Twice Marked, Twice Chosen

Lyra POV

It all started at midnight, loud and glinting noise that can rip ears into two.

I pressed my small body against the wooden wall of the Omega quarters, my four-year-old hands trembling as the sounds of terror echoed through our village like a tornado.

The other children huddled together in the center of the room, but something pulled me toward the window. I had to see, to know what was actually happening outside.

The moon hung like a crying wound in the sky, casting everything in crimson light. Below, our pack warriors shifted into their massive wolf forms, their howls mixing with sounds I had never heard before, sounds that made my bones ache with fear and something I can not really phantom.

The Kanimas had come again.

I watched through the cracked glass as the shadow beasts zoomed between our homes like living nightmares. They moved wrong, too fluid and too fast with terrifying speed that can make someone go crazy, their serpentine bodies crowned with heads that seemed carved from darkness itself. Their eyes burned red as the cursed moon above, and wherever they touched, our beautiful territory scattered.

"Get away from there, little one." Old Martha, who helped care for us Omega children, reached for me with shaking fingers. But before she could pull me back, the world exploded.

A massive Kanima crashed through our roof in a shower of splintered wood and stone. The creature's head shifted toward us like a devil who is about to try out new death skills, and I saw death in its glowing gaze. The other children screamed, scattering like leaves in a hurricane.

I ran, my feet nearly touching my skull.

My bare feet slapped against the cold earth as I fled into the chaos outside. Smoke burned my lungs and stung my eyes, but I kept running. Behind me, I could hear Martha calling my name, but her voice grew fainter with each step, but by bit.

The village I knew was gone. In its place stood a battlefield painted in blood and shadow. Warriors fought desperately against creatures that shouldn't exist, their claws and fangs useless against enemies that reformed from darkness itself. I saw Beta Marcus fall, his wolf form crumpling as a Kanima's tail whipped across his throat, oops!!

Terror made me stumble, and I crashed to my knees beside the pack's central fountain. The water had turned black, reflecting the cursed moon like a mirror to hell.

That's when I heard them.

Child of two worlds...

The whispers drove into my mind, speaking in voices that sounded like wind through dead leaves. I turned around, searching for the source, but saw only destruction and desperation.

Blood calls to blood...

My hands began to tingle, a strange warmth spreading up my arms. When I looked down, silver light flickered beneath my skin like captured starlight. I didn't understand what was happening to me, but the whispers grew louder, more insistent.

Awaken, daughter of shadows...

"Stop," I whimpered, pressing my palms against my ears. But the voices weren't coming from outside, they lived inside my head, growing stronger with each passing second, deep and scary sounds.

The silver light pulsed brighter, and suddenly I could see things differently. The Kanimas weren't just mindless beasts, they were searching for something. Their burning eyes swept over the fleeing pack members, dismissing them, hunting for... what?

One of the creatures turned toward me, its massive head hovering like a predator recognizing prey. Our eyes locked, and I saw something that chilled me to the bone, something that makes my bone cold to the brim.

Recognition..

It knew me. Somehow, impossibly, this nightmare creature knew exactly who I was.

The Kanima began to move toward me, its movements suddenly purposeful. I tried to run, but my legs wouldn't work. The silver light under my skin grew so bright it hurt, and the whispers became a roar. Then everything went black...

::::::::::::::::::::::

Sixteen years later...

"Move, freak."

Cassandra's shoulder crashed into mine as she passed harder like someone who'd hate my existence, sending the herbs I gathered for Selene scattering across the ground.

Her followers giggled like this was the height of entertainment, watching me scramble to collect the precious plants before they were trampled and wasted.

"Careful, Cass," Maya whispered from beside me, her voice barely audible. "What if she curses you?"

The laughter died instantly. Even as a joke, the word 'curse' carried weight in our pack. Too much weight, especially when applied to me, everyone literally believed I was a beast sent from a pit of hell.

I kept my head down, focusing on retrieving the scattered chamomile and sage. After sixteen years of this treatment, I have learned that reaction only makes things worse. Better to be invisible, forgettable.

But invisibility was impossible when you looked like me.

I caught my reflection in a puddle as I reached for a fallen sprig of lavender. Silver eyes stared back at me, not the gold or amber of normal werewolves, but true silver, like moonlight on water. My hair fell in waves of pure black, so dark it seemed to absorb light rather than reflect it.

Beautiful, they called me. Unnaturally beautiful. And in a world where different meant dangerous, witty, beauty became a burden, a load not worth carrying.

"The Moon Ceremony is tonight," Cassandra announced, her voice carrying across the square. "I wonder if any of the unmated males will be desperate enough to claim our little oddity."

My hands stilled on the herbs. The Moon Ceremony, the monthly gathering where unmated wolves hoped to find their destined partners. I have never been allowed to attend, but this year would be different. I was twenty now, old enough that even the pack's strict traditions couldn't keep me away, NEVER.

"I heard Alpha Donovan himself plans to choose a mate tonight," one of Cassandra's friends added with a dreamy sigh. "Can you imagine? Being chosen by an Alpha like him?"

I could imagine. In the quiet moments before sleep, I had imagined it many times. Alpha Donovan was everything our pack admired, strong, decisive, devastatingly handsome, everything about him is extremely complete.

At twenty-three, he had already elevated our pack to the third-highest rank among all werewolf territories. He was the kind of male who made unmated females forget how to breathe, so hot.

Not that someone like him would ever notice someone like me.

"Don't even think about it," Cassandra hissed, apparently reading my expression. "The Alpha needs a mate worthy of his station. Not some Omega foundling with freaky eyes."

The words hit their mark, just as she'd intended. I wasn't pack-born, everyone knew that. Selene had found me during the Blood Moon attack that killed my parents, whoever they'd been. I had no lineage, no status, no family name to recommend me to, everyone hated me, disgust me like I'm a curse.

All I had were strange dreams I couldn't explain and whispers that followed me through the darkness.

As if summoned by my thoughts, the whispers stirred now, soft and seductive in the back of my mind. They'd returned three months ago, growing stronger each day. Sometimes I caught myself responding to them, holding conversations with voices only I could hear.

Soon,they promised. Soon you'll understand.

Understand what exactly huh? I'd given up asking. The voices never answered direct questions, preferring to speak in riddles and half-truths that left me more confused than before.

I gathered the last of my scattered herbs and stood, brushing dirt from my simple dress. Around me, the pack buzzed with excitement for tonight's ceremony. Unmated females preened and prepared, while males strutted and postured, hoping to catch the right eye.

But as I walked toward Selene's healing cottage, a different kind of anticipation built in my chest. Tonight felt different. Important. Like standing on the edge of a cliff, knowing that one step forward would change everything.

I just didn't know yet whether I'd fly or fall. Anything can happen, for good or for bad,but the bad is obvious, nobody really likes me.

The whispers laughed softly in my mind, and for the first time in months, I thought I heard actual words buried in their ethereal chorus.

Tonight, daughter of shadows. Tonight, everything begins.

My steps became weaker as silver light flickered beneath my skin, so brief I might have imagined it. But the warmth spreading through my veins was real enough, along with the sudden certainty that my life was about to shatter into a thousand pieces.

Something ancient and powerful was awakening within me, and this time, there would be no

Forgetting...

Lyra POV

I couldn't breathe properly. The laughter behind me grew louder, more vicious, as I stumbled deeper into the forbidden section of Shadowveil Forest, different voices, loud and clear..

My chest burned with humiliation and something else, something hot and dangerous that made my skin numb with goosebumps.

"Did you see her face when Marcus said no Alpha would ever want damaged goods?"

"The freak actually thought she had a chance!"

Their voices followed me even here, among the twisted trees where pack members weren't supposed to venture. But I didn't care about rules anymore. I just needed to get away before I did something I will later regret.

The whispers in my head stirred, feeding off my pain. Let us help, they spoke in unison. Let us show them what you really are.

"No," I gasped, pressing my hands against my temples. "Not again."

But my feet wouldn't stop moving. Branches tore at my ceremonial dress, the one Selene had spent weeks making, hoping tonight would be different. The fabric hung in tatters now, just like my dreams, shattered with no vivid road.

I should have known better. Should have listened when everyone told me to stay in my place. The ground disappeared beneath me.

I fell hard, tumbling down a steep embankment I hadn't seen in the darkness. Rocks and thorns shredded what remained of my dress as I rolled, unable to stop myself. When I finally hit the bottom, the breath left my lungs in a painful and devastating rush.

Above me, the Blood Moon glared down like a malevolent eye. That's when I heard the water.

The Shadow River raged beside me, swollen from recent rains. Its current moved fast enough to snap bones, deadly even for werewolves. I tried to push myself up, but my ankle screamed in protest. Sprained, maybe worse.

"Perfect," I whispered. "Just perfect."

A wave crashed over the riverbank, soaking me with ice-cold water. The current caught my dress, tugging insistently. I dug my fingers into the mud, fighting against the pull, but the river was stronger.

Much stronger than I can explain.

Another wave hit, and this time I couldn't hold on. The water swept me away like I weighed nothing, dragging me into the churning rapids. I went under immediately.

The cold shocked every nerve in my body. I clawed toward the surface, lungs burning, but the current spun me around until I couldn't tell which way was up. My waterlogged dress wrapped around my legs like chains.

This is how I die, I thought with strange calm. Alone in the water, just like I lived. Alone.

The whispers exploded in my mind, louder than they'd ever been. NO! Fight! Use what we've given you!

Power surged through me, the same silver fire I had always felt as a child. The water around me began to glow, responding to something inside me I didn't understand. For a moment, the current actually slowed, as if the river itself was listening.

But the effort drained what little strength I had left. My vision went dark at the edges, and I sank deeper.

Strong arms wrapped around my waist.

Someone dashed me upward with impossible strength, breaking the surface just as my lungs gave out. I coughed up river water, gasping and choking, while steady hands kept me afloat.

"Easy," a voice said. Deep, smooth, with an accent I couldn't place. "I've got you."

Through my blurred vision, I saw a face that made my heart skip. Sharp cheekbones, dark eyes that seemed to hold secrets, and an aura of power that made my wolf instincts go haywire. He wasn't packed, I would have remembered someone like him.

He was beautiful in the way predators were beautiful. Dangerous.

The stranger swam us both to shore with powerful strokes, then lifted me onto the muddy bank like I weighed nothing. His hands were gentle as he turned my head to the side, helping me cough up the last of the water.

"There we go," he murmured. "Breathe for me."

I tried to speak, but only managed a raspy whisper. "Who..?"

"Shh." His fingers brushed wet hair from my face, and I felt that strange connection again, like recognition, though I had never seen him before. "You're safe now. That's all that matters."

Something about his scent tugged at my memory. Familiar, comforting, even though logic said I should be terrified of this stranger who just appeared from nowhere.

"Thank you," I managed.

He smiled, and my breath caught. "No need to thank me. I couldn't let anything happen to you."

The way he said it made it sound personal, like he'd been watching out for me specifically. But that was impossible. Wasn't it?

I tried to sit up, wincing as my injured ankle protested. "I should get back. My pack..."

"Will survive without you for a few more minutes." His hand steadied me, warm and sure. "Rest. You nearly drowned."

"The ceremony.."

"It's over." His dark eyes held mine. "Trust me, you didn't miss anything important."

How did he know about the Moon Ceremony? Before I could ask, he was helping me to my feet, supporting my weight against his solid frame. The contact sent sparks through my nervous system that had nothing to do with my near-death experience.

"Can you walk?" he asked.

I tested my ankle gingerly. It hurt, but it would hold. "I think so."

"Good." He guided me a few steps away from the river, then stopped. "This is where I leave you."

"Wait." Panic flared in my chest. "I don't even know your name."

He paused, something unreadable flickering across his features. "Names have power. Are you sure you want mine?"

What kind of answer was that? "I.."

"We'll meet again," he said softly. "When you're ready."

Before I could respond, he melted back into the forest shadows like he had never been there at all. I called out, but heard nothing except the river's endless song.

:::::::::::

The walk back to pack territory felt like a lifetime. My dress clung to me in frozen tatters, and every step reminded me of my foolishness. Running away like a child, nearly drowning in my self-pity.

But I couldn't stop thinking about the stranger's hands, his voice, the way my body had responded to his touch. And those eyes, like he knew secrets about me that I've forgotten.

The pack grounds were quieter now, most members having retreated to their homes after the ceremony. I limped past the great hall where the celebration had been held, trying not to imagine the pairings that had been announced. Who had been chosen? Who was still alone?

Not that it mattered to me anymore. After tonight's humiliation, I will be lucky if anyone ever spoke to me again.

I was almost to Selene's cottage when I heard Maya's voice, high and frightened.

"Please, just leave me alone!"

My blood went cold. I forgot about my ankle, my exhaustion, my embarrassment, and ran toward the sound. Behind the pack kitchens, I found them, Cassandra and her friends had cornered Maya against the storage shed.

"Your precious sister finally ran away for good," Cassandra was saying, her voice dripping with satisfaction. "Maybe now you'll learn your place, you worthless Omega."

Maya's face was streaked with tears. At fifteen, she was too young for the ceremony but old enough to understand the cruelty behind Cassandra's words.

Something inside me snapped.

The whispers roared to life, and this time I didn't fight them. Power flooded my veins like molten silver, making my skin glow in the darkness. The air itself seemed to thicken around me dangerously.

"Get away from her," I said.

My voice carried an authority I didn't know I possessed. Cassandra turned around, her eyes widening when she saw me, waterlogged, furious, and radiating power like a small sun.

"Look what crawled back," she sneered, but I heard the uncertainty beneath her bravado. "Did you enjoy your swim, freak?"

"I said get away from her."

The temperature dropped ten degrees. Wind began to howl through the clear night, bending trees that had stood for centuries. Cassandra's friends stepped back nervously, but she held her ground like a predator who was about to prey.

"Or what? You'll throw another tantrum?" She raised her hand to strike Maya. "Pathetic little.."

I lost control.

The wind exploded outward from where I stood, lifting all four girls off their feet and slamming them against the kitchen wall. Roof tiles flew through the air like deadly projectiles. The storage shed's door ripped clean off its hinges, the power, the force it all aligned together.

"Stop!" Maya screamed, but I couldn't hear her over the roar of the supernatural wind.

Power poured out of me in waves, reshaping the world according to my rage. Buildings groaned and swayed. Windows shattered in perfect synchronization. Even the massive oak tree beside the kitchens bent nearly in half.

Through it all, I stood in the eye of my own storm, silver light blazing from my skin like captured starlight.

Then, as suddenly as it had started, the wind died.

I swayed on my feet, drained and horrified by what I had done. Half the pack's service buildings lay in ruins around me. Cassandra and her friends were unconscious against the wall, blood trickling from various cuts.

Maya stared at me with a mixture of awe and terror.

"Lyra?" she whispered. "What are you?"

Before I could answer, heavy footsteps surrounded us. Warriors in human form, led by Alpha Donovan himself. His dark eyes swept over the destruction, then fixed on me with an expression I couldn't read.

When our gazes met, the world stopped half way.

Heat exploded through my body, a connection so powerful it drove me to my knees. The mate bond, I have heard about it but never experienced it. Like finding the missing piece of your soul, like coming home after a lifetime of wandering.

But as I knelt there in the ruins of my own making, watching the play of emotions across Donovan's face, I saw the exact moment he made his choice.

Duty won.

"Arrest her," he commanded, his voice steady despite the turmoil in his eyes. "Lyra of the Omega quarters, you stand accused of practicing forbidden magic and destroying pack property."

As his warriors moved forward with silver chains, I caught a glimpse of familiar dark eyes in the crowd. My mysterious rescuer from the river, watching with an unreadable expression.

Tomorrow I would face judgment from the Alpha who was supposed to be my salvation, while the stranger who had saved my life watched from the shadows and neither of them knew that my trial would change the fate of two kingdoms forever.

Lyra POV

The silver chains burned my hand indiscriminately.

I sat in the pack's holding cell, wrists raw from the blessed metal that was supposed to suppress supernatural abilities. It wasn't working. The whispers in my head had grown stronger overnight, and every few minutes, silver light would shine beneath my skin like trapped lightning making me feel like I'm about to explode.

Footsteps echoed down the stone corridor. Multiple sets, moving with purpose. My trial was about to begin and I prayed that the Gods should shower mercy on me.

"Bring her out," Alpha Donovan's voice commanded.

Two guards unlocked my cell and pushed me to my feet like I weighed nothing to them. The chains clinked with every step as they marched me toward the great hall like the prisoner I'm, where the entire pack had gathered to witness my judgment.

The morning sun streamed through tall windows, illuminating faces filled with fear and disgust. These people had watched me grow up, had taken Selene's healing potions made with my help, and had accepted my presence for twenty years. Now they looked at me like I was something diseased, like I was a nobody but a pathetic destroyer.

"Freak," someone whispered.

"Witch," hissed another.

I kept my head high, even as my heart shattered into pieces with their piercing words coming from their mouths. At the far end of the hall, Alpha Donovan sat on his ceremonial throne, every inch the powerful leader who'd elevated our pack to greatness. He looked magnificent in his formal robes, dark hair perfectly styled, jaw set with determination.

He also looked like he hadn't slept for ages.

When our eyes met, that impossible connection flared again. The mate bond pulled at me like a physical chain, making me want to run to him despite everything he is doing to me. His hands gripped the throne's armrests so tightly his knuckles went white.

"Lyra of the Omega quarters," he began, his voice carrying across the silent hall. "You stand accused of practicing forbidden magic, destroying pack property, and endangering pack members. How do you answer these charges?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but Elder Marcus stepped forward first.

"Alpha, if I may," the old man said, his weathered face grave. "The destruction speaks for itself. Half our service buildings lie in ruins. Four pack members required medical attention. And witnesses saw this... this creature summoned winds that bent century-old trees."

Murmurs rippled through the crowd. I wanted to defend myself, to explain that I'd only been protecting Maya, but the words died in my throat. How could I explain something I didn't understand myself?

"The penalty for practicing witchcraft is death," Elder Marcus continued. "Our laws are clear."

"No!" Selene's voice rang out as she pushed through the crowd. My adoptive mother looked older than her years this morning, silver hair wild with worry. "She's not a witch. She's just... different."

"Different how?" Donovan asked quietly.

Selene's eyes filled with tears. "I don't know. I found her during the Blood Moon attack sixteen years ago, covered in strange marks that faded by dawn. She was just a child, Alpha. A frightened, orphaned child."

"A child who destroyed half our territory in a fit of rage," Elder Marcus snapped. "What happens when she gets truly angry? What happens when she decides we're her enemies?"

The crowd's murmur grew uglier and more annoying. I could see the fear in their faces, the way they pressed back as if my very presence might contaminate them.

"I would never hurt innocent people," I said, finally finding my voice. "I was protecting Maya. Cassandra was going to...."

"Silence," Elder Marcus commanded. "You have no right to speak here, witch."

The word hit me like a physical blow down to my spine. In that moment, staring at the faces of people who'd known me my entire life, I understood that nothing I said would matter. They'd already decided what I was.

What I wasn't was one of them.

"However," Donovan said, his voice cutting through the crowd's noise, "there is another possibility we must consider."

Hope fluttered in my chest. Maybe he felt the mate bond too. Maybe... Just Maybe.

"The Midnight Eclipse Pack has laws regarding dangerous individuals," he continued. "Exile, rather than execution, for those who pose a threat but have not committed murder."

Exile. The word echoed in my mind like a death sentence. Werewolves weren't meant to live alone. Without a pack, I will be nothing, vulnerable to rogues, to the elements, to madness.

But it was better than death.

"The pack has spoken through its destruction," Donovan said, rising from his throne. The mate bond pulled tighter as he approached, making it hard to breathe. "Lyra of the Omega quarters, I hereby banish you from Midnight Eclipse Pack territory. You have until sunset to leave our lands, never to return again or else you will face the death consequence."

The crowd erupted in cheers and shouts of approval. Through it all, Donovan and I stared at each other, the space between us crackling with unspoken words, mind games.

I'm sorry, his eyes seemed to say. I have no choice.

I know, mine replied. I understand. But understanding didn't make it hurt less.

The guards unlocked my chains and shoved me toward the door. I stumbled, catching myself before I could fall. As I straightened, I caught sight of a familiar figure in the crowd, the stranger from the river, his dark eyes watching everything with intense focus.

Our eyes met for just a moment, and he gave the slightest nod toward the door. A message, though I didn't understand what he was trying to tell me. Then I was outside, blinking in the harsh sunlight.

"Lyra!" Selene caught up with me, pressing a small pack into my hands. "Food, water, healing supplies. Everything I could gather."

Tears streamed down her weathered cheeks. This woman had raised me, loved me, and protected me for sixteen years. Now I was being torn away from her because of something I couldn't control.

"I don't understand what's happening to me," I whispered.

"I know, child. But you're stronger than you realize." She cupped my face in her hands. "Find somewhere safe. Find people who will accept you as you are."

"Where? Who would want someone like me?"

Before she could answer, Beta Ethan appeared with a group of warriors. "Time's up, exile. You need to leave now."

I hugged Selene one last time, memorizing the scent of herbs and healing magic that always clung to her. Then I shouldered my pack and walked toward the forest that would become my new home. .

:::::::::

I was three miles into Shadowveil Forest when I heard footsteps behind me. My heart leaped, maybe Donovan had changed his mind, maybe he'd come after me despite pack law, maybe he actually felt something for me too.

But when I turned, it was the stranger from the river.

"You're following me," I said, trying to sound braver than I felt.

He smiled, stepping into a patch of sunlight that revealed his features clearly for the first time. Sharp cheekbones, olive skin, dark hair that looked like he'd run his fingers through it. But it was his eyes that held me captive, deep brown with flecks of gold, ancient and knowing.

"Actually," he said, his voice carrying that same accent I couldn't place, "I'm rescuing you. Again."

"I don't need rescuing."

"No?" He gestured back toward pack territory. "Because from where I stand, you just lost everything. Your home, your family, your future. All because you're something they don't understand."

The truth of his words stung. "What do you want?"

"To offer you a choice." He stepped closer, and I caught his scent again, wild and earthy, with an undertone of power that made my wolf instincts go haywire. "You can wander these woods alone, slowly going mad from isolation. Or you can come with me."

"Where exactly?"

His smile turned mysterious. "Somewhere you'll be appreciated for what you are, not punished for it. Somewhere you can learn to control those abilities instead of being afraid of them."

The whispers in my head grew excited.Yes, they hissed. This one understands. This one knows.

"Who are you?" I asked.

He extended his hand, and I saw a ring on his finger, black stone carved with symbols that seemed to shift in the light. Power radiated from him like heat from a forge, calling to something deep in my bones.

"My name is Jason," he said. "And I'm the King of the Red River Witch Clan."

The world tilted sideways. A witch king. The enemy my pack had hated for generations was standing in front of me, offering salvation.

"You're lying," I breathed.

"Am I?" His eyes held mine, completely serious now. "You've felt different your whole life, haven't you? Heard voices others couldn't hear? Seen things that shouldn't exist?"

I had. God help me, I had.

"What am I?" I whispered.

Jason's expression grew gentle. "Something extraordinary. Something that both our peoples have been waiting for without knowing it." He kept his hand extended, patient as stone. "Come with me, Lyra. Let me show you who you really are."

The mate bond with Donovan pulled at my heart, a chain I couldn't break even with miles between us. But there was something else now, something that felt like destiny reaching out its hand.

I stared at Jason's outstretched palm, knowing that touching him would change everything. Behind me lay exile and loneliness. Ahead lay the unknown, guided by a man who was supposed to be my enemy but felt like salvation.

The whispers rose to a crescendo: Choose, daughter of shadows. Choose your true path.

My hand trembled as I reached toward his, and just before our skin touched, Jason's eyes flashed with something that looked like triumph.

"Welcome to your real life, Lyra," he said softly. "Welcome to your destiny."