Page 54 of Alpha's Runaway Mate

The chants, the chaos behind me, the searing pain coursing through my nerves, everything went still. I opened my eyes and the world had shifted. My vision was clearer, sharper. My senses expanded—each sound, each scent amplified a hundredfold. The air was thick with blood, and I could taste the fear around me. Magic pulsed in the atmosphere like a living, breathing thing.

I caught a glimpse of my reflection in a shard of broken glass. The warm brown in my eyes had been replaced by a swirling unnatural gold. I wasn’t just a werewolf anymore. I wasn’t even sure what I was. But I knew this much—I was something different. Something far more powerful.

Chapter Twenty-Five — Lyra’s POV

Clarity.A powerful clarity coursed through me, sharp and consuming, as if I were seeing the world for the very first time. It was electric—pure, raw energy crackling along my veins, filling every part of me with a sense of rightness I’d never known. It was as if, until now, I’d been looking at life through a clouded window, only half-alive, unknowing of what I was meant to be. My senses sharpened, each sound, each scent, hitting me with the force of a thousand memories. I could feel the heartbeat of the earth beneath my feet, the hum of the air around me, and the fire burning just beneath my skin. There was a profound understanding within me, as if I were piecing together the fragments of myself that had been buried too long.

“Mommy…” Leo’s trembling voice sliced through my spiraling thoughts, his tone raw with fear and desperation. My head snapped up and my stomach twitched at the sight before me. He wasn’t chained to the tomb anymore. Hecate had him pinned against her, her hand gripping a dagger that she pressed cruelly to his throat.

I shot to my feet, my senses razor-sharp as anger ignited in me. I took one step forward, but froze when she pressed the blade deeper into his delicate skin.

“Let him go!” I growled.

Hecate’s lips twisted into a venomous sneer. “You broke our deal, Lyra. Did you really think you could just walk away without suffering the consequences of your actions?”

“It’s me you want, Hecate. I broke the deal, leave him out of this,” I uttered in a desperate attempt to convince her to let him go.

My gaze darted to Leo’s wrist and I realized that the gash where blood had pooled from was healing. For a moment, relief slammed into me. But then I looked up to see Hecate still holding him, and the relief vanished.

“Your son heals fast, doesn’t he? One of the many gifts of being a hybrid, Lyra.” She tilted the knife, a sadistic glint in her eyes. “But your precious pup can’t heal from a severed jugular, can he?”

“Stop!” I screamed, my eyes wide with fear. “What the hell do you want, Hecate? Haven’t you done enough?!”

“Enough?” she scoffed. “I offered you a taste of true power, power so immense it could bring the entire supernatural world to its knees. You could move mountains with a thought, crush armies with the flick of your wrist, heal wounds with a single breath—”

“Heal?” I cut her off, my heart clenching as my gaze shifted to Kaine, who still lay sprawled on the ground, his breaths shallow and ragged. His skin had turned deathly pale, and his bloodied hands still clutched the hilt of the dagger in his chest.I could heal him,I thought. I have the power now.

Hecate’s cruel laugh echoed through the air, slicing through my spiraling thoughts. “Even with all this power you feel, you still want to save him?” she sneered. “Let me enlighten you, Lyra. The strength you feel—it’s not yours. It’s Kaine’s life bleeding out, fueling your newfound might. He’s teetering on the edge of death. If he survives, this power you cling to will vanish, leavingyou nothing but a weak, pathetic werewolf. Is that what you want? To be trampled on again?”

“I don’t care about being a hybrid, or wielding power. None of it matters to me!”

“Well, that’s a shame,” she said, looking truly disappointed. “I stabbed him with a silver dagger, and as long as the knife remains in him—”

I didn’t wait for her to finish. My body moved on instinct, and in a heartbeat, I was at Kaine’s side. Gripping the hilt of the dagger, I yanked it free. He groaned out in agony as blood gushed from the wound. But it wasn’t red. It was black.

Panic seized me as my gaze snapped back to Hecate. “What did you do to him?” I demanded.

“You didn’t wait for me to finish, Lyra,” she chuckled deviously. “Impatient as always,” she taunted. “Removing the dagger is only going to slow the spread of the silver coursing through his veins. But it’s not going to stop it.”

My stomach twisted, a sickening wave of dread crashing over me.

“He’s a lost cause, Lyra,” she continued, her voice dripping with false sympathy. “You need to accept it, and embrace the new deal I’m going to offer you.”

I snarled, launching myself over the tomb, but a shimmering barrier flared to life, slamming me back. “You’re delusional if you think I’m going to be making any more deals with you!”

Hecate tilted her head, her expression a mixture of mockery and menace. “Unlike Lyra Winters, I’m a woman of my word. That’s why I’m offering you a second chance.”

“No,” I spat. “You’re offering me a second chance because you’re desperate. You’re so power-hungry that you’ll destroy anything in your path to get what you want. But what’s the point of all that power if you’re alone?”

“Oh, spare me the moral lecture,” she sneered, her tone ice cold. “I’ve lived my entire life alone. That’s the curse of barrenness, Lyra. But you’re wrong about one thing—I don’t just seek power. I seek control. And with the hybrid by my side, our control will be absolute. So, I’m giving you one last chance.” Her eyes gleamed with dark intent. “Walk away from this—your son, your dying mate, your pack. Join me, and I’ll let your son live.”

“You’re insane—”

“Am I?” she interrupted sharply, pressing the knife tighter against Leo’s neck. He whimpered, a small trickle of blood trailing from the blade’s edge on his skin. Blood seeped out.

“Let him go, Hecate!” I slammed my fist against the barrier. “Let him go!”

The barrier flickered, and then, to my shock, it dissolved entirely, granting me a clear path across the tomb. Without hesitation, I leaped forward, baring my fangs as I lurched for Hecate.

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