Her body—still fragile from her recent injuries—couldn't take the trauma. Her vision went black, and she lost consciousness.
She had no idea how much time passed before she came to. When her eyes finally opened, she found herself bound alongside Selene, both of them suspended by ropes in what looked like an abandoned storage den deep in unclaimed territory. Below them, flames roared in a massive pit. A great iron vat of oil bubbled and spat, sending scalding droplets into the air—any one of them could land on her at any moment.
Her head was still foggy. She tried to piece together what had happened before the crash, but nothing made sense. Then she glanced over at Selene—and found her sister watching her with undisguised amusement, not a flicker of fear on her face.
"You know, sister," Selene said, her tone almost playful, "I heard that after Father cast you out of the pack hierarchy, you fell into severe despair. That Fenris was the one who pulled you back from the edge, little by little. Is that true?" She tilted her head, eyes glittering with malice. "Now that your last hope is gone... are you going to give up? Maybe just end it all?"
The ropes bit into Lyra's wrists, the pain sharp enough to feel like her bones might snap. But she didn't react. Her gaze swept rapidly across the storage den, searching for anything—any tool, any chance of survival.
Selene didn't seem to care whether she answered. She kept talking, satisfaction dripping from every word. "Actually, I should thank you. All those years ago, you rescued Fenris from those rogue traffickers. That's the only reason I was able to get close to him—to take your place."
"What did you say?" Lyra's breath caught. Every drop of blood in her body seemed to freeze.
Memory dragged her back to a summer afternoon more than a decade ago. She'd been grabbed on her way home from the academy—strange wolves in their shifted forms, a filthy den, other pups crying in the darkness. She'd managed to gnaw through her bindings and free the others while the rogues weren't watching, and she'd led them out into the forest. But she'd barely made it a few steps before exhaustion overtook her and everything went black.
All this time, she'd believed Fenris had found her afterward. She never imagined—