Fated Hearts: Rejected by the Moon

Chapter 7

Thorne Wilder's POV

Tension permeated the air as I grabbed the railing, white knuckles from the strain visible. The storm that still tore overhead appeared to dampen the sounds of the city below. As I battled to control my breathing, my heart hammered in my chest. Lyra was out there someplace picked by Damien.

Lyra! My voice hoarse, I yelled into the wind.

The response came nowhere. Just the unrelenting sound of the rain and the roaring gusts of wind over the lanes.

Trying to think clearly, I ran my hands through my hair. Not like this, I cannot lose her. Damien had gone beyond what I could pardon. But truly, what was he after? Why did he want Lyra kept away from me so fiercely?

The sound of feet behind me cut off my ideas. I whirled about, keen senses on demand.

From the shadows, Damien's voice said, "easy there."

Ready to battle, my body stiffened. "Where is she?," I wondered.

Damien entered the low light, his eyes shining with the same cold, calculated glance. "You don't get it, do you, Wilder?" he snipped. She is not yours for saving.

"What the devil are you talking about?" I snared, my voice low and menacing.

He didn't respond straight away. Rather, he moved closer, pausing just a few feet apart. "Your emotions blind you enough to overlook the whole picture. Lyra is not only some naive observer. She participates in something far more than any of you or myself.

Though I felt a chill go down my spine, I did not back off. "You're lying."

"No," he said, his voice turning abruptly grave. "I'm not here." You have no notion of her true nature. What is her capacity?

His highly meaningful words floated in the air. Though I attempted to understand what he was saying, it felt as though my head was whirling in every way. Lyra couldn't be part of anything dangerous—could she?

Not sure I could believe that, I shook my head. You are seeking to control me.

Damien grinned. You'll find it shortly enough.

He disappeared into the darkness before I could say anything further, leaving me standing there with my head whirling with his enigmatic remarks.

The hours seemed like days as I looked, my heart weighting every minute that went by. She eluded me. Damien started forward as the city was a labyrinth. Every step I made seemed to mock me, and every time I thought I may glimpse hope, it vanished through my fingers.

I was going to lose her.

I said, "Think, Thorne," my pace accelerating as I strolled along the vacant street. " Where would he take her?"

I paused suddenly. My wolf howled in alert as the hairs on the back of my neck sprang up. Something felt off.

With sharp senses, I peered about. Still too still was the evening.

Then I heard it—a low growl, not far off.

I tightened and my heart sped. That isn't any ordinary growl.

My body was very aware, I hurried toward the sound. Ahead in the alley lay darkness, with only flickering street lamps for illumination. I went softly, my feet almost audible against the damp ground.

The growl got louder, then an odd, almost mocking chuckle.

The voice cried, "Thorne," and I stopped.

Lyra spoke that.

Adrenaline pouring through my veins, I hurried ahead. " Lyra?"

The laughing stopped, then a piercing gasp replaced it. "You ought not to have followed Thorne."

As I turned the corner and saw her standing there, my heart froze; she was not alone.

Damien stood next to her, his arm around her waist, dark, deadly light shining in his eyes. But it wasn't just him. Someone else—someone I had not anticipated—was present.

Lyra, just what are you doing? Using a tight voice, I inquired.

She did not reply straight away. Rather, she stared at me with a mixture of shame and something else I couldn't really understand.

"I'm sorry Thorne," she whispered gently.

My chest contracted. "I'm sorry." For what?

Lyra moved away from Damien, albeit somewhat. "For everything," she murmured, her voice cracking. "I was not interested in this. But I could not keep fleeing from it.

Desperate for responses, "from what?" I questioned.

But before she could reply, Damien's hand darted out and vice-like grasp grabbed her wrist. He cautioned me from listening to him. "It's too late to flip back now."

I snarled, stepped forward, "Let her go."

The eyes of Damien flared dangerously. Do you still not get it? She already decided what to do.

I paused. "What?," asked.

Lyra sank like though the weight of the earth rested on her, her eyes downcast. "Thorne, I have been keeping things from you," she murmured softly. "Information you should be aware of. Regarding my actual identity.

Her heart fell. I tried to get in touch with her, but Damien's hold on her tightened and I could see the panic in her eyes.

Lyra said, her voice wobbly, "I'm not who you think I am."

The words strangled me, I questioned, "What do you mean?"

She fixed me with tears in her eyes. Thorne, I am not merely a human. Never was I.

A shadow drew my eye in the distance before I could register what she had just spoken. My heart stopped almost as the man entered the low light.

I murmured "Jaxon."

His lips closed into a nasty sneer, and his icy eyes fixed me. "You've been a fool, Thorne," he replied, his voice dark and menacing. You never ought to have trusted her.

The earth under me seemed to change as the real weight of Jaxon's words set in. My eyes swung from Lyra to Damien then to Jaxon, whose grin was far from pleasant.

"You should have stayed out of it, Wilder," Jaxon said, his voice full of contempt. But now you will pay the cost of your stupidity.

My body naturally got ready for a battle, my pulse racing. "What do you want from me?"

Lyra sat between Jaxon and me, her face conflicted. She muttered, "Thorne...".

"Don't listen to him," I said, my voice begging. You are not compelled to do this. We are able to correct this.

But Jaxon's hand sprang out, dragging her near once again before she could say anything.

"You don't get it, do you?," he murmured gently, his voice tinged with poison. "Wilder, She's mine." Has always been. It is too late for you now as well.

That moment brought everything I had believed I understood—all I had battled down. The worst of all is also Whether I could stop it.

The stillness that followed Jaxon's comments felt stifling as the evening grew darker around us, as though the planet itself had stopped breathing. Still paralyzed, I looked at Lyra and Jaxon trying to understand what was happening. But none made sense.

"You are lying," I murmured, my voice strained with incredulity. She does not belong to you. She never has belonged to you.

Jaxon laughed wickedly, his voice sending chills through my bones. You still do not grasp. Though you believe this is some game, it is not. Lyra always knew where her loyalty lay. Lyra winced as he tightened his hold on her.

I stepped forward, resentment blazing inside me. "You cannot injure her any longer. Let Jaxon go. This comes to an end now.

Lyra's lips quenched as her gaze flicked to mine. But Jaxon's voice pierced the tension before she could talk. "Thorne, you have no authority to stop me. She does not either.

An explosion of wrath swept over me. Every muscle in my body cried to fight, to move, but something stopped me. Lyra's eyes, so divided and lost, kept me in line. I was noticing something else missing. Something she omitted to tell me.

" Lyra... " As I got closer and stretched for her, my voice broke. "Please," said, "Whichever it is, we can deal with it together.

But I saw real dread in her eyes rather than trust or comfort. "Thorne, I...?" She started, but her words were interrupted when Jaxon pushed her farther off from me.

Enough, he spat, his voice frigid. She has decided. She is aware of her responsibilities; you are likewise.

A deep growl rumbled in my chest, and the wolf within started to move. My body stiffened, my instincts driving me toward aggression. But the planet seemed to slink sideways before I could get started. The familiar weight of a rifle on my behind.

A voice said, "Don't move," smooth and lethal.

I still went. The gun seemed like a promise rather than a merely threatening weapon. I was not dumb. How many more adversaries I may be surrounded by right now was unknown.

"Jaxon, what the devil is happening?" I asked, my mind racing and my voice faltering under effort. "Who else is present??"

Jaxon did not respond. Rather, he turned to look over his shoulder and drew a dark smile. "The real question, Thorne," he replied, his voice dangerously low, "is who's going to leave this place alive."

The gun's barrel pushed harder into my back, echoing in the night air a piercing, metallic click. I knew this wasn't a scenario I was getting out of readily without seeing the face of the gunman.

"Now let's see what you're ready to sacrifice, Wilder," Jaxon said, his eyes hard and deliberate. Lyra already chose her side. See whether you are ready to pick yours.

The words strike me like several tons of bricks. As the truth of the situation tore over me, my heart raced. I had few choices regardless of what I did. Then Lyra's voice sliced across the darkness like a blade, as my thoughts pleaded for a way out.

She said, "I'm sorry, Thorne," her voice weak. "But it's too late."

And the globe appeared to fall apart right then.