frantically. “What’s wrong with Crius?”
“What’s your decision, Narah?” Lyra demands, dragging my attention back to her. “You choose your sister or the wolves?”
I swallow hard and look into the depth of her eyes, swearing I see flames behind them. “I asked to see Kaira first.”
“And I won’t ask again. You must make a decision, or this ends now.” The black smoke on her hand ignites into long flames, and the corners of her eyes smile as if she’s enjoying this. There is no impatience from her side, only delight in making us squirm.
I tell myself she’s bluffing, except I’m shaking and not ready to take such a risk that I might be wrong.
Her command is delivered with finality, and I understand the message beneath her malicious tone, that choosing the witches will mean I never see the wolves again. Lyra will kill them, that is clear. I choke on my breath, and with it comes a reminder that Jae is still hidden who the hell knows where. And I won’t leave Jae at the wolves’ mercy, lost in the world outside.
My cheeks feel itchy from the tears that refuse to stop falling. How am I supposed to pick between my sisters? I press my lips together, knowing that whatever I decide will destroy me.
My throat seems to close up on me, and when I look back at each of the four men, desperation to save them grips me.
“I don’t take pleasure in this,” Lyra says with mirth in her voice.
“We are not leaving until you return Kaira. Trust me, Lyra, you do not want to push me on this point,” Ragnar promises, his voice heavy and powerful.
Suddenly, a figure is shoved forward from the masses and emerges into the opening before us. Someone dressed in a deep blue dress that falls to her ankles, cinched at a tiny waist, and when I look at her adorable face, her freckles and the short brown hair tucked behind her ears, a cry spills past my lips.
“Kaira,” I murmur, my heart beating so hard, it weighs me down. I tug against Ragnar's grip, but he doesn’t release me.
I swing my attention back to him. “Let me go.” Anger spews from my voice.
He’s shaking his head, his brows pinched with a savage anger. “Something’s not right.”
“What are you talking about?”
It’s only when I glance back at my sister that I watch her strolling to Lyra’s side, not running to me like I’d imagined, that I begin to understand.
My heart clenches, and panic rears its head as some of the pieces start making sense. She’s always carried magic like me, so has she found solace among the witches after escaping the Storm Wolves? But it doesn’t explain her behavior now.
I love you, Narah, were the last words she’d said to me before she escaped into the woods. But the confident girl standing before me who wears black lines of magic across her face doesn’t resemble my sister. That girl feared Alphas, cried so many nights for our parents when she thought no one noticed, and once asked me if there was a way to burn the magic out of her veins so she could be normal.
“Kaira,” I call to her, pushing against Ragnar, the shackle on my neck biting into my flesh.
Yet she leans in to Lyra and whispers, lowering her eyes from me. There’s a whimper in my chest, my wolf sensing the ache of my sister’s distance. So many questions fill me as I stare at every move she makes, how she seems to care more about impressing Lyra than returning to me.
Fear plunges to my core that they brainwashed her, that she is so far gone I may have lost her. When she glances back at me and approaches, there’s a strange grin on her face, one that terrifies me.
“I’ve missed you,” she tells me, but it doesn’t sound sincere. Her rejection is more than a brutal slap in the face—it’s a savage reminder that this world will break every single one of us.
I shiver as she strolls toward me, smiling. On the inside, I shred to pieces. I only have my sisters left in this world, and I can’t lose Kaira. My knees weaken at the thought, and I stand there numb, my brain shooting off instructions, but I can’t move. All I can think about is how distant she is from me. I watch her every movement, trying to make sense of every gesture. Flashes of memories from growing up