The Alpha’s Punishment Her Faked Death, His Ruin

I looked into his eyes.

"If someone hurt me, what would you do?"

"Would you still protect me like you swore before—no matter what, even if it cost you your life?"

Alaric reached for a cloth, his movements clumsy as he wiped my tears.

He didn't even hesitate. Just nodded, firm and certain.

"Anything, Lyra. Whatever you ask, I'll do it."

I held his gaze—those eyes so full of sincerity.

"Really?"

"Then kill Lily Ashgrove."

His head snapped up. He stared at me, stunned.

"What did you say?"

A flicker of panic crossed his face. "Did something happen? Did you misunderstand something?"

He was terrified I'd figured it out.

His whole body went rigid, his wolf's energy pulling tight beneath his skin.

"After the pack lost its territories, Lily left her position and crossed into foreign lands. I haven't had any contact with her in three years."

"Did she come after you while I was in the holding cells? If she did, I swear I'll make her pay—"

I grabbed his arm and let out a soft laugh. "Relax. I was kidding."

"Killing a pack member without Council judgment is forbidden, you know."

"You just got out of the binding den. You think I'd let you go back?"

"I was just teasing."

I turned away, lowering my eyes as I reached for something. He couldn't see my expression.

He thought it was really just a joke. I heard him exhale with relief.

"Lyra, I'm sorry."

"These three years... you must have suffered so much."

I didn't turn around. But in my heart, I was thinking:

It's fine.

Your reckoning is coming.

After Alaric's release, I started visiting the territory infirmary more and more frequently.

Pack Healer Rowan Ashenvale looked at me over his spectacles. "Are you really not going to tell your pack?"

"This isn't some minor ailment. Your mate has a right to know."

I shook my head with a faint smile.

"Let's just leave it. I don't want him to know. And I don't want treatment anymore."

Alaric was hiding in the corridor, catching fragments of the conversation—but nothing clear.

When I stepped out, his face was all concern.

"How did it go? What did the healer say?"

I smiled and shook my head, about to answer—

When Lily's scent-message reached him through the pack bond.

"Alaric, my den flooded from the storm and I'm soaked through. Can you come help me?"

His expression shifted instantly.

"Sure. I'm on my way."

He thought I hadn't sensed it. Blocking the bond-thread, he turned to me with a perfectly straight face.

"Lyra, remember that alliance pact I mentioned? I'm going to meet with them now. If it works out, we might finally rebuild our territory."

I stared into his eyes.

When he'd claimed me as his mate, those same eyes had been filled with nothing but sincerity.

Now they looked just as sincere.

But the lies rolled off his tongue without so much as a blink.

My unbroken gaze made him uneasy. He nearly tripped over his own act.

"Lyra... is something wrong?"

"Go ahead."

"If you can secure this alliance, we won't have to worry about those rogue hunters anymore."

Those rogue hunters—every single one of them had been sent by Alaric himself.

They'd cornered me in dead-end forest paths.

Stripped the den of anything worth trading.

Most weeks I ate once every three days. When the hunger became unbearable, I'd drink from the stream just to fill my stomach.

I thought about last night—waking up in tears, asking Alaric:

"Where are my parents?"

When his pack lost its territories, I'd tried to reach them for help.

But they'd vanished. No answer through the bond, no trace of their scent.

Alaric told me they'd been caught in a mountain collapse on their way back to our ancestral grounds.

Both of them. Gone.