Chapter 75
Chapter 75
Lucien’s POV
I hadn’t meant to pull away.
That was the lie I kept telling myself as I stood at the edge of Hollow Creek, staring into the darkened trees like they might accuse me if I looked back.
Every injury. Every burned home. Every body wrapped in cloth.
They all sat on my chest like stones.
The pack laughed behind me — soft, cautious laughter, the kind that came after surviving something terrible. I should’ve been there. I should’ve sat with them, listened, eaten, pretended that rebuilding meant healing.
Instead, I stood alone.
Because if I stayed too close, if I let myself feel how alive they were, how alive Noland was—
—I was afraid I’d break.
“You’re avoiding me.”
Noland’s voice wasn’t sharp. That almost made it worse.
I didn’t turn. “I’m thinking.”
“You’ve been ‘thinking’ for three days.”
I exhaled slowly. “Someone has to.”
“So do it with me,” he said. “Not like this.”
I clenched my jaw. The bond between us hummed — strained, restless, wounded. I could feel his concern pressing against my skull like hands on glass.
“I don’t want to talk right now,” I said.
“That’s too bad.”
His footsteps came closer, stopping just behind me. I could smell him — smoke, iron, earth. Familiar. Safe.
Dangerous.
“Look at me,” he said quietly.
I didn’t.
“Lucien.”
The way he said my name — not Alpha, not leader — just me — snapped something thin inside my chest.
I turned.
His eyes were tired. Bruised. Still burning.
“You’re shutting us out,” he said. “Me. Tiara. The pack.”
“I’m protecting you.”
“That’s not protection,” he snapped. “That’s control.”
I flinched.
“You think I don’t see it?” he continued. “You stand apart like you’re already gone. Like you’re preparing us for it.”
I looked away again. “You’re imagining things.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
The bond flared — heat, frustration, fear tangling between us.
“I heard you last night,” Noland said. “Talking to Rhett.”
My heart stuttered. “You weren’t meant to.”
“I heard enough.” His voice dropped. “You think the prophecy means you’re supposed to die.”
Silence crashed between us.
I didn’t deny it.
Noland stared at me, disbelief sharpening into anger. “You don’t get to decide that.”
“You think I want this?” I snapped back, turning fully now. “You think I want to wake up every day wondering if loving you is what kills you?”
His breath caught. “That’s not what the prophecy said.”
“It said one Alpha falls,” I shot back. “And I’m already halfway there.”
“That’s fear talking.”
“No,” I growled. “That’s reality.”
I paced, hands shaking. “Every time I see Tiara smile, every time the pack laughs, I hear the Oracle’s voice in my head. Telling me I don’t get to keep this.”
Noland stepped into my path. “So what? You’re going to distance yourself until it hurts less when you die?”
“Yes,” I said brutally.
The word hung between us.
Noland’s face went very still.
“That’s cowardice,” he said quietly.
I reeled. “You don’t get to say that.”
“I do,” he said. “Because I’m the one you’re leaving behind.”
The bond pulsed hard — grief, fury, something close to betrayal.
“I didn’t survive everything we’ve been through just to watch you give up,” he continued. “Not on yourself. Not on us.”
I laughed bitterly. “You think this is giving up? This is me making sure you live.”
“I don’t want a life you die for,” he snapped. “I want a life with you.”
The words slammed into me harder than any blow.
“I can’t promise that,” I whispered.
“Then don’t promise,” he said. “Fight.”
I shook my head. “You don’t understand what it’s like to know—”
“To know what?” he interrupted. “That you might die? Welcome to my world. I wake up every day knowing I could lose you. But I don’t run from it.”
He grabbed my arm. “I face it with you.”
The bond surged — memories flooding me. Blood. Fire. Him standing in front of Tiara without hesitation. Him choosing the pack again and again.
“I’m not afraid of death,” I said hoarsely. “I’m afraid of being the reason you survive without me.”
Noland’s grip tightened. “You don’t get to make that choice alone.”
“I’m the Alpha—”
“You’re my mate,” he cut in.
The word stole my breath.
He hadn’t said it out loud before. Not like that.
“You don’t get to martyr yourself without my consent,” he continued fiercely. “And you don’t get to decide that loving me is a curse.”
I sagged slightly, exhaustion crashing through me. “I don’t know how to live with this fear.”
“Then we learn,” he said. “Together. Like everything else.”
Silence settled again — softer this time.
I closed my eyes. “I’m scared.”
Noland’s voice gentled. “I know.”
I finally let myself lean into him. Just a fraction. Enough to feel his warmth. Enough to remember I wasn’t alone.
“We’re not fixed,” I said quietly.
“No,” he agreed. “But we’re closer.”
A shout rang out from the edge of the camp.
“Alpha!”
Luke came running, breathless, eyes wild. “We’ve got a problem.”
Noland straightened instantly. “What is it?”
Luke swallowed. “Tiara’s scent. It’s being tracked.”
The words hit like ice.
“By who?” I demanded.
“Not Watchers,” Luke said. “Something else. Heavier. Wrong.”
I didn’t hesitate.
I grabbed Noland’s hand — tight, grounding.
His fingers laced with mine automatically.
“We fight as one,” I said.
He squeezed back. “Always.”
And together, we turned toward the dark.