Just to see if she's worth looking for ¦ Solo.

[Lyra Horváth]

Late March 2028

It was the end of March. She’d been on the road for nearly two months now. The shiny novelty of it all had all but tarnished now. Constantly surrounded by people, she’d never felt as alone. She had her tour mates and hordes of adoring fans. At times Hanna even was able to spare a few days on the road. She didn’t always travel with her, she had her own life back in the UK of course and as much as she loved it Lyra couldn’t beg her to stay with her. But when she had her cousin at her side, she always had a better time.

It was almost enough to forget.

Almost but not quite.

No matter the roars of the crowds, the groups of people waiting outside the stage doors to get her autograph, the ones schmoozing at pre and post-match press events wanting to buy her drinks; she never quite could forget. She couldn’t ignore the pain that ebbed and flowed in her chest. The emptiness of it all. It had been so long since September; since she had pushed away her mate to follow what he said he wanted.

Since she had broken her own heart in the process. The daily aches and throbs that ran through her for the depriving nature of it were enough to make her give up. The physical and emotional loneliness had taken her to a new edge. And yet, Lyra was the survivor she always had been and always would be. It was all she could do for now. It crippled her, the pointlessness of it all. If she hadn’t been in a contract that had all but paid of a good chunk of the mortgage on her place at the shard she would have given up by now and let herself spiral in her substance abuse into a black hole. But she couldn’t. For now, she’d pick herself up and keep going. Keep putting on the same shiny show in a different big city every night before the culmination of shows at the Las Vegas Expo of European Duellists.

Sitting in the hotel bar on a night off had even grown boring for Lyra. As she tipped a hand in motion to the bar staff for another tumbler of amber liquor, she paused and let the thought of EPKE ROBERTUS OPPEDYK drift across her mind again. As much vitriol that rose in her at the thought of him, as much physical pain and sickness the loss of him had cost her; some small part of him hoped he had found what he needed in life, even if it wasn’t ever going to be her again. It wasn’t long though before she had to cut that thought of before the bitterness crept in again. Instead, she dipped her head to the bar top where sat a stack of papers that briefed her for the press junket tomorrow in Houston. The questions changed only briefly from city to city, but her answers would be changed and polished here and there so it didn’t sound like she was too repetitive. Eyes drifting over the pre-drafted question and answer her publicist had provided her she frowned, not liking the sound of it. They were trying to sell her as the underdog, apparently, the Americans just loved the story of an underdog and her vibe was to reflect that too. Even if she was far from the underdog now.

Sighing quietly, she frowned and let her hand begin to scrawl over the page to edit some of the answers to make her sound more like her.

[Lyra Horváth]

Letting her eyes rake over the questions, she paused here and there, making edits as needed. Most of the questions were harmless. About her background, her Werewolf status, and her family. Mostly her answers were purposely vague. Part of her ‘brand’ was her mystique and she was okay with that. It suited her to not talk about things. Her answers usually sort of brushed her past under the carpet and focused on the future. Not that she particularly cared about that sort of thing, but it gave a positive message to her fans and the PR people loved it. Sipping at her drink, she felt herself loosening, getting sloppy with her answers just get through them and get it over with.

That was until she abruptly stopped about a third of the way through the list. ’Do you have a special someone at home’. Her throat tightened and began to scratch at her, her heart rattling in her chest. It didn’t help that it was coming closer to the full moon and the longing for her mate was only worsened. There was more than one ‘person’ at home. In the aftermath of pushing Rob away for him to follow his true heart for Sienna, there had been plenty of people. Plenty of bodies to distract her physically and take the edge off the pain, but bar one short-term fling; none of it had been enough to satiate her mentally and emotionally. Nothing had fed the wolf within. None of them was her mate. Hand trembling, she very defiantly drew a line through the question and scribbled a hasty note on the side ‘off limits’. The PR team didn’t like them tabooing topics but technically they were allowed to do so. This question would be one she definitely would not be answering.

Of course, there were rumors of her and fellow tour mates after they’d been seen out for dinner or drinks after long days. Reading on to her next questions, they hinted at this. Pursing her lips, she paused and sighed, nodding for another drink. It was difficult to take her mind off Rob, but indulging in these few inoffensive points would entertain her for now.