Chapter 7: A Complicated Reality
Lyra (2022)
There were few things that made sense to Lyra when it came to Thyrius, and it was rather irritating to her. His meetings had gone on into the late afternoon, and Lyra was growing more and more impatient. She had been pacing back and forth around the room she had woken up in, his room. It smelled like heaven, but felt like hell to her. She didn't want to bother Alana and the other cooks while they prepared dinner for the night, and she didn't have the guts to try to introduce herself to anyone in the house, so the logical thing to do? Flee to a safe space. Though, the safe space she chose felt more and more like a nightmare. She'd tried to do a reading for herself, with her herbal deck, but she was having a hard time grounding herself, and she eventually gave up, exhausted from the events of the past few days. She tried to lay on the bed and calm her racing mind by trying to sleep, that only ended up sending Lyra into a swirling rabbit hole of anxiety. She couldn't even remember the last time it was so bad.
She had been completely and utterly content with her life at the cottage, it was familiar to her and in turn kept her in a state of peace and tranquility. Here, she felt like a monster that had burst from a cage, wild and untamable. She couldn't deny what she had done and seen and felt. She'd never intended to kill another living creature, nor did she even think that she could, she didn't even know what to call it. A beam of light? A light beam? Whatever magic that came out of her. She would have never expected that to be possible. Now, it wasn't just possible it was true, and Lyra had to face that fact. Her heart ached, for the blood eyed wolves, and the person she knew she could never be again. She had to toughen up, and quickly, because deep down, Lyra knew that fight would not be the last, and there were bigger storms coming.
It was around five p.m. now and Lyra was told dinner would be at 6 for the ones who lived in this house. It seemed weird to go down there and interrupt their dinner, she only knew two people that lived here and she was positive no one else knew she was here. So she decided she'd try and rest a little bit, before she snuck down there for food later, Alana said she'd be in the kitchen late clearing plates and washing dishes. Lyra made her way to the king sized, royal purple bed and allowed herself to take a few deep breaths before closing her eyes. The bed smelled like him, intoxicating and alluring. This time, no thoughts had rampaged her mind, and sleep welcomed her with open arms. It didn't last as long as she hoped, however, because a knock on the door at five forty five woke Lyra with a start. "Come in?" She called, trying to untangle herself from the covers. When she finally got out of the mess of covers, she stood up and walked over to the entrance just as Thyrius opened the door. She stopped mid-walk and stood about five feet from him. He was even more intimidating than she remembered, and it took her breath away.
He stared at her with intensity, and she noticed that his black curls were disheveled, and his shirt was unbuttoned, tie hanging loosely around his neck. He looked, for a lack of a better term, stressed. He didn't have that same bright smile, and she could feel the seriousness that rolled off of him in large, buoyant waves. Lyra had no idea how to even start a conversation with him, so she said nothing as he tore his gaze from her and made his way into the bathroom and locked the door. Lyra assumed he was going to take a shower, and she took a seat at the edge of the bed, after fixing the covers, and waited for him to come out of the bathroom.
When the shower stopped, she heard shuffling in the bathroom, and a few minutes later, Thyrius emerged from it, a towel hanging from his neck, and one wrapped around his waist. His glistening torso was littered with scars and she had to force herself to look at her hands. She didn't want anything else to cloud her mind, they needed to talk, and Lyra needed answers. She heard more shuffling around, and when she looked up at him, he was in loose shorts and a black t shirt, and his hair was still glistening from the shower. She watched, his face showed that he was thinking about something, really hard. He took a few deep breaths, and she knew the conversation was about to start.
"There's been something that I have been wanting to tell you all day, and, honestly, it's been gnawing at me all day. I don't know how much you know about the whole werewolf world. I know that you had a book on it, and you didn't think it was a reality until last night, but I am a Lycan one of the three remaining Royals, and crazy enough as it sounds you are my mate." Lyra was confused, mate? Like soulmate? "Yes, like a soulmate," Oh she had asked that out loud. Lyra looked down sheepishly. "The thing is, we both know what I am, but we both have no clue what you are. And I've been researching, reading, hell I even ordered my beta to send some warriors out to find any thing that might give us a clue. I wanted to be able to give you all the answers to the questions that you had. I'm sorry that I couldn't find that answer." He hung his head low, and made his way over to her, and rested a hand on her cheek. "Now, the reason you're here, by the way, we drove through the night, and made it to pack lands in the morning, it was roughly a 14 hour drive, is because of the red eyed wolves you saw me fight." Lyra swallowed a lump that formed in her throat. "and killed" She murmured looking down.
Thyrius pulled his hand away from her, and sat next to her on the bed. "Yes, and killed." His voice was rough, and had a sharp edge to it. "They were able to track me to your cottage, I am so sorry that I caused that, it wasn't my intention." His eyes took hold of hers for a brief moment before he looked the other direction. Lyra longed for him to hold her. "Anyway, after the fight, and seeing you on the ground after what happened, I made the decision to bring you here, so you would be safe. There are going to be more that show up there, and they aren't going to be happy that three of their own are dead." Lyra could understand that. Especially if he's a Royal Lycan, and they captured him. They had a mission, and by the looks of the ones she'd already encountered, she was just an obstacle in their way. "What are they? They don't seem like normal were wolves." Her question made him stiffen. "Well in our world, there are pack wolves, there are lone wolves, even some rogues that tend to drift in make shift packs. But they are normal, they have human emotions, though some can be evil, and some downright violent, but those wolves we encountered? Those were ferals. Controlled by our worst enemy. Vampires. Caeso. Stolen, bitten, and never to be human in any way again." Thyrius' eyes glossed over, and crystal blue eyes dominated over his dark gray ones. His wolf had taken over, in what seems like a mass of anger and despair. "What did they want with you?" She asked, terrified of the answer. "Caeso is one mean, evil, disgusting creature, and he has been building his army over the span of centuries, since the first war between worlds. Caeso has always had it out for me, and my death at his hands, is his deepest desire." Lyra couldn't bare to hear about that. Him dead, she'd already pictured it too many times back at her cottage, and she never wanted to see it again. "I've been building my army, and trust me when I say, he wont be causing my kind harm any longer." He ended with a growl, menacing and low. Lyra let out a small gasp, and looked at Thyrius with wide eyes. There was no doubt in her mind that he meant a war was about to erupt into the center of their lives. This was the beginning to a catastrophic end, and Lyra was smack dab in the middle of it all.