The Betrayed Princess Rising (Lylah and Ezra) novel Chapter 189

3rd Person’s POV

The next morning, Lylah returned to the academy as usual. Her steps carried her first toward the treatment center, a quiet urgency beneath her calm exterior. Crystal had been on her mind since yesterday.

But the moment she stepped inside, something felt wrong.

The air was sharp with panic.

The ward assistant lay sprawled across the floor, as if she had been shoved aside, her tray scattered, glass shattered into glittering fragments.

“Go! Don’t come near me! Go away!” Crystal’s voice.

Lylah didn’t hesitate. She surged forward, pushing through the door.

A stranger stood inside the room.

His presence was intrusive, suffocating, laced with dominance that had no place in a healing ward. And Crystal had scrambled off the bed, rushing toward Lylah as if she were the only barrier between her and death itself.

“Who are you?!” Lylah’s voice snapped through the room, sharp as a blade.

Crystal clutched the back of her coat, trembling violently. “Please don’t let him take me…”

The man barely spared Lylah a glance. “Move,” he said flatly, his tone steeped in arrogance. “Hand her over. She’s carrying something that belongs to me.”

“No!” Crystal broke into a sob. “I told you–I lost it! I lost my baby!”

A dark chuckle slipped from his lips. “And whose fault was that, Crystal? Yours. If you had stayed where you belonged instead of running, none of this would have happened.”

‘I won’t stay with someone who made my life hell!”

Understanding struck Lylah instantly.

This was him—the father of the pup. The one she had taken from Crystal’s womb just yesterday.

Behind her, Crystal’s voice collapsed into a desperate wail. “P–please… don’t give me to him,” Her hands clung to Lylah like she was drowning. “He’ll hurt me again. He always does. He never stops…

Something inside Lylah snapped. Rage burned through her veins.

She stepped forward. “Get out!” The command landed heavily.

The man’s gaze sharpened, finally taking her in. Then he scoffed.

hapter Toy

Finished

“Who do you think you are, ordering me?” His lips curled. “Do you even know who I am? I’m the nephew of Lunaris’s High Mayor. With a word, I could have you thrown out of this land, mutt.” His eyes darkened. “Now hand her over.”

Lylah didn’t flinch. “I will never hand a victim back to her abuser.”

“You know nothing about us!” he roared, his wolf snapping closer to the surface. “I’ve already shown her mercy. That woman should be dead for betraying me-”

He never finished.

Lylah moved. Her claws flashed, slicing clean across his chest. The sound of tearing flesh split the air.

He staggered back, eyes widening in shock as blood bloomed across his shirt.

Then slowly–his lips twitched.

Something twisted and ugly surfaced in his expression.

“How foolish you are…” he muttered.

But Lylah was already moving again.

She struck without hesitation–blow after blow, her attacks driven by fury and instinct. Each hit landed harder than the last, forcing him back, breaking his stance, painting the room with the metallic scent of blood.

He faltered.

Then cheated.

With a sudden, desperate move, he swept her legs out from under her.

The shift in balance was enough.

Lylah stumbled, and in the next second, his hand clamped around her throat.

He yanked her back against him, her spine slamming into his chest as his grip tightened mercilessly. Air vanished from her lungs, his weight crushing her as his arm locked in place, cutting off every breath.

“Got you, little rascal,” he snarled.

At the same time, the door slammed open.

Soren burst in.

。