The Girl They Left Behind

The first thing Kael Blackthorn learned about fear was that it had a sound.

It sounded like a little girl's voice whispering his name in the dark.

“Kael?”

He opened his eyes.

For several seconds, he couldn't see anything.

The room was almost completely black. A thin line of pale light slipped beneath the heavy metal door across from him, but it wasn't enough to illuminate the concrete walls or the floor beneath him.

His wrists hurt.

His ankles hurt.

His throat felt dry.

He swallowed and immediately regretted it.

“Kael?”

The whisper came again.

He turned his head.

A small figure was sitting in the corner of the room.

“I'm here,” he whispered.

The girl moved closer.

Even in the darkness, he could see the faint outline of her face.

She was small. Smaller than him.

Her dark hair was tangled around her shoulders, and there was dirt on one side of her cheek. She had been crying earlier, but Kael had never seen her cry for long.

She always stopped.

Somehow, that frightened him more than the crying.

“Are you awake?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Good.”

“Why?”

“Because I was getting bored.”

Kael stared at her.

“You're strange.”

“I know.”

Despite himself, the corner of his mouth lifted.

The girl smiled.

“There. You did it.”

“Did what?”

“Smiled.”

“I didn't.”

“You did.”

“No.”

“I saw it.”

“You can't see anything.”

“I can see you.”

Kael looked away.

She had been doing this for days.

Maybe weeks.

He didn't know how long they had been trapped in the facility anymore.

There were no windows.

No clocks.

No sunlight.

The people who brought them food never spoke to them.

The doors opened only when someone came in to check on them.

Kael had stopped asking how long they had been there.

The last time he asked, one of the men had grabbed his chin and told him that asking questions would only make things worse.

So he stopped.

But the girl hadn't.

She asked everything.

Why were they there?

Who had brought them?

Why did the men wear black?

Why did some of them smell like wolves?

Why was Kael always angry?

Why did he keep staring at the door?

Why did he refuse to eat the vegetables?

Kael had eventually asked her why she talked so much.

She had shrugged.

“Because if I stop talking, I might start thinking.”

“Thinking about what?”

“Going home.”

That answer had silenced him.

Because he was thinking about home too.

His mother.

His father.

The pack.

The enormous house he had complained about only weeks before.

His bedroom.

The training yard.

His father's voice telling him that one day he would become Alpha.

Kael had never wanted to become Alpha.

Not really.

At ten years old, he thought being Alpha meant sitting in boring meetings and listening to adults talk.

Now he would give anything to hear one of those boring meetings again.

The girl sat beside him.

“What are you thinking about?”

“My family.”

“Do they know where you are?”

Kael hesitated.

“They'll find me.”

She smiled.

“You sound very sure.”

“They will.”

“How?”

“My father is Alpha.”

“So?”

“So he'll find me.”

She nodded seriously.

“Then your father sounds very impressive.”

“He is.”

“What's your name?”

Kael looked at her.

“You've never told me yours.”

“You never asked.”

“I've asked you almost everything.”

“Not that.”

He frowned.

“What's your name?”

She smiled.

“Lyra.”

“Lyra what?”

She tilted her head.

“Just Lyra.”

“That's not a full name.”

“It is when you're hiding.”

Kael stared at her.

“You're hiding your name?”

She leaned closer.

“Maybe.”

Before Kael could ask another question, footsteps sounded outside the door.

Both children froze.

The smile disappeared from Lyra's face.

Kael immediately moved closer to her.

The footsteps stopped.

Silence.

Then came the sound of metal scraping against metal.

The lock.

Kael's heart began pounding.

He didn't know what the men wanted this time.

Food?

Questions?

Punishment?

The door opened.

Light flooded the room.

Kael raised his arm to shield his eyes.

Three men stood outside.

All dressed in black.

The tallest one looked directly at Kael.

“The boy.”

Kael's stomach tightened.

One of the men entered.

Lyra grabbed his sleeve.

“Don't.”

Kael looked at her.

“I'll be fine.”

“You don't know that.”

“I'll be fine.”

The man reached for him.

Kael fought.

He kicked.

He twisted.

He screamed.

The man grabbed him around the waist and lifted him from the ground.

“Let me go!”

Lyra jumped onto the man's back.

“Leave him alone!”

The man cursed and tried to shake her off.

“Lyra!”

She held tighter.

Another man grabbed her.

“No!”

Kael's voice cracked.

“Don't touch her!”

The man carrying him walked toward the door.

Lyra struggled against the other man's grip.

“Kael!”

“I'll come back!”

He didn't know why he said it.

He didn't know whether it was true.

But Lyra believed him.

Her eyes locked onto his.

“You better!”

Then the door slammed shut.

Kael never discovered where they took him.

He remembered a hallway.

A vehicle.

A blindfold.

Someone speaking in low voices.

Then darkness.

When he woke again, he was alone.

But something had changed.

The facility was louder.

Doors were opening and closing.

Men were shouting.

Then came a sound Kael recognized.

A howl.

Not a normal wolf.

A werewolf.

His father's warriors.

Hope struck him so suddenly that his chest hurt.

“Dad!”

He jumped to his feet.

The door burst open.

A man in black armor appeared.

Behind him were several warriors.

“Kael Blackthorn?”

Kael stared.

He knew the crest on their armor.

The Blackthorn wolf.

“Yes!”

The warrior dropped to one knee.

“I'm Commander Roran. We're taking you home.”

Kael didn't move.

“Where is she?”

The commander frowned.

“Who?”

“The girl.”

“What girl?”

“The girl who was with me.”

The commander looked toward the others.

Kael's heart sank.

“Her name is Lyra.”

“We'll find her.”

“You promise?”

The commander hesitated.

That hesitation frightened Kael.

“Find her!”

“We need to get you out first.”

“No.”

Kael backed away.

“You don't understand.”

“We have limited time.”

“She is still here.”

“We know.”

Kael froze.

“You know?”

The commander's expression changed.

“Move.”

“No.”

“Kael—”

“I'm not leaving without her.”

The commander grabbed his shoulder.

“We're coming back.”

“You promise?”

The commander looked at him.

“I promise.”

Kael wanted to believe him.

So he did.

For the next few minutes, everything happened too quickly.

Warriors moved through the corridors.

Doors were broken open.

Men fought.

Someone shouted.

The lights flickered.

Smoke filled the hallway.

Kael was carried through the chaos.

He twisted around repeatedly, searching for Lyra.

He couldn't see her.

“Lyra!”

No answer.

“Lyra!”

Something exploded somewhere behind them.

The commander tightened his grip.

“We have to go!”

“No!”

Kael fought.

“She's here!”

“We're coming back!”

“You said that before!”

The commander said nothing.

They reached the entrance.

Cold night air struck Kael's face.

For the first time in what felt like forever, he saw the sky.

Stars.

A real sky.

He should have been happy.

Instead, he was terrified.

Because Lyra wasn't there.

“Put me down!”

He struggled.

“Put me down!”

The warrior holding him didn't release him.

“LYRA!”

His voice echoed through the trees.

For one second, there was silence.

Then—

“Kael!”

He heard her.

His entire body went still.

He turned.

Far behind them, through the smoke-filled entrance of the facility, a small figure appeared.

Lyra.

Her hands were tied.

Two men were dragging her backward.

“KAEL!”

“LYRA!”

Kael fought with everything he had.

“Go back!”

The warriors were already retreating.

“GO BACK!”

The facility behind them erupted with another explosion.

Flames burst through the windows.

The commander grabbed Kael and carried him farther away.

“No!”

Kael screamed.

“LYRA!”

She was fighting too.

“KAEL!”

Their eyes met across the distance.

Then smoke rolled between them.

Kael couldn't see her anymore.

“Go back!”

“We can't!”

“You promised!”

The commander said nothing.

Kael screamed until his throat burned.

He screamed until he could no longer hear his own voice.

He watched the building disappear behind the trees.

And the last thing he remembered before everything went black was Lyra's face.

Ten years later, Kael still remembered that night.

But memory had become unreliable.

Sometimes he remembered Lyra clearly.

Sometimes her face was nothing more than a blur.

Sometimes he remembered her laugh.

Sometimes he remembered her voice.

Sometimes he wondered whether his mind had created parts of her simply because he had needed someone to survive those years.

But one thing had never changed.

He had never forgotten her.

“Alpha?”

Kael opened his eyes.

The present returned immediately.

Cold stone walls.

A massive wooden desk.

Documents stacked neatly in front of him.

The Blackthorn crest carved into the wall.

And a man standing on the other side of his desk.

Commander Roran.

Older now.

Grey threaded through his dark hair.

But Kael remembered those eyes.

He remembered them from the night they had left Lyra behind.

“What is it?” Kael asked.

Roran placed a file on the desk.

“We received a report from the eastern territory.”

Kael glanced at the file.

“About?”

“A woman.”

“That doesn't explain anything.”

“She was found near the border.”

Kael opened the file.

The first page contained a photograph.

A young woman with dark hair.

Sharp, observant eyes.

A calm expression.

Kael stared at the photograph.

Something inside him shifted.

He didn't understand why.

He had seen thousands of faces.

He had forgotten thousands of names.

But this one—

His fingers tightened around the edge of the photograph.

“Who is she?”

“Her name is Lyra Vale.”

Kael stopped breathing.

For a moment, the room became completely silent.

Roran watched him carefully.

Kael looked up.

“What did you say?”

“Lyra Vale.”

The name struck something deep inside him.

A dark room.

A child's laugh.

Small fingers gripping his sleeve.

You did smile.

Kael's pulse quickened.

“No.”

Roran frowned.

“Alpha?”

“No.”

He pushed the photograph away.

It slid across the desk.

“She can't be.”

“You know her?”

Kael didn't answer.

His eyes remained fixed on the photograph.

Twenty years.

Twenty years of wondering.

Twenty years of believing he had failed her.

Twenty years of imagining a little girl trapped somewhere in the darkness.

And now—

A woman with her name had appeared at the border.

It could be a coincidence.

It had to be.

“Where is she?” Kael asked.

Roran hesitated.

“That's the problem.”

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“What problem?”

“She disappeared before our people could reach her.”

The room suddenly felt colder.

Kael stood.

“Where did she go?”

“We don't know.”

“Then find her.”

“Alpha—”

“Find her.”

Roran didn't move.

“There is something else.”

Kael's expression hardened.

“What?”

Roran slowly removed another document from the file.

“This was recovered from an old archive.”

He placed it on the desk.

Kael looked down.

It was an old photograph.

The image was damaged by time.

Two children stood together.

A boy with dark hair.

A little girl beside him.

Kael's blood turned cold.

He picked up the photograph.

His hand trembled.

The boy was him.

And the girl—

Lyra.

But beneath the photograph was a handwritten note.

Kael read it once.

Then again.

His face changed.

SUBJECT TWO WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE RESCUED.

Kael looked up slowly.

For the first time in twenty years, fear returned to his eyes.

Not fear for himself.

Fear for the girl they had left behind.

Because if the document was real, then everything he had been told about that night had been a lie.

And someone had just made the mistake of bringing Lyra Vale back into the world.

Kael read the sentence again.

SUBJECT TWO WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE RESCUED.

The words stared back at him from the yellowed paper.

He had spent years learning how to control his emotions.

An Alpha could not afford to react to every rumor, every insult, or every threat. His enemies watched for weakness. His allies watched for uncertainty. Even his own people watched him when they believed he wasn't looking.

Kael had learned to give them nothing.

But the sentence on that page made his control feel useless.

“Where did you get this?”

His voice was quiet.

Too quiet.

Commander Roran didn't answer immediately.

Kael lifted his eyes.

“I asked you a question.”

“It came from the old western archives.”

“The archives were sealed.”

“They were.”

“Who opened them?”

Roran's jaw tightened.

“That is what we're trying to determine.”

Kael looked back at the document.