Chapter 154
Lirael
Marcus pulled up to Nocturne headquarters at 10:43. I had two minutes to compose myself, to shove down the complicated tangle of emotions Sebastian had stirred up and become the leader my people needed.
"You don't have to go," Sebastian said for the third time, hand wrapped around mine in a grip just shy of painful. "Send someone else. You're still recovering—"
"Nothing will happen. Just boring logistics about the Genesis rescue operation." I squeezed back, trying to project confidence I didn't entirely feel. "I'll be back by two."
His jaw tightened, eyes flickering gold before he reined it in. "Two o'clock. Not a minute later. And if you sense any danger, you call me immediately. I don't care if you're meeting the fucking president—you call."
"Possessive much?" But my pulse kicked up at the intensity in his gaze, at the barely leashed Alpha dominance radiating off him.
"Yes." He cupped my face and kissed me hard enough to make my toes curl in my boots, hard enough that I grabbed his shirt for balance. "Mine, Lirael. Don't forget it."
As if I could, I thought, still tasting him as I made my way through security on shaky legs. As if every mark, every ache, every stupid flutter when he looked at me wasn't a constant reminder that I'd fallen in love with my former captor and current... whatever the hell he was now.
The conference room fell silent when I entered. I was late—barely—and walking with careful stiffness I absolutely couldn't explain without dying of embarrassment. Celeste raised an eyebrow from the window, lips twitching with barely suppressed amusement.
Bitch.
"Rough night?" she murmured as I lowered myself gingerly into my chair, and I shot her a look that promised retribution.
"Let's begin." I pulled up the holographic display of Black Reef Island, ignoring the knowing glances being exchanged around the table. Fuck them. "We have a four-day window during their system upgrade when—"
"Forgive the interruption, Your Highness," Selene cut in, silver eyes too knowing, "but are you quite well? You seem... distracted."
Everyone in this room had enhanced senses. They could probably smell Sebastian on my skin despite the shower, could see the faint marks peeking above my collar, could read in my careful movements exactly what I'd been doing for twelve hours straight.
"I'm fine." I met her gaze without flinching, lifting my chin. "Shall we continue?"
But Selene's disapproval pressed down like a physical weight through the entire meeting. Every time I shifted in my seat, every time I had to suppress a wince, I could feel her judgment. By noon, my head was pounding and my carefully maintained composure was fraying at the edges. My hands had curled into fists under the table.
"Walk with me," she said as the others filed out. Not a request.
Shit.
---
"You're limping," Selene observed in the empty hallway, and I wanted to scream.
"I'm fine."
"Lirael." She stopped, turning to face me, and the concern in her expression was somehow worse than anger. "I'm not blind. We can all see that your relationship with the Blackwood Alpha has... progressed."
"It's complicated." I crossed my arms, defensive, hating how young and uncertain I suddenly felt.
"It always is with them." Her hand settled on my shoulder, gentle but firm. "But you need to understand—he's a wolf. An Alpha from one of the three most powerful clans. And you're not just any elf. You're the last princess of the Lunar Court, the hope of our entire species." Her fingers tightened. "What you have with him can't last. It was never meant to last. Wolves don't take elven mates. Their society would never accept it, and neither would ours. Eventually, you're going to get burned."
The words hit like physical blows, each one landing in the soft vulnerable places I'd been trying to ignore. My nails dug into my palms. "I know," I whispered, and wasn't that the fucking crux of it? I knew. I'd known from the first moment I'd felt something other than hatred that this was temporary, built on desperation and blood and impossible circumstances.
"Then why?" Selene asked, and there was genuine confusion in her voice. "Why give him that power over you?"
Because he makes me feel safe, I thought but didn't say, throat tight. Because when I'm with him, I don't feel like a hunted thing or a broken princess or a failed savior—I just feel like Lira, like someone who deserves to be cherished and protected and loved. Because he looks at me like I'm the most precious thing in his world, and I've never had that before, never been anyone's priority or—
"Your Highness?" Selene's voice gentled, and I realized I'd been silent too long, staring at the floor like it held answers. My vision had gone blurry.
"I blame myself," she continued, voice thick with guilt. "We all do. If we'd been stronger, faster three years ago when Genesis took you—if we'd extracted you before you ever met Sebastian Blackwood—you wouldn't be in this impossible situation. You wouldn't have had to depend on a wolf's protection to survive. That's on us, Lirael. Our failure put you in his path, and now..."
"Now I'm in love with him," I finished, and saying it out loud to someone other than Sebastian felt like stepping off a cliff. I looked up, meeting her eyes, and fuck it, let her see. "I know it's stupid and dangerous and probably going to end in disaster. I know he's a wolf and I'm an elf and there are a thousand reasons this can't work. But I love him anyway, Selene. I love him so much it terrifies me, and I don't know how to stop."
The confession hung between us, raw and painful. My hands were shaking, so I shoved them in my pockets.
Selene pulled me into a hug that I hadn't realized I desperately needed. "Oh, sweetheart. I'm so sorry. For not being there when you needed us—"
"Don't." I pulled back, swiping at my eyes before any tears could fall and risk creating moon dew. "Don't apologize for shit that wasn't your fault. Genesis had military-grade security and backing from multiple factions. There was nothing you could have done. And Sebastian..." I took a shaky breath. "Sebastian saved my life more times than I can count. He's fighting his own father for me, risking everything—his position, his clan, his entire legacy—to help rescue the Genesis prisoners. He's not the enemy."