Lyanna stood frozen, her mind reeling from the single word that had just echoed through her consciousness with the force of a blow.
Mate.
She knew the word.
Even in the modern world of 2026, she had spent enough time buried in fantasy novels to understand the gravity of that term in this supernatural reality.
But the more she thought about it, the more her internal alarms began to blare.
She frowned deeply, her eyes narrowing as she stared at the imposing man standing in the doorway. She couldn't help but wonder if Nyx had suddenly gone mad just from the sight of a handsome face.
According to the memories she had inherited from the original Lyanna, Cedric Nightbane did not have a mate.
Their marriage hadn't been a grand romantic union dictated by destiny or the stars.
It had been a cold, clinical arrangement—a promise made between their fathers long ago.
Cedric had married her out of a sense of duty, a blood debt that had nothing to do with love or the Moon Goddess.
So, why on earth would Nyx suddenly claim that he was their mate? Where was the sense in that?
What Lyanna hated most about the situation was the lack of control.
She had always been a woman who valued her own mind, a woman who had survived years of isolation by being the master of her own thoughts.
Yet now, just by looking at Cedric's sharp jawline and those piercing eyes, she felt a wave of unwanted affection.
She wanted to smile at him. She felt a bizarre, overwhelming urge to cross the room and bury herself in his arms, to feel the warmth of his body against hers.
For a woman who had never even had a boyfriend, let alone a husband, this sudden rush of biological desire was infuriating.
She felt a surge of irritation toward the wolf in her head. She was convinced that Nyx was the one pulling the strings, forcing these alien emotions into her heart.
Nyx, whatever it is you are doing, stop it right now, Lyanna thought sharply, focusing her intent on the voice in her mind.
I am not a puppet. Why are you making me feel like this? I can appreciate a handsome man as much as anyone, but I don't go jumping into the arms of strangers just because they have a nice face. You are my wolf, which means you answer to me. Stop flooding my body with these ridiculous feelings and emotions.
She didn't actually know if communicating this way would work. She was simply hoping that since Nyx could speak to her, the connection worked both ways.
To her immense relief, the wolf's voice resonated back almost instantly, sounding both defensive and certain.
"This man is our mate, Lyanna," Nyx replied, her voice steady.
"I am not doing anything to you. This is not a trick or a manufactured emotion. This is what happens when a shifter finds the other half of their soul. I can assure you, with every fiber of my being, that this man belongs to us."
Lyanna's frown deepened.
She didn't move from her spot on the floor, her mind still racing. But that doesn't make any sense, she argued back through their mental link.
The previous Lyanna lived with this man for months. She felt absolutely nothing for him except fear and resentment. There was no bond, no spark, and certainly no 'mate' connection. Their union was normal, loveless, and entirely human. How can he suddenly be a mate now? Don't tell me the Moon Goddess made a mistake.
"You are forgetting the most important part," Nyx said softly, her voice echoing with a wisdom that felt older than Lyanna's own.
"I am your wolf. I was born the moment you arrived in this world. You are a soul that does not belong to this realm. Which means that while you are using Lyanna's physical body, the essence of who you are—your spirit, your heart, and your wolf—is entirely different. The old Lyanna is dead, and her connection to this world died with her. You are the one in charge now. You are the one the bond is recognizing."
Lyanna felt a chill run down her spine. The logic was sound in a twisted, supernatural way, but it opened up a whole new set of questions that her scientific mind struggled to digest. It still doesn't feel right, she countered. Does that mean if I hadn't died in 2026 and been brought here, Cedric would have never found his mate? Does it even make sense that his destiny is tied to a person from another world, another time? If I hadn't crashed into this body, he would have been alone forever. How can that be a grand design?
Nyx went quiet for a long moment, as if contemplating the sheer scale of Lyanna's doubt.
Finally, she spoke again. "I do not have all the answers. I am as new to this as you are.But I believe in the Moon Goddess. You are here, aren't you? Perhaps your soul never truly belonged in that world you came from. Perhaps you died there so you could finally come home to the place where you truly belong."
Lyanna wanted to snicker at the sentimentality of it all.
In the world of science and logic she had come from, everything Nyx was saying sounded like a delusional fairy tale.
There were no gods in lab coats, and there were no soulmates written into DNA. Yet, here she was, sitting on a wooden floor in a body that wasn't hers, listening to a wolf in her head.
She realized she had no choice but to accept the impossible. If she was stuck here, and if this man was truly her mate, then she had to look at the situation practically.
Being the mate of the Alpha would certainly make her life easier. It would give her power, protection, and a way to deal with Avelina. If the bond made him drawn to her, she could use that to her advantage. She could make him listen to her.
With that thought, Lyanna finally snapped out of her internal debate and raised her head to look at Cedric.
She expected to see a man overwhelmed by the same pull she was feeling. She expected to see a flicker of the "mate" recognition in his eyes.
Instead, what she saw made her blood run cold.
Cedric was standing there with a face like thunder.
The stern, brooding expression he had entered with had shifted into something far more cutting. He was looking at her with an expression of such pure, unadulterated disgust that Lyanna was physically taken aback.
She felt a pang of confusion. Did I misunderstand what a mate bond is? she wondered. Is it supposed to make your partner hate you? Why is he looking at me like I'm something he found on the bottom of his boot?
She didn't realize that Cedric was currently trapped in his own mental prison.
The moment Cedric had stepped into the room, the scent of Lyanna had hit him.
It wasn't the scent he remembered—the smell of medicinal herbs and fear.
This was something different. It was the scent of rain on hot stone, of wild forests and something ancient. The mate bond had snapped into place with a violence that left him breathless.
His own wolf, Ash, was howling with joy in the back of his mind. Mate! Mate! She is here! She is ours!
Cedric was reeling. He started wondering if this was some kind of elaborate scheme.
Had Lyanna used some kind of dark magic to trick his senses? But he knew that was impossible.
The mate bond was the work of the Moon Goddess; it couldn't be faked by a human, especially not one as weak as Lyanna. He demanded an answer from Ash. Is there a mistake? How can this be happening now, after all this time?
No mistake, Ash replied, his voice filled with an uncharacteristic excitement. She is the one. She is definitely our mate. Look at her!
Cedric was beyond frustrated. Ash was completely useless, blinded by the sudden discovery. Help her up! Ash began to nag, his voice becoming a persistent drone in Cedric's head.
Our mate is sitting on the cold ground. Look at her head, she is still injured. She looks so small. Go to her. Help her up. Carry her to the bed and tell her she is safe.
For a split second, Cedric felt his resolve waver. As he looked at Lyanna sitting on the floor, a wave of genuine pity washed over him.
His heart seemed to ache in a way he hadn't felt in years. He wanted to do exactly what Ash was suggesting. He wanted to scoop her up, hold her close, and protect her from the world. His eyes softened, and he took a single, instinctive step toward her, his hand reaching out.
But then, he saw the change in her face.
He watched as Lyanna's expression shifted from surprise to a deep, dark frown.
He saw her eyes drop to the floor as if she couldn't bear the sight of him. He watched her brows furrow in what looked like utter distaste.
From his perspective, she looked like she found the very idea of him being near her to be unacceptable.
The softening in his eyes vanished, replaced by a cold, hard cynical edge. He stopped his advance, his hand dropping back to his side. That's right, he thought bitterly.
She hates me. She has always hated me. From the moment we were wed, she has looked at me with nothing but terror and loathing. She tried to kill herself just to get away from me.
Then, his thoughts took a darker, more paranoid turn. A realization struck him that made his blood boil. What if she knew? he thought. What if she has known about the bond all along?
He began to construct a narrative in his mind, one born out of his own wounded pride.
He convinced himself that Lyanna had somehow discovered they were mates long ago and had deliberately hidden it from him.
He imagined her using some ancient, hidden knowledge to block the bond, to keep him from feeling the connection so she wouldn't have to be tied to him.
She must hate me even more than I thought, Cedric mused, his heart hardening into a block of ice.
She would rather suppress the will of the Goddess than be my mate. And the only reason I can feel it now is because she's too weak to keep the mask up. Her injuries, her suicide attempt... she lost her focus, and the bond finally broke through.
It was a completely illogical conclusion. The idea that a girl as sheltered and bullied as the old Lyanna could possess the power to block an Alpha's mate bond was absurd.
But Cedric was a man ruled by his own sense of rejection. He felt abandoned by the one person who was supposed to be his other half. He felt rejected by Lyanna, a rejection that he had never understood.
In his mind, Lyanna was a deceiver. He decided to make her the villain of his story because it was easier than facing the possibility that Lyanna just hates him for no reason at all.
He felt a surge of disgust—not for her physical beauty, but for the "deception" he believed she had practiced.
"How long are you planning on sitting on the ground for?" he finally asked, his voice booming in the quiet room.
It was cold and devoid of any the warmth Ash was begging for. "Don't tell me you've forgotten how to use your legs. Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but no one in this room is willing to play servant and help you up."
The words were a sharp contrast to the deep, enticing quality of his voice.
In another life, Lyanna might have swooned over the timbre of his speech, but she was in no mood for his attitude. She saw the disgust in his eyes and felt a flare of her own temper.
She didn't hesitate. She rolled her eyes—a gesture so modern and dismissive that it took Cedric by surprise—and pushed herself up.
She didn't wobble, and she didn't ask for a hand. She stood tall, smoothing her linen shift with a grace she hadn't known she possessed.
She looked him directly in the eye, her gaze defiant and unshaken.
"Well, I didn't need anybody's help to stand up in the first place," she said, her voice clear and sharp.
"And I certainly wasn't planning on asking you for anything. You're thinking entirely too much of yourself if you think I'm waiting for your charity."
The room went deathly silent. Avelina, standing behind Cedric, let out a small, audible gasp. The maids in the doorway huddled closer together, their eyes wide.
Cedric was frozen. In all the time he had known Lyanna, she had never spoken more than three words to him at once, and those words were usually whispered through tears. She had never looked him in the eye, and she had certainly never talked back to him.