Breed Me Cursed Alpha (Lyra and Ronan) novel Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Ronan

The boy’s words hang in the air like a blade.

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Lyra goes very still beside me. I can feel her through the bond–heart kicking, breath shortening, old fear rising like smoke.

Of course he came himself.

Coward in every way that matters, but never when there’s a show to put on.

“Stay close,” I tell her.

She swallows and nods..

We leave the garden and move through the fortress, Eli flickering ahead of us like a frantic lantern. The wards buzz under my skin, warning and ready. The closer we get to the border, the sharper everything becomes–the heaviness of the cursed sky, the whisper of dead branches, the faint metallic tang of foreign wolves waiting where they don’t belong.

The forest parts as we approach. It always does. This land knows its king.

We break from the treeline at the edge of Blackfang territory.

Marcus is already there.

He stands just beyond the invisible border line, flanked by half a dozen enforcers in Wolfman colors. His hair is perfectly groomed, his coat immaculate, boots polished. Not a single thing out of place.

Not even his cruelty.

Beside him stands a girl.

She’s beautiful in a storybook way–golden hair braided down her back, flawless skin, delicate features. She holds herself in perfect posture, hands folded in front of her, chin tilted just so. Her gaze is down, lashes lowered, every inch of her trained for display.

Beta’s daughter, I realize. The scent of Wolfman’s beta clings to her.

Sophia.

Marcus sees us emerge and smiles like this is a pleasant social call.

“Alpha King Ronan Blackfang,” he says. “You do like an entrance.”

Lyra unconsciously edges a half–step behind me.

Marcus’s eyes flick to her. In that tiny movement, his smile sharpens.

“Lyra,” he says, tone mild. “You’ll give your alpha a proper greeting, won’t you?”

Her wolf reacts before she does.

She moves.

One step forward. Shoulders instinctively rounding, chin dipping. “I–Alpha,” she stammers. “I’m sorry, I should’ve–I didn’t-”

Chapter 13

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She’s apologizing.

For standing beside me.

A low growl rumbles in my chest before I can stop it.

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My hand finds her waist, steady and firm, keeping her at my side. Her muscles jump under my fingers. She flinches like she’s waiting for a blow.

Marcus’s gaze hardens. “You’re letting her stand there?” he asks, voice dripping with disdain. “At an alpha’s right hand? Ronan, I heard you’d gone soft, but I didn’t realize how much.”

I look at him and see exactly what he is: a man who sold his daughter for money and prestige, and still thinks he deserves respect.

“Funny,” I say. “From where I’m standing, it looks like you lost control of what you thought you owned.”

His eyes flash. “She’s my pack,” he snaps. “My blood. My property by law and birthright.”

Lyra flinches again at the word property.

My grip tightens.

“She was,” I say evenly. “Then you signed her away. Trade Sport lost their claim. And now she’s mine.”

Marcus laughs. It’s an ugly sound. “You expect me to believe that cursed little thing is your mate? The Moon Goddess chose her for the king of alphas?” He gestures dismissively at Lyra without looking at her, like she’s dirt on his boot. “She’s weak. Broken. You can do better.”

He nudges the girl beside him forward with a hand at the small of her back.

“Sophia,” he says. “Richard’s daughter. Healthy. Beautiful. From strong stock. Trained to lead. You want a Luna? Take her. I’ll have papers drawn for a proper alliance. In exchange, you release Lyra back into our custody so she can honor her pack’s contribution to Trade Sport.”

My wolf snarls so violently it nearly knocks me off my feet.

Sophia lifts her head just enough for me to see her eyes. They’re wide. Resigned. She doesn’t speak.

Marcus keeps going. “It’s a logical deal. You get a worthy queen. I fulfill my contract. The show gets its omega. Everyone wins.”

Lyra whispers, “Papa…” so softly I almost miss it.

He doesn’t look at her.

He doesn’t need to. His voice sharpens instead, using old grooves cut into her psyche.

“Lyra, come here,” he orders.

Her body jerks. I feel the command hit her through the bond, an old, embedded script. Her wolf has been obeying that voice her whole life.

She starts to step away from me.

I don’t let her.

My arm bands around her waist, anchoring her where she is.

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Chapter 13

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Her eyes fly to mine, wide, panicked, “I–I’m sorry,” she blurts automatically, turning half toward Marcus. “Alpha, I didn’t mean–he just–1 shouldn’t be-”

She ducks her head, shoulders curling in. Submission so deep it’s muscle memory.

Anger flares white–hot in my veins.

“Lyra.” I say sharply.

She flinches again, like she expects the shout to land on her skin.

I tip her chin up with two fingers, forcing her eyes to mine. “What the fuck are you doing?”

She blinks, trembling. “I–I’m apologizing. I shouldn’t stand-”

“You don’t apologize,” I cut in. “Not to him. Not for this.”

Marcus’s voice cracks like a whip. “She apologizes when I say she does. Lyra, stand straight. Stop cowering. You’re embarrassing us.”

She jerks at the tone, spine trying to obey his command even as mine holds her in place. Her gaze flicks between us, caught.

torn.

Her whole life, his voice has meant survival.

Mine is asking her to choose something else.

“Look at me,” I say, lower now. “Not him. Me.”

Her eyes lock on mine like I’m the only solid thing in a world she doesn’t trust.

“You stand beside me,” I tell her. “On my right. That’s your place now.”

She swallows.

“You’re an alpha king’s mate,” I continue, loud enough for Marcus and every wolf with him to hear. “You bow to no one out here. Not him. Not the Council. Not Trade Sport.” I lean closer, voice dropping just for her. “If you ever bow to me, it will be in my bed… and never in front of them.”

Color rushes to her cheeks.

She straightens.

Not much. Just an inch. Shoulders easing back, chin lifting a fraction. But it’s enough.

Marcus sees it.

His expression curdles. “Lyra,” he snaps. “You come to my side right now or-”

“She won’t,” I say.

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He rounds on me. “You think you can undo years of training with a pretty speech and a few kisses? She’s mine, Blackfang. She knows her place.”

“She did,” I agree softly. “Until you sold her.” I let my own power rise, pressure thickening the air. “You stopped being her alpha the moment you signed that contract. The moment you turned her into a commodity and handed her to men who would hunt her for sport.”

Marcus takes a step forward, fury sizzling in his scent. The men behind him shift, uneasy.

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Chapter 13

Sophia doesn’t move.

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“Careful.” he spits. “You may wear a cursed crown, but you’re not above the law. Trade Sport has rules. The Council has expectations.”

“The Council respects mate–bonds,” I say. “Even yours know that. I claimed her. The land agreed. Your wolves can feel it.”

His enforcers shift, eyes darting between us. They can smell it now that I’ve said it–the threaded scents, the anchored bond, the way the magic in the ground has settled around our feet like a throne.

Marcus sneers. “You expect me to believe the Moon Goddess handed my pack’s future to a girl who cleans toilets and cries. in her heat?”

Lyra flinches at his words, then catches herself.

Her hand finds the back of mine where it rests at her waist.

She doesn’t look at him when she answers.

“If the Goddess wanted a different future,” she says quietly, “maybe she shouldn’t have cursed the wrong alpha.”

Marcus stares at her like he’s never seen her before.

Pride hits me so hard my knees almost buckle.

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” I say, stepping forward until I’m a breath from the border line. “You’re going to turn around, go back to your valley, and try very hard to forget you ever thought you had a claim here.”

“And if I don’t?” His voice is pure steel.

“Then you’ll learn,” I say pleasantly, “why the Council stopped sending armies to Blackfang. And you’ll learn how fast a mate–bonded alpha can erase a name from the histories.”

Marcus’s jaw ticks.

He looks at Lyra one last time, eyes cold. “You think he’ll save you?” he asks her. “You’re still the same pathetic little thing who killed her mother and shamed her pack. We both know it.”

Lyra doesn’t flinch.

She reaches down, laces her fingers properly with mine, and lifts her chin.

For the first time, doubt flickers in Marcus’s eyes.

This is far from over.

But as the cursed wind whips between us and the forest holds its breath, one thing is carved into the bones of this land:

If he wants to take her-

He’ll have to go through me first.