Her breath caught.
But he didn't draw his sword and he didn't raise the alarm.
He just knelt in front of her and met her eyes.
"I don't think you're her but I also don't think you're lying out of cruelty."
She swallowed. "So, what do you think?"
"I think you're scared, I think you're surviving and I think you don't know who you are yet."
Dusting his pants, he stood up again. "You are dangerous in a different way because of that."
Selene blinked. "Dangerous?"
"To the people who want the old Lyra back," Thorne said. "They won't understand change. They'll attack it. You'll have to choose whether to keep pretending…or become someone they can't break."
She didn't answer.
Thorne started to walk away, but paused at the edge of the path.
"Next time you fight, stop trying to be her."
Selene frowned. "Then who should I be?"
His answer was simple. "Be the girl who survived a tower."
Then he vanished into the shadows, like he'd never been there.
Heart thumping, Selene sat motionless.
For the first time since coming here, someone had not turned away and had seen right through her.
Not Kael, not the trainer, not even Rian…
But Thorne had.
And he didn't hate her for it.
She wiped her cheek quickly, only now realizing she'd been crying.
Maybe she couldn't be Lyra.
But maybe, just maybe, she could still become someone who deserved to stand in her place.
-------
The stars were already out when Selene wandered near the far edge of the Blackthorn grounds.
She was indifferent to the sting of the chilly night air on her arm bruises. Under her skin, the burn of earlier embarrassment was still present.
Despite training harder than ever, she managed to fail—in public.
Kael had walked away.
The pack didn't believe in her.
The sword had slipped from her hand like it didn't belong there.
Maybe it never had.
She was not entirely sure where she was headed. Undirected, her legs carried her down a silent stone path that curved behind the kitchens, past the outer gardens.
That's when she heard it—a small voice humming.
Soft, off-key, but innocent in a way nothing else in this pack was.
Selene followed the sound until she saw him.
A boy, maybe seven. Sitting cross-legged next to a broken wall.
He had a wide smile, soiled cheeks, and curly brown hair. In his hand, a heap of rounded rocks was being stacked into a crooked tower, rock by rock.
He looked up as Selene approached him, and his face lit up.
"You're back!" he chirped.
Selene blinked. "Have we met?"
He shook his head. "Not really, but you're Lyra, right?"
Her heart skipped.
She forced a small nod.
He smiled wider. "You look different and I like it."
She tilted her head. "Different how?"
"You used to shout. Now you don't."
He patted the spot beside him. "Sit?"
After hesitating, Selene gently sunk to the ground. The boy didn't seem to notice that her limbs were groaning from the movement.
"I'm Finn," he said proudly. "I'm an omega."
Selene's gaze softened. Omegas were often overlooked in the pack, treated as weak or invisible. But Finn didn't seem to mind. His pride in saying it made her chest ache.
"Well, Finn," she said gently, "thank you for letting me join your... important building project."
He handed her a stone. "Want to help?"
She nodded and added her stone to the top of the tower. It wobbled but didn't fall.
"That one's for balance," Finn said proudly.
Selene looked at him, curious. "What are the others for?"
He pointed at each one. "This one's for being brave, that one's for not crying, and this one's for not yelling at me when I spilled soup on your boots."
Her eyes widened. "I… did?"
"You did," he said. "You were scary."
Selene swallowed.
Finn wasn't trying to hurt her. He was telling her the truth, childlike and plain.
"But now," he continued, "you look sad instead of angry. When you're sad, you don't yell, so people hear you more."
There was a pull inside Selene's chest.
"Do you believe that people can truly change?" she said softly.
He nodded immediately, "People change all the time. My mom says change is the only way to grow."
"What if no one believes it?"
He gave a shrug in response. "Then change louder."
She laughed softly. It came out broken and surprised.
Finn leaned his head against her arm.
He muttered, "I don't care who you used to be." "I like this you."
Selene closed her eyes.
No judgment, no suspicion. Just one small, trusting heart.
She hadn't expected kindness but here it was, given freely by the smallest voice in the pack.
She touched the top of the stone tower gently.
"I think I want to build something too," she said.
"Then start here," Finn replied, placing a final stone in her palm. "This one's for not giving up."
She held it tightly.
And for the first time since stepping into Lyra's life, Selene didn't feel like she was lying.