Chapter 12
Lyra didn’t answer his question, but she didn’t need to.
Jake knew. She couldn’t survive a rejection, he was sure of it.
His heart stuttered in his chest at the thought. The idea of rejecting her, of causing her even more pain, was physically unbearable. Rome snarled, loud and savage in his mind, insisting that she was theirs. Every instinct Jake had rebelled at the thought of turning his back on her.
But when he looked at Lyra, all he saw was pain. Not just the scar on her cheek, but something deeper. A hollowed–out kind of grief that had taken root long before today.
He drew in a shaky breath, forcing down the primal urge to claim her.
“Lyra,” he said, voice rough, “I didn’t know… I didn’t see you before. Not really. And I can never tell you how sorry I am for that.” He swallowed hard. “But I don’t think I can just let out that door.”
She looked away, eyes glassy. “You might not have a choice.”
Choice is a luxury in the face of duty. His father’s voice rang in his head.
you walk
Jake stepped forward, slow and careful, like approaching a wounded animal. “I do have a choice,” he said softly. “And I’m choosing you.”
She shook her head, laughing under her breath, dark and humorless. “And what if I don’t choose you back?”
He bit his lip, watching her, waiting for her to go on.
“I have to think about Donnie, too,” she said. “I came here to tell you we were leaving. To ask you to release us from the pack.”
He nodded, his chest tightening. “Why is that? Where are you going?”
“Chicago.” Her arms folded tightly across her chest. “I’ve been studying medicine in the human world. I got into a trauma center program there. I’m taking Donnie with me. He can get the help he needs – real services, tech, support…” She trailed off, shaking her head.
“This pack is Donovan’s home,” Jake said gently. “And yours.”
“It never felt like home.”
That hit harder than he expected. A sucker punch to the chest.
1/5
He’d known she hadn’t been treated well as a child, but it occurred to him now that the shart
within himneyse of her past ran far deeper, and more brutal, than the one on her face
“I’m sorry for that.” The words felt too small. “But maybe, maybe it could be
“This bond doesn’t change the past, she murmured. “It doesn’t fix what happened”
“But it means something,” Jake said, his voice sharpening with conviction. “And I’d be a fool to ignore that.”
Her eyes lifted to his, and he caught a flicker of something there. Hope, maybe.
“I failed you when we were kids,” he whispered. “I won’t do it again.”
Silence stretched between them, thick and brittle.
“They’ll never accept me,” she said finally. “You know they won’t.”
“I’ll make them.” He said it with more confidence than he felt.
A faint smile curved her lips, brief, bittersweet, before it disappeared.
“Just… don’t say no right now,” he said quickly, daring to inch closer. “Just give this a chance.”
She hesitated. Rome clawed at his insides, begging him to close the distance. But Jake held himself still, holding tight to the reins.
“Give it time,” he whispered. “If you still want to leave… if you don’t want this… I… I’ll let you go. I won’t stop you.”
Lyra searched his face like she was looking for a trap. For a lie.
“How long?” she asked.
Forever, Rome snapped.
Jake forced his voice to stay calm. “Two months.”
She frowned. “Two weeks.”
“A month,” he countered quickly. “I won’t do less than a month.”
“I have to be in Chicago by July.”
He nodded. “Then a month gives us until mid–June. You’ll still have time, if you choose to leave.”
Her jaw trembled slightly.
2/5
<Chapter 12
“Please,” he said, his voice low and aching.
Finally, she gave a curt nod. “A month.”
**
+25 Poinda
Lyra grabbed Donovan and left Megan’s as quickly as possible, promising to fill her in later. Donovan tried to ask questions during the drive, but Lyra begged him to wait until they got
home.
When they walked through the door, Lyle was stretched out on the couch. He jumped to his feet immediately.
“Well?” he asked. “Did the Alpha agree to release the two of you?”
“No,” Donovan scoffed. “But Lyra gets to be Luna now.”
Lyra fought the urge to shove him out of his chair. Leave it to Donovan to be so tactless.
“What?” Lyle’s brows pinched as he looked from Donovan to Lyra.
“I really don’t want to talk about it,” she murmured, moving to leave the room.
“She’s his mate,” Donovan said, as if she hadn’t spoken. Frustration laced his voice. Was he seriously mad at her for something she had no control over?
“What?” Lyle repeated. “Whose mate?”
“Alpha Jake’s.”
“What?” Lyle’s voice jumped an octave. His wide eyes snapped to Lyra. “You’re the Alpha’s mate?”
Lyra sighed heavily and glared at her brother. “Yeah. I guess so.”
Lyle scrubbed a hand down his face and turned away, momentarily at a loss for words.
“How long until you move into the pack house, Luna?” Donovan asked dryly.
“f**k you,” Lyra snapped.
“Hey! Language!” Lyle interjected.
“Do you think I wanted this?” Lyra went on, ignoring her father. Her voice was rising. “You think I want to be his mate? To stay here in this pack? In a place that will never accept people like you and me?”
“So are you rejecting him?” Donovan challenged, his eyes dark.
Chapter 12
“Hey,” Lyle cut in again, more firmly. “Rejection is a big deal…”
“Do you even know what rejecting a mate bond does, Donnie?” she yelled. “Do you realize it could kill me?”
Donovan didn’t answer. He pressed his lips into a tight line and looked away.
“What happened?” Lyle asked, his voice softer now, almost pleading. “Will you sit down? Just tell me what happened this morning.”
Lyra finally tore her gaze away from her brother and looked at Lyle. The confusion on his face was plain as day.
She sighed and sank onto the couch, dropping her head into her hands. “He doesn’t want to reject me. He said the elders told him if he doesn’t find his fated mate by the end of the month, he has to take a chosen mate. Callan’s little sister, apparently.”
Lyle sat beside her, nodding. “Makes sense. Kylie’s mate died a couple years ago in that accident. The pack would want the Alpha with someone they know doesn’t have a fated mate out there.”
“I told him no one in the pack will accept me,” Lyra said, brushing her hair back from her face. She glanced up and saw Donovan watching her, his expression unreadable. “I told him they’ll never want me as their Luna, but he said he wants me to stay. To give him a chance, for at least a month. If I still want to leave after that, he says he’ll let us go.”
“Will he, though?” Donovan shook his head. “What if he changes his mind? What if he doesn’t give you a choice?”
She leaned back against the couch and stared at the ceiling. “I don’t know, Donovan. I don’t have the answers. It’s not like I have much of a choice right now.”
“So we’re stuck,” he muttered. “Just when I thought we were finally getting out of here. Figures.” He shook his head. “I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up.”
“Oh, so sorry,” Lyra snapped sarcastically. “That me being mated to someone I don’t want is ruining your day. I forgot, it’s always been all about you.”
“Lyra!” Lyle admonished.
Donovan jerked his brakes free and wheeled off to his room, slamming the door behind him.
“He’s just upset,” Lyle said sharply, turning to Lyra.
“And what about me?!” she yelled. “What about how I’m feeling? Do you think I want Jake as a mate? Do you think I want to be Luna of a pack that doesn’t accept me or my brother? Do
Chapter 12
either of you really think this is what I want?”
+25 Points
With that, she bolted from the house, not sure where she was going. She only knew that she couldn’t stay there a second longer.
6
Comments
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
