Breed Me Cursed Alpha (Lyra and Ronan) novel Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Lyra

I shouldn’t be out here.

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I know that. I know it the same way you know when a storm is coming. The air feels wrong. The forest holds sound differently. Even my wolf walks quieter than usual, head low, ears turning at every shift of leaves.

But the voice won’t leave me alone.

Do not trust Ronan.

It loops through my thoughts no matter how hard I try to shove it aside. The words were old, shaped strangely, but the meaning was sharp enough to cut. It wasn’t a threat. It wasn’t a warning screamed in panic.

It was said like a truth someone believed.

I walk faster, boots brushing through grass still damp with morning. The forest opens up here, paths winding between old trees whose roots twist like knuckles breaking through the earth. I follow one without thinking, my mind too busy turning the voice over and over.

Why would someone say that?

What would they gain?

Ronan has done nothing but protect me. From his pack. From his curse. From himself. If there were secrets, surely I would feel them through the bond. Surely my wolf would know.

Unless the danger wasn’t him.

Unless it was what loving him meant.

Movement ahead draws my attention.

Three wolves walk toward me along the path, solid, relaxed, talking quietly among themselves. One of them laughs, an easy sound, and the tension in my chest eases a fraction. They slow when they see me, surprise flickering across their faces before respect settles in.

“Luna,” one of them says, dipping his head.

I nod back, not trusting my voice.

They step aside to let me pass, conversation resuming as if I were just another presence in the forest. No judgment. No whispers. Just life moving forward. forward.

I walk on.

The path curves and widens, sunlight filtering down in warm patches. I don’t notice the change at first. Only that the air feels heavier, sweeter somehow. Then I hear it.

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Chapter 26

Laughter. Soft. Intimate.

I slow.

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Ahead, a couple leans together near the base of a tree, fingers entwined, foreheads touching. They don’t see me. They are wrapped in each other, murmuring low, smiling like the world is kind.

I pass them quietly, heart twisting in a way I don’t name.

A little farther on, I see another pair. This time seated on a fallen log, her head resting on his shoulder while he traces lazy patterns on her wrist. Their closeness is casual. Unafraid.

And then another.

That’s when I realize where I am.

Lovers’ Lane.

The name surfaces from something Samuel said earlier, half-laughing. A place the pack always favored, even when the curse was at its worst. A path that never quite lost its warmth.

I turn sharply and take the first side trail I see.

The forest shifts again, growing quieter. The sunlight dims. The air cools.

Children’s voices float toward me, high and flickering like wind chimes.

I stop.

Two little girls stand near a cluster of rocks, their forms shimmering faintly, edges soft like breath on glass. They can’t be more than eight or nine. One whispers something to the other and they both giggle.

“Do you think she heard us?” one asks.

“No,” the other says confidently. “She’s too far away.”

I stay still.

“She’s really pretty,” the first girl says. “Prettier than Chloe.”

“That’s because she’s the Luna,” the second replies. “My mother says she’s the reason we’re still like this.”

My chest tightens.

The first girl frowns. “That doesn’t make sense.”

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“It does,” the other insists. “If she loved us enough, she’d fix it.”

Their eyes flick toward me suddenly.

They gasp.

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Chapter 26

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Both girls scatter, vanishing into the trees with startled apologies trailing behind them.

I stand there long after they’re gone, the words settling heavy in my chest.

I change direction again.

This time I don’t follow a path.

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I let my feet take me where the forest opens naturally, where the trees thin and the ground slopes gently downward. I hear water before I see it. A soft lap, rhythmic and calming.

The lake.

The clearing opens wide and bright, grass rippling in the breeze. Sunlight dances across the water’s surface, turning it into scattered gold.

And standing at the edge of it is Ronan.

Very naked Ronan.

I stop so abruptly I nearly trip.

Oh.

He’s turned away from me, one foot already in the water, droplets sliding down his back. Muscles move under his skin when he shifts, unguarded, unaware.

Heat rushes up my neck.

I shouldn’t look.

I look.

He’s broad and scarred and beautiful in a way that feels unfair. Like the world stacked the deck and then dared anyone to object. Water clings to him, catching on the lines of his body, tracing paths I don’t let my eyes follow too long.

I step back.

A twig snaps.

Ronan turns.

For a split second, neither of us moves.

His eyes lock on mine.

Something sharp and hungry flickers there before he reins it in hard. He straightens, shoulders squaring, instinctively shifting his stance without covering himself.

“Lyra,” he says, voice rough.

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Chapter 26

“I’m sorry,” I blurt. “I didn’t know anyone was here.”

Silence stretches, thick and electric.

“You shouldn’t be wandering alone,” he says finally.

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“I could say the same,” I reply before I think better of it.

A corner of his mouth twitches. Not quite a smile.

“You shouldn’t be seeing this,” he adds, gesturing vaguely at himself.

My face burns. “I can look away.”

I don’t.

Neither does he turns away.

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The bond hums between us, tight and strained, pulling in opposite directions. Want presses in from all sides. Not frantic. Controlled. Worse for it.

“I heard a voice,” I say suddenly.

His expression shifts. All humor drains away.

“What did it say?”

I swallow. “That I shouldn’t trust you.”

The words hang between us.

Ronan exhales slowly. He steps back into the water, not to hide, but to ground himself. The lake ripples around his legs.

“Did you believe it?” he asks.

I hesitate. “I don’t know.”

That hurts him. I see it. He doesn’t hide it.

“I would never harm you,” he says quietly.

“I know,”

“But you’re afraid I might,” he says.

“Yes.”

He nods once, accepting it without anger. Without denial.

“That fear isn’t wrong,” he says. “But it isn’t the whole truth either.”

20:17 Thu, Feb 12 d

Chapter 26

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The tension thickens, charged and unresolved. The bond pulls. My wolf leans toward him. His does the same. Neither of us moves.

We stand there, sunlight and water and want pressing in, knowing exactly where the line is.

And choosing, again, not to cross it.

AD

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