The next morning, the Elder Council convened. Lyra sat silently, as instructed, dressed in a demure suit, her eyes fixed on the man who was preparing to discard her. Ronan delivered his strategic plan with flawless composure, but Lyra only heard the chilling finality of his earlier words.
Ronan's father, the retired Alpha, took center stage, his voice thick with ancient authority. "The Alpha must secure a true mate," he declared. "The contract with Lyra Thorne has expired its political utility. The risk of the Crimson Bloodline awakening is too great."
Lyra watched Ronan nod, confirming his complicity. The Alpha who had once whispered sweet nothings was now actively consenting to her destruction.
She knew she had to act fast. While the Elders debated, Lyra used her brief window of opportunity. She excused herself, feigning a headache, and instead slipped into the ancient Kaelen Library—a place forbidden to omegas.
The library smelled of dust, neglect, and suppressed power. Lyra navigated the massive, chaotic shelves until she found the section marked 'Apocrypha.'
There, bound in brittle leather, was the Book of Crimson Ascent.
She frantically turned the pages, finding the forbidden knowledge the Elders had only shown Ronan in fragments. The book didn't describe a curse; it described the ultimate power.
The Shadow Mark is the convergence point. Upon rejection and great emotional trauma, the wolf-less Omega will awaken the Crimson Matriarch, the first pure embodiment of the Bloodline. She will not command the wolf; she will command the shadow and the fire.
Lyra felt a jolt of terrifying realization. The Elders were terrified of her power, not her curse. They needed Ronan to break her spirit so the power wouldn't awaken and challenge their authority.
Lyra also found a map deep within the book—a reference to the most powerful artifact of the Shadowclaw Pack: The Heart of Shadowclaw. The relic wasn't a source of power; it was a stabilizer, a key required to manage the massive energy surges of the awakened Crimson Bloodline.
If she was going to survive Ronan's betrayal and protect Leo, she needed the Heart of Shadowclaw. It was the only way to harness the devastating, nascent power she now knew was inside her.
As she copied the relevant passages, Ronan's scent—sharp and anxious—filled the hall outside. She knew her time was up.
She quickly secreted the relic's coordinates and returned the book just as Ronan found her.
"What are you doing here, Lyra?" His eyes were cold, suspicious.
"I was looking for the historical texts on the mark, Ronan," she said calmly, meeting his gaze. "I needed to understand the truth."
He visibly flinched. "The truth is, you are a political necessity that is now a liability. The divorce papers are drawn. You will be compensated, and the child—"
"The child goes with me," Lyra stated, her voice quiet but absolute. "You don't want the curse in your Pack. I will take him, and you will forget we ever existed."
Ronan looked relieved, confirming Lyra's darkest fears. He was already rehearsing his lines for the public performance of her exile. Lyra walked past him, her head held high, leaving the Alpha in the cold, dusty library, unaware that she now possessed the secret to his destruction.