Astoria

twenty six

It echoed in his mind, causing pain in himself and his wolf. They craved her, yet nothing could be done. She was underneath the palace with the best supervision to keep her locked up for Goddess knows how long. There was no time limit on keeping her in the depths of darkness that encased her in a living hell. She was there until her innocence was proven.

With her head on Liam's shoulder, she secretly wished it was Romulus besides her. After the other day, he didn't come after her, or show up to sleep with her in his arms. Or to kiss her good night. He stayed away, and maybe that was a good thing, but it didn't stop the pain in her chest from increasing every second.

Yearning for his touch, Lyla let out a depressed sigh before diverting her attention back to the conversation amongst the room. "He can't hurt her; I won't let him."

"No offense, Ly, but what makes you think that? I still can't get over what he said to you, and he hasn't even apologized to you yet." Venus confessed.

"He should know that if he hurts her, he'll be hurting me. Liam has done so much for him and I, how can he not do the same for him? Or at least me?"

"He's an Alpha, Lyla." Cedric inputted. "You could have been killed, simple as that. His wolf is going to rule over anything that comes to harming or even threatening you. She could have asked for entry, but she didn't. I'm sorry to be so blunt about your mate, Liam, but it we're going to discuss this we need to think of it logically. And I'm not defending the Alpha by any means because no man should ever talk to my daughter like that, but try to see it from his end."

Silence fell upon the room as everyone soaked in Cedric's words, his words of wisdom over the situation at hand. He was right. Lyla's safety will forever be Romulus' number one priority, something she didn't question nor doubt. But, she still thought he would have respect over what she wanted and asked for. She understood, but she didn't accept the situation in the slightest.

Daeva had come in as a trespasser with the other wolves that were turned to ashes as soon as they were pronounced dead. Daeva was now the only voice they had to find information from, their single resource as to why she came here in the first place. With the other wolves dead, and also due to the fact she protected Lyla for reasons no one knew why she was the best source of information they could ever get.

But it didn't make the situation any simpler.

"What if they kill her?" Liam said, his voice shaking as tears threatened to spill over.

Instead of pain, Lyla fumed with anger, immediately standing up and stomping her foot on the ground. "An eye for an eye."

"What?" Venus said giving Lyla a peculiar look.

"Liam helped me. It's time for me to help him."

And so a plan began.

❖❖❖

Once again as the clock had struck midnight, Lyla stood on the palace grounds with wolfsbane running through her blood, concealing her scent. It was the same time as the night prior where the guards were switching their rounds, and no one would be around to watch the future Luna sneak through their palms.

She knew her path in which she must take, following her instincts to the Alpha's office where the hopefully unlocked doors awaited. Her feet padded softly against the soft ground, still wet from the rain storm the day prior. She prayed to the Moon Goddess in her mind that Romulus wouldn't be there, and thankfully as she hid behind a bush, those prayers had been answered.

The room was fully lit up with the chandelier that hung in the office, no one in sight, only a room full of books with no Alpha to tend to them. She let out a sigh of relief before running to the doors, the coast clear as her hands wrapped themselves around the door knobs, turning them clockwise, and realizing they were unlocked.