KADEN PRINCE LYCAN

POV LYRA

The fresh scent of the forest seeped through the cracks in the windows as I leaned over the bucket, scrubbing the floor with numb hands. My palms, hardened by years of hard work, were a constant reminder of my condition. The life of an omega was just that: always beneath, always invisible. Yet, something deep inside me, a silent and stubborn flame, refused to accept this position.

Every day, I mourned the death of my parents, who sacrificed their lives to protect the Alpha of our pack. They died with honor, but nothing was left for me but emptiness and rejection. As I grew older and my wolf failed to manifest, the scorn around me only intensified.

"Lyra!" Lorna’s authoritative voice cut through the air. I straightened immediately, feeling the weight of her severe gaze. "There’s no time for rest. The Ascension feast starts in a few hours, and the hall is still not ready. If Logan finds a single mistake, he will show no mercy."

I swallowed hard and nodded, not daring to respond. The mere thought of Logan always sent a cold shiver down my spine. He was the future Alpha, the heir destined to lead the pack, and the man who despised my very existence. I carried the weight of that contempt like an invisible burden, day after day.

Still, I harbored a foolish hope. I dreamed that, upon turning eighteen, my wolf would finally awaken and that, perhaps then, Logan might look at me differently. I sighed, pushing the thought away as I emptied the bucket outside the castle. It was then that I heard a faint cry in the distance. Without hesitation, I followed the sound.

My heart tightened in my chest as I approached a more secluded corner of the garden, where the plants grew tall, offering refreshing shade. There, between the bushes, I found a little girl, curled up and sobbing quietly.

"Hey, sweetheart..." My voice came out soft, almost a whisper, so as not to startle her. I knelt beside her, feeling the soft grass under my knees as I reached out a hand toward her. "Are you okay? What happened?"

She lifted her face, her large eyes filled with tears meeting mine. Her fragility hit me hard, and the pain in her gaze reflected a world too big for someone so small.

"I... I lost my doll," she said, her voice trembling. "It fell here, and I can’t find it."

A wave of tenderness washed over me. "Let’s look for it together, alright?" I smiled at her, trying to convey the security she so desperately needed. "I’m sure we’ll find it in no time."

She nodded timidly, and we began searching through the bushes. Every moment spent with that little girl reminded me of how cruel the world could be, especially for the most vulnerable. But it also reminded me of the importance of small acts of kindness, which were often all someone needed to carry on.

"Look, there it is!" I exclaimed softly, pulling the small doll from beneath a plant. "Here’s your friend."

The girl’s eyes lit up, and a shy smile appeared on her face as she took the doll from my hands. "Thank you, thank you so much, you’re so pretty and so kind."

"You’re welcome, dear, you’re beautiful too." I replied with a smile, feeling my heart warm at her joy. She waved and ran off toward the village. I barely heard her footsteps disappear when Lorna’s shout pulled me back to reality. Another task awaited me.

Despite everything, I felt happy for having helped that little girl. It was my birthday, and at some point that day, my wolf would awaken. That thought filled my heart with renewed hope as I headed to find Lorna, already expecting a long list of chores.

The hours dragged on as I completed each task, one more exhausting than the last. Twilight began to tint the sky with soft shades of orange and pink, while laughter and music began to emanate from the great hall. When I finally finished the last task, I felt a small relief in my chest.

I hurried to my small room, where I took a quick bath, washing away the dirt and fatigue from my body. I carefully dressed in the only beautiful dress I owned, a simple blue fabric that made me feel a little more special. The hope still burned within me. Maybe as I walked through the banquet hall, my wolf would finally awaken. Deep in my heart, I wished that, in that moment, Logan would finally see me differently.

I slipped through the silent corridors, avoiding any contact, wanting to reach the hall unnoticed. On the way, I saw a solitary flower in a vase. I picked it, inhaling its sweet scent before placing it in my hair. I smiled at myself, trying to calm my racing heart. I quickened my pace, eager to see what fate had in store for me that night.

Then I heard a strange sound, muffled but unmistakable. I stopped suddenly, trying to identify the source of the noise. It came from one of the rooms, a sound I immediately recognized as moans. My stomach churned, but something—perhaps the need to know the truth—led me to follow the sound.

The door was ajar. Every fiber of my being screamed for me to walk away, but I took a few more steps and looked inside. The sight I found was exactly what I should never have seen. Logan, naked and wild, was on top of Bessi, the wolf who always served him. She arched beneath him, moaning loudly as he took her without hesitation or shame. My body froze in place, as if the ground had disappeared beneath my feet.

I had nothing with Logan; he had never shown any affection for me, but that... that hurt in a way I couldn’t explain. My eyes filled with tears, and a knot tightened in my throat.

Suddenly, they began to laugh, a cruel laugh that made my blood run cold. "Say it again, Logan," I heard Bessi say, her voice dripping with malice. "Say again how I’m better than that pathetic Lyra, your fated mate."

Logan laughed loudly, not stopping what he was doing. "Lyra? She’s so pathetic and weak that she’ll never know she’s my fated mate. Her wolf will probably never awaken. And even if it did, I would never accept her."

His words cut like knives. A sob escaped my throat before I could contain it, and at that moment, they realized I was there. They stopped and stared at me, a wicked gleam in their eyes.

Logan let go of Bessi, and they both stood up, partially covered only by the sheets. "Well, well, look who’s here," he said, with a sneering smile. "Lyra, my little omega. What do you think you’re doing?"

My tears fell uncontrollably. "Why, Logan?" I asked, my voice trembling with pain. "Why did you hide this from me?"

He shrugged, showing no hint of remorse. "I don’t owe you any explanations, Lyra. You’re nothing to me."

Before I could react, he quickly approached, grabbing my arm with force. I tried to pull away, but it was useless. Logan dragged me through the corridor, indifferent to my tears or my struggle to break free.

When we reached the hall, some members of the pack were still there, chatting casually. Logan stopped abruptly in the center of the hall and, with a rough movement, pushed me forward in front of everyone. "Listen up, everyone!" he announced, his voice firm and laden with authority. "I, Logan Blackwood, Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack, reject you, Lyra Moonshadow, of the same pack."

The words fell on me like an unforgiving blow. The humiliation was overwhelming, a sharp pain that surpassed any suffering I had ever experienced. My strength drained away, leaving me with no energy to fight. With my head bowed, defeated, I murmured the words that would seal my fate. "I, Lyra Moonshadow, of the Crescent Moon Pack, accept your rejection."

Logan smiled with disdain, a cruel smile that deepened the pain in my chest. "You will never be anything to me, Lyra. Never."

Without another word, he dragged me out of the hall, pulling me through the corridors until we reached a group of guards waiting at his command. "Take care of her until dawn," he ordered, his voice cold and devoid of any compassion. "And after that... you know what to do."

The guards nodded without hesitation, and Logan shoved me toward them. I tried to fight, but I was too weak, drained both physically and emotionally. They led me to the dungeons, and the last thing I heard before being thrown into the cold cell was Logan’s cruel laughter echoing through the corridors. The terror I felt at that moment was deeper than any pain I had ever endured.

I was locked in the cold darkness of the cell, while Logan’s rejection burned in my chest like an open wound. He was the wolf who was supposed to love me, protect me, with whom I was supposed to build a family. But instead, he abandoned me, leaving me at the mercy of loneliness and despair. My broken heart struggled to understand why I had been cast aside.

Through the small window in the stone wall, I watched the full moon in the sky, its silver light shining with distant and impassive beauty. The moon, symbol of our Goddess Freya, seemed so unreachable, its magnitude only amplifying the emptiness I felt inside. I cried out to it, my tears silently streaming down my dirty face. My screams echoed in the empty cell, pleading for mercy, for a solution to my pain, for a blessing that could ease the suffering consuming me.

I desperately called out for my wolf, that part of me that should have awakened on the night of my eighteenth birthday. It was the moment when all females of our kind feel their wolf emerge, the presence that would complete my soul and make me whole. But when the full moon shone in that sky, nothing happened. I remained human, broken, without the strength and companionship I had so longed for. Instead of feeling the power and connection that other females experienced, I was left with emptiness, where the strength of my wolf should have been.

It was as if a part of me was dead, denied the life it should have had, and that only intensified the feeling that I was completely alone, an anomaly among my kind. That absence was a constant shadow, reminding me every second of my failure, of what I was missing.

I felt foolish for still wishing to be at the party. A part of me, fragile and desperate, whispered that that was where I belonged, that I should be among the others, laughing, dancing, living like a true wolf. But that desire seemed a cruel irony, for there I was, imprisoned and incomplete, while the world moved on without me.

When I heard the heavy footsteps of the guards who had locked me in there, my heart stopped. They had returned, and the creaking of the bars being opened sounded like a death sentence. Death approached, cold and relentless, as the men entered the cell. The hope, already faint, died within me. I knew there was no escape, that these moments would be the last I would live.

The pain, both physical and emotional, was unbearable. My body trembled, but there were no more tears to cry, no screams left to release. I was merely an empty echo of what I once was, a shadow of a woman destroyed by rejection, by loss, and now, by the certainty of the end.

POV Kaden, Lycan Prince

Boredom accompanied me as the horses stopped in front of the Crescent Moon Pack’s castle. I had never harbored good feelings toward the pack's leader, and his son, Logan, disgusted me even more. But my father insisted that I represent the Lycan kingdom. I was here out of duty, nothing more; after all, I would soon be the king of all the packs.

A slight growl escaped through my teeth as I pondered the changes I would make. The council of elders would understand the necessity of them, I was sure of it.

Upon entering, I was announced as usual, and all eyes turned to me. It was like a pack of wolves approaching the alpha, but instead of respect, I felt only flattery. Logan approached, attempting to join these sycophants, but my instincts picked up on the contempt hidden beneath his false courtesy. My senses, always alert, detected every small change in his scent, the slight bitterness of his restrained anger.

"Good evening, Prince Kaden. A great pleasure to have you at my party tonight." He raised his glass to me as I was handed another.

I raised my glass, but my mind was occupied with the steady rhythm of my heartbeat, pulsing with a mixture of irritation and disdain. "Believe me, sometimes duty speaks louder. Here I am." My words, though polite, carried a tone of veiled threat. Logan smiled, but his eyes betrayed the fury he was trying to hide.

As he spoke about the evening’s proceedings, my inner wolf was bored, impatient, longing to leave. Suddenly, a sweet and enticing scent hit my nose. Discreetly, I lifted my head, catching that aroma that cut through the heavy air of the party. It was a different smell, sweeter, more inviting.

My instincts began to guide my steps, steering clear of everyone who tried to approach me. I didn’t understand why, but my body was reacting before my mind. A strange sensation settled inside me, like a shadow of anguish, pain, and... fear. Fear, a feeling I hadn’t experienced since childhood when I was still discovering the world.

I followed my nose, guided by instinct, walking with firm steps through the castle’s corridors until I heard crying and screams. It was enough to awaken my wolf, an internal roar of desperation and hatred that made my muscles tense.

"Blood... I smell it..." my wolf growled inside me, eager, its claws ready to tear.

I didn’t respond. I advanced to the dungeon, where Logan’s guards were standing in a circle, kicking and laughing at something on the ground. I approached, brutally pushing them away. When my eyes lowered to the object of their interest, my heart raced, and rage took hold of me.

A small woman with long blonde hair and blue eyes lay on the floor, her dress torn, exposing parts of her nakedness. She was gravely injured and seemed on the brink of unconsciousness, but there was resilience in her eyes, a silent determination that defied death. She wasn’t a wolf—I couldn’t sense her lupine presence—but something told me she shouldn’t be in that condition.

"Prince Kaden, forgive me, but the prisoner is a pack matter..." one of the guards tried to intervene, his voice hesitant.

My wolf was on the verge of taking control, eager to tear those soldiers apart one by one. The hatred in my chest burned like live coals, and for a moment, I nearly let my wolf take over. But the woman’s lost gaze made me hold back. I drew my sword and attacked the guards one by one, my wolf howling in satisfaction with each strike. I only sheathed the weapon when the last body fell, blood spurting as his head rolled to the side. I didn’t behead them all, but the brutality of the blows left no survivors.

In front of the woman, I knelt. The metallic scent of blood clung to her clothes and her half-naked body, but behind that, the sweet aroma that had led me here still persisted. My wolf growled inside me, a primal need to protect her that nearly suffocated me.

"Are you okay?" I asked, gently touching her cheek. My fingers, still warm from the battle, moved with a tenderness that contrasted with the violence that had just occurred.

Her large blue eyes met mine, but they were empty, as if the pain had erased all the life that once existed in them. "It’s over... you’re free..." I murmured, trying to reach the spark of hope that might still exist in her.

"Free..." The word escaped her lips, but without conviction. It was as if she were lost, unable to fully grasp what it meant to be free.

She was weak, dirty, wounded—a shadow of what she should be. I knew I couldn’t leave her there, but at the same time, exposing her to the world in her vulnerable state was not an option. I needed to make a decision, and I was ready for it.

"Yes, free. I’ll take you out of here," I said firmly, as I carefully lifted her into my arms, treating her as if she were made of glass. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Lyra," she whispered, her voice almost inaudible.

Our eyes met, and for a moment, I felt lost in the depth of hers. She was fragile, human, and logic told me I should leave her in a nearby village where she could recover in peace. But that wasn’t what my heart wanted to do. "She is sweet, we could..." my wolf suggested, full of interest.

"No," I responded in thought, firmly. "She is not your toy, nor mine. We will care for her until she is strong enough to return to her people. Her place is not with us." My wolf growled in defiance, but remained silent, reluctantly accepting my decision as I carried Lyra out of Logan’s castle.

The consequences of my actions would soon arrive. Logan, though not a direct threat to the kingdom, would certainly cause problems for my father and, especially, for me. But as I looked at the fragile creature in my arms, so vulnerable, so innocent, I realized that at that moment, she was my responsibility. She needed my care, my protection, and I was willing to give her all of that.

POV Lyra

The pain still throbbed in my body, but it was the emptiness inside me that truly consumed me. It was hard to believe that I was finally far from Logan's cell, distant from the hell he created for me. The strong arms that wrapped around me held me close to the muscular chest of the man carrying me. His eyes gleamed with intensity, and even without being in his wolf form, it was clear that the wolf inside him controlled every movement of his body.

I averted my gaze from his profile when a sharp pang pierced through me. I closed my eyes, trying to ignore the pain reverberating in me, convinced it was the result of rejection. I had witnessed something similar before: rejected she-wolves who succumbed to the anguish until they faded completely.

A hoarse, firm voice broke through the darkness surrounding me: "You're safe now. No one else will touch you. Sleep."

I wanted to respond, but there wasn't enough strength in my body, no matter how much I wished t