Chapter 94 Chapter 94
LUCIAN’S POV
The corridor went silent after my command. Dahlia’s face lost its color immediately.
“You’re joking” Dahlia laughed nervously.
I raised my hands and two guards moved instantly, seizing Dahlia by her arms and forcing her down. Fear finally cracked through her composure, her eyes wide and her breath shallow. She had realized that I was very serious.
My wolf was pleased with the turn of events. He had been the one to suggest what I had planned to do to Dahlia.
“You will never speak to your Luna disrespectfully again. You won’t speak about her grief or her body or anything that has to do with her” I commanded, my voice echoed through the corridors.
The hall went silent when I began to speak. Dahlia opened her mouth confused.
“I’ve warned you countless times and given you so many chances and yet you fuck up each time. How wicked are you to use someone’s pain to mock them?” I curled my fists at my side to control the anger coursing through me before I did something stupid.
Her hands trembled on her knees but I didn’t give it any thought. She looked like someone who wanted to pee on herself.
“Lucian” Ailsa’s voice called pleadingly but I didn’t listen.
“This time you would be rightly punished”
Dahlia’s lips parted. She must have understood how serious I was because she started pleading.
“Please…Lucian….Alpha please. I didn’t mean to…” I lifted my hand.
“Enough!!! It’s always excuses every single time. Not this time” I turned to the guards.
“Whip her. Twenty lashes in front of everyone” I ordered and they bowed.
The sound that tore from Dahlia’s throat was ugly. Ailsa inhaled sharply behind me. I knew she didn’t like my decision but I was not going to listen to her pleas. I was already set on this.
“No” Dahlia sobbed, crawling forward on her knees. “Please, please…I was just angry. I didn’t think…”
“You thought you could use my mates grief as entertainment? Have you forgotten that you mock me also?” I said, turning slowly, letting my gaze pin her in place. I stepped closer.
“I was stupid. I can apologize to her if that’s what you want. I’m sorry Ailsa. Have mercy on me” she pleaded.
“It’s too late for apologies now. You’ve been poking her since and you took my silence for weakness. You thought wrong” she reached for my shoes but a guard yanked her back.
“Lucian!” Ailsa’s voice broke behind me. “Stop please…” I didn’t turn.
This wasn’t just about Dahlia anymore. This was a message.
“To anyone listening, this is mercy” I said, my voice carrying through the corridor and the walls. A ripple of fear moved through the gathered wolves.
“Speak about your Luna again. Question her worth, her body or her place again….” I paused deliberately.
“And I will do far worse than this” Dahlia was sobbing openly now.
“I will not tolerate cruelty disguised as tradition nor weakness disguised as gossip. Enough is enough”
The guards dragged her away as she screamed, begging, her terror echoing down the hall. I heard the first crack of the whip distantly, like thunder far away. Only then did I turn.
Ailsa stood frozen, her hands clenched at her sides, her eyes wide not with approval not with borrow either but something deeper, something sounded.
“You didn’t have to do that” she said quietly.
“Yes, I had to” I replied stepping towards her. She shook her head.
“That wasn’t…”
I took her arm. Not gently.
“We need to talk” I said quietly.
She stiffened but I didn’t give her a chance to pull away as I turned and walked, pulling her with me through the corridors, past bowed heads and averted eyes. The people parted for us instinctively, fear tangling thick in the air. I didn’t stop until we were inside our room. The door slammed shut behind us. Silence hard and heavy. She wrenched her arm free.
“You didn’t have to punish her like that”
I turned on her, anger flaring sharp and bright.
“This is the most you’ve said to me in days” she swallowed.
“I’ve been watching you disappear. You won’t eat with me. You won’t look at me. You flinch whenever I try to touch you like I’m a stranger in your bed. Do you blame me for the miscarriage?” I had to ask because it had been in mind for a while.
I was hurt by her rejection when I just wanted to hold her.
“That’s not fair” she whispered.
“No” I shot back. “What’s not fair is losing our child and being shut out of your grief like I don’t have the right to mourn too” her eyes filled with tears instantly.
“I didn’t want to hurt you. I just….needed space” she whispered.
“And that’s what I tried to do. I gave you space and you vanished into it” I said bitterly. She swallowed hard.
I didn’t want to raise my voice but I couldn’t help myself. I had blamed myself too for days, thinking if I had listened to her and cried her along, this wouldn’t have happened.
Today, I had had enough of the it and after I eavesdrop on her conversation with her maid, it gave me more reasons to take action. I thanked the goddess I had come at the right time when she was telling her maid everything or I would never had known this.
“I was afraid if I spoke everything would fall apart” I exhaled slowly, forcing myself to step closer without crowding her.
“Ailsa….we already fell apart” I said, softer now. Her shoulders trembled.
“I should have protected our baby” she whispered. “I didn’t even know I was carrying our baby. I didn’t feel it. I failed as a Luna and a mother”
“That’s not true” I said instantly. She shook her head, tears spilling freely now.
“Everyone keeps saying it’s not my fault but it was my body. My responsibility. I should have been able to tell the changes in my body” it broke my heart to see her weeping. I reached out, brushing my thumb under her eye, catching the tear before it could fall.
“Our child was not lost because of you. It wasn’t your fault. Then, it’s also my fault because it’s my duty as your mate to notice a change in your scent” I said firmly, she shook her head.
“I would not let you keep on carrying the guilt alone or believe that lie” her breath shuddered.
“I should have noticed. I should have focused more on myself than let my mind be consumed of trivial things. It’s my fa….” I didn’t let her complete that sentence as I placed a finger over her lips.
When she spoke of trivia things, I knew she referred to Elara and her coming to this pack.
“You have been under a lot of stress about Elara’s coming and other things” her jaw tightened at the name but she didn’t interrupt.
“You are not at fault. You are not to be blamed. These things happen, Maeve said so. It doesn’t make you less of yourself or Luna” she sagged slightly, like something inside her had finally loosened.
“I didn’t want you to see me like that. Empty and broken” she admitted. I pulled her into my chest before she could pull away again.
“I would never think less of you even at your worst state. I want to be beside you through laughter and pain”
I was surprised at the words leaving my mouth but I was more surprised that I meant them.
“We lost a child” I murmured into her hair. “We. Not you. And we will mourn together or not at all” her hands fisted in my shirt as she finally broke, sobs shaking her body.
“I’m sorry for pushing you away. I didn’t realize you were hurting too. I was being selfish” she murmured.
“It’s fine. I have you in my arms now and that’s all that matters”
I held her. Long and steady. Letting her cry until she felt better. When her tears slowed, I lifted her chin gently, forcing her to meet my eyes.
“I don’t want you to listen to the gossips. You are not a failure. You are my Luna and my mate. And no one, gets to decide your worth” she searched my eyes.
“I’m scared I’ll never be enough” she whispered.
“You’ll always be enough”
“I don’t feel strong anymore”
I pressed my forehead to hers.
“Then lean on me. Whenever it gets too tough for you, I want to be the shoulder you cry on. I don’t ever want you to hide your fears or worries from me. Do you understand?” She nodded. Silence stretched between us, heavy but no longer sharp.
“Lucian…please” she whispered barely audible. I stilled. I wondered what she was pleading for. I pulled away. Her eyes were red and swollen.
“I don’t want to feel empty tonight” she said softly.
“Make love to me”