“Luna!” A woman's voice rang clearly in Lyra's ears. Suddenly, she turned her head and searched for the source of the voice.
“Shovia?” Lyra confirmed. As far as she knew, Shovia was following behind her.
It was strange, there was no one there. Perhaps it was just Lyra's hallucination? However, the call was clearly heard by her.
The night was getting late. Lyra's emotions did not subside. When she decided to go back to her house, on the way back she saw several packs passing by her.
“Isn't she the girl who was rejected by Alpha Kael?” whispered one of her friends.
Lyra just bowed in silence as they gossiped about her, talking about her openly in front of her.
“That traitor child is so despicable, that Alpha Kael doesn't want to touch her.”
“The blood of a traitor runs through his body, it's only fitting that he was rejected by the Moon Goddess.”
Although Kael had ordered his pack not to bring up and reveal the fateful bond between himself and Lyra, still the rumors had spread among the pack soldiers.
Lyra could only silently lament her fate. Now, the title of traitor's daughter was increasingly attached to her.
***
The next day, Lyra was forced to participate in physical training with the herd's female fighters. During the training, there was a female warrior named Nessa, intimidating her and she intentionally injured Lyra during the fighting simulation.
Lyra's arm was bleeding fresh blood. However, Nessa did not feel the slightest bit sorry for her. Besides, none of her trainers or friends were there to defend her.
“Consider it a lesson for being so presumptuous as to wish to become Luna, Alpha Kael's mate,” Nessa whispered before attacking her again.
“What?” Lyra widened her eyes in shock. 'I won't let her hurt me any further.'
Lyra attacked her back. She put all her strength into defending herself from Nessa's attacks.
Their fight became more intense. Lyra and Nessa attacked each other back. By then, Lyra was badly injured. She knew her powers had never been trained and that made her not as strong as Nessa.
As Lyra fell to the ground, Nessa's sword was about to pierce her chest. Immediately from the opposite direction came Elira to protect her.
"Stop it! You could kill her," Elira prevented.
"She deserves to die. Isn't she the daughter of a beta traitor?" Nessa countered.
"Put your sword down! I've had enough practice this time," Elira ordered. Her gaze pierced Nessa's eyeballs.
“All right.” Nessa relented. She lowered her sword. Then, her back was to Elira and Lyra.
After Nessa left, Elira extended her hand towards Lyra. She helped Lyra up.
“Are you okay?” Elira asked with concern.
Lyra nodded slowly. "I'm fine. Thank you," she said softly.
Elira Blackthorn came at the right time. She helped Lyra and helped treat her wound.
"Your wound must be treated immediately. If not, your wound will get worse," Elira said.
“I can do it myself,” Lyra refused smoothly.
“Are you sure you can do it yourself?” Elira was skeptical. "Let me treat your wound. You just sit down."
“But, I...” Lyra could not continue her conversation because Elira forbade her to say more.
Lyra was a bit awkward, but Elira kept pushing her until she felt uncomfortable. She did not know what Elira was hiding from her. On the one hand Elira was very kind to her, on the other hand that woman was Kael's half-sister who might be acting in front of her. That woman could always monitor anyone who was directly ordered by Kael.
There was a high probability of that. No wonder, Lyra was suspicious of her.
"You shouldn't be treated like this. They don't know anything about you or your family, right? If only you knew who had betrayed you."
“What do you mean?” Lyra interrupted when Elira stopped talking for a few seconds.
"Ah, it's done. Now, you won't be in pain anymore," Elira said to change the subject. She smiled sweetly at Lyra who still suspected her kindness.
Even so, Lyra still accepted her help as an effort to appreciate Elira who had helped treat her.
"You can rest in my room for a while. What do you think?" offered Elira.
"No, thank you. I'd rather just go home," Lyra refused.
"Come on, don't refuse my offer, I've been kind to you. Your wounds should heal soon, right?" persuaded Elira.
Inevitably, Lyra finally accepted Elira's offer. Tonight, she would rest in Elira's room, as per the Alpha woman's request.
Night fell.
The atmosphere of Kael's residence was cold and tense. Lyra, who was getting tired of being cooped up in Elira's room all day, hurried out. She wanted to breathe the fresh air outside the room.
Lyra walked slowly out of Elira's room. Her steps kept coming to a room. The Blackthorn family library. She didn't know why she wanted to go inside that room.
Until finally, Lyra ventured into the library. There, there were tons of books and other important documents still scattered on Kael's desk. She looked around and hoped there were clues about her family's massacre in the past.
Lyra snuck into the herd archive room. She was looking for her father's execution record.
“What is this?” Lyra widened her eyes in shock.
Lyra found pieces of report documents, where her father's name was involved in secret meetings and agreements with old enemies of the herd.
Lyra examined it again carefully. There seemed to be something wrong with the report. She concluded that her father had been slandered by Kael all along. The signature on the report was not her father's.
"That's obvious. This is slander!" Lyra concluded. “I knew it,” she thought.
Lyra burst into tears. She felt disappointed and blamed herself. If only back then she could have testified that her father was innocent. Perhaps, her father was still alive with her today.
Lyra came out of the archive room. She was not paying attention to her path, so she collided with Kael who entered the room suddenly.
“What are you doing here?” asked Kael with a cold gaze.
“I...” Lyra was very nervous. “I'm looking for my lost stuff,” she excused.
“What?” Kael frowned, not believing Lyra's words outright.
“My stuff isn't here, so I should just leave.” The increasingly awkward Lyra hurriedly moved away from Kael. Before the man could ask her any further questions.
Kael was still cold, but his gaze changed when he saw Lyra's bloody hands and eyes swollen from crying.
"You're playing with fire. Do you know what happened to the last person who disturbed my family's past?"
Lyra turned her head with a sad look. "I wasn't playing with fire. But, the smoke made my eyes foggy."
Kael did not attack her again. But, it was as if Lyra's words were a clear threat. Lyra realized that not only was their bond hated, but her existence was starting to become a threat.
Lyra returned to Elira's room, staring at the scars on her hands. She saw herself in front of the mirror.
“If I must burn to reveal the truth, then I will be the fire.”
Someone opened the door to Elira's room.