Lyra’s POV
“Are you insane? You pushed her into the pool!”
Soren’s voice sliced through the noise—sharp, furious. Every head turned toward me. Watching and judging.
“Selene can’t swim,” he added, his tone dripping with accusation. “Were you trying to kill her?”
Selene clung to him, soaking wet, trembling like a leaf in a storm. Beside them, his twin brother Kaelen locked his gaze on me—murderous.
No one looking at this scene would ever guess that these two men had been my boyfriends for eight years.
My mates.
And yet here they were, holding Selene—a woman who had barely been in their lives for a few years—as if she were the one they had sworn to cherish. Not me. I was the one who had loved them for eight years. The one who had poured everything into building them up from nothing to become the most respected Alphas in Velmora.
“Apologize to Selene, Lyra.”
Kael’s voice was ice. And with those words, he crushed the last shred of hope I had left.
“I didn’t push her.” I clenched my fists, fighting to defend myself. The pool area had become a stage. Guests flooded out of the ballroom, phones raised, recording. All because Selene had decided to put on a little drowning act.
“Don’t lie. I saw you with my own eyes.” Soren tightened his arms around Selene.
The bond between us screamed in pain at the intimacy they shared. But I held his gaze. “I said I didn’t. We’ve been together for eight years. Don’t I at least deserve—”
“Don’t twist this,” Soren cut me off. “I know what I saw.”
He pushed his Alpha dominance at me, trying to force me to submit. My wolf, Muna, whimpered in agony. But we refused to bow. Soren and Kael might be our mates, but that didn’t mean they owned my dignity.
Selene chose that exact moment to stir weakly in his arms. “Let it go, Soren… It was probably an accident…”
Her fake mercy was gasoline on the fire.
Kael’s eyes blazed. “An accident? Stop making excuses for her, Selene. You’re too kind for your own good.” His voice dropped to a lethal low as his attention snapped back to me. “And you—did you really think we wouldn’t see through you?
Everyone knows you’ve been jealous of Selene from the start. You can’t stand that she’s younger, prettier, kinder, more beloved than you.
You thought humiliating her would steal her spotlight? Newsflash, Lyra. Ten lifetimes wouldn’t be enough for you to be worth her little finger.”
Each word landed like a blade to my chest.
When had Kael—the man who once whispered poetry against my skin—turned into this? When had Soren, my protector, started looking at me like I was a monster?
A cold laugh built in my throat. My gaze drifted to the real villain of this story.
“Maybe…” I murmured, barely audible. “Maybe I never should have saved you.”
If I hadn’t insisted on taking Selene in that night…
“Enough, Lyra!” Soren roared. “Are you threatening her now?”
“Threatening?” I jabbed a finger at my own chest, then at her. “I took her in when she had nothing. I clothed her. Fed her. Paid for her education. I made sure she could stand on her own feet in Velmora. I treated her like a little sister. And this is how she repays me? By playing the victim and painting me as some evil villain in front of everyone?”
“Please… don’t…” Selene’s voice trembled. “I… I never meant… I’ve always been grateful…”
“Grateful?” I laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Your gratitude looks a lot like draping yourself all over my men at every opportunity.”
“That’s enough!” Kael’s voice thundered. He stepped forward, pulling Selene slightly behind him as if shielding her from me. “You helped her. That doesn’t give you the right to treat her like she’s beneath you.” His eyes were cold, distant. Strangers. “Anyone could have done what you did for her. I could have done it myself.”
The words stung more than they should have.
“Anyone?” My throat burned. “I gave her everything. I gave you everything. Without me, she’d still be on the streets. So would both of you. Don’t forget who got you to where you are today.”
“And there it is.” Soren’s voice turned vicious. “You can’t stop reminding people what you’ve done for them—Selene, us, everyone.”
He looked at me like I was something filthy. “Don’t pretend you were being selfless. You had your motives, too. Yes, you helped fund us. But everything we’ve built, we built with our own hands. Without us, your money would still be sitting there, gathering dust. You’d never have turned it into what it is today.”
I almost laughed at the sheer audacity of his words.
Yes, I’d had my reasons for helping them. When I first arrived in Velmora alone, I never expected to find my mates so quickly—let alone a pair of twin Alphas. Back then, I thought it was fate. Destiny had led me to run away from an arranged marriage, to leave everything behind, to walk straight into their arms.
And at that time, Kael and Soren’s pack was in shambles. I didn’t hesitate. I poured every last coin I had into helping them survive. Eight years. Day by day, step by step, I stood beside them and turned their struggling pack into the most unstoppable force in Velmora.