Chapter thirty-two

Lucian’s POV

Tessa slept quietly in my arms with one hand around my torso and another was flat on my bare chest.

I tightened my hold on her because anything could happen in one of the most dangerous places in the world. Dragons were pure evil, and I just could not understand why Tessa wouldn’t believe me.

But then I remembered that it’s one of the reasons why I loved her. She always looked for the good in a person. I mean, she found the good in me.

And no one had seen that.

Not before her.

I suddenly realized something which made my hands tremble slightly and had my heart rate beating rapidly.

I’m in love with her.

I looked down at her and kissed her forehead, softly whispering against her soft skin, “I love you.”

As if on instinct, she snuggled closer to me and my inside went to mush.

I allowed myself to drift off into a dreamless sleep.

My wolf instincts are what woke me, and I looked around the dark room. Tessa had turned over with her back against my chest and the distant sound of running footsteps had my heart beating loudly in my ears.

“Something’s wrong,” my wolf said, and the chills that ran up my arms ensured me that there was something very wrong.

I swung my legs over the bed and pulled on a pair of boxers. I unlocked and opened the door, poking my head out to scan the hallway.

Nothing.

But something still didn’t seem right, and it nagged me like an inch. I looked over to Tessa where she lay and took a step into the dark hallway. I closed the door and locked it for safety.

I looked both ways in the hallway and it was empty. I remembered running up and down these halls as a kid when the dragon Kingdom had been a happier place.

“Lucian, it’s time to wake up,” my guardian, Ananta, would say, bringing me my breakfast.

“What are we doing today?” I’d ask excitedly, stuffing my little mouth with bacon. She smiled sadly and I could see the hint of tears.

“What’s wrong Ananta?” I asked, mouth full. She shook her head and got up to run my water for the bath.

“Your father wants to start your dragon training with the big kids today,” she said, and I clapped my hands with joy.

For a seven-year-old, training with the big dragons was a dream come true.

“Are you finished?” She said, coming into the room. I nodded and she moved the tray, helping me out of the sleepwear.

After I’d gotten done and joined my father on the training fields, the trainees were already flying, sword fighting.

I clenched my fists at the memory as I walked the halls. That was the day my father had changed. He’d wanted his son to run on top of all the others, wanted me to beat everyone else I fought with or against.

He’d thrown me onto the field, told them not to go easy on me and they’d beat the living shit out of me.

I remember the look on his face when they were done with me. He was disgusted and spat at me like I was dirt.

“I’m ashamed to call you my son.”

His words rung in my ears as a deadly reminder and I had to stop to catch my breath.

I heard voices, followed them to my father’s office, and stood by the door so they wouldn’t see me.

“Are the wolves there yet?” my father said.

“They’re making progress at full speed. They’ll be there by midnight tomorrow night.” I recognized the voice from the wizard that had traveled with us on our way here.

“Tell them to hold their positions when they get there. I need to speak with that boy about a little deal that I have decided to throw at him.”

“As you wish, your majesty.”

Wolves?

“Maxwell owns a pack of wolves,” my wolf said, and something suddenly clicked into place. Like a missing puzzle piece.

The wolves that had attacked us in the mountains, sent us all the way to the Mcgraw pack. So, he could have them all in one place. To get to Tessa.

To get to me.

‘We got the girl. He wasn’t in the room.’ Someone said over a walkie-talkie.

Tessa “Oh shit,” I whispered and the chatter between the men grew to silence.

My heart beat rapidly and I slowly began to peek into the room when something hard hit me over my head, causing a sharp ache.

Everything was sucked into a black hole and the last thing I saw was the point of my father’s expensive shoes.

I slowly slipped in and out of consciousness, seeing stars at one time.

I remember seeing the room dancing, spinning, and making me dizzy. My eyes didn’t stay open before I groaned in pain.

Tessa cried my name in sobs before I slumped back into unconsciousness.

Tessa’s POV

The last thing I remembered was the loud banging on the room door before a troop of men stormed in with large guns.

I remember screaming and holding the sheet tightly against my naked body. I was scared and saw that Lucian wasn’t near me or even in the room.

They’d thrown me clothes to put on and I obediently put them on before someone held a toxic cloth to my mouth.

I’d passed out after five seconds and fell into dreamless unconsciousness.

I groaned and my eyes slowly began to open. The light in the dark room was very dim, coming only from a small window that was paneled with bars.

It was a stone room. Clean and cold.

There was an old, rusted metal table and on the other side of the room there sat my mate, unconscious. Blood dripped from the back of his head and I felt a sharp pain.

The metal door shook before opening and Maxwell waltzed in like a king. Which he was.

“I see you’ve woken up dear Tessa,” he said and I growled lowly.

“What are you going to do to us?” I asked, my voice shaky, trying to hold in the anger I had.

My hands were tied tightly to the back of the chair and I tried shaking free but failed.

“I’ll speak about that once your Lucian dearest wakes up from his nap.” He said with a smile that was too practiced and fake.

With that, a groan escaped from Lucian’s nearly naked figure and I screamed for him to wake up.

“LUCIAN!”

His head fell again as he fell into unconsciousness again.

“I swear, if you hurt him—”

“I have no interest in that thing over there. He’s a disgrace to our kind.”

“HE’S YOUR SON, FOR FUCKS SAKE!” I yelled and his face twisted into an evil and deadly look. In a flash, he was in front of me with his hand around my neck, blocking my airway.

“That boy doesn’t deserve to be called my son,” his voice shook in anger as he watched with pleasure as I gasped for air.

“I never wanted to be called your son anyway.” It was Lucian’s voice, and it was soft but deadly dangerous.

“Keep your mouth out of this boy!” he yelled, and Lucian looked up with murder in his eyes. He let go of my throat and I took a shaky breath.

I looked at Lucian. There was never a time I’d seen him so, so raw with emotion. With anger.

“Let go of my mate,” he said softly, and Maxwell laughed, but it was a laugh that shook me and told me there was nothing humorous about it.

Maxwell looked at him, challenging him, and placed a finger on the tender spot under my ear.

I looked at Lucian with fear and swallowed. He never took his eyes off Lucian as he ran his finger down my neck, and down to the closed button of the cotton pajama top I wore.

My breathing came out quickly.

He could take me. Right in front of Lucian. It would break him, and Maxwell would laugh.

“GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF HER!” He yelled and with a push of his finger, the whole chair tipped over.

I knocked the side of my lip and I could taste blood.

Lucian was shaking already, he knew he shouldn’t snap because that’s what the asshole wanted, he wanted to his son squirm.

He snapped his fingers and one of the bigger men grabbed the back of the metal chair, pulling it with Lucian into the center of the room.

My face grew numb from the cold and my back began to ache.

“Pick the girl up,” He told the man and he obediently did as he was told.

They lifted me up, so I faced Lucian and the blood began running down my jaw.

Lucian’s eyes were dark, and his jaw twitched uncontrollably.

“What is it I want, I hear you say,” Maxwell began, sitting in his own metal chair.

“Go fuck yourself,” I told him and spat blood in his direction.

He looked at me with red eyes that made me shiver and I shifted my gaze very quickly to Lucian’s eyes.

“Well, I want the baby that’s growing inside of you. Of course, we’d have to speed up the process of the baby’s growth in the womb, but that’s easy,” he said, and I felt my face went ice cold. As if all the warmth in my body and washed out of me.

“I’m not pregnant,” I laughed, anger tracing every syllable, and looked at Lucian who looked as if he was about to snap.

“Well, that’s highly impossible,” He began and lit what looked like a cigar.

“Remember the visit I gave you? I enhanced your brain cells and forced your heat upon you sooner. I doubt any protection was worn,” He said with a smirk and I realized he was right.

“YOU CANNOT TAKE OUR CHILD!” It was Lucian who yelled, and I saw a tear roll down his face. By the evil look on Maxwell’s face, I knew he’d done it. He’d made Lucian snap.

“I can and I will,” Maxwell said, and a small box was brought in by the wizard and placed on the table. Maxwell got up and went over to the box, lifting up a syringe filled with a red substance.

“You see, Tessa, I always get what I want. And what I want is an heir for the throne because that piece of shit was never worthy,” Maxwell said, walking towards me and kneeling down in front of me.

“IF I GET OUT OF THESE ROPES, OH MAY THE DRAGON LORD HELP YOU!” Lucian yelled and I heard his voice crack.

He lifted the syringe up and I tried shaking myself free, or even just a few feet away from him.

“Tessa, the more you struggle the more painful it will be. Ah, I’ve got an idea. You birth the child and become my Queen. A queen like you should be pampered while carrying something so dear to me,” he said, and I looked at him with a steel gaze.

“I’d rather die next to the man I love than marry you or rule your pathetic joke for a Kingdom,” I said, and he smirked before stabbing the syringe and emptying out its liquid in an exposed vein.

I bit down on the pain and groaned.

“That will be arranged,” He said and put the syringe back in its box, handing it back to the wizard.

“The baby will be due in nine days, tell the wolves to attack,” He said and in that one minute, while the wizard spoke over the phone, the room in the air changed.

“They’ve rejected us, your majesty. They are going rogue,” the wizard said, and Maxwell froze.

“Tessa, get back!” My wolf yelled and I looked at Lucian. All the energy in the room was being sucked towards Lucian, who twitched and growled furiously.

Oh shit.

I’d seen Lucian’s wolf once in our time together and I knew, for certain, that I was going to see it again. Now. In this room.

His skin shifted in the chair and I heard the ropes keeping his hands behind him snap.

My heartbeat was speeding up erratically and Lucian’s body began deforming, into the beast he was.

I saw his body began to grow in front of me and I managed to claw my hands out of the ropes. Swallowing, I ran for the door. The men stood frozen, watching my mate turn into his wolf.

Maxwell turned around and ran out of the door.

My Luna senses kicked in and something told me that the pack was in danger. I ran down the hallway after Maxwell and found myself surrounded by beautiful swords. Some with rubies and emeralds on their handles, others with beautiful carvings.

I saw one in a display case, going towards it, I could make out the wolf and dragon carvings on the grip.

“I made that one myself. Dedicated it to Lucian’s mother,” he said, and I turned around, face to face with the man who wanted my pups.