Chapter 185 185
Lucas POV
I’d made it back to the Bloodnight pack a few hours earlier. I hadn’t stopped to rest hadn’t even slowed down. I just needed to be home, needed to get back to work. Not only was Aurélie Damien’s mate now, but she was still the legal Luna of Bloodnight, and her safety along with the children’s had become my highest priority.
It was rare for Damien and me to be away from the pack at different times, rarer still for us to be gone together for an extended period. Our men were the best, handpicked and well trained, but absence always bred complacency. While we’d been gone, they’d eased off, even if only slightly.
That was starting to change.
I was beginning to understand why Aurélie had insisted on female warriors within her ranks. They drove the men harder, pushed them further, refused to accept anything less than excellence. It was something I intended to discuss with Damien once his mind wasn’t carrying the weight of everything else.
I’d ordered a full security review that afternoon, followed by a surprise training session. I wanted to see them in motion, test reactions, expose any weakness.
There were none.
Now I sat behind Damien’s desk, approving pack orders and sorting through emails, when Denise slipped quietly into the office with a mug of something hot. Denise had always been my eyes and ears. In the past, she’d been the one to quietly flag Geneviève’s behavior her subtle manipulations, her growing hostility toward the pack. I’d tried more than once to warn Damien, but Geneviève had been careful, clever enough never to leave him alone with doubt long enough for it to take root.
I regret not pushing harder. But I know now that the Damien of back then would have lashed out at me for it. He isn’t that man anymore.
It’s as though Aurélie has brought light into him something warm and steady, illuminating parts of his soul that Geneviève only ever darkened.
I don’t know if I truly believe in things like that. Fate. Light and shadow. All I know is that I’m grateful Aurélie is his mate… and not Geneviève.
Geneviève’s disappearance didn’t mean she’d forgotten us. Quite the opposite. Somewhere, she’d be plotting wounded, yes, but dangerous all the same. The rogue attack had failed, which meant she’d retreated to lick her wounds. And that made her unpredictable.
After Denise finished updating me on pack gossip information Élodie used to manage flawlessly I returned to my emails, determined to clear them before allowing myself to rest for the night.
“Beta?”
The voice pushes through my mind-link, sharp enough to make me still. It’s one of the gate guards.
Something’s wrong. We weren’t expecting deliveries at this hour.
“Yes?” I answer.
“Beta, you need to come. We’ve got a problem.”
“What kind of problem?”
“There’s a visitor at the gate,” he says. “Demanding entry.”
Damien POV
The mating ceremony was a resounding success.
Fabrice had been warmly received by the attending Alphas and Lunas no surprise there. He’d always dealt with them as more than just a Beta, long before tonight. Respect earned over time didn’t vanish with titles.
The ceremony itself felt more like a wedding. Élodie even had the audacity to insist all mobile phones be switched off for the duration commitment vows, marking, and Aurélie formally welcoming Florence into the pack. It was long. Far too long. But with both Aurélie and Fabrice occupied, Delphine claimed my lap while Dominique sat close at my side.
Watching Florence transition packs after the marking was… enlightening. I hadn’t marked Aurélie after our wedding. I hadn’t even formally made her a pack member.
If I’d known then what I know now, I would have marked her without hesitation. Made her my Luna in every possible sense. Claimed her openly. Completely.
There’s a moment shared between Aurélie and Florence once the bond settles something silent, private. A mind-link, maybe. Fabrice misses it. Aurélie is likely apologizing again for something that was never truly her fault.
At least the meal that followed was a buffet rather than a drawn-out, seated affair. I caught more than a few strange looks from guests those who didn’t yet know Aurélie and I had reconciled. I kept my growl tightly leashed, though it was the twins who truly kept me grounded.
Dominique sensed my irritation before I said a word, his small hand resting on my arm. Delphine stroked the back of my neck as she curled closer against me.
I didn’t deserve them. They were too good. Too pure.
They were all Aurélie reflections of her in miniature. And the fact that they were beginning to accept me, to make space for me in their lives… I wouldn’t allow anything to destroy this. I couldn’t.
Once the buffet ended, the dance floor opened and dancing immediately became Delphine’s new obsession.
“She wants you to dance,” Maurice says, wandering over with another bowl of dessert in his hands.
He’d disappeared into the kitchen after the staff cleared the food, flirting shamelessly with one of the waitresses just to secure a second helping.
I shake my head, already knowing I won’t win this one.