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She slid out of bed, wrapped herself in her robe, and padded toward the closet. “I need to get dressed.”

“Where you going?”

She looked over her shoulder, eyes clearer than they’d been in days.

“To the Keep,” she said. “He’s working, right?”

Milo yawned. “Looks like someone’s finally ready to fight for her happy ending.”

Lyra smiled faintly. “I’m not fighting. I’m just…going to talk.”

But deep down she already felt the pull again. And this time, she was walking toward it and she hoped that he was too.

27

LYRA

Lyra held the basket tighter than necessary as she stepped into the Keep.

Milo had practically shoved her out the door with a smirk and a sarcastic“Don’t let your alpha crash mid-meeting from low blood sugar”, but now, her fingers itched with nerves.

Last night hadn’t been like the first time.

It had been different.

Gentler. Not just heat, but something real. Jace had stayed for hours. Wrapped around her like he meant it.

And even though she’d woken up alone again, Milo had said he wasn’t brooding. That he’d just needed to tend to pack business. That maybe things were finally shifting.

So she was here. Muffins and all. Ready to talk.

Ready to try.

She rounded the corner toward his office, the door half-cracked. She paused when she heard voices—Jace and Logan, talking low but not whispering. Probably too focused to realize anyone else was near.

“I’m saying you need to be sure,” Logan said. “If you’re choosing the bond, choose it.”

“Ican’tchoose based on what Iwant,” Jace said, voice hard and tired. “It’s duty first. Always.”

Lyra froze.

There was a pause, then Jace’s voice again—lower, almost broken.

“If I let my desires override my responsibilities, I’ll fail them all. I’ll become exactly what I swore I wouldn’t.”

She didn’t stay to hear the rest.

The basket hit the floor with a softthud, the scent of warm cinnamon and crushed hope bleeding into the stone.

She turned. Walked. Fast.

The door creaked behind her, but she didn’t care. Didn’t stop.

Not when the tears blurred her eyes.

Not when Milo’s words from earlier—He didn’t seem upset—spun in her head like a cruel joke.

He didn’t regretleaving. He regrettedher.