Chapter 61 Heartache So Intense

Aria Davis's POV:

When night fell, Lucien slipped in through the window. Aurora was outside, keeping watch for us.

"Aurora filled me in. Are you okay?" Lucien looked a bit better than the last time I saw him, but he still seemed pretty rough. His wounds were healing slowly.

Even though Lucien was still in a tough spot, the first thing he did was check on me.

Was Lucien really worried about me?

Would he end up like Noah, making me feel all warm and fuzzy at first, only to reveal he didn't care at all?

I wasn't sure, and I couldn't risk it anymore.

No matter how nice these guys were to me, I couldn't let myself get emotionally involved.

What was wrong with me? Why did I feel so down?

No, I couldn't afford to be sad. I didn't have time for that.

From the start, I approached these men to make them like me, right? They were just tools, not worth my feelings.

As tools, they just needed to help me achieve my goals. I had to use their emotions, but I couldn't let myself get caught up in them.

"Aria? Are you okay?" Lucien asked again after waiting a while for my response.

I gave him a weak smile. "I'm okay. At least I'm still alive."

Yeah, as long as I was alive, I had a shot at revenge.

"I don't think you'd have Aurora take such a big risk to find me for no reason. Tell me, what do you need me to do?" Lucien asked, straightening my blanket.

I got straight to the point. "I need your help with two things. Of course, it's up to you if you want to do them."

Lucien pulled me into his arms. "Go ahead."

"First, I need you to get a young woman close to Colton right away. She needs to meet two conditions," I said.

Lucien held me with one hand, gently patting my back, while the other hand stroked my hair. "What are the two conditions?"

"One, she has to be good at seducing men and understanding their thoughts. Two, she has to be fertile."

"No problem, I'll get it done within a week," Lucien agreed without hesitation. "What's the second thing?"

"I know a place where you can hire werewolves to do stuff, even if it costs them their lives. As long as you can pay, they'll do it. You need to find a group of them, grab the weapons Jason has hidden in the cave, and frame Colton for it!"

Lucien nodded, but then he went quiet for a long time.

Suddenly, he asked, "Are you going after Colton because of that female slave?"

Slave, again with the slave. Why did these so-called nobles always call maids slaves?

Maybe noticing my reaction, Lucien quickly apologized. "Sorry."

I corrected him firmly. "Lucien, perhaps to you, Grace was merely a female slave. But to me, she was a friend, someone who stood by me through all the dark times."

"Sorry, I get it now." Lucien tried to comfort me, but he looked like he had something else on his mind.

I grabbed his hand and said seriously, "Lucien, no secrets between us. Just say it."

"I know," Lucien smiled. Honestly, he looked really handsome when he smiled, but I wasn't in the mood to appreciate it at the moment.

Lucien continued, "Actually, I wanted to tell you that when I came here before, I saw Victoria."

Victoria! The vampire who almost killed me.

She was Lucien's personal assistant. Why would she be sneaking around werewolf territory?

Seeing my confusion, Lucien explained, "To prevent Victoria from teaming up with werewolves and causing trouble for the vampire clan, I had someone look into why she was here." Lucien paused before adding, "Victoria came here to have an affair with Noah!"

What? Noah was hooking up with Victoria!

Noah, who was trying to be my boyfriend, was also messing around with another woman.

This explained why he called me a female slave when I wanted to kill Harper.

In his heart, I was always just a lowly female slave! He never saw me as an equal!

Why did my heart hurt so much? It hurt so much that I couldn't breathe.

The intense pain in my chest made me gasp for air, clutching my chest and curling up into a ball.

"Aria! What's wrong?" Lucien grabbed my shoulders, trying to help.

I shook my head, trying to clear all thoughts of Noah from my mind. He wasn't worth my sadness!

Besides, I only intended to use him from the start. How could I be sad over him?

"Aria, are you heartbroken over Noah and Victoria?" Lucien asked carefully.

I looked into his eyes and saw a hint of nervousness.

Noah might not be interested in me anymore, and he wouldn't be much help in the future. But Lucien still liked me, and I needed his help. I had to keep his interest.

"Of course not! Noah and I have nothing to do with each other. I'm just disgusted that he confessed to me several times, and now he's with another woman. That's all."

Lucien seemed relieved, the nervousness in his eyes turning to excitement. "I don't care who Noah is with. I just know no one will compete with me for you anymore."

I nodded and smiled, keeping Lucien happy.

Were Noah and Victoria simply having an affair, or was there a deeper connection involving werewolves and vampires?

If their relationship stirred up conflict between the werewolves and vampires, that would be good for me! But if it led to peace between them, that would be a big problem for me.