face to another. "Where did all of you go?"

Before anyone answered… My eyes landed on someone standing several feet behind Nira.

I froze. "...Lyra?"

She swallowed and for a brief second, neither of us spoke. Then a small, uncertain smile appeared on her face.

"Hi, Ryker." Her voice was quiet. "It's... nice to see you again."

For a few moments, I simply stared at her. Standing right in front of me after disappearing without a single word.

Before I could gather my thoughts, Nira gently slipped her hand into mine, her fingers giving mine a reassuring squeeze.

"Let's go back home," she said softly. "I'll explain everything."

I looked around at the crowd once more. Some whispered quietly among themselves while others kept glancing toward the eastern horizon as though expecting whatever had happened to happen again.

No one looked injured or as though they had been attacked. They simply looked... shaken.

My gaze swept across them one last time. "Is everyone alright?" I asked loudly enough for all of them to hear. "Was anybody hurt?"

A few people exchanged glances before several voices answered at once.

"No, Alpha. Just confused."

I nodded slowly, though their answers did little to settle the unease growing inside me.

"Go home," I told them. "Be with your families. We'll figure this out."

The crowd slowly began to disperse, conversations breaking out almost immediately. I remained where I was until the last few people began walking away before turning toward the house.

Only then did I notice the woman standing quietly beside Lyra. She wasn't someone I recognized.

She carried herself with quiet confidence, her eyes carefully studying everything around her without appearing suspicious. There was something guarded about her, though not unfriendly.

When we reached the front of my home, I stopped and turned toward the three women standing before me. My eyes moved from Nira to Lyra before finally settling on the stranger.

"What is going on?"

Nira stepped forward first. "This," she said, gesturing toward the unfamiliar woman, "is Ariel."

The woman smiled politely before offering a small nod. "It's nice to finally meet you, Ryker."

There was something oddly familiar about the way she spoke, as though she already knew more about me than I knew about her. "I've heard quite a lot about you."

I couldn't help lifting an eyebrow. "Oh?"

My gaze instinctively shifted toward Lyra and she immediately looked away. A small smile tugged at the corner of my mouth despite everything.

Nira chuckled softly before continuing. "Something happened today. It wasn't just us. Everyone experienced it." She pointed toward the eastern horizon. "It felt as though... something was calling us."

I frowned.

"I was helping prepare lunch when all of a sudden..." She paused, searching for the right words. "It felt like I wasn't in control of my own body anymore."

"It was the same for me," Ariel added. I turned toward her. "We didn't choose to walk," she explained quietly. "We simply... did."

Lyra finally spoke. "I remember trying to stop myself." She looked down at her own hands. "I kept telling my legs not to move, but they wouldn't listen."

Her voice grew quieter. "It was like my mind belonged to me, but my body belonged to something else."

A chill crept across my skin. 

Nira nodded in agreement. "It wasn't only people from our settlement."

"There were wolves from other territories too," Lyra added. "Hundreds of them. They kept appearing from every direction."

I felt my stomach tighten. "What happened then?"

"We walked for what felt like hours," Ariel said. "Then... suddenly..."

"It's like someone released us," Nira finished. "Everyone simply... woke up."

Silence settled over us.

I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to make sense of everything they had just told me. It made absolutely no sense.

Unless… A thought pushed its way into my mind before I could stop it. ‘Elira.’

Ever since she left Black Hollow, strange things had begun happening around her. Thr recent attack and now… this.

I didn't know why, but every instinct inside me screamed that these events were connected. Before I could think any further, Nira leaned toward me and pressed a gentle kiss against my cheek.

"You two have a lot to talk about." I looked at her and she smiled knowingly before glancing toward Ariel. "Come with me."

She rested a hand protectively over her stomach. "I was just about to prepare dinner before... everything happened."

Ariel looked at Lyra. "You'll be alright?"

Lyra gave a small nod. Nira linked her arm through Ariel's. "I'll steal her for a little while."

Ariel laughed softly before allowing herself to be led toward the house.

Just before disappearing inside, I called after Nira. "I'm glad you're alright."

She turned, smiling warmly at me. "So am I." Then the door closed behind them.

Silence settled between Lyra and me. It felt strangely familiar. Once upon a time, silence between us had been comfortable.

Now… it was different. 

I started walking. I didn't tell her to follow, but after a few seconds later, I heard her footsteps behind mine.

Neither of us spoke for several minutes as we wandered through the settlement, watching people slowly return to whatever normal looked like after something like this.

Eventually, I broke the silence. "You found a friend." I glanced toward her. "She seems nice."

Lyra smiled faintly. "I met her in Silvercrest."

I nodded and the silence returned. This time, it lasted only a little while before Lyra finally spoke.

"Your wife is beautiful."

I looked ahead, unable to hide the smile that appeared on my face. "She is."

"And..." she hesitated. "How far along is she now?"

"Thirteen weeks."

Her smile widened genuinely. "Congratulations."

"Thank you."

We continued walking through the settlement without any destination in mind. Children, blissfully unaware of the weight hanging over the adults, had already begun chasing one another again.

I envied them. Ignorance truly was a blessing.

Beside me, Lyra watched the settlement with quiet admiration. Her eyes wandered from one newly built house to another, then toward the workshops, the training grounds and the storage barns standing proudly near the western fence.

She let out a slow breath. "You've done something incredible here. This is... so much bigger than it used to be." She smiled softly as she looked around. "It doesn't even feel like a pack anymore."

"It isn't," I answered. "It's a home."

She nodded thoughtfully. "I can see that." Her gaze drifted toward a group of children laughing outside one of the houses. "They look happy."

I couldn't help smiling. "That's all I ever wanted."

She looked back at me. "And you made it happen."

There was genuine admiration in her voice. For some reason… it hurt.

"Yeah… You would've seen all of this months ago..." I looked at her out of the corner of my eye. "...if you hadn't disappeared without saying a word."

Lyra stopped walking. I took three more steps before realizing she wasn't beside me anymore. When I turned around, she stood exactly where I'd left her.

Her head had dropped toward the ground and the smile she'd been wearing disappeared completely.

"I'm sorry." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "I am truly sorry, Ryker." I know leaving was wrong."

She wrapped her arms around herself. "I knew it even while I was doing it."

I remained where I stood, allowing her to speak.

"I told myself I was protecting my pack." A bitter laugh escaped her. "But that wasn't the truth. I was protecting myself." Her eyes found mine. "I couldn't face you."

The guilt in her expression was almost painful to look at.

"I knew..." She paused, trying to steady her breathing. "I knew you would eventually find Elira."

She laughed weakly through tears. "And I knew the moment you did... you'd know what I had done."

Her shoulders sagged. "I couldn't bear watching the disappointment on your face. So I ran."

She smiled bitterly. "I convinced myself it was the brave thing to do."

Another tear escaped despite her trying to hold it back. "But every single day after that., I hated myself for it."

The wind gently stirred the branches overhead. "I thought about coming back." She laughed softly. "More times than I can count."

Her fingers twisted together nervously. "And every time… I couldn't." She inhaled deeply. "Eventually I convinced myself you hated me." She shrugged helplessly.

I sighed quietly. "You know what hurt the most?" She looked up immediately. "It wasn't that you left."

Confusion flickered across her face. "It wasn't even what happened between you and Elira. It was the fact that you thought I'd stop being your friend the moment you disappointed me."

Her lips parted slightly, and I asked. "After everything we'd been through together?"

Her eyes immediately filled again.

"You've always been stubborn." I smiled faintly. "You've always made terrible decisions when you let guilt do your thinking."

That earned the tiniest laugh from her.

"But I never stopped caring whether you were alive. I searched for you. For weeks."

I continued walking slowly, and after a moment she caught up beside me. After another few moments of silence, I spoke again.

"Elira came here."

That immediately erased the smile from Lyra's face and her breathing slowed. "She told me she found you at Silvercrest."

Lyra lowered her head. "It... didn't go very well."

"No." I shook my head. 

She closed her eyes briefly. "I don't blame her. I betrayed her."

"You know… I think she regrets it.” 

Lyra blinked. "...She what? She was furious. I've never seen her that angry."

A small chuckle escaped me.  "But after she calmed down… I think she realized she let her emotions get the better of her."

Lyra stared at the ground for several seconds. "I never thought she'd regret it."

"Well, right now..." I looked toward the eastern horizon where the sun was beginning to dip lower. "...you're probably the least of her worries."

Lyra frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know how to explain it. But whatever happened today..." I paused. "My gut keeps telling me it has something to do with Elira."

Lyra's expression slowly changed from curiosity... to concern.

"You think she caused that?"

"I don't know and I don't have proof. But my gut tells me that."

Lyra remained quiet for several moments, her eyes fixed on the path ahead while my words settled between us.

"If it really was Elira..." She turned to look at me. "If she somehow compelled every werewolf..." Her brows pulled together. "Then why weren't you affected?"

I stared into the distance as the realization settled over me. "I don't know. I was outside the settlement when it happened. But that shouldn't matter."

If whatever force had pulled thousands of wolves toward Valerith had truly been as powerful as Lyra described, a little distance shouldn't have made any difference.

"I need answers." The words escaped before I even realized I had spoken them.

Lyra nodded. "So do I."

I turned my eyes toward the east again.  “I need to talk to her.” I turned to look at her. 

“And you should come too.”