CHAPTER 7 - A Venomous Caress

Ryan's POV Shapes swirled in my mind to a time before the cave. Lyra, blonde, beautiful and smiling. Her stern-faced father. Her brat of a sister. They solidified to become the day I stepped foot in the Alpha's home. "You will stay here with us until you are reunited with your pack." Alpha Evergreen said, his hand gently on my shoulder. I had no fears, lost pups were always brought back to their pack… unless they were sworn enemies. Then pup or not, things took a turn for the worse. The Alpha pointed to a small girl with dark hair and pretty green eyes. "Viola is two years younger than you, but perhaps you two can be friends." The girl rose from her chair, smiling she offered me her hand. The contact of her skin chilled me to the bone. As soon as I could I dropped it, coldness lingering on my skin. The door opened and another girl came into the room. Her dress wasn't as fancy and her hair didn't have ribbons, but the world stop spinning when my eyes met hers. "That's Lyra," the Alpha said. His tone, flat as the prairie, couldn't dim the warmth that flooded my chest… The image burst into fragments and formed into Lyra holding my hand as I pointed out various plants and butterflies flitting around the garden. She had gotten into a fight on my behalf during wolf training. She had beaten up Billy Morrison for pushing me down into the dirt. When his mother marched to the house and told on her, Lyra's step-mother called her into a room and closed the door. The slap she'd given Lyra leaked through the wood to the other side, stinging my ears. I dried her tears and brought her out to the gardens to cheer her up. As we talked about different plants and insects. She came back to her old self again. The smiling happy girl that I loved and adored. "That one's a Painted Lady," I declared, pointing to the butterfly. "See those bold colors? She won't let picky eating stand in the way of a good time." Lyra tilted her head. "How do you know all this, Juan?" Her gaze made me feel like a towering warrior, not a scrawny captive. "My mom," I said, trying for nonchalance but feeling pride swell within me. "She knows every leaf, every creature... all the fora and fana." Lyra giggled, the sparkle in her green eyes mirroring the sunlight filtering though the leaves. "Don't you mean flora and fauna?" I laughed. "I know that, I just wanted to make you smile." Lyra's eyes softened, alight with a warmth that chased away the reality of my situation. Before I knew what she planned to do, she leaned in with a butterfly touch of a kiss on my cheek. My whole face went ablaze, outshining even the colorful flowers. "Thank you, Juan," she murmured, a hint of shyness in her voice. I was caught up in her green eyes, the blush of her cheeks. I stayed entranced until a movement by the rose bushes broke the spell. Viola, spying on us from the shadows. There was something unnatural about her, a darkness swirling beneath the surface that set me on edge. She whirled away, but not before I saw how she wiped at her eyes and the dark scowl which thinned her mouth… The peaceful scene exploded. Like sunlight through a shattered prism, the world fragmented into chaos. Shards of pain ripped through me, each one a blinding flash of color. Hands on my shoulder. Hands around my ankles. Two guards had come to drag me out of my bed. Lyra in a night gown, her long blonde hair in two braids, tore down the hall. "Where are you taking him?" A guard roughly shoved her aside. "Outta my way, pup." The cave. Dark. Damp. Horrid smells… Viola coming to taunt me. "You're in here for good stinky-bug. You are lower than even Lyra now. Maybe if you beg me on your hands and knees, I'll get Daddy to let you out." I huddled deeper into my cell, refusing to let her get under my skin. "Leave him alone, Viola," Lyra had said sharply, coming through the entrance. "You've had your fun, now go." Viola ignored her sister, tracing a finger slowly down the grimy bars. "Maybe I'll visit again sometime...Juan." My name rolled off her tongue like a venomous caress. Her eyes never left mine, and I tensed, wishing I was old enough to have my wolf and tear the head from her narrow shoulders. Time moved forward to right before Lyra burned me to the ground. "I like you, Ryan," Lyra said softly as we held hands through the bars of my cell. "You're… different. You're not like the other kids. I'd risk a lot for you." My chest grew tight at the sight of a bruise peeking out under the long sleeve of her shirt. I took a deep breath, ready to tell her how I felt. "Lyra—" A mischievous giggle from the shadows interrupted our moment. Viola emerged from the gloom. Eyes so like Lyra's in coloring, glinted with a maniac's malice. "I'm telling. I'm telling," the little brat sing-songed. "Mama told you not to come here, dummy. Pup, are you in trouble now!" Lyra tensed, her body shielding me from Viola's gaze. "Go away, Viola. This doesn't concern you." Viola had smirked, twirling a dark strand of her hair around her finger. "Does too! I'm telling Daddy and Mama right now." She ran away, an evil giggle bouncing off the dark walls… I groaned as consciousness seeped back into my being. My head throbbed, and my vision was hazy. I tried to move, but my body felt heavy and unresponsive. I looked around the sterile room, the beeping of machines filling the air. My gaze landed on Liam sitting in a chair by the bedside. "Ryan," Liam said, his voice filled with relief. "You're awake." I reached up to touch my head, wincing as my fingers brushed against the bandages covering it. "What happened?" Liam's face grew serious. "When you failed to arrive for our meeting, I sent patrols out after you. They heard calls for help and found a female cradling you, covered in blood...your blood. The ground around you was soaked with it." He paused for a moment, his hands curled and his throat hitching. "Ry... If you were human… hell, even a regular wolf, you would have died." I stared at Liam, my heart racing as the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place. No... it couldn't be... not her. After everything... I shot upright in bed, ignoring the spike of pain that lanced through my head. The questions ripped from my throat, laced with a raw mix of suspicion and something… else. "A female? Name? Blonde? Green eyes?" "Sounds about right." A hint of a smile ghosted his lips. "If you added stubborn and feisty to the mix. She refused to answer a single question, but wouldn't shut up about getting you to a healer." "Lyra," I breathed, my voice barely above a whisper. "She saved me? “The echo of her name faded, replaced by the lingering scent of hospital disinfectant. The sterile and jarring aroma turned my thoughts to darkness. 'My little-one is so stubborn... It’ll be a challenge to break her.' The treacherous part of me stirred at the prospect. It knew the pleasure would be all the sweeter for it. Liam nodded; his expression solemn in the face of my toothy smile. "Is that her name? She still wouldn't talk this morning, so I didn't know." "How long have I been out?" Liam looked at his watch. "Around eighteen hours. It's almost five o'clock in the evening." I didn't let the shock of being so close to death show on my face. Instead, I asked, "Where is she?" The concern in my tone twisted my stomach, yet a desperate longing to see her clawed at my insides. Liam rocked on his heels with his hands clasped behind his back. "We weren't sure if she was friend or foe, so we went with the latter. I had the guards chain her up in the Cells. We can—" Liam stood stock still, jaw clenched. He was the head of Moonshadow's security, and like me, he had access to everyone's mind link. Apparently, he was getting a distress signal of some sort. Sure enough, he said, "There's a disturbance in the Cells." His eyes met mine, worry set deep in his brown gaze. He didn't have to say her name. A sudden, nauseating certainty coiled in my gut as a jolt of fear shot coursed through my veins. "I have to…" I struggled to my feet, ignoring the wave of dizziness. "… see." Before he could argue, I was already in the hallway, my hospital gown billowing out behind me. This was not how I envisioned confronting Lyra, weak and disoriented. Still, I pushed forward, the urgency to reach her overwhelming all everything else that happened before.