CHAPTER 41: Threats From An Enemy
**LUCIAN**
Early next morning, I'm in the pack house, questioning other council members, making sure there isn't something else brewing behind my back.
I had been careless enough to overlook things right in front of me.
Darius had questioned Irina, the healer, last night and she had confessed that she had told several people about Aria, her healing capability. She wouldn't give names, she wouldn't say why. So I let Darius put her in confinement.
At this time, I don't have enough space in my head for more.
I had to leave in the morning, because this couldn't wait. Aria hadn't woken yet. The pain had exhausted her to a state of sleep, and Anna will inform me if something happens. She will watch her.
"She still won't give the names," Darius tells me as I look into some paperwork in the office.
"Well, force her too. There's someone else behind this too. Figure it out."
"People will start questioning if you don't let her go." Darius points out the issue. "Soon."
"Not until she speaks up. Or she will rot away in the cell. Whatever comes sooner." My tone is final. I'm in no mood to show any kind of kindness. They almost took Aria.
Darius stands and breathes out a sigh of defeat. "Fine," he finally mutters. "I'll head down and see what I can do."
"Just make it work." My eyes glance at him.
He leaves after that, and I'm on my own with my work.
About ten minutes later, a scent hits me before the knock. I don't have to look twice to see who is there.
"Cassandra," I look up from my work. "What are you doing here?"
She steps inside and closes the door behind. It has been a moment since I saw her. Quite a while. I hadn't even thought of her since the engagement was broken off.
"I just heard about some—recent events and I wanted to stop by," she smiles a little, coming closer. "You know my father, he is a talkative person."
I raise my brow. "What is it?"
"You killed a councilman?" She questions, as if she wants to be sure before she continues.
Her father, a high-ranking member of the pack, must've heard, of course he has.
I lean back and simply look at her. "Do you wish to see him for yourself?" My threat lingers in my words. "If you need a second opinion on that."
Cassandra takes a deep breath and moves closer. "People are talking."
"And I'm supposed to care?" My eyes follow her every move. Her actions. Her words. Her intentions. There's something off.
I can tell.
"And?" She questions, with a flicker of confusion. "Don't you care about the people you lead?"
There's an unsettling shift in my gut.
"Yes, I do." My voice turns serious, and her face straightens as she sees me shift into a mode of authority, the one that comes naturally. "You don't need to concern yourself over that. I've been handling my people far well."
"But you just killed a councilman."
"He was corrupt."
"Rowan was council, and he was my father's cousin." She argues.
"Well, he shouldn't have messed with the things that weren't his business."
Cassandra scoffs at my words. "I understand, he was out of bounds. But still."
"There isn't really anything to argue here, is there?"
She doesn't reply to my question.
But I watch it click behind her gaze.
Quickly, I rise up from my seat and go around, facing her. The moment I step around my office desk, I feel Cassandra step back.
"Do you know what he was doing, what was his 'business' you speak of?" I question.
"I—I don't know."
"Something tells me that you do," I step closer. She tries to move back, her gaze straining up at me in just the barest of fear. "You knew the healer, didn't you? Irina?"
Cassandra doesn't say a word. Instead, she stays completely quiet for a moment and simply looks at me.
I can smell her lies from here.
"And you told Rowan. You fed him the information. And whatever your mind could possibly conjure up regarding Aria."My teeth grind with every single word.
It was her.
And the way her expression doesn't change tells me that.
"I did." she confirms, her words leaving me stunned in silence. "She is dangerous. She was dangerous when she first came here, and she is still dangerous. You just don't see it because of whatever bond has latched onto you. But this needs to stop. I did what had to be done, Lucian."
"It's funny that you talk to me in such way." I murmur as my mind begins to shift at a pace faster than I'm able to process.
Cassandra's gaze is set in defiance as I speak to her again. "I wouldn't dare to utter another word from those poisonous lips of yours if I were you."
"Are you threate—" She doesn't get to finish it. I interrupt with my own words, and this time, the quiet of it, surprises me too.
"It's not a threat. Not yet. Keep your mouth shut. Because if something comes out of you, you won't live to see the day."
The words catch, and I can practically hear her heart pounding in her chest at my tone.
"You've already been warned before once if I can recall correctly. For all your lies," I remind her. "Do not test my mercy or my patience. If I learn that you're still going behind me and trying to hurt her, there will not be a second chance."
Her face turns into a frown, and there's fury.
"You cannot do this."
"I can, and I will."
I should've sent her away when she first lied to me. I didn't think she'd go so far, planning behind my back with my own councilmen to hurt someone completely innocent.
"I loved you," her voice cracks. "And I would've been everything you needed. But you left me for that hunter's bitch and you didn't even look at me again."
"I looked," I whisper. "And I saw a liar and a snake."
She stares, in disbelief. In anger.
"Do you think you can just move on and pretend that we weren't together for years?" Her tone grows. "Just toss me out and not expect consequences?"
"Years that you chose to fill with lies," My voice remains low. I try not to lose my hold. "Don't fool yourself, Cassandra. You were a part of my life, a large part, but you ruined it all yourself."
"Fuck you." She snaps.
My hand curls into a fist.
"Get out."
"If I can't have you," she says, moving away. "I'll make sure that bitch doesn't have you either."