Chapter Three: Shared Walls

Lyra's POV

The council hall felt too small with all of us inside. Elders sat at the long table, eyes shifting between me, Kade, and the three alphas who refused to leave my side. Cassian leaned against the wall with that easy smile. Ronan stood steady near the door. Orion watched everything quietly from the corner.

An elder cleared his throat. "Lyra Blackthorn, the council has decided. You must stay in Ashgrave territory. Your power, this shadowfire, is needed. Something stirs in the Ember Wastes. A voice has been heard at the borders. It calls your name."

I crossed my arms. "A voice? What does it say?"

The elder leaned forward. "It whispers promises. Threats. It follows you. We cannot let it reach the heart of the pack. You stay until we understand it."

Kade nodded from his seat. "It makes sense, Lyra. Your return brought this. We need you here."

Cassian laughed softly. "She stays, but we stay with her. She doesn't go unguarded."

Ronan spoke up, calm and firm. "We found her. We protect her. Simple."

Orion murmured, "The bond between us grows. Leaving her alone isn't an option."

Another elder frowned. "Three outsiders in Ashgrave's main wing? That's not how things are done."

Cassian tilted his head. "Then change how things are done. Or we take her somewhere safer."

Kade's jaw tightened. "You don't take her anywhere. This is her home. Or it was."

I looked at the elders. "They stay with me. All of them. I won't be watched by your guards alone."

The head elder sighed. "Very well. The four alphas will share the guarded wing with you. Under one roof. Council orders. But no trouble."

Ronan nodded. "No trouble from us."

We left the hall and walked toward the wing in silence at first. Servants hurried ahead to prepare rooms. Cassian fell into step beside me. "One big happy house. This should be fun."

"Fun?" I asked. "With Kade under the same roof?"

He smiled. "Especially with him. You need to face it."

Ronan spoke from my other side. "We'll keep things steady. You're not alone anymore."

Orion added quietly, "The voice from the Wastes. It feels personal. Like it knows you."

I stopped outside the wing doors. "It does. I heard it once in the dunes. Whispering that I belonged to the fire now."

Kade caught up, voice low. "Lyra, inside we should talk about that night. Really talk."

The doors closed behind us. The wing had a large common area and separate rooms branching off. Guards posted outside. I sat on a chair near the window, the others spreading out. The memory hit me hard then, pulling me back.

The Moon Altar stones pressed cold against my knees. The whole pack stood gathered, torches flickering. Kade stood above me on the steps, tall and sure in his alpha robes.

"I, Kade Voss, reject you, Lyra Blackthorn, as my Luna and mate," he said, voice carrying clear and cold across the crowd.

Gasps rippled through everyone. I looked up at him, heart shattering. "Kade, please. After everything? Three years?"

He didn't look away. "You're ordinary, Lyra. The pack needs more. A stronger match. Someone who brings power, not just... you."

Whispers turned loud. A woman I thought was my friend laughed nervously. "He really said it in front of all of us?"

Another wolf muttered, "Poor girl. Always knew she wasn't enough for him."

I stood slowly, legs shaking. "You promised me forever. You said I was enough."

Kade's eyes stayed hard. "Promises change when the pack's future is at stake. Leave with dignity. Don't make this worse."

Tears burned but I held them. "Dignity? You just stripped me of it here, in front of everyone who called me Luna."

A council member spoke up. "The bond breaks now. Take her to the border."

Hands grabbed my arms. They dragged me through the crowd. Someone spat near my feet. "Discarded Luna. What a joke."

Kade watched from the altar, face set like stone. Not one word to stop them. Not one look of regret then. "Goodbye, Lyra."

The pack's voices followed me. "She never belonged." "Ordinary." "He deserves better."

They left me at the Wastes edge with nothing but the clothes on my back. The bond tore inside me as I walked into the red sand, alone and broken.

I blinked back to the present, breathing fast. The common room felt heavy. Cassian watched me. "You went somewhere dark just now."

Kade stepped closer. "What did you remember?"

I looked at him. "Everything. The altar. You saying I was ordinary. The pack laughing while they dragged me away. You stood there and watched like I meant nothing."

Kade inhaled deeply. "Lyra..."

Ronan moved to my side. "He doesn't get to push now."

Orion spoke softly from across the room. "The rejection broke you. But it woke the fire too."

Cassian nodded. "And now the voice from the Wastes wants that fire. We won't let it have you."

I stood up, voice tight. "The council says I stay. Fine. But living here with all of you? This wing feels too small already."

Kade tried again. "I was wrong. I know that now. The pack needed strength, but I didn't see yours."

"Too late for sorry," I said. "You made sure everyone saw me as weak."

The four of them stayed close. Cassian smiled but his eyes were sharp. "She has us now. Three bonds forming. Yours is fading, Voss."

Kade looked pained. "It's still there. I feel her hurt through it."

Ronan spoke steady. "Then feel it and learn. Don't push her."

Orion murmured, "The voice grows louder. It said her name again at the border. We need to stay close."

I walked to my assigned room door. "I need air. Or space. Something."

They let me go inside but I felt their eyes. The door clicked shut. I sat on the bed edge, the full memory crashing back harder. The cold words. The laughter. The drag to the border. Tears came then, hot and sudden. I pressed my face into my hands and cried quiet, shoulders shaking. First time since that night. Really cried.

The door hadn't closed all the way. I didn't notice.

From the hallway, I heard Kade's sharp inhale. He had stopped there, listening. His voice came low, broken. "Lyra... I'm so sorry."

He overheard it all. The sobs I never let anyone hear before. The pain I carried alone through the Wastes. Everything.

Cassian's voice followed, quieter. "Let her have this moment, Voss. You caused enough."

But Kade didn't move right away. I felt the old bond pull with his regret, heavy and real. The shared walls already pressed in, forcing everything to the surface. The voice from the Wastes whispered faintly in my mind again, like it waited for this crack.

I wiped my face but the tears kept coming. Everything was changing fast, and no one in this wing could pretend it wasn't.