Death by Fire

Lyria’s POV

The square was already filled when they dragged me out a sea of familiar faces twisted into judgment, pity, or morbid curiosity. Morning light spilled across the packed dirt like a witness preparing to testify. My wrists ached where the iron cuffs bit into them. My legs trembled, not from fear… but from the sheer disbelief that this was happening.

Rowan walked beside the Council, not with me.

Never with me.

My wolf whined, a raw, low sound. Mate. Protect. Fight.

But Rowan didn’t even look at me. Not once.

“Lyria Vayne,” Elder Serine announced, her voice clear as shattering ice, “you stand accused of treason against Bloodshield. You attempted to sway Alpha Rowan into rebellion. You conspired with foreign packs. The punishment for such betrayal is death.”

A wave of gasps. Shock. Whispers.

Lies. All of it.

“I didn’t do this,” I said, voice steady despite the panic ripping through my chest. “Rowan is lying. Ask him why”

“She grows more desperate,” Rowan said softly, shaking his head for the crowd to see. His tone dripped with sorrow so convincing it nearly fooled even me. “I loved her. I wanted to protect her. But she has changed.”

A cold, lifeless smile ghosted his lips.

And every illusion I’d ever held of him dissolved into smoke.

The guards forced me toward the center of the square toward the execution stake standing like a lonely tree stripped bare for winter. Its bark was darkened with soot. This wasn’t the first time Bloodshield had burned someone.

But it was the first time they were burning someone innocent.

“Please,” I whispered to no one in particular. Not begging. Just mourning. “Please… listen…”

No one did.

The rope tightened across my chest as they bound me upright against the wooden post. I pressed my cheek to the rough bark, heart pounding like it wanted to break free of my ribcage.

Rowan finally turned his head.

Our eyes met.

He gave me the smallest nod like this was mercy. Like this was necessary.

“You shouldn’t have tried to expose me,” he said under his breath as he passed close. “I could have made your life peaceful, Lyria. Quiet. You ruined that.”

“I heard you,” I hissed. “All of it. Your plans. Your lies.”

He smiled the kind a man gives when he knows he’s already won.

“Then consider this your fault.”

He stepped back, and Elder Serine raised her hand.

“Begin.”

A single torch was brought forward. The flames snapped and hissed, hungry, alive. My breath hitched as the heat brushed my ankle a cruel, teasing caress before the real pain arrived.

When the fire caught the wood beneath me, the first crackle was almost gentle.

Then the heat surged upward.

My skin prickled. The rope tightened. The crowd blurred.

Fire licked my calves. My breath tore from my lungs in a broken cough. Smoke climbed my throat like a living creature. My wolf howled, thrashing inside me.

No. No. No. Mate. Live. Fight.

But the fire didn’t care.

It crawled up my legs, devouring cloth, searing flesh. My scream tore open my throat before I could stop it. The world tilted. Faces melted into shapes. Rowan looked away or maybe I just couldn’t see him anymore.

The fire reached my ribs.

The pain became something holy, blinding, infinite.

My vision shattered into sparks.

Then

A sound beneath the roar of flames.

A whisper.

Not from outside.

From the earth beneath me.

Child of fire… will you rise?

The heat swallowed me whole. My heartbeat stuttered. Darkness rushed in like a tide pulling me under. My last breath came out as a silent, desperate plea.

Yes.

And the world went black.

Not like death.

Like rebirth waiting behind a closed door.