This was the ninth time Fenris had shielded her half-sister without a moment's hesitation, heaping all the filth onto Lyra's shoulders, sacrificing her honor to preserve Selene's image as the innocent, delicate Omega.
Lyra's fingers went numb as she scrolled through the endless flood of venom pouring through the howl-network. Her heart felt crushed in an invisible jaw, the pain so sharp she could barely draw breath.
But her tears had dried up long ago. Only a bone-deep numbness remained.
She tucked away her crystal and walked with heavy steps toward the place called home—a place that had long since become a cage.
The moment she pushed through the den's great doors, the gaudy opulence of the main hall assaulted her senses.
Selene Ashenvale lounged on the carved settee—the one Lyra's mother had treasured most—a moonstone collar glittering at her throat. Fenris had given it to Lyra on her twentieth naming day as a token of their intended bond. He had said its radiance was worthy of no one but her.
At the creak of the door, Selene slowly lifted her gaze. Undisguised triumph spread across her delicate features as her fingertips played with the moonstones. Her voice dripped with honeyed sweetness laced with poison. "Oh, you're back, Lyra? Look—Fenris said this collar suits me better, so he gave it to me. You don't mind, do you?"
Lyra's gaze fell on the collar. A fang drove straight through her chest.
She drew a deep breath, forcing down the surge of emotion. Her voice came out cold as frost. "It belongs to him. He can give it to whoever he wishes. It has nothing to do with me."
The words had barely left her lips when Selene's eyes reddened. Fat tears rolled down like dewdrops from a shattered web as she stared at Lyra with wounded innocence, her voice catching. "I know you're upset. Those scry-records... I didn't want this either, but I'm about to be presented at the Alpha Council gathering. My reputation cannot have a single stain. Just help me this one last time, won't you? Think of it as your little sister needing you..."