Chapter 46
Chapter 46
Lyra's POV
Pain was the first thing I knew.
Not sharp, deep. Heat soaked into my bones and refused to leave. My palms burned even when I tried to flex my fingers. Linen bandages wrapped them tight, smelling faintly of herbs and smoke.
And under it all, Mira’s words clung to me like ash:
It will be you.
The Flameborn. The vessel. Alive. Those words rang louder than the throb of my palms.
I opened my eyes slowly. Dawn painted weak gold across the ceiling beams. The room smelled of leather, woodsmoke, and pine, warm, heavy. My chest tightened when I realized why.
Draven was there.
He sat in a chair drawn close to my bedside, broad shoulders hunched forward, elbows on his knees. His head bowed as if the weight of the whole pack pressed down on it. A lock of black hair slid across his face. For a heartbeat, I thought he was asleep.
Then his eyes lifted….golden, unblinking.
“You’re awake,” he said, voice rough from a night without rest.
I swallowed, wincing as my palms brushed the blanket. “Barely.”
He leaned closer before I could protest. His hands moved over the bandages, big, callused, yet careful. His touch was almost reverent.
“You burned yourself nearly to bone,” he murmured. “You don’t stop, even when it costs you.”
The quiet scold in his voice slid under my skin. “It wasn’t me,” I whispered. “It was… her.”
His gaze sharpened. “Mira?”
I shook my head. “The voice. The fire. It doesn’t just answer me anymore, Draven. It pushes. It… wants.”
Something flickered in his eyes, anger, but not at me. Protective. Fierce.
“Then we’ll make it bend to you,” he said. “Not the other way around.”
We. The word made my chest ache.
For a moment neither of us moved. His hand stayed near mine, close enough for the warmth of his skin to seep through the linen. My heart pounded at the nearness of him. I hated how much I wanted to lean into it.
“Draven…” My voice came out softer than I meant.
His eyes found mine. “What?”
“You don’t have to—”
“Yes,” he cut in, low and certain. “I do. You’re not alone in this, Lyra. Not while I still breathe.”
My throat tightened. “That’s not fair,” I said, almost a laugh, almost a sob. “You can’t just say things like that.”
“Why?” His brow furrowed. “Because it sounds like a promise?”
“It sounds like a claim.”
His jaw flexed. He leaned even closer, until his breath warmed my cheek. “If I ever claim you, it will be because you want it. Not because this bond or that fire tells us to.”
The words undid me. My heart hammered; heat curled low in my belly, mingling with the fire in my blood.
I was going to say something, anything ..when the door creaked.
Kaelia slipped in, her braid loose, eyes flicking from my hands to her brother’s face.
“You’re alive,” she said softly. “Thank the spirits.” She knelt beside me, gently brushing hair back from my forehead.
“She’s in pain,” Draven muttered, straightening but not stepping back.
Kaelia shot him a look, then turned to me. “Don’t listen to Mira,” she said firmly. “She thrives on twisting truth into knives.”
I bit my lip. “What if it wasn’t just a taunt? What if she’s right? What if the Flameborn does want me?”
Kaelia squeezed my wrist. “Then we’ll find another way. You’re not her puppet. You’re not a weapon to be used. You hear me?”
I nodded, but Mira’s words still hissed in the back of my mind.
When Kaelia left, the room shrank again. Quiet, heavy.
Draven hadn’t moved. He watched me like a wolf who’d been denied a kill. “You doubt yourself,” he said at last.
“Wouldn’t you?” I tried to laugh, but it cracked. “Mira was your ally. And she looked me in the eye and told me the fire wants me. Not you. Me.”
His jaw clenched. “Mira made her choice. She’s gone. You’re here.” His fingers brushed the edge of my bandages, the barest touch, and still sparks shot up my arm. “And no matter what that fire wants, you are mine to protect.”
The word mine stole my breath.
“Draven…” My voice was a whisper. I didn’t know if it was warning or plea.
His eyes burned into mine. “Say it,” he said quietly.
“Say what?”
“That you don’t want me here. That you don’t want this.”
I stared at him, heart pounding, because I couldn’t.
He leaned in, so close that if I tilted forward just an inch, our lips would touch. “I would burn for you,” he murmured.
My fingers twitched under the bandages. “You already do.”
For a heartbeat, the world was only that..the bond pulling, my fire reaching for him as much as my body did.
He exhaled slowly, like he was holding himself back with every ounce of control he had. His thumb ghosted over the linen, not quite touching my skin, but close enough to make me shiver.
“You think I don’t feel it?” His voice was low, rough. “The way this bond claws at me? The way my wolf paces every time you’re near?”
My lips parted, breath catching. “And you still fight it.”
“Yes.” His jaw worked. “Because if I take what I want, Lyra, I don’t know if I’ll stop. And I won’t let you look at me with fear after.”
My throat ached. “You think I fear you?”
His golden eyes searched mine, burning. “Sometimes I think you fear yourself more.”
I couldn’t argue with that.
Silence stretched, thick with words unsaid. The space between us was a thread ready to snap.
Then the chamber door slammed open.
A warrior stumbled in, breathless. “Alpha—scouts on the northern ridge. Rogues testing the border!”
The fragile moment shattered like glass.
Draven’s eyes snapped away, his expression hardening to stone. He rose, shoulders squaring, the Alpha once more. “Ready the patrols,” he ordered.
The warrior bowed and fled.
I sat frozen, the echo of his nearness still burning on my skin. He lingered a second longer, as if he wanted to say more, but in the end, he only gave me a fierce, unreadable look before turning on his heel and striding out.
The door shut hard behind him.
And I was left with bandaged hands, a racing heart, and Mira’s words hissing in my ears.
It will be you.