Lyrean's pov
My hand slapped across his cheek before I even thought about it. The sound cracked in the air, sharp and cruel. He staggered, not from the force but from the shock.
Tears blurred my vision, my voice breaking. "Of course I said that! I thought you were him. I thought my mate had finally chosen me after tearing me apart for years. I thought—" My breath shuddered, and I bit down hard to keep from collapsing. "You let me drown in that lie because it gave you what you wanted."
He straightened slowly, his face red where my hand had struck him. His eyes—those storm-grey eyes that never wavered—stared into mine with something raw and terrifying. "I wanted you, Lyrean. And for one damned night, you wanted me back. Don't you dare pretend it meant nothing."
"It meant nothing because it wasn't real!" I spat, choking on the words. "You took a broken, half-drunk woman and turned her into your victory. You gave me a child, yes—but you also gave me a lifetime of questions I can't even bear to look at. How am I supposed to raise Eryx and not remember the lie he came from?"
At that, his entire body stilled. His voice dropped, soft and dangerous. "Don't call him a liar."
My lips parted, but no sound came. His words were iron, heavy with a threat he didn't need to say out loud.
I swallowed hard, the ache in my throat nearly choking me. "He isn't a lie," I whispered at last. "But the way he came into this world… the way you took that choice from me—that will always haunt me, Raze."
Something in his face faltered, his fury breaking against the jagged edges of my pain. He stepped forward again, slower this time, as if each move cost him. "I would never have hurt you, Lyrean. Not on purpose. You weren't too far gone—I swear it. I could smell the way your body responded, I could feel the bond humming between us. It wasn't just lust. It wasn't just desperation. It was fate. It was ours."
I shook my head violently, stepping back until my spine hit the wall. "No. Don't you dare use fate as an excuse. Fate doesn't take away choice. Fate doesn't blur faces and twist nights until a woman can't remember whose arms she was in." My breath came ragged. "That wasn't fate, Raze. That was you."
For the first time, his shoulders sagged. His pride, his arrogance, his endless defiance—they cracked, leaving a man standing in front of me who looked… tired. Worn. Almost broken.
"I can't undo that night," he said finally, his voice raw. "I can't take away your anger or your pain. But don't you dare deny what came from it. Eryx isn't just mine or yours—he's the one thing in this damned world that's pure. Don't make him carry the weight of our sins."
The fight in me faltered at the mention of Eryx, my sweet boy with his father's stormy eyes and his laugh that healed wounds I didn't know I had. My chest squeezed painfully. He was right. Eryx was innocent. But innocence didn't erase betrayal.
I pressed my palms to my face, dragging in a shaky breath. "I don't know if I can ever forgive you," I admitted, my voice muffled against my skin. "Every time I look at you, I see the brother who stood in the shadows and waited for me to fall. The man who took advantage of my weakness. The liar who let me believe in something that was never real."
When I finally lowered my hands, his gaze burned into mine—steady, unyielding, but shimmering with something fragile. "Then hate me," he said simply. "Hate me all you want. But don't pretend you don't feel this bond too."
My heart stuttered violently.
Because damn him—damn him to the deepest pits of the underworld—I did feel it. Every time he was near, my chest tightened, my skin prickled, my soul stirred in ways Talon never reached. It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. But it was there, undeniable and merciless.
And that was the worst betrayal of all.
"I'll leave now, but don't expect that I won't be back, I will, because now that your safety is about to be compromised, I'll do whatever it takes to protect you both," He said and turned around, his eyes darting to Elena who stood in the corner.
I turned back at Elena, anger...hatred, everything flashed across my eyes.
My anger was justified, but it also wasn't; they saved me.
"Lyrean..." Elena called as I walked away, trotting after me.
"Don't call me Elena, you don't have the right to anymore," I responded, walking away to nowhere in particular.
"Give me a chance and let me explain myself, Lyrean..." She pleaded but I wasn't having any of it.
"You had plenty of times to explain yourself, Elena, you chose to keep mute," I yelled, running frustrated hands through my hair.
"Lyrean!" She growled, the wolf in her seeping.
I pushed, taken aback by her sudden actions, and turned to face her.
"What? Do you think I didn't want to tell you? Or do you think about how hard it was for me to keep everything to myself for years?" She snapped, staring at me.
"Be grateful and look at the facts, Lyrean. What rogue faction would take you in? The best that could have happened to you would be if they let you live, especially when they find out you're from Talon's pack," She said and heaved an exasperated sigh.
"Do you even know how this faction or pack came to be?" She said as she walked closer to me.
"It was Raze's mother''s"
"W-what?" I questioned.
"Yes, you heard me, it belonged to Raze's mother's, before everything turned haywire, it was burnt down by his father," She said, and I felt the strength in my knees weaken.
"It was a pack, not a rogue shelter, so yes, Raze saved you, and you're blaming him?"
"He lied to me...."