chapter 122

Lucas' POV

"Alpha, we tried to bring Sabrina in, but she's not herself."

I turned to Aurelio, looking up from the stack of papers on my desk. "Did you find her?"

"Yes, Lucas. She's in our territory, inside the cave where Elara was once held captive by the human."

"Is she safe? Is she hurt?"

"No, Lucas, she's okay," Aurelio answers, although his tone is apprehensive. "She barely recognizes herself or anyone else. She attacks anyone who approaches and keeps reciting a mantra."

"A mantra? What mantra?"

"Something about wolves being hounds of war and Lycans holding the leash."

My blood froze. Three hundred years of having nightmares. Three hundred years of trying to shed those words, those teachings. My father had drilled it into me that it was not us, making it impossible to live without abiding by that code.

…

FLASHBACK

Three Hundred Years Earlier

The hunger was worse than the pain. Worse than the thirst. Worse than the cold.

Nine days. My body had already given up. My mind was slipping. But I held on.

Sabrina sat against the wall, knees pulled to her chest, rocking slightly. She didn't look at me anymore. Didn't speak. She had stopped fighting after four days. I couldn't even blame her.

The door creaked open, and I flinched at the sound. Boots on the stairs. Slow. Purposeful. I could already smell it before I saw it-food.

I wanted to lunge.

But I didn't move.

He crouched in front of me, plate in hand. Steam curled into the air. Meat. Bread. My stomach twisted so violently I thought I'd throw up from the emptiness.

Father sighed, shaking his head. "Still holding out?"

I didn't answer.

Sabrina's hands clenched against her arms. She had already learned. Already accepted. And every night since she had, she'd eaten while I wasted away beside her.

"Lucas," he said, his voice smooth and patient, as if he weren't watching his own son starve. "You think this is about strength, don't you?" He picked up a piece of bread, tore it in half, and held it between two fingers. "But strength is nothing without control."

I didn't look at him. I stared at the words carved into the wall instead.

**"Werewolves are the hounds of war, not the hands that hold the leash. They serve, they bleed, they fall, so their betters may rise. A beast without a master is a threat-to itself first and to others second. Disobedience is not defiance; it is decay. Decay must be cut out before it spreads."**

Every day, he made us recite it. Every day, he pointed to those words and told us this was our place. He reminded us that we were Lycans, superior. He hated how sympathetic we were, how we questioned him.

And weapons don't get to think for themselves.

"Say it," he murmured. "Say it, and you eat."

I clenched my jaw so tightly that my teeth ached.

"You know it already," he continued. "You understand it. What's the point in suffering?"

Sabrina's voice, small and broken: "Just say it, Lucas."

I turned to her. She wasn't crying anymore. She wasn't fighting anymore. She was just… gone.

He had already won.

My breath came out in shudders. My arms felt too heavy to lift. My body wasn't mine anymore.

Say it. Say it. Say it.

I stared at the words, burned into my mind since childhood, now carved into my bones.

The plate lowered. The food was right there. Just words. Just a few words.

My lips parted.

The words spilled out.

And for the first time in nine days, I ate.

**PRESENT TIME**

A knock on the door interrupted my train of thought. Joseph, Aurelio Maathew's trainee, entered.

"Lycan King Lucas, Beta Aurelio," he bowed. "Alpha Matthew is at the gates; he seeks an audience."

"This is not the time," I murmured. "He picked the wrong moment to mess with me."

I looked up at Joseph, giving the signal.

"Prepare the troops. The last time Matthew was here, he attacked. Ensure all the warriors are on high alert. Ring the silent alarms, have everyone be ready. I'll be there shortly, but don't let him know. Make him wait.''

Joseph headed out. "Alpha, what are we thinking?''

"Matthew is up to something. Today, he doesn't leave until I understand what he and the witches did to Elara. Something is off. If he's here, he must feel proud, he must have insurance.''

"Lucas, one more thing,'' Aurelio starts while we head out. "It seems Sabrina is hiding from someone. She acts like she's being hunted. She switches from reciting the mantra to being on high alert. Everyone isn't just an enemy but a threat. I don't know what to do, Lucas. She's my mate; she should trust me. Instead, one moment she's afraid of me, begging me to stay away and not to hurt her, telling me that the poison makes her wolf weak. Then, the next moment, she attacks."

"Perhaps the cost of saving my sister from the silver wound had some side effects. The magic caused Sabrina hallucinations. If I'm right, she might be reliving one of the worst nights of our lives."

"What night? She almost killed our men when they tried to bring her in. She aims to kill with every blow she delivers. When I touched her, it was pure fear. I've never seen anything like it, Alpha; I've never seen Sabrina be so afraid of something. If it's true, and she's living through a time when she was hunted, who is she so scared of? Who hunted her?"

"Me!" I muttered, hating the memories of that night. "One day, my father felt Sabrina and I were trained enough to be deadly beasts; he put us through a final test. He drove us to a forest one night to celebrate completing our training."

"Where was your mother?"

"Who knows? She never cared about anyone, especially not us. She'd be in a room watching our father kill us and wouldn't lift a finger." I shrugged.

"To have parents like that is unfair and traumatic for any child."

I laughed, not knowing how to react. "We are Lycans; trauma and childhood are one and the same, especially when we didn't fit the norm. Sabrina and I questioned every little thing our father taught us. While other Lycan babies were born with a natural hatred for werewolves, Sabrina and I were the opposite. Once, I fell for a beautiful she-wolf. My father pretended not to know. He waited until my first shift to put the girl in front of an open wolf. I wasn't in control when I first shifted. I tore her apart."

I hated the look Aurelio gave me. Pity.

"Sabrina fell in love later. Once we grew up, Sabrina set out to travel the world and fell in love with a werewolf alpha. Instead, my father hunted him down and tore him apart, leaving his head at my sister's bedside as a present."

Aurelio was silent, looking like he could picture himself in the alpha's place. "Is that why I had to work so hard for her trust? She was afraid...''

"She knew my father would come for you.''

We walked until we reached the gates. In the distance, Matthew's troops were visible.

"Does he really think those troops make him intimidating?'' I raised an eyebrow.

"He's a small man, an alpha desperate to be seen as more than he is. Instead of protecting and leading his pack, he tries to pick fights with men larger than himself. I believe Alpha Matthew has been promised a prize if he can take you out.''

I smiled, hands tucked in my pockets. "Bigger men than he has tried and failed. I've been tested and betrayed by creatures far more powerful than Alpha Matthew. Perhaps it's time I remind him how small a man he is, and how he'll never win this fight he so desperately picks.''

We ordered the gates to be opened, after which Aurelio and I approached Matthew.

"Alpha.'' Aurelio stopped me. "You didn't finish the story? Why is Sabrina so afraid? Why did you hunt her down?''

"We shared a meal at a simple picnic. My father, sister, and I sat on a blanket in a clearing in the forest. Sabrina and I were excited. It was a new experience. We thought our father was proud of us for completing training. Finally, we'd earned what every child craves: love and quality time.'' I closed my eyes, every memory washing over me. Instead of joy, I felt like I was drowning.

"And then he dropped the bomb. He revealed that the meal we'd eaten was laced with a deadly poison and that we both had 48 hours to live. He explained that there was only one antidote, and the one who was left standing could save their own life.''

I watched the shock in Aurelio's eyes. "Your father is a monster.''

"Well, that's not even the worst part,'' I said slowly.

"Lycan King Lucas,'' Matthew exclaimed excitedly. "I'm glad to see you again, brother.''

He came to hug me, and Aurelio stepped forward, ready to attack.

"Are you drunk?'' Aurelio remarked, looking at Matthew with disgust.

His grin faltered for half a second, but he recovered quickly. "Come now, Lucas, let's not pretend we're enemies."

I took a slow step forward. "You picked the wrong day to test me, Matthew."

His smirk widened. "Oh, I didn't come to test you, Lycan King." He gestured behind him, and from the shadows of his troops, a figure stepped forward.

A woman.

Thin. Fragile. But her eyes-wild, feral-burned into mine.

Sabrina.

Before I could say her name, she bared her teeth and lunged.