Chapter 45 CHAPTER 45
Lucian’s POV
The forest was a blur of dark green and grey as I tore through the underbrush. My paws hit the earth with the force of hammers. Every instinct I possessed was screaming at me to turn around—to go back to the cottage where my mate was vulnerable and burning.
Patience, Varos, I growled internally. We protect her by ending the snake.
As I approached the Standing Stones—the ancient, jagged rocks where the Ashwood Alphas had been coronated for centuries—I heard the drone of a voice. Malrik.
I slowed, shifting back into my human form while still in motion. I didn't care that I was naked; an Alpha’s skin is his armor. I stepped into the clearing just as Malrik held up a piece of weathered parchment.
"—and as the late Alpha Adrian’s chosen second, I cannot stand by while his brother chooses an Omega’s bed over the safety of this pack!" Malrik shouted. He looked sleek, polished, and entirely too smug. "Lucian is compromised. The bond has made him weak. Look at the perimeter reports! Rogues are sensing his distraction!"
The Elders, six old wolves with eyes like clouded marble, murmured in the shadows of the stones.
"Is that so, Malrik?" I stepped into the light.
The clearing went silent. Malrik’s face drained of color for a split second before he masked it with a sneer.
"Lucian," he said, spreading his hands. "You look... disheveled. One might even say unhinged."
"I look like a man who just ran five miles to catch a traitor," I said, my voice vibrating with the Alpha’s Command. Two of the younger guards at the edge of the clearing flinched, their heads bowing instinctively.
I turned to the Elders. "You want to talk about distraction? Let’s talk about why three patrols were pulled from the eastern border the night my brother died. Let’s talk about why the 'rogues' that attacked Darius wore the scent of Malrik’s old pack—the one Adrian supposedly 'dismantled' but Malrik secretly kept on life support."
"Lies!" Malrik barked. "You’ve been locked in a cabin for days, lost in your mate’s scent. You’re hallucinating!"
"I’m seeing clearer than I have in ten years," I countered, stepping into his personal space. I was a head taller and twice as broad, and the scent of Aria’s heat—now a dark, territorial musk on my skin—made me look like a predator who had just finished a kill.
I looked at Elder Silas, the oldest of them. "The heat is a cycle of nature, Silas. You know this. It is the Moon’s gift, not a sickness. I have spent the last few days ensuring that the woman who will be your Luna is safe, healed, and ready to lead. Unlike my predecessor's killers, I don't abandon my people—whether they are my mate or my pack."
"He has no proof!" Malrik hissed, looking at the Elders. "He’s stalling! The law says if the Alpha is absent during a crisis, the Beta or the appointed Regency takes over. I am that Regency!"
"The law also says," I said, my voice dropping to a deadly whisper, "that a Regency can be challenged by Blood-Right. Here. Now."
I reached out and grabbed Malrik by the throat. It wasn't a fight—it was an execution of ego. I squeezed just enough to let him feel the power of the True Alpha.
"I won't kill you tonight, Malrik. Not in front of the Elders. I want them to see you crawl first. I want them to see every lie you’ve fed this pack burn."
I shoved him back, and he tumbled into the dirt.
"Darius!" I called out.
Darius stepped from the shadows, holding a leather-bound ledger—the real one Orion had found. "Got it, Alpha."
"Take the Elders to the hall. Show them the transfer of pack funds to the rogue territories. Show them the letters Malrik sent to our enemies while Adrian was still breathing."
Malrik scrambled to his feet, his eyes darting toward the tree line. He knew he was caught.
"This isn't over, Lucian," he spat. "You think she’s safe? You think a broken Omega can hold a throne?"
"She isn't broken," I said, my eyes flashing a lethal gold. "She was just waiting for a reason to fight. And you just gave her forty-three of them."
I turned my back on him—the ultimate insult—and looked at the moon. The heat in my blood was reaching its absolute zenith. The political battle was won for the night, but the personal one was just beginning.
"Darius," I said over my shoulder. "Lock him in the cells. Use the silver cuffs. If he so much as breathes toward the triplets, kill him."
I didn't wait for a response. I shifted and ran. I had a mate to claim, and this time, there would be no more talking.