Chapter 44 CHAPTER 44
Lucian’s POV
The air in the cottage wasn’t just thick; it was autonomous. It felt like a living thing, heavy with the scent of wild honeysuckle and a deep, musky heat that made Varos pace behind my ribs until my bones ached.
It had been four days. Four days of being a saint. Four days of watching Aria reclaim her soul while I slowly lost my mind.
I sat at the small kitchen table, staring at a cup of coffee that had gone cold hours ago. In the bedroom, I could hear her. She wasn’t crying anymore, the "emotional" stage of the heat had passed. This was the peak. It was the stage where the wolf took the lead, and the human became a passenger.
"Lucian."
Her voice didn't sound like her. It was lower, frayed at the edges.
I stood up, my chair scraping harshly against the floor. "I'm here, Aria."
I walked to the doorway but didn't enter. She was tangled in the sheets of the bed--my bed--wearing only one of my t-shirts. Her skin was flushed a deep, feverish pink. Her eyes, usually so guarded and cautious, were dark. The pupils had swallowed the iris.
"It’s too much," she whispered, her fingers clutching the pillow. "The medicine... it isn't working anymore. Nyra won't let it."
"I know," I said, my voice sounding like gravel under a boot. "Orion said this would happen. The peak doesn't take orders from a bottle, Aria."
I stayed by the door, my knuckles white as I gripped the frame. I was a man of war. I had survived rogue ambushes and exile. But standing three feet away from my mate in her peak heat without touching her? That was the hardest thing I had ever done.
"Come here," she breathed.
"Aria, if I come over there, I’m not sure I can be the 'safe' version of Lucian you need right now. Varos is..." I trailed off, the growl vibrating in my chest finishing the sentence for me.
"I don't want the safe version," she said, sitting up. The movement was fluid, feline. She looked at me with a clarity that pierced right through my restraint. "For years, I hid. I took those pills so I wouldn't feel this. I thought this feeling was a cage. I thought it was a way for an Alpha to own me."
She slid off the bed, her bare feet hitting the floor. She took a step toward me. Then another.
"But it’s not a cage, Lucian. It’s a bridge. And I want to cross it with you."
The air between us snapped. I didn't move, but my wolf was howling, demanding I claim what was ours. Just as she reached out to touch my chest just as her heat-seared skin was an inch from mine, the world outside screamed.
My phone, sitting on the kitchen counter, began to vibrate with a violent, rhythmic intensity.
I ignored it. My eyes were locked on hers.
It stopped. Then, three seconds later, it started again. Then the emergency pack-link in my mind flared a sharp, stinging pressure at the base of my skull.
"Lucian," Aria whispered, her hand finally landing on my heart. She felt it thudding like a drum. "Something's wrong."
I reached back, grabbing the phone without looking. I answered it, my voice a snarl. "This had better be life or death, Darius."
"It’s both," Darius’s voice came through, strained and breathless. I could hear the sound of wind he was running. "Malrik moved, Lucian. He didn't wait for the morning. He called an emergency assembly at the Standing Stones ten minutes ago. He’s telling the elders you’ve succumbed to 'mate-fever.' He’s claiming you’re a liability to the triplets’ safety."
My blood turned to ice. "The children?"
"They’re with Josie, but Malrik has the Council of Elders in his pocket. He’s showing them Adrian’s old records, records he’s clearly faked or altered—
to prove you weren't meant to come back. He’s calling for a vote of no confidence. If you aren't here in an hour, he legally takes the Regency."
I looked at Aria. She was trembling, the heat still radiating off her, but she had heard every word. The haze in her eyes was being replaced by that familiar, sharp-edged fear.
"Go," she whispered.
"I'm not leaving you like this," I snapped at the phone and at her. "Darius, hold them. Challenge him. Do whatever you have to do."
"I can't challenge a Regency claim without a blood-Alpha present, Lucian! You know the law!"
I hung up, slamming the phone onto the table. The silence of the cottage felt like a tomb.
"He’s doing this now because he knows I’m here," I said, pacing the small space like a caged animal. "He knows your heat is at its peak. He’s using our bond as a weapon against us."
Aria walked toward me. She didn't look like a victim. She looked like the Luna this pack had been missing for a decade. She reached out, taking my face in her hands. Her palms were burning hot, but her touch was steady.
"He thinks I'm your weakness," she said, her voice growing stronger. "He thinks because I’m an Omega, I’ll keep you here, hidden away, while he steals your brother’s legacy."
She leaned in, pressing her forehead against mine.
"Prove him wrong. Go down there and take your throne. I’ll be here. I’ll wait. But Lucian?"
"Yeah?"
"When you come back... kill him. Don't let him breathe the same air as the triplets ever again."
I looked at her, my mate, my match. The woman who had been terrified of Alphas four days ago was now telling me to go to war.
"I’ll be back," I promised, kissing her with a ferocity that tasted like a vow. "Lock the door. Don't shift unless you have to. If anyone other than me or Darius knocks, you know what to do."
"I know," she said, a flash of Nyra’s amber eyes showing through. "I’m an Omega, Lucian. But I’m your Omega. He has no idea what that means."
I shifted into Varos before I even hit the porch, my clothes tearing as the massive black wolf took form. I didn't look back. I ran toward the Standing Stones, the scent of honeysuckle still clinging to my fur, fueled by a rage that would leave Malrik with nothing but ashes.