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I genuinely wanted to understand what that pack’s issue with me was. After all, we were located far enough from them that they didn’t need to be involved in any of our problems. They had every opportunity to stay out of itpletely if they chose to. We never asked for their assistance, and Elias certainly
wouldn’t. He was the Alpha of the Vanguards. He would be thest one to ever seek help from anyone.
Once we finished breakfast, Elias left the house to go confront Alpha Damon, and I stayed behind <i>to </i>tidy
up the kitchen, still preupied with curiosity about what was actually going on between the two packs.
I caught a glimpse of Elias disappearing into the forest behind our house, but that was the extent of what I
could see from the window. The pack border was much deeper into the forest, and since Alpha Damon
wasn’t approaching the edge, Elias had to walk quite a distance into the woods to find him.
The longer I waited inside the house, the more restless and uneasy I became, so I decided to head out to
the training ground that was located just behind the house, the one no one else was allowed to step foot
near.
Elias had specifically ordered everyone to stay away from that area. He had set it aside for the sole purpose of training me privately.
I wasn’t exactly sure what I was supposed to do there by myself, but eventually I noticed a few items
scattered around and I started arranging them into a makeshift obstacle course, then began training with
what I had set up.
As time went by, I began thinking Elias was taking way too long, and that made me even more anxious. I
started walking toward the woods, but I stopped when I reached the edge of the trees.
I stood there, staring out in the direction that Elias had taken earlier, hoping to catch even the slightest
glimpse of something through the trees–but there was absolutely nothing I could make out.
I shut my eyes and focused hard, trying to pick up on any sounds that might give me a clue, and before
long, I started to hear faint voicesing toward me.
The sound of the voices kept growing louder, and when I opened my eyes again, I was startled to find
myself already inside the forest. Somehow, I had wandered further than I realized, because I was now
standing just a few feet away from Elias and Alpha Damon’s meeting.
I could clearly see Elias, and he was backed up by several of his pack members. Alpha Damon, too, had
his men positioned beside him.
I was practically right behind all of them, and I immediately thought I was in for a serious scolding since Elias had made it clear that I wasn’t supposed toe anywhere near this conversation. But oddly enough, <i>no </i>one acknowledged me at all. No one turned around, no one spoke to me–they all just kept talking as though I wasn’t even present.
“Keeping that she–wolf here is a real threat. We’re aware that she carries royal lineage, and people will stop
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at nothing to capture her. The vampire council has already made it known they’re after her. There’s going to be hell to pay once they figure out where she is,” Alpha Damon said.
“Funnying from you. Don’t you already have a deal going with the vampires?” Elias replied.
“These ones are different. You and I both know that not all vampires are the enemy,” Alpha Damon
responded.
“Oh, right. So these must be the ‘good‘ vampires who’ve decided that feeding off animals is a noble cause
now,” Elias said.
“You know just as well as I do that it’s the truth. As long as they aren’t murdering anyone, then we have no intention of going after them. That’s the agreement we’ve made with them,” Alpha Damon stated inly.
“And what makes you think we should believe that? Werewolves and vampires aren’t meant to be allies. What’s to stop the vampire council from siding with you and your bloodsuckers?” Elias challenged.
“Because your girl is a much bigger prize to them than we are,” Alpha Damon replied tly.
“Well, then that’s not your problem. You live two hours away from this ce. <i>So </i>pack up, turn around, and act like none of this ever happened. It’s not hard. You don’t control muchnd and it’s far from here anyway. You can easily im you didn’t know a thing. And if they end uping to our door, we’ll handle it ourselves. But I won’t give up my mate just because you’re afraid,” Elias growled with anger.
“Alright then. Just don’te crying when things go wrong,” Alpha Damon warned.
“I don’t need a heads–up. Since the day I met her, we’ve been through hell already. And I’m ready to keep fighting every damn day if that’s what it takes to keep her breathing and safe. So now, get off mynd,”
Elias snapped.
“Let’s move, boys,” Alpha Damon said, turning away and walking off with his pack trailing behind him.
Elias stood still until theypletely vanished from view. Then, finally, he turned and started heading back toward our side of the border, with his men following closely behind him.
I remained in ce as one of the patrol guards walked toward me. He didn’t notice me at all, and I instinctively reached out my hand, thinking he might walk right into me, but instead, he passed directly through me as if I wasn’t even there.
I stared down at myself, ncing over my body in disbelief, then turned my head to look at the group of men moving farther away toward our territory, feeling a deep sense of confusion settle in.
My thoughts were all over the ce as I shut my eyes again, trying to make sense of what had just
happened and what it could possibly mean.
When I opened my eyes again, I was standing at the edge of the forest where I’d originally been before everything happened. But I hadn’t walked back there. Just like I hadn’t consciously walked to that meeting <b>in </b>the first ce.
I initially thought I had transported my entire body to that ce, but now I wasn’t so sure. It felt more like it
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was just my awareness or consciousness that had projected itself there–because no one had seen or acknowledged me being present but me.
“Lyra,” Elias’s voice pulled me out of my swirling thoughts as he appeared from the trees and walked
toward me.
“Hi,” I greeted him quietly.
“Are you okay?” he asked with concern.
“Yeah, I just started getting a little anxious. You were gone a while,” I admitted.
“I know. Sorry about that. But I think I managed to convince them to step back and stay out <i>of </i>our way,” he said reassuringly.
“Okay. That’s a relief,” I replied softly.
“Come on. Let’s get to training,” he said, gesturing toward the back.
He noticed the rough obstacle course I had pieced together and, to my surprise, he actually seemed to like it. He decided we should keep it as part of our warm–up routine.
But he didn’t want to ease into it–he preferred to jump straight into proper training, and that’s exactly what
we started doing.
We’d been at it for around two hours when I found myselfpletely soaked in sweat and utterly drained,
but I still pushed to keep going, insisting we continue.
Elias seemed a bit concerned about how I was holding up, but I told him I wasn’t ready to stop. I wanted to <fn5c31> For original chapters go to Find_Novel(.</fn5c31>
keep going, no matter how rough it got.
He let the training continue, though I could tell his intensity dropped after that. He was going easier on <ol><li>me. But since we were still going through full–onbat exercises, I kept getting hurt in the process. </li></ol>
Each time Eliasnded a hit that injured me, I could see the guilt written all over his face–he clearly hated
causing me pain. But this was what I needed. I understood training wouldn’t be simple or painless. It was
necessary if I was ever going to stand a chance at defending myself. That was what mattered most.
Eventually, by the time the afternoon rolled around, we headed back inside. I was limping from the
soreness and bruises, but I pushed through it and made my way upstairs. I went straight into the bathroom
for a long shower, washed the sweat and grime out of my hair, and afterward I changed into a set <i>of </i>
oversized, soft clothes that didn’t cling to my aching body.
When I came back downstairs, Elias was already in the kitchen preparing something to eat for both of <b>us</b>.
Just then, my phone started ringing.
I went over to the counter to pick it up and noticed it was Neil calling.
“He’s called three times since we got back inside,” Elias mentioned. I nced at the call history, and to my shock, I saw that Neil had attempted to reach me twenty–four times that day.
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Without saying a word, I pulled the sim card out of the phone, snapped it clean in two, and dropped it into
the trash.
“There. Problem handled,” I said casually as I walked to the fridge, grabbed a drink, and moved toward the table.
“I’ll get you a recement. I need to make sure I can reach you when I’m not around,” Elias said, sounding firm about it.
“Sure. Just keep in mind that we might end up needing to change it again soon, because it didn’t take much for Neil to get hold of this number,” I replied.
“Fair enough,” Elias said with a nod.
I couldn’t figure out what had Neil so obsessed with me all of a sudden. Was it because I had just turned sixteen, and now that I was of age, my father’s blessing made me fair game for marriage? I had no clue what was behind his sudden desperation to reach me. But deep down, I knew it was tied to my powers somehow. Neil and his father probably thought they were entitled to a share of whatever power or influence I had. Just more people who saw me as something to use.
My mind started to wander, going back to that night when Neil and I were trapped together in the attic. My father had imed it was part of helping us bond before the wedding. But in truth, it was just a way for Neil to see how much he could get away with–how far he could push me without making me scream or fight back. And he pushed it far.
I could still feel the warmth of his breath when he was on top of me. That memory came back so vividly that before I knew it, the ss I was holding shattered in my hand.
Elias turned quickly, rmed by the sound, and stared at me. But I just lifted my gaze to meet his, whispered an apology, and bolted up the stairs without another word.
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