Chapter 35

Chapter 35


The crackling of the fire was the only thing breaking the silence. The flames cast golden flashes on the weathered faces of the men resting around the makeshift camp. Some drank, others tended to their wounds in silence, exchanging stories about the failed attack, and a few simply stared at the fire without saying a word. But he… he didn’t move.

Dylan stood still, eyes fixed on the flame as if he could read the answers he needed within it.

The plan hadn’t worked. The ambush had not only failed but had almost cost them more men than they were willing to lose. And yet… not everything had been a loss.

Because she looked at him.

Not with fear, not with unfamiliarity. But with a mix of confusion, fury… and recognition.

Luciana.

She hadn’t called out his name, hadn’t screamed or cried or surrendered when his men surrounded her. No. She had defended herself with the same fierceness as before. With that wild determination that had always bewitched him.

And the worst —or the best— was that she hadn’t denied it. She hadn’t said “you’re not him.” She hadn’t said “I don’t know you.” She just looked at him. Frowned. And remained silent.

She had felt it too.

—And now what? —one of his men asked, pulling him from his thoughts. The voice carried a trace of irritation, as if failure had made them question his leadership.

Dylan narrowed his eyes and answered without looking at him.

—Now… now we destroy it. From the inside.

A murmur of discomfort ran through the group. Another soldier stepped forward.

—And how do you plan to do that? —he said with a defiant tone, as if expecting Dylan to make up another improvised answer like so many times before.

But this time, Dylan did look at them.

With a crooked smile. Dark.

—I already have someone inside the palace.

He didn’t need to say her name. No one there knew her beyond a memory or a legend from the past. But he knew she belonged to him. She had always been his, even when she walked away. Even when she betrayed him with her silence. Because Dylan had a cursed gift: he never let go of what he considered his. And Abigaíl, Luciana… she had never stopped being his.

Of course, he wasn’t naive enough to think it would be easy. Today had made that clear. The woman who once surrendered in his arms now faced him as an equal, like a wild wolf who had left her collar behind. But in her eyes, he still recognized that spark. That doubt.

And doubt… doubt was more powerful than any claw.

He sat by the fire, resting his elbows on his knees and intertwining his fingers. He didn’t speak for a long time. He only thought. Of her. Of their story.

They had been together for over ten years. He remembered everything clearly. The first time he saw her, the way she stood up to him in public without fear, the way she made him feel small and powerful at the same time. Luciana had been his curse… and his blessing.

Of course, he had made mistakes.

Sofía was the biggest. Her sister. The guilt had eaten away at him at first, but his mind always found excuses. Luciana made him feel weak. Vulnerable. Too exposed. She was stronger, smarter, more feared than him. He was destined to be her shadow, and his ego could never fully accept that.

That’s why he sought comfort in others. Sofía was just the most serious of his downfalls, but not the only one. There had been others. Too many. He always came back to Luciana, and she… for some inexplicable reason, always took him back. As if she couldn’t hate him entirely. As if her body, her soul, still belonged to him. A damn twisted love story.

He was a bastard. She, a masochist.

But together… together they could rule.

—She’ll come looking for me —he said quietly, more to himself than to the others.

One of his lieutenants glanced at him.

—The king’s Luna? After you tried to kidnap her?

Dylan looked at him as if the man hadn’t understood the obvious.

—I didn’t try to kidnap her. I tried to awaken something. And I did. She got distracted because of me. She lost her rhythm in battle. Because of me.

Silence fell. Then he stood again, as if the fire’s embers pushed him.

—She is Kilian’s weakness. She has been since he found her. Everyone fears the same thing: that if something happens to his Luna, he’ll go wild, primal… uncontrollable. That legend isn’t a lie. The ancestral wolf inside him needs an anchor. Without her, everything he is will devour him.

—And you plan to become his madness? —one laughed.

—No —Dylan replied with a half-smile—. I plan to become his downfall.

He walked a few steps, like a general laying out his new strategy.

—For years, they prepared for an outside attack. Reinforced their walls, grew their troops, built alliances. But no one expects the crack to come from the center.

—And how will you get in?

—I don’t have to. She’s already inside.

His men exchanged looks. They didn’t fully understand, but they knew that when Dylan spoke like that… there was real fire behind it.

“Luciana will remember who she is. She’ll remember who we were. And when she does, she won’t be able to stay firm. The perfection of her new life will crack. Doubt will grow. And when that happens… the balance will tip.”

He approached the fire once more, staring into the embers.

—It’s only a matter of time. I can be patient.

A pause. And then, in a lower voice, he confessed:

—I know her fears. Her wounds. I know how the past hurts and how it hides in the corners of the soul. I’ll trap her with her own reflection.

One of his men scoffed, incredulous.

—And what if she doesn’t fall?

Dylan smiled. But this time, there was no shadow. Only cold, cutting certainty.

—Then everything else will fall.

Because if Luciana didn’t come back to him… then the world around her would have to pay the price.

The moon was beginning to rise, red and heavy like a sentence.

And Dylan knew the game was only just beginning.