Chapter <b>146 </b>


    Lucien’s POV


    <b>“</b>Yes, so leave. Now. Or I’ll call the guards,” Lyra said coldly.


    I froze.


    My wolf growled low in my chest.


    Guards<b>? </b>


    She was threatening me–like I was a stranger.Like I was the enemy.


    Like I hadn’t held her body against mine a hundred nights.


    Like I hadn’t whispered promises into her skin.


    <b>“</b>You’d really call your guards on me? “My voice came out hoarse, disbelieving.“After everything?


    But she didn’t flinch.Didn’t blink.Didn’t soften.


    Only turned slightly<b>, </b>protectively<b>, </b>as if shielding her belly from me.


    Then it happened.


    A pained gasp escaped her lips as she doubled over, clutching her stomach.


    My blood ran cold.


    “What’s wrong?” rm cut through my anger. “Is it the pup?”


    “Get out,” she groaned, face contorted in pain. “My brother will kill you if he finds you here.”


    “I’m not leaving you like this,” I insisted, reaching for her again.


    She pped my hand away. “You abandoned that right two years ago when you chose your precious alliance <b>over </b>our bond.”


    Another contraction hit her, stronger this time. She couldn’t stifle her cry of pain.


    Footsteps sounded in the hallway outside–the patrol I’d dodged earlier, now alerted to a disturbance,


    “Go!” she hissed through clenched teeth. “Unless you want to start a pack wat tonight.”


    I hesitated, torn between my wolf’s desperate need to protect my mate and pup and the cold calction that had kept me alive and in power all these years.


    “This isn’t over,” I promised, backing toward the window. “I’lle for you<b>–</b>for both <b>of </b><b>you</b>.”


    <b>1/3 </b>


    +15 BON


    <b>“</b><b>You’ll </b>have to go through my entire pack first,” she warned, eyes shing golden again as another contraction gripped her.


    I slipped out the window just as her pained scream brought guards bursting through her door.


    I retreated silently into the forest, pulling out my phone once I was safely away from ckwood sentrie


    “The n has changed,” I told Natalia when she answered, my voice betraying none of the <b>turmoil </b>insid <ol><li>me. </li></ol>


    “What do you mean, changed?” she snapped. “Did you get the information or not?”


    “I’ve discovered something more valuable,” I replied carefully. “I need time to reconsider our approach.”


    Alpha Foster’s voice came on the line, obviously on speaker. “We don’t have time for your reconsiderations! The mating ceremony-<b>” </b>


    “Is no longer our primary concern,” I interrupted smoothly. “Trust me when I say <b>I’ve </b>found a much more direct route to what we all want. I’ll be in touch.”


    I ended the call before they could protest further, my eyes drawn back to the lights of the ckwoodpound in the distance.


    My mate. My child. My unexpected key to the ckwood Pack.


    The Moon Goddess had a twisted sense of humor indeed.


    Summer’s POV


    The antiseptic hospital smell mixed with the earthy scent of pack as I gently knocked on Lyra’s door. The soft crying of the newborn pup had subsided, reced by the steady beep of monitoring equipment.


    <i>“</i>Come in,” Lyra called, her voice sounding more strained than I expected for a new mother who should be basking in the afterglow of birth.


    I entered with a warm smile, my wolf immediately sensing the tension in the room. Lyra sat propped against pillows, little Thea nestled in her arms. Despite the miracle she cradled, Lyra’s eyes held a distant, troubled look that tugged at my heart.


    “How are my two favorite girls doing?” I asked softly, approaching the bed.


    Lyra attempted a smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “We’re good. She’s perfect.”


    I sat carefully on the edge of the bed, reaching out to stroke Thea’s impossibly soft cheek with my finger. The infant turned slightly toward my touch, her tiny nose wrinkling in that instinctual way wolf pups have of scenting their pack members.


    “She really is beautiful,” I murmured. “She has your chin.”


    “And her father’s eyes,” Lyra whispered, pain shing across her face.


    <b>+15 </b><b>BONUS </b>


    Ah. There it was. My wolf whined in sympathy, understanding theplex emotions swirling through the new mother. Bing a single parent was never part of Lyra’s n<b>, </b>especially not as the sister of <b>an </b>


    Alpha.


    <b>“</b>You’re thinking about him,” I said gently, not a question but an acknowledgment.


    Lyra’s eyes filled with tears she stubbornly refused to let fall. “I shouldn’t be. After <b>everything</b>… after how he abandoned us. It’s pathetic, right?”


    “It’s not pathetic,” I said firmly, taking her free hand in mine. “It’s human<b>–</b>or wolf, I suppose. The mate bond doesn’t just disappear because someone hurt you.‘


    11


    I knew that truth all too well from my time with Alpha Foster. Even after all his betrayals, there had been moments when the remnants of that bond had caused physical pain, like phantom limb syndrome of the


    soul.