Ashton’s POV
I sat in my apartment staring at my bruised knuckles, replaying the moment Lyra pressed her lips to my bloodied palm.
She should have run. Any sane woman would have run after watching me beat a man half to death with my bare hands. Instead, she cleaned my wounds and told me she wasn't going anywhere.
I didn't deserve her. I knew this with absolute certainty.
My phone rang. Kian's name flashed on the screen and my stomach tightened. I'd been dreading this call—the inevitable moment when he'd ask a question I couldn't answer honestly.
I picked up the call almost immediately.
"We have a problem." His voice was tight, controlled—the way it got when things were falling apart. "The enemy made a move last night. One of my informants was found dead this morning. They're getting bolder, Ashton. And they're getting closer to Lyra."
My blood ran cold. "How do you know they're closer to her?"
"Campus security flagged some concerns to the dean—unfamiliar vehicles, someone asking questions about her schedule. Our contacts in the administration passed it along." He paused. "That's why we have people everywhere, Ashton. Eyes and ears. They're finally proving useful."
The administration. The network we'd built over years, the favors called in, the relationships cultivated. All to keep her safe without her ever knowing she was being watched.
"What do you need me to do?"
"Get her out of there. Tonight. I have a safe house three hours north—isolated, secure, off every grid that exists. Take her there and stay until I tell you otherwise."
The order was clear. Direct. Exactly what I expected.
But something had shifted inside me since that night in the truck. Since I saw those two pink lines. Since Lyra chose to stay despite seeing the monster I really was.
I couldn't just drag her away from her life without giving her a voice.
"I'll talk to her," I said carefully. "Present the options."
Silence on the other end. Then: "Options? There are no options. Her life is in danger. You take her to safety. That's not a discussion."
"She's not a child, Kian. She's a grown woman who deserves to understand what's happening and make her own choice."
More silence. I could practically hear his jaw tightening through the phone.
"Since when do you question my orders?"
Since I got your daughter pregnant. Since she became more than a mission. Since I fell in love with her.
I said none of this.
"I'm not questioning anything. I'm telling you how I'm going to handle it. She'll be safer if she cooperates willingly than if I force her into hiding against her will."
Kian exhaled slowly. "Fine. Talk to her. But she leaves tonight, one way or another. I'm not losing my daughter because she's too stubborn to accept protection."
He hung up without saying goodbye.
I stared at the phone for a long moment before grabbing my keys.
I found Lyra in her dorm room, Angel conveniently absent for the evening. She looked up when I entered, and something in her expression softened at the sight of me—a warmth I still couldn't believe I'd earned.
"What's wrong?" she asked immediately. "You have your serious face on."
I sat beside her on the bed and took her hand, trying to find the right words. "Your father called. The situation is escalating. Someone close to his organization was killed last night, and he believes the people responsible are getting closer to you."
Her face paled but she didn't look away. "What does he want?"
"He wants me to take you to a safe house. Tonight. Hide you there until this is resolved."
I watched emotions flicker across her face—fear, anger, defiance. The same defiance that made her impossible to protect and impossible to resist.
"I could throw you over my shoulder and carry you out of here," I continued quietly. "That's what he expects me to do. That's what I would have done a month ago."
She stiffened. "But?"
"But I can't make this decision for you. It has to be your choice." I squeezed her hand. "I'll lay out everything I know. The danger is real—these people killed your mother, and they won't hesitate to use you against your father. If you come with me, you'll be safe but isolated. No classes, no hockey, no normal life until this is over."
I paused.
"If you stay, I'll do everything in my power to protect you here. But I can't guarantee your safety the way I could at the safe house. The risk is higher."
She stared at me like I was speaking a foreign language. "You're actually giving me a choice?"
"You're not a child, Lyra. You're carrying our child. You deserve to have a say in your own life."
Her eyes filled with tears and she blinked them back furiously. "No one has ever... my father just makes decisions and expects me to follow. Everyone does. They decide what's best for me and then act surprised when I fight back."
"I know." I brought her hand to my lips. "And I'm done treating you like a problem to be managed. Whatever you decide, I'm with you. But it has to be your decision."
She was quiet for a long time, staring at our intertwined fingers. I could see her mind working, weighing the options. I loved her for taking it seriously instead of reacting with pure emotion.
Finally, she looked up.
"I'm staying."
My heart clenched. "Lyra—"
"I'm not running from my life. I'm not hiding in some cabin while everything I've worked for falls apart." Her voice was steady, certain. "I have classes. I have the team. I have a future here that I'm not willing to abandon because some faceless enemy might be watching."
She gripped my hand tighter. "You said you'd protect me if I stayed. Did you mean it?"
"With my life."
"Then I'm staying. We face this together."
I wanted to argue. Every protective instinct screamed at me to override her choice, to keep her safe whether she liked it or not.
But I'd made her a promise. And I was going to keep it.
"Okay," I said quietly. "We stay. But we do this my way. No going anywhere alone. No deviating from schedules without telling me. You see anything suspicious, you call me immediately."
She nodded. "I can do that."
I called Kian from the hallway, bracing myself for the explosion.
"She's staying," I said without preamble.
The silence that followed was deafening.
"Excuse me?"
"I presented the options. She chose to stay. I'm going to respect that choice and increase security here."
"You're going to respect—" Kian cut himself off, and I could hear him struggling for control. "What the hell is going on, Ashton? Since when do you let a nineteen-year-old girl dictate mission parameters?"
I leaned against the wall, choosing my next words carefully. "She's not a girl. She's a woman. And she's stronger than you give her credit for."
Another long silence. When Kian spoke again, his voice was different—lower, more dangerous.
"Something's changed between you two. I can hear it."
I didn't deny it. Didn't confirm it either. Just waited.
"We'll discuss this when the current threat is neutralized," Kian said finally. "But Ashton? If something happens to her, you'll have more than just a debt to pay for."
The line went dead.
I stared at the phone, his threat ringing in my ears.
I thought of Lyra in the next room, carrying my child, trusting me with her life. I thought of the enemy closing in, the leak still hidden, the violence I knew was coming. And I thought of Kian—my oldest friend, my brother in everything but blood—who would surely kill me when the truth came out.
But standing here, knowing Lyra was just a few feet away, knowing she'd chosen to stay with me despite everything, I found I didn't regret a single moment.
Whatever came next, we'd face it together.