Lyra's POV – Strategic Wing
The email arrived mid-morning.
> HR Notification: Updated Appointment – Omega Wellness Evaluation
Scheduled: Friday, 2:30 PM
Virelux Partner Clinic, Sector 5
Five days left.
Not enough.
Lyra sat stiff at her desk, staring at the blinking cursor in her task view. Her fingers hovered above the keyboard, motionless. The words wouldn't come. Her stomach coiled tighter, her skin hot beneath her collar.
A soft voice broke through.
"Lyra?" Michael stood a step away, holding a tablet. "You okay?"
She looked up too quickly. Her throat clenched. "Yeah."
He didn't buy it.
"You look like you're about to faint."
She opened her mouth. Closed it.
"Talk to me," he said, quiet. "Is it something I can help with?"
Her vision blurred at the edges. She blinked fast, but it wasn't enough. Her chest tightened, traitorous.
"I'm fine," she tried again, but the crack in her voice betrayed her.
Michael stepped closer, lowering the tablet. "Take a breath."
His hand hovered just near her shoulder. Not touching. Just… steadying. It was the kind of thing that would go unnoticed any other day.
Not today.
Not when Cassian Dorne turned the corner.
Not when his eyes locked on hers first, then flicked to Michael's position.
Something shifted. The way Cassian's jaw ticked. The way his stance sharpened.
Lyra saw it.
And Theo did too, a moment later. Appearing like he had walked into the wrong current. The air had already changed.
Cassian didn't move.
"Coffee?" Theo said, too casually. "My treat. We all look like we need it."
Michael straightened. "I've got to head out. Clinic follow-up." He offered Lyra a gentle nod. "You sure you're alright?"
She nodded. Too quick.
Michael left.
Cassian was still watching her. His restraint had a shape now. A weight. He didn't look away until Theo gave him a nudge.
"Come on. Breakroom."
---
Theo's POV – Breakroom
He left them at the counter. Two steaming mugs between them. Cassian still standing, but too close to sit.
Theo turned the corner, checked no one was near, then hit the dial on his personal comm.
"Talia. I need ten seconds."
Her voice cut in sharp. "What did you do?"
"Nothing yet."
"That's a lie."
Theo didn't blink. "He almost lost it. Just now. Whatever's wrong with her, it's pulling him into Alpha mode. I need to know what she wants."
Talia went quiet.
"Talia."
"She's pregnant."
The floor seemed to shift.
Theo stepped back, leaned against the vending console.
"She's what?"
"You heard me."
He rubbed his face once. "Does he know?"
"No."
"And you're sure it's him?"
"I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to." He exhaled. "Dorne will come unglued if instinct takes control before logic does."
"I know."
Theo's voice turned steel. "If she doesn't want him involved, she needs to move. Fast."
"She wants to tell him," Talia said, softer now. "But she's scared. Of what it means. Of what it'll cost."
Theo looked back toward the glass wall of the breakroom.
"I'll stall him. But not for long."
---
Lyra's POV – Breakroom
She held the mug carefully. The ceramic was too warm, her fingers stiff against it.
Cassian still hadn't spoken.
She didn't look up until he did.
"You've been off lately."
She couldn't argue it.
"I don't want to assume," he said, voice lower now. "But something's wrong."
She swallowed. "I'm just tired."
His eyes didn't move.
"If you're in trouble…" He paused. "You can trust me."
Her grip on the cup tightened.
"I mean that."
She looked up.
He looked like he didn't know whether to sit beside her or brace against the table.
"You don't have to tell me," he said. "But I can't help if I don't understand."
Her throat ached. The truth was too close to the surface. It curled behind her ribs. It sat in her pulse.
She didn't say it.
She wanted to.
Cassian shifted forward slightly, then seemed to think better of it. He pulled something from his pocket instead.
A folded handkerchief.
He set it on the table near her hand. "If you need it."
She nodded, breath catching.
"I'll let you be," he said quietly. "But I'm not going far."
He stepped away.
Not far.
---
Theo's POV – Breakroom
He returned to find her sitting quietly, the handkerchief pressed in one hand.
She didn't speak when he sat across from her.
He didn't speak either. Not for a moment.
"He's not the same anymore."
Lyra looked up.
"Cassian," Theo said. "He doesn't show his cards. Not to me. Not to anyone. But he's changed. Since the gala."
She didn't look away.
Theo looked at her hand. still holding cassian handkerchief
Her fingers tightened.
Theo leaned forward. "He'll help you, if that's what you want. He wants to."
"But—"
"But he won't move unless you ask," Theo said. "Because he doesn't want to push you. Because whatever happened between you two. It meant something."
Lyra blinked hard. "And if I don't want help?"
"Then walk away clean. But if you do. If you want his protection, his voice, his authority. You need to ask him."
He looked down at the handkerchief again.
"You don't have long