Chapter 37

Lucianus

It had been so easy to seduce her. So easy to push and prod her fragile human heart. I didn’t even have to use the mating bond to make her willing. She’d been excited by the prospect of giving herself to me.

Had I realized this back at the resort, I would have had her that night with her full knowledge of the event.

It didn’t matter now. Hearing her say she loved me sent a thrill of triumph through me. She was gullible. So easy to manipulate just like all humans. The sound of her voice saying those words stirred up memories that warmed me, yet that feeling felt so far away.

Unlike before, I knew she wasn’t my wife. I had full control of my mind, my power, and my memories. She was a pretty little trinket. A human. An entertainment source in a beautiful container. And just like all humans, she had been so easy to manipulate, so willing to give herself over to me for money and sex. I licked my lips as I walked away from the house towards the car.

It wouldn’t take much longer before I had seduced her away from this mundane life and back to my realm. Ilya’s network did not need my oversight, and I would deal with the hunters in due time, but I couldn’t risk them finding out about Trinity and undoing all of this work.

With Mark in the picture, I would have to move quickly and more precisely. Perhaps, I should start manipulating her mind a bit more forcefully, dulling the depths of her care for her father and Mark and removing the lingering attachments she had to others.

It would take longer than simply killing them all, but it would also be more beneficial in the long run. Having her give way to melancholy would taint the taste of my victory and ruin all of this work.

I was about to tell the driver to drive when something caught my attention. There was the faintest shift in the shadows and a prick of awareness. There was another werewolf nearby: weaker, younger, and less knowledgeable about how to hide its presence, but it was there.

More than that, they were familiar to me. I turned my head and got back out of the car, following my instincts towards the werewolf that was currently skulking around Mark’s house and heading towards the back of the house where Trinity’s bedroom was. I slipped into the shadows, melting into them just to watch. I could have been wrong, but I didn’t think I was.

It was hard to mistake her after all, but I was curious how she was still alive after all this time.

Stella, my wife’s sister, walked almost noisily through the shadows toward the back of the house. Her expression was pinched tight as she headed toward the window of Trinity’s room. There was malice in her eyes, but I continued to watch her, curious about what she planned to do.

She reached the window and climbed up to peer inside. Then, she remained still. Too still. I grit my teeth, realizing that she was casting some sort of gaze upon Trinity. Whether it was to control her or kill her, it didn’t matter. I drifted towards the window and grabbed her by the back of her neck. She flailed as I pulled her away from the window and yanked her towards me, glaring down at her.

“What…” She went quiet as our gazes met.

She looked worried for a moment before she hardened her gaze. How interesting that she’d grown something of a backbone in all these years.

“What are you doing here, Stella?” I asked. “It is a bit far from the courts. I’m surprised your leash stretched.”

“Let me go, Lucianus,” she said, as I gripped her arm.

There was just a flicker of an idea in her eye. It was the last of the gaze she’d been using on Trinity, struggling to continue. I kept a firm hold on her and took her with me in a rush to a secluded spot in the nearby woods. I made sure that she had nowhere to run and hide. I looked around scoping it out before releasing her. She collapsed to the ground.

She struggled to her feet and looked around before facing me. “Where have you taken me?”

“I won’t ask again,” I said, ignoring her question and towering above her in wolf form. “Why are you here?”

She sneered. “The commotion in the Forest of Darkness drew the attention of the royal family. You have a duty…”

“Do not lecture me,” I cut her off. Annoyed by her presumption and the idiocy of the statement. The royal family no more cared about what I did and the Forest now than they had centuries ago.

What they cared about was power and no one having more access to it than them.

“I know well what my duties are, and yours…” I tilted my head. “How interesting that you’re working for the royal family these days. Did your last Alpha cut you loose when you proved as spineless as ever?”

She bared her teeth. “You don’t get to talk to me like that.”

“Commoner,” I said, watching her flinch. “There may be bonds of family between us, but do not forget your place.”

She worked her jaw silently as I regarded her. “Considering their part to play in everything, I am interested to know what drove you to such desperation to serve them.”

She narrowed her eyes. “The riot went on too long. You didn’t stop it, so they sent me to find you and make you do your job.”

I laughed. “You are as gullible as always.”

I circled her slowly. “And as weak too. Interesting that they think you’re capable of making me do anything,” I narrowed my eyes at her. “The royal family knows nothing of what goes on in my Forest if my spies do not tell them.”

She thrust her chin out. “Seems like you have no control over your spies, then. They know you’ve lost control.”

I scoffed and shook my head as she continued.

“You weren’t in the castle. I figured you were here. It took a while, but I had never expected to find you lowering yourself to loving some human girl.” She sneered. “To think a noble werewolf…”

“You have no standing to speak to me about noble conduct,” he said. “You are my sister-in-law…”

“The sister you are betraying!”

The words didn’t hurt the way they might have once. My guilt and consideration of it were laid to rest. Trinity was entertainment and a sex toy, nothing more. Not that it was any of Stella’s business. Fucking my slave was well within my rights as a noble, but I could see how much she wanted a rise out of me.

She likely worried about her position if I was no longer insane with grief for her sister.

How self-serving, but what could I expect from her?

I stared at her, tilting my head, and wondering if perhaps I should just kill her now. That brought a pang of guilt. Trinitia loved her sister even though they hardly ever got along and the relationship served no one but Stella.

“I don’t care what you’ve been sent to do,” I said easily. “But if you kill her, I will kill you, and I assure you the only thing you will wish for is a quicker death.”

She sneered. “You wouldn’t dare.”

I met her gaze. “Would you like to test my patience?”

Her eyes narrowed. “I’m going to report this to the royal family. You’ll be the laughingstock of everyone…”

“Dogs must do as they’re commanded,” I said lightly. “Though should you decide that is your course of action, be prepared for the consequences… Your only tie to the nobility of any sort, your only protection, is what lingering care I may have for you.”

Her eyes narrowed. I could see her turning my words over and trying to get around them. She was always more manipulative than I cared to entertain.

“And rest assured that the royals may promise many things, but they will do away with you just as easily as they have with all of their other common dogs should they think you have lost my favor.”

She gasped and looked as though I had slapped her. I left her there, disappearing into the thick of the woods to collect my thoughts and my patience. The old fury and burning rage were boiling in me. How dare she use my wife’s memory against me? How dare she accuse me of betraying her memory?

I should have killed her. I had killed many others for much less disrespect, but I stayed my hand because she was still my wife’s sister. Until she moved against me, she was nothing more than an empty threat. I had warned her.

I scoffed at the thought. I had never imagined Stella being a problem for me and my pursuit of Trinity. Knowing how stubborn and willful she was, how naïve and self-absorbed she was, she would not listen to me. She would go after Trinity again. Perhaps not tonight, but soon.

When the time came, I would have to kill her.