The silence after Lyra's revelation didn't feel like absence. It felt like pressure. Heavy, tightening, spiraling around Sandra until she could barely inhale. The rain outside hammered the academy windows like a warning, a reminder that nothing in her life would return to equilibrium.
Lyra stood still, waiting, watching Sandra with an expression that held neither malice nor comfort—only urgency.
Tristan was the first to move.
He stepped in front of Sandra without hesitation, posture shifting into protective combat stance, shoulders broad, eyes sharp. His instinct was visible, barely controlled, a territorial flare Sandra had sensed before but never to this magnitude.
"Start talking," he said, each word clipped. "No ambiguity. No riddles."
Sebastian, on the other hand, approached like a predator analyzing a new rival. His golden pupils had narrowed to slits, his breathing slow and measured, but his aura radiated a possessive, dangerous intent.
"If you know what she is," he said quietly, "then you also know what she risks by standing here. And what you risk by approaching her."
Lyra remained unfazed.
"I am not your enemy," she replied. "But the people hunting Sandra are. And they won't wait for you to debate whether or not to trust me."
Sandra forced herself to step forward. The System was vibrating beneath her skin—the alerts, the resonance spikes, the proximity calculations between her and the three Beastmen around her. Every marker was overclocking. Every sense was heightened to an uncomfortable degree.
"Explain," she said. "Everything."
Lyra exhaled slowly, as if she had expected this moment for a long time.
"The Primordial Beast was the origin of all clans," she began. "A sentient force, neither divine nor mortal, who shaped the first generations of Beastmen. But its direct descendants… were considered too powerful. Too unpredictable. Capable of creating life that broke the natural rules the clans depended on."
Sandra swallowed hard. "That doesn't explain why someone is hunting me."
Lyra's eyes softened. "Because the Primordial lineage wasn't just powerful. It was… fertile."
Sebastian stiffened.
Tristan's jaw clenched.
Lyra continued, voice quiet but firm. "Descendants of the Primordial Beast could bear hybrid offspring without System limitations. Children who didn't need clan authorization. Children who wouldn't be registered, controlled, or conditioned by the Academy."
Sandra felt the world tilt.
Unregistered children. Unbound offspring. Power outside the System.
A threat to the Academy's hierarchy.
A threat to the Beastmen Council.
A threat… to everyone who needed rigid lineage structures to maintain power.
"And someone wants to erase that possibility," Sandra whispered.
"Not someone," Lyra corrected. "A faction inside the Council itself. One that fears what you represent. You are the last confirmed female of Primordial descent. And they believe that if you carry an heir—"
Tristan growled low, instinctive, primal. The sound vibrated through the empty classroom.
"Enough," he said sharply. "She's not bearing anything. Not under pressure. Not under threat. Not for your agenda."
Sebastian didn't speak, but his aura expanded, hardening into a protective field around Sandra. The possessiveness that had simmered quietly in him for days now burned visibly in his posture, in his eyes.
Lyra observed them both, expression unreadable.
"So both of you feel it," she murmured. "The resonance. The bond forming around her. You two are already entangled."
Sandra felt heat rush to her face.
Tristan stepped half a pace closer to her. "What bond?"
Lyra tilted her head. "The Primordial line chooses. Its carriers emit a signal that can synchronize with Beastmen whose instincts are strong enough to match it. You two are responding to her unconsciously. Competing already."
Sebastian's voice dropped to a menacing whisper. "We don't need you to narrate what we already understand."
Lyra's eyes glinted. "But Sandra needs to understand why the System reacts the way it does. Why her markers fluctuate. Why her emotions, instincts, and physical responses have intensified around both of you."
Sandra inhaled sharply.
She had felt it. The shifts. The pulses. The heat in her bloodstream she couldn't fully control.
"It's not just attraction," Lyra said gently. "It's survival instinct. Her lineage recognizes potential protectors."
Tristan froze.
Sebastian's breath hitched.
Sandra felt her pulse trip.
Lyra approached her slowly, offering no threat, only clarity. "Sandra… your body is preparing itself. Not for mating. For defense. For continuity. If the Council's faction moves against you, your lineage pushes you toward those who can shield you."
Sandra's legs weakened. She grabbed the edge of a desk to steady herself.
Tristan reached for her instantly.
Sebastian too.
Their hands brushed near her wrists, both ready to catch her.
Lyra observed the triangle forming with unnerving precision.
"And that," she said softly, "is why the faction hunting you will escalate. Because they know any heir you carry would be untraceable. A wildcard. A destabilizer."
Suddenly, Tristan's wrist device emitted a piercing tone.
Sebastian's followed a second later.
Then Sandra's.
The System displayed a flashing red lattice:
UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY ON CAMPUS
FACTION IDENTIFIED: NULL FANGS
OBJECTIVES UNKNOWN
HYBRID TARGET PRIORITY: LEVEL OMEGA
Tristan swore under his breath. "They're inside the Academy already."
Sebastian's voice hardened. "Then they're coming for her."
Lyra nodded grimly. "This is why I came. You must move. Now."
Sandra's heart thundered. "To where?"
Lyra pointed toward the maintenance tunnels beneath the eastern wing. "There's a safe chamber. Shielded. Reinforced. We can regroup there."
Tristan moved behind Sandra in a protective formation. "Sebastian, left flank. I'll take point."
Sebastian's canines sharpened. "Already on it."
They began moving fast, the air charged with adrenaline. Sandra stayed between them, each step syncing with the System's frantic beat. Every corridor felt narrower. Every shadow felt alive.
As they rounded the corner, a cold, distorted scent hit them.
Sandra froze.
The Null Fangs were close.
Tristan grabbed her waist, pulling her behind him as three hostile silhouettes emerged from the end of the hall—cloaked, masked, armed with inhibitors designed to suppress hybrid abilities.
Sebastian's aura erupted, golden and feral. "Three isn't enough."
Lyra positioned herself beside Sandra, hands glowing faintly with hybrid energy. "Protect Sandra. I'll handle suppression."
The first attacker lunged.
Tristan moved faster.
He seized the assailant by the collar, slammed him into the wall, and disabled his mask in one fluid motion. The second charged Sebastian, who ducked low, twisted, and delivered a sweeping kick that sent the attacker crashing through a glass panel.
Sandra barely saw the third move behind her.
But her instincts did.
Before anyone reached her, a surge of heat exploded through her spine, her senses sharpening to razor precision. She pivoted and raised her arm defensively—an action she didn't consciously choose.
A pulse of energy burst from her palm, sending the attacker flying back ten meters.
Everything stopped.
Tristan stared at her, stunned.
Sebastian's chest heaved, eyes wide.
Lyra exhaled. "The lineage is awakening."
Sandra trembled violently. "I didn't— I don't know what that was."
Lyra touched her shoulder. "The Primordial blood doesn't wait for permission."
Tristan recovered first, stepping closer, voice low and commanding. "We move. Now."
Sandra nodded, breath unsteady.
Sebastian placed a hand on her back—not possessive this time, but supportive. Stabilizing. Grounding her.
As they entered the maintenance corridor, footsteps echoed behind them—more Null Fangs approaching.
Sandra looked at the two heirs protecting her, their bodies tense, their instincts sharpened, their rivalry set aside in the face of danger.
Lyra stepped ahead, guiding them deeper. "You're beginning to understand what you are, Sandra."
Sandra swallowed, adrenaline still flaming in her bloodstream.
Lyra glanced back.
"And why every faction in this Academy will fight to control you… or destroy you."
Sandra met her gaze, resolve hardening.
"Then let them try."
The System pulsed at her words:
PRIMORDIAL RESONANCE: AWAKENING PHASE 1
TRIAD PROXIMITY: REINFORCED
THREAT LEVEL: ESCALATING
Sandra continued forward.
No longer just hunted.
Becoming something worth fearing.