"An apology? Compensation?" Lyra laughed—a sudden, sharp sound, too shrill for the quiet healing chamber. She laughed until tears streamed down her face, until her chest ached, before finally stopping. Her eyes locked onto Fenris's, and she spoke each word with deliberate precision: "I have thirteen stitches in my forehead. I nearly died at her hands. And one flimsy apology is supposed to erase all of that? Fenris, tell me—is she the little sister I'm supposed to indulge, or is she the one you're protecting with everything you have? Your tenderness for her, your coldness toward me—isn't it obvious enough by now?"
The words struck a nerve. Something flickered in Fenris's eyes—a flash of panic—before anger swallowed it whole. He stepped forward, looming over her, his disgust unconcealed, his Alpha presence bearing down: "Don't be ungrateful. I only looked after Selene for your sake. You can't even appreciate that, and now you're twisting things, making accusations about our bond?"
"Lyra, what happened to you? When did you become so vicious? Blowing every little thing out of proportion! What happened to the sweet, understanding Omega you used to be?"
"I'm vicious?" Lyra's fists clenched around the bedsheet beneath her, knuckles white, the fabric crumpling into a twisted mass. All the grievances, the rage, the pain she'd buried for so long erupted at once. Her voice tore from her throat, nearly a scream, tears falling like broken strings of pearls: "Fenris! You took Selene's intimate scry-records and claimed they were mine! You threw me to the wolves across the howl-network—let every pack in the territory call me a shameless Omega, say I was tainted, drag my name through the mud! You publicly announced the rejection of our intended bond! And you have the nerve to call me vicious? You've thrown me under the claws nine times to protect her—destroyed my reputation, my dignity, my standing in every pack—and you don't think that's vicious?!"
Her voice cracked with sobs, but every word remained razor-sharp, slicing through his pretense: "If you care about Selene so much, why did you ever claim me as your intended mate? What was I to you? A stepping stone for your bond with her? Entertainment when you two got bored with each other?"