Chapter 4 The Thorn Beneath the Crown

The Regime Court was in chaos.

Elders screamed for order. News drones spun wild. Reporters were tackled, guards clashed with rising protestors, and in the center of it all-Zander Thorne stood still.

Perfectly still.

Like the eye of a brewing storm.

His Beta approached cautiously. "Sir... you should leave. You're bleeding support. That footage-"

Zander didn't flinch. "Find out who gave it to her."

"We believe it was pulled from a dead link. Internal breach."

Zander's voice dropped, dangerous and cold. "That's not good enough."

His Beta hesitated. "And... Lyra?"

A pause.

Then Zander turned his back to the wreckage of the court, cloak swirling behind him like a shadow born from war.

"She's not just a weakness anymore," he said. "She's a liability with teeth."

He didn't say what he really meant:

She was becoming a threat to his throne.

And the more dangerous she got-the more he couldn't stop wanting her.

Across the city, Lyra stared at the map Cade projected on the wall.

Red zones flared across the grid. Safehouses compromised. Rebel cells raided. Anonymous messages flooding in-half support, half warning.

"We've lit a fire," Malek muttered. "Now we either burn through them, or get scorched."

"I vote for both," Kelsa said, sharpening her blade with a smile.

Lyra traced a finger across the central district. "Zander's going to double down. He won't attack me publicly. He'll try to dismantle me piece by piece."

"He'll go for your allies," Cade added. "Your name's too loud now. He'll want to isolate you."

"He always was better at war than affection," Lyra said.

But her tone wasn't bitter. It was calculating.

Cold. Focused. Like a knife learning how to cut both ways.

Just then, a comm-link flared on the desk. A scrambled signal from an old underground line.

Cade answered, frowning. "This is Cade, who-"

The voice on the other end was dry. Regal. Amused.

"My, my. You've made quite a mess, little witch."

Everyone froze.

Kelsa mouthed silently: Is that who I think it is?

Cade glanced at Lyra, then back at the comm. "Who is this?"

The voice laughed. "Someone with an offer. A deal that could end Zander Thorne once and for all."

Lyra stepped forward. "Why would I trust you?"

"Because I want him dead as much as you do."

The voice paused, then added, quieter:

"And because I'm his mother."

Silence slammed through the room.

"What the-" Kelsa started, but Cade raised a hand.

"Zaria Thorne is dead," Malek said.

"No," the voice replied, smooth as venom. "Zander just buried me in a prison deeper than death."

Lyra's eyes narrowed. "What kind of deal?"

"One that requires you to come alone."

Of course it did.

Against every protest, Lyra went.

She dressed down, hooded, unarmed-except for the tiny blade hidden in her sleeve. Cade followed from the shadows, just in case. But Lyra needed to do this herself.

The meeting point was an abandoned chapel, ruined by the Regime years ago.

Inside, the shadows bent around a tall, lean woman in regal crimson. Her silver hair spilled like silk across one shoulder. Her eyes were obsidian, cold and exact.

"Lyra Ashbourne," she said, almost fond. "The little bond-slave who broke the Alpha."

"You're Zander's mother?" Lyra asked, disbelieving.

"Zaria Thorne," the woman confirmed. "Former Queen of Bloodline Council. And the last woman who tried to stop Zander from becoming what he is."

"Why didn't you succeed?"

"I underestimated how far he would go to erase everything I built."

Lyra folded her arms. "What do you want from me?"

Zaria stepped closer. "Zander's rule was never his to take. His father left it to me. But Zander forged the marriage contract with your bloodline and claimed legacy rights."

"That contract was broken."

Zaria smiled. "Exactly. Which means you are the loophole. If you sign a reversal decree, and revoke your consent to the original contract-it makes his entire claim invalid. His seat becomes challengeable by the Council."

Lyra blinked. "That's possible?"

"With the right witnesses. And the right war."

Lyra frowned. "Why help me?"

Zaria's face darkened. "Because Zander destroyed everything I loved. And now, I want to watch him burn."

Back at the safehouse, Cade was pacing.

"I don't trust her."

Lyra nodded. "Neither do I."

"But?"

"She's not lying. She gave me the revocation seal. With this and one more Council vote, Zander's rule becomes challengeable."

"And then what?"

Lyra turned, face unreadable. "Then I end him legally. Publicly. The way he ended me."

Malek clapped his hands. "I like this version of you. She plans and burns at the same time."

Kelsa added, "And looks hot doing it."

Lyra actually cracked a smile.

But that joy didn't last.

Because the next morning-Cade was gone.

And in his place was a note, marked with the Thorne insignia.

"You want a war, Lyra? Then watch who pays the price first."

-Z

"Where the hell is he?" Kelsa shouted, tearing through rooms.

Malek swore violently. "They must've traced his tracker. He was tailing you too close."

Lyra stared at the note.

Zander wasn't bluffing.

He'd taken Cade. Her only anchor. Her oldest friend. Her shield.

She closed her fist around the note, rage building like a storm too big for skin.

Malek handed her a blade. "We going in?"

"No," she said quietly. "We're going in loud."

Zander stood in the dungeon hall, watching Cade tied to the post. Bloodied, but alive.

"You're too loyal," he said. "To someone who will never belong to you."

Cade spat blood. "You think she belongs to you?"

Zander didn't answer.

Because deep down, he didn't know anymore.

Not since she looked him in the eye and said no.

Not since she made him bleed-publicly.

But the fire in Cade's eyes made something curl in Zander's chest.

Jealousy.

Or maybe just fear.

"She'll come for you," Cade said. "And when she does, she'll take your crown."

Zander leaned in close, voice like winter. "Let her try."

Lyra stood before the rebel council, blade in one hand, the revocation seal in the other.

"I'm not asking for permission," she said. "I'm asking for war."

The room rose in cheers.

Outside, the sky cracked with thunder.

And somewhere, far off in the dungeon beneath Thorne Palace-

Cade smiled through broken lips.

Because he knew.

She was coming.

And this time, she wouldn't be running away.

She'd be running straight through.