Chapter 37 Ravenna's Countermove (Lucien's POV)

Chapter 37 Ravenna's Countermove (Lucien's POV)

A message comes through encrypted channels at four AM.
"Your mission status has changed. New objective: Eliminate the Thornewood girl and terminate the pregnancy. You have twenty-four hours. Failure will result in immediate curse activation. No exceptions. No negotiations. - R"
I stare at my phone screen, reading the words over and over, hoping they'll somehow rearrange into something less catastrophic.
They don't.
"Fuck." I'm out of bed immediately, pacing the small flat. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."
Nikolai responds within seconds: "Saw the message through monitoring. Already en route to you. Don't do anything rash."
"Rash like murdering my pregnant mate or rash like watching my family die?" I type back.
"Either. Stay put. Ten minutes."
I pocket the phone, resuming pacing. The flat feels too small suddenly, walls closing in with the weight of impossible decisions.
My phone rings. Not Nikolai. Not Thalia.
Ravenna.
I answer, keeping my voice neutral. "Mother."
"Don't." Her voice is ice. "Don't call me that while you're betraying everything I've tried to protect."
"I'm not betraying… "
"You bonded with the Convergence wolf. Got her pregnant. Created the exact weapon the prophecy warned about." She's not shouting, which somehow makes it worse. "And you think I'll just accept this?"
"I think you'll recognize that killing Thalia and the baby won't solve anything." I'm trying desperately to find the right argument. "The prophecy will find another way to manifest. These things always do."
"Or the prophecy fails because we prevent the vessel from existing." Her logic is implacable. "Kill the girl, terminate the pregnancy, no prophesied child. Problem solved."
"That's not… Mother, you're talking about murdering my mate and our unborn child." My voice breaks despite my efforts. "How can you ask that of me?"
"Because I'm asking you to sacrifice one person to save thousands." She sounds tired suddenly. "Because that's what leadership means. Making choices where all options are terrible and picking the one that results in the least suffering."
"You're quoting Casimir's philosophy at me."
"Because he's right about some things." A pause. "I know this is impossible, Lucien. I know what I'm asking destroys you. But I cannot risk a Convergence child with power to control all three packs. The potential for tyranny is too great."
"What if we could guarantee the child was raised properly?" I'm grasping at possibilities. "With values that prevent tyranny? With oversight and checks on power?"
"There are no guarantees with Convergence wolves." She's absolute in this conviction. "Eleanora was raised by people who loved her, taught her responsibility, believed she'd be different. Within three years she was enslaving packs and executing dissenters. The power corrupts. Always. Without exception."
"Thalia hasn't… "
"Thalia has been Convergence for a week." She interrupts. "Give her a decade. Give her a child with even more power. Watch what happens when she decides opposition is ignorance that needs to be corrected by force."
"You don't know that will happen… "
"I know the pattern repeats across centuries." Her voice hardens again. "And I will not gamble thousands of lives on hope that this time will be different. Kill the girl. Terminate the pregnancy. Or I invoke the curse and you watch everyone you love die anyway."
"There has to be another way… "
"There isn't." Final. Absolute. "Twenty-four hours, Lucien. Then the choice is made for you."
She hangs up.
I stand frozen, phone still pressed to my ear, the silence louder than any shouting.
A knock at the door. Nikolai, arriving as promised.
I let him in. He takes one look at my face and says: "She called."
"She called." I slump onto the sofa. "Gave me the full speech about leadership and sacrifice and preventing tyranny. She's absolutely convinced the child will destroy everything."
"She's operating from trauma and historical precedent." Nikolai sits across from me. "Understandable but not necessarily accurate."
"Try telling her that." I gesture helplessly. "She won't negotiate. Won't consider alternatives. Just demands I kill my mate and unborn child or watch my family die."
"So we go to Casimir." Nikolai is already pulling out his phone. "He has resources we don't. Political leverage with Ravenna. Ways to pressure her into backing down."
"Why would he help?" I'm too exhausted to hope. "He gets what he wants either way… if Ravenna invokes the curse and Thalia counters it, he still gets the marriage and the baby. If I kill Thalia, he finds another vessel for his plans. He doesn't need to intervene."
"He needs Thalia alive." Nikolai counters. "The pregnancy accelerates his timeline in ways that serve his dying schedule. If you kill her, he loses that advantage. And he needs you functional to identify Elara's killer. Can't do that if you're broken from murdering your mate."
The logic is cold but sound. "So we leverage his self-interest."
"We leverage everything we have." He's typing rapidly. "I'm setting up emergency meeting. His hotel suite, thirty minutes. You, me, and Thalia if she can get away from Morrigan's security."
"Thalia doesn't know yet." I realize with horror. "She's asleep at the penthouse. Doesn't know Ravenna just demanded I kill her."
"Then we tell her at the meeting." Nikolai sends the message. "Casimir responds that he's available. Let's go."
The drive across London takes twenty minutes through pre-dawn streets. Nikolai texts Thalia en route: "Emergency. Casimir's hotel suite. Now. Don't tell Morrigan."
Her response: "On my way. What happened?"
"Tell you in person."
We arrive at Casimir's hotel… expensive, secure, exactly what a dying Alpha would choose. The suite is on the top floor, accessed through private elevator.
Casimir opens the door himself, already dressed despite the early hour. "This must be urgent."
"Ravenna knows about the pregnancy." I don't waste time with preamble. "She's demanding I kill Thalia and terminate the baby within twenty-four hours or she invokes the blood curse immediately."
His expression doesn't change. "I see. Come in."
We enter the suite… all dark wood and expensive furniture. Casimir gestures to the sitting area. "Coffee? You look like you need it."
"I need a solution." I'm barely holding myself together. "Ravenna won't negotiate. Won't consider alternatives. She's absolutely convinced the child will destroy the packs."
"She's not entirely wrong to be concerned." Casimir pours coffee anyway, handing me a cup. "Convergence children are historically problematic. But her solution… murder and forced termination… is extreme even by Alpha standards."
"Can you intervene?" I hate begging but desperation overwhelms pride. "You have political leverage, resources, connections she respects. If anyone can pressure her into backing down… "
"I could try." He settles into a chair, considering. "But Ravenna doesn't respond well to pressure. She digs in harder when challenged. Especially on matters she views as existential threats."
"So we're fucked." I set down the coffee, hands shaking too much to hold it. "I can't kill Thalia. Can't terminate our baby. But I also can't watch Dmitri and everyone else die because I refused."
"You're not fucked." Casimir's voice is calm. "You're just looking at this wrong."
"Enlighten me." The sarcasm is defensive.
"Ravenna wants to prevent the prophesied child from existing. But the child already exists… Thalia is pregnant. Terminating the pregnancy doesn't prevent the prophecy, it just delays it." He leans forward. "So we need to change what Ravenna thinks the prophecy means."
"How?" Nikolai asks.
"By offering alternative interpretation backed by credible authority." Casimir is already thinking strategy. "Ravenna believes the child will destroy the packs through tyranny. But the prophecy says 'unite or destroy'… not just destroy. What if we emphasize the unification aspect? Present the child as solution rather than threat?"
"She won't buy that." I'm skeptical. "She's seen too much corruption from power to believe Convergence offspring could be anything but tyrannical."
"She might buy it if the message comes from someone she trusts." Casimir pulls out his phone. "Someone who's actually seen the futures and can speak to probabilities rather than fears."
"Sorin." I understand immediately. "You want Sorin to convince her the child isn't the threat she thinks."
"Sorin has no loyalty to Ravenna. But he has reputation as the most accurate seer in Europe." Casimir is already typing. "If he presents the futures where the child unites rather than destroys, where proper upbringing prevents tyranny, she might reconsider."
"Might." I focus on the uncertainty.
"It's better than nothing." Nikolai interjects. "And we need something beyond just hoping she changes her mind."
The door opens. Thalia enters, still in clothes from yesterday, hair pulled back hastily. She takes one look at our faces and says: "How bad?"
"Ravenna knows you're pregnant." I can barely say the words. "She's demanding I kill you and terminate the baby or she invokes the curse immediately."
She goes very still. "I see."
"You see?" I'm on my feet, needing to touch her, to reassure myself she's real. "That's all you have to say?"
"What else is there?" But her voice is too controlled. "She views the baby as existential threat. Makes sense she'd demand its elimination."
"Thalia… "
"It's fine." She's not fine. I can smell her terror through the attempted composure. "We knew this was possibility. Just happened faster than expected."
"It's not fine." I pull her against me, feeling her tremble despite the controlled exterior. "None of this is fine."
"But it's reality." She pulls back to look at me. "So what's the plan?"
Casimir explains his strategy… Sorin presenting alternative futures, emphasizing unification over destruction, offering interpretation that makes the child seem like solution rather than threat.
Thalia listens without interrupting. When he finishes, she says: "That might work for someone rational. But Ravenna isn't operating from rationality right now. She's operating from trauma and historical precedent."
"So we address the trauma." Casimir is adaptable. "Show her the child won't repeat Eleanora's pattern because circumstances are different. Better support, better oversight, parents who understand the dangers."
"Parents who'll be dead if she invokes the curse before we can counter it." I'm harsh about the timeline. "We have twenty-four hours. Even if Sorin convinces her to delay, that just buys time. Doesn't solve the fundamental problem."
"Then we accelerate the blood curse counter." Casimir decides immediately. "You attempt it today instead of waiting three more days. If successful, Ravenna loses her leverage. Can't threaten your family if they're no longer vulnerable."
"Today?" Thalia sounds shocked. "I'm not prepared… "
"You're Convergence. Preparation is theoretical anyway." He's already moving. "The medical team is on standby. Archives are accessible. Nikolai has the research. We do this now while we still have control over timing."
"That's insane." I'm protesting but I also see the logic. "She's barely had a week to develop her abilities… "
"She's had enough time to shift at will, use command voice, and complete a mate bond that registered on seismographs." Casimir is implacable. "She has the power. Now she needs the confidence to use it."
"Confidence to potentially die trying." I'm not letting this go. "The historical Convergence who countered blood curses died three days later."
"From exhaustion and lack of medical support." He corrects. "We have both. And Thalia has motivation he didn't… she's pregnant, bonded, and fighting to save multiple families. Survival instinct matters."
"He's right." Thalia sounds steadier now. "If I attempt the counter today, successfully break the curse, Ravenna loses her leverage. Can't demand you kill me if your family is already safe."
"But if you fail… " I can't finish the sentence.
"If I fail, we're no worse off than waiting three days and failing then." She takes my hand. "At least this way we're choosing the timing. Acting instead of reacting."
"I hate this." The words are inadequate. "I hate everything about this."
"I know." She squeezes my hand. "But we're out of good options. Just varying degrees of terrible."
"What do you need from me?" Thalia asks.
"Eat. Rest. Prepare mentally." He's systematic. "You'll be attempting something that's killed trained Convergence wolves before. You need to be as strong as possible going in."
"What about Ravenna?" I refocus. "She gave me twenty-four hours. That includes today. If I don't kill Thalia and she finds out I'm helping her counter the curse instead… "
"That's a lot of assumptions about her psychology." Nikolai sounds concerned.