Fated Hearts: Rejected by the Moon

Chapter 6

Thorne's POV

As I stood on the rooftop, the rain came down in harsh, unrelenting showers that soaked my clothes. My thoughts spinning as I struggled to process what I had just heard, my chest heaved. The truth was a weapon, one I had not been ready for, and now it pierced farther than any knife.

"Say it again, Lyra," I said, low and tight. " Say what you just said."

She stood a few feet away, her black hair plastered to her face, her green eyes full of sadness and rebellion. "I said I can't trust you, Thorne," she murmured, her voice quivering even with her courageous front. Not after what I found out.

Her accusing tone landed more precisely than a strike. Sensing my turbulence, my wolf shook restlessly inside me. I remarked, stepping carefully closer, "You don't mean that."

She said, "Don't!" pointing a hand to stop me. "Don't get close. You knew, then you did not? You knew what Zane intended, and you never told me!

My teeth clenched. "I knew nothing."

Her laughter was harsh and frigid. " That's a lie, and you know it."

Frustration mounting, I ran a hand over my damp hair. Lyra, I was trying to shield you. Everything I accomplished, everything—was for you."

She said, "For me?" her voice rising. "You call dishonesty to me shielding me? You ask about keeping me in the dark about the danger we are in protecting me?"

"You fail to grasp—"

Then, her voice cracking, "then make me understand!" she shouted.

I wanted to. God, I wanted to. But the weight of my secrets—of the things I had done to keep her safe—threatened to overwhelm me. At last, my voice almost heard above the storm, "I can't."

Her face dropped, and for a second I could see the helpless woman under all the fury. She said, "then we have nothing left to say to each other."

"Lyra" She walked toward the rooftop's edge, turned away from me. I felt panic strike me. "Don't flee!" With a harsh voice, I yelled.

She halted but she did not turn around. Quietly, Thorne remarked, "You're not the man I thought you were."

The words seemed to me like a stab to my heart. I added, urgently, "I'm still the man who loves you."

She hesitated, and for a brief while I considered her maybe turning back. Then, though, a shadow moved far away and my instincts kicked in.

Running toward her, I cried, "Lyra, get down!"

The sound of a gunshot tore over the evening like a hurricane. Lyra sank to the ground just as a bullet passed where she had been standing.

My eyesight intensified as I looked about, my wolf sprang alive. I said, "Stay down!" bending down next to her.

She started "Who—?" but I interrupted her.

"Zane," I screamed. She's here.

Her eyes got wide with terror. " How did he find us?"

With closed teeth, I responded, "I don't know." He is not, however, leaving this rooftop alive.

Once more the shadows moved, and Zane emerged, a smile playing on his lips. "What a wonderful reunion," he said, gesturing casually at his side with a handgun. "Very sad; it's about to end."

I hissed, pushing in front of Lyra, "You won't touch her."

Zane slanted his head and widened his smile. "Always the hero, wilder? Are you not? But heroes do not survive in my universe.

"Neither do cowards," I said back-off.

His smile wavered, and I realized I had touched a sensitive point. But he raised the rifle once more, squarely aiming it at Lyra before I could intervene.

No! Just as he fired, I yelled and threw myself in front of her.

The effects were instantaneous; I staggered from a burning agony in my shoulder. Lyra yelled my name, her hands grasping me as I knelt.

The Thorne! Thorne, remain with me!" she shouted, dread in her voice.

I clenched my teeth and pushed myself to keep my straight posture. I lied, blood dripping through my shirt, "I'm fine."

Zane laughed; the sound seemed weirdly echoing. "How noble. It won't, however, save you this time."

He moved in closer; the gun's barrel now pointed straight forward. I looked at him, defiance raging inside my chest. You'll have to murder me first, I said.

"Gladly," he said, his finger closing on the trigger.

But a tremendous scream rocked the rooftop before he could blast. As a large man attacked Zane, I hardly had time to react and both of them fell to the ground.

Another wolf, black fur shining in the rain. Knowing who it was stopped my heart.

"Damien," I muttered.

Shock widened Zane's eyes, but he quickly recovered, his motions frenetic as he battled the fresh menace. He snared, "You shouldn't be here!"

Damien gave no response. He dropped the rifle as his teeth closed down on Zane's arm.

" Lyra, run!" I shouted, taking her hand, yanking her to her feet.

"but" "now!"

She paused for a single second then nodded, eyes glistening with a mix of terror and will. Running toward the rooftop entrance together, the noises of the conflict behind us grew more forceful.

A freezing scream shot across the room as we arrived at the door. I turned just in time to see Damien standing over Zane's still body, his eyes flickering ghostly in the darkness.

"Thorne," Lyra murmured, her voice shaking. "what's happening?"

I said, "I don't know," staring at Damien.

Then, though, Damien turned to face us and locked his brilliant eyes on me. And in that instant I understood shockingly precisely—he was not here to save us.

"Run," I said, my hold on Lyra tightening as Damien stepped in our direction.

Though the storm raged on, the true threat was only starting to show.

As Damien strode toward us, his brilliant eyes cutting across the darkness, the suspense was choking. His enormous weight exuded might, and the deep growl vibrating from his chest made me shudder.

Lyra mumbled, gripping my arm, "Thorne". Her voice shook, a confluence of doubt and terror. "What's he doing?," asked

"I'm not sure," I said, fixated on Damien. My wolf whirled uncomfortably inside me, its instincts screaming that something was very wrong.

Damien stopped a few feet away, his gaze flicking between me and Lyra. His lips curled back to reveal sharp fangs, and when he spoke, his voice was guttural, inhuman. "You've crossed the line, Wilder. Bringing her here was a mistake."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I snapped, stepping in front of Lyra protectively.

Damien's eyes darkened more, his grumble increasing. "She doesn't belong in our world. You've placed everything at risk."

"Risk?" Lyra's voice cracked, but she straightened, striving to face him. "What are you saying? Why are you acting like this?"

The air got cooler as Damien turned to face her. "You're the weak link," he remarked straightforwardly. And frailty vanishes in this struggle.

" DAMien!" I cried and moved in front of her. "Don't you dare threaten her?"

He passed over me, concentrating just on Lyra. Little human, you believe you can keep up? You believe you get the urgency? All you are is a liability.

" Enough!," I cried and my voice echoed. "You're not making sense." If this relates to Zane, he is dead already. We ought to be team players.

Damien laughed—a terrible sound. "Zane was only beginning." Wilder, you have unlocked a door from which closure is impossible. She is the key as well.

"The secret of what?," asked Lyra screamed, her voice cracking.

His claws skimming my chest, Damien surged forward faster than I could react and seized Lyra's wrist. "To the end of everything," he hissed.

" No!," I yelled, my wolf raging, then pounced at him. But Damien was far too fast. He made one strong leap dragging Lyra toward the rooftop's edge while the storm swirled around them.

"thorne!" Lyra shrieked, dread wide in her eyes.

Turning back to me, Damien said with a frigid, last-d call. "You will thank me one day.".

He then walked off the brink carrying Lyra with him.

"No!" With my pulse thumping, my scream ripped across the evening as I ran to the brink. But as I peered down, all I saw was the echo of my own desperation—just the rain-soaked streets below.