POV: Aria
I was just stumbling down the door of the house of Damien, which I knew so well, when I was barely up. My head still ached with the previous night, and my throat was parched. I looked at my phone again--five unanswered calls with Lyra, all at midnight. My heart pounded. She never stayed up that late.
I rushed to the front door and knocked. "Lyra?" My voice cracked. "Baby, are you home?"
No answer.
The lock clicked and Damien was there.
"Where's Lyra?" I asked immediately.
He gave a lazy smirk. "How should I know? When Selene and I returned a few hours ago, she was not there. Perhaps she went in search of her mother who could not even bother to come home.
I froze. "What are you talking about? She's eighteen, Damien. She's still a child."
Leaning on the doorframe, he crossed his arms. " like mother, like daughter," he sneered. You vanish all night and come back like that, and now your daughter is gone. Real mother of the year."
My breath caught. I was aware of my appearance, messy hair, red eyes, but I did not deserve this. "Don't do this. Where is she, please, tell me where she is."
"I don't care," he snapped. "You're an omega. Weak. Pathetic. And your daughter too--wolfless and useless."
I had not time to answer, when I heard a voice behind him, which I knew was his. " urgh... she is back?
I couldn't breathe. "Damien..."
He looked almost bored. "Don't act surprised. I stayed out of pity. But I'm done. You should leave."
Please, I implored, with sore eyes. "Don't do this in front of her. At least--"
Selene made a pause, retiring. There were two huge suitcases next the door--mine.
I packed your things, I already said, coldly. "You should thank me."
Damien opened the door wider. "You heard her. Get out."
"Damien--"
The door slammed in my face.
It was a long time before I could stand there numb. I cleared my throat, and looked down at my phone once more. I was startled by a vibration--ringing.
"Lyra!" I screeched and replied at once. "Where are you? Are you safe?"
"Mom?" Her voice was small and tremulous. "I...I got scared. I awoke and the house was deserted. Your phone was not going through and dad was not home. So I went to Grandma's. I apologize, I did not know what to do.
Floods of relief came over me to the point of making my knees shake. "No, no, sweetheart. You did the right thing. Stay there. I'm coming right now, okay?"
She sniffled. "Okay."
I put down the phone and wiped the face. Then I walked away out of the house which had been my own.
As I entered the house of my mother, Lyra was sitting on the couch next to her grandmother with red eyes as a result of crying. When she beheld me she ran into my arms.
"Mom," she whispered.
I held her tightly. "I'm here. It's okay now."
My mother, Mara, frowned at me, but did not speak. Her eyes said enough--she knew.
I sat next to Lyra and held her hands. "Sweetheart," I began softly. There is something I must say to you.
She frowned. "What is it?"
"Your father and I... we are not together any more. But that doesn't mean any…anything has changed."
She didn't say a word. Her eyes brimmed with tears but she shook her head. "I knew it," she said quietly. Last night he did not even come home.
I reached for her shoulder. "Lyra--"
"I'm fine," she cut me off. "I just need some time." She got up and went to her room and shut the door behind her.
I would have liked to follow her, and I knew she had to have room. My mother looked at me with a sad face and gave me a cup of water. "You did your best, Aria."
I shook my head and could not trust myself to talk.
In the evening I visited the room of Lyra. She was sitting at the window, yet in her night-clothes, looking out.
"Lyra," I said softly. "It's time to get ready."
"For what?"
The mating ceremony, I said, and I had to smile. "It's your first one."
She shook her head. "I don't want to go."
"Why not?"
She swiveled to look at me, with pain in her eyes. "Because I don't want a mate. I don't want to end up like you."
Her words were hurtful, yet I knew. I knelt beside her. "I know you're hurt, baby. Everybody is not like your father. The Moon goddess could be having a kind of someone waiting. You deserve happiness."
She looked away. I do not believe in mates any more.
I sighed. "Please, just go for me."
She eventually assented after hours of pleading with her. "Okay."
We were late at the ceremony. The mob was already assembled--wolves of every grade waiting till the Elder should read the pairings.
Lyra was standing next to me, still and calmly nervous. I took her hand and gave it a squeeze as we proceeded.
The voice of the Elder was heard in the clearing. Tonight we feast the marriage of souls, selected by the Moon Goddess herself...
My eyes moved around the audience--and stopped.
In the center stage were Damien and Selene, holding their hands together and the Elder proclaimed them as destined lovers.
Lyra looked at me, confused. "Mom..."
"I'm fine," I whispered.
And then my gaze went floating upwards, to the throne by the seat of the Alpha. There was a young man, sitting erectly, with sharp eyes that can be seen at a distance.
I realized it like a bolt of lightning.
It was him.
The stranger from the bar.
My breath caught. What is he doing there?
People applauded Damien and Selene, but I did not hear it. I was staring at him--the man I had spent one night attempting to forget.
My heart skipped.
"Him?" I said to myself, and gulped. "Why is he next to the Alpha?"