The Lunar Queen (Lyric and Mason) novel Chapter 182

Chapter 182

“She was your mate, and you let me run her out of the palace with what I thought was a bastard pup, when all along she was your mate!” she screams, slapping him and storming out of the office.

My father’s eyes blaze with fury.

“Why the fuck would you bring up old wounds?” he snarls.

I smirk. “Old wounds? That pup she was pregnant with is David’s Beta and currently the only reason why my mate is safe,” I snap at

him. Each word lands heavier now because this isn’t the past anymore-it’s connected to her. To everything happening right now.

He moves to respond, but no words leave his mouth.

“You met him?” he says, his voice low, broken.

“Alpha, there is a rogue at the border gates. He says he won’t leave until he speaks with you,” Oliver links me.

“I will be there in a minute,” I link back.

“Speaking of the devil, he’s at the border,” I say.

His head snaps up at that.

“Alpha, he looks like he is in bad shape. We might need a doctor,” Oliver links me.

Something tightens immediately-not just concern, not just urgency-something heavier settling low in my chest before I even see

him.

“On it,” I say.

“Go now,” Zeus pushes, already moving me before I think.

Everybody in the office follows me out.

When I get to the border, he smiles and drops to his knees. The moment I see him, everything in me goes still-not calm, not relaxed-just locked in. The blood, the way he’s standing, the way he drops-it doesn’t match the smile. It doesn’t match anything.

My steps slow without me meaning to.

Tabitha gasps and rushes to him.

“I’m just going to stop the bleeding, okay?” she says as her tears fal).

“All of his wounds are silver wounds,” she says, pulling the silver out of his blood with magic.

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13:51 Thu, Jul 2 MA

Chapter 182

Silver. That hits harder now, seeing it-deep cuts, deliberate. Not random. Not messy. Intentional.

“Who did this to him?” she asks.

My father walks slowly toward him. “Jonathan?” he says.

There’s hesitation in his voice. Small, but there-and I catch it.

Jonathan looks at him, then at Tabitha. “You look like Lyric. Are you Iris?” he asks.

Even now, barely holding himself up, that’s what he sees first-and something about that sits deeper than it should.

She smiles. “No, my name is Tabitha. I’m her cousin,” she says.

He finally acknowledges my father. “You know who I am?” he asks.

“I… I knew of you. Your mother stopped contact when you turned two,” he says so low we barely catch it.

His eyes roll back.

It happens fast. Too fast. One second he’s holding himself up, the next his weight gives-and there’s no fight left in it.

“Cole, he needs a doctor if we want to save him,” Tabitha yells.

“Put him on my back,” Dad says before shifting.

Tabitha climbs onto his back, and Tobias and I lift him onto Dad before he runs to the hospital. His body feels too light when we lift him. No resistance. No strength behind it. I don’t like that at all.

“So what does this mean for your mate?” Tobias asks.

“I don’t know, but I think things just got pushed up. We may need to take out the witch and get her out tomorrow,” I say as we all shift and run behind them. The plan is already shifting in my head before I finish the sentence. No time left to wait.

Whatever just happened after the Howling Moon attack put Lyric in more danger.

With Jonathan not there, she’s alone.

That lands deeper than anything else. No one between her and him now. No delay. No buffer. Just her.

Zeus growls low. Steady. Present. Not fading.

Tomorrow we get our mate back. There isn’t another outcome. Not anymore.

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