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Chapter 17: A Desperate Bargain
Last Updated:
2025-02-16 14:57:50
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"Do you really want to know the truth?" My stepmother’s voice slithered through the darkened chamber, curling around me like a serpent.I clenched my fists. "I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t."She smiled—a slow, deliberate expression that sent a shiver down my spine. Her silver robes shimmered under the candlelight, making her look every bit the powerful enchantress she had always claimed to be. The woman who had stolen my father’s will murdered my mother, and crushed me beneath her heel now held the final answers I needed.But at what cost?"Very well." She lifted a delicate glass vial from the wooden table beside her. The liquid inside glowed an eerie shade of blue. "This will help you remember what was stolen from you."I hesitated. I had spent my whole life wanting to uncover the secrets buried within me, but now that I stood at the edge of revelation, my pulse pounded with hesitation."What’s in it?""A key. To your past, your power… and your destiny."I didn’t trust her. I never h
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The dagger trembled in my grip, its tip barely an inch from Lucien’s heart. His fingers curled over mine, pressing the blade against his chest. His golden eyes—always cold, always unreadable—held something different now.Acceptance.“Do it,” he whispered.The words sliced through me more than the blade ever could.I clenched my jaw. My body screamed for me to drive the dagger forward, to end him the way my stepmother had foretold. But my heart—traitorous and reckless—refused to obey.Lucien’s lips curled in something almost like amusement, but there was no humor in his gaze. “You don’t hate me, Cassia. You hate the part of you that wants me.”A sharp breath left my lungs, my fingers twitching against the hilt. “You don’t know anything about what I want.”He laughed, low and dark. “Don’t I?” His hand slid to my wrist, guiding my trembling grip. “I’ve hurt you. I’ve been cruel. And yet, you hesitate.”I hated that he was right. I hated that my chest ached more from his words than from t
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"You should have run when you had the chance, Cassia."The voice was unmistakable. Cold. Familiar.I turned slowly, my pulse roaring in my ears. The rogue stood at the edge of the battlefield, his sword glinting under the blood-red moon. But something was different. His eyes, once filled with silent promises of protection, were hardened now, unreadable.He wasn’t here to save me. He was here to destroy me.Lucien stepped forward, his body tense beside mine. "So this is how it is," he murmured, his voice thick with restrained fury.The rogue tilted his head, his grip tightening on the hilt of his sword. "I made my choice."A sharp wind cut through the clearing, carrying the scent of war. The battle had begun, but my fight had just turned personal.Three Hours EarlierLucien’s war tent was dimly lit, the flickering lanterns casting jagged shadows across the map spread before us. We were surrounded by warriors—his most trusted pack members, men who had killed for him, bled for him and wo
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The wind howled through the trees, carrying the scent of rain and blood. My heart pounded in my chest as I crouched behind the large oak, my breath coming in short, ragged bursts. The clearing before me was bathed in the eerie glow of the Blood Moon, its crimson light turning the world into something out of a nightmare.I had come here expecting war. Instead, I found betrayal.Lucien stood in the middle of the clearing, his posture rigid, his expression unreadable. He wasn’t alone. My stepmother stood beside him, her presence like a dark shadow against the moonlit night. The two of them were speaking in hushed tones, but I caught every word.“I gave you what you asked for, Lucien,” my stepmother said, her voice smooth and dripping with satisfaction. “Now, it’s time for you to uphold your end of the bargain.”Lucien’s fists clenched. “She’s not to be harmed.”My blood turned to ice.She?They were talking about me.I gripped the rough bark of the tree to steady myself, forcing my breat
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"You shouldn’t have found that," Lucien murmurs, his voice laced with regret.I spin around so fast that the old journal in my hands nearly slips from my grasp. My pulse thunders in my ears as I take in the man before me—the same man who had shattered my trust just hours ago. His face is unreadable, but his eyes hold something dangerous, something I can’t quite name."Shouldn’t have found what?" My voice is sharp, edged with betrayal and something else, something raw. "The truth? The prophecy? Or the fact that you were willing to sell me to that woman?"Lucien exhales, running a hand through his hair. "You don't understand, Cassia—""Then make me understand!" I step forward, my hands trembling. "Make me understand why I just heard you making a deal with my stepmother to trade me for power!"The silence stretches between us like a blade. His jaw tightens, and his shoulders rise and fall with a deep breath, but he doesn’t deny it.I scoff, the sound hollow. "You won’t even lie to me abo
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“You have no idea what you’re playing with, Cassia,” the rogue’s voice was a low growl in my ear as he pulled me deeper into the shadows of the dense forest. “You think Lucien wants to own you? He’s trying to save you.”I wrenched my arm from his grip, my heart pounding in my chest. The words rattled in my mind, but they made no sense. “Save me?” I spat, my voice laced with disbelief. “From what? Himself? His own cruelty? I don’t need his protection.”The rogue—Kier—stared at me, frustration burning in his dark eyes. He had been the only one within Lucien’s pack who had dared to help me escape in the past. But after what I had discovered in my father’s old journals, after the prophecy, I wasn’t sure who to trust anymore.Kier let out a sharp breath, shaking his head. “It’s not just about you, Cassia. You don’t understand what you are—what’s inside you. If Lucien completes the bond, you won’t just be his mate. You’ll be bound to him in a way that no one—not even the goddess herself—can
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I stormed into Lucien’s chamber, my pulse hammering in my ears. He stood by the massive fireplace, his broad back to me, hands clenched at his sides. The glow of the flames cast long shadows on the stone walls, but I barely noticed.“You knew,” I spat, slamming the heavy door behind me. “You knew what the ritual meant, and you still let it happen!”Lucien turned slowly, his golden eyes dark and unreadable. “Cassia—”“No,” I cut him off, stepping forward. My heart was racing, my hands trembling. “You don’t get to say my name like that. Not after everything you’ve done.”He exhaled sharply, running a hand through his thick, dark hair. “You don’t understand.”“Then make me understand.” My voice wavered, but I stood my ground. “Tell me why I feel this pull to you. Why I can’t hate you as much as I should? Why—” My breath caught as something inside me twisted, a force I couldn’t control surging through my veins. I pressed a hand to my chest. “Why does it feel like my soul is being ripped a
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"Love is a dangerous illusion."The rogue's words echoed in my mind as I stood in the clearing, my heart pounding. The night was thick with the scent of damp earth and pine, and the full moon cast long shadows across the forest floor. I clenched my fists, staring at the man who had guided me, who had whispered secrets in the dark, who had sworn to help me escape Lucien’s grasp.The rogue—Joren.His emerald eyes glowed under the moonlight, and the smirk he wore sent a chill down my spine."You…" My voice came out as a whisper, thick with betrayal. "It was you all along."Joren tilted his head, watching me like a predator sizing up its prey. "What did you expect, Cassia? That I would be your savior?"I took a step back, my body tense. My instincts screamed at me to run, but something told me it was too late."You helped me," I said, trying to make sense of the twisting knife of betrayal in my chest. "You warned me about Lucien, you gave me information—""I gave you just enough," he inte
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"Lucien, look at this." I held up the scroll, the seal broken and the message inside unclear to me, though I had a sinking feeling in my chest.He crossed the room swiftly, his large frame filling the space between us in seconds. His hand grazed mine, the touch lingering as though it held more weight than the parchment itself. Lucien had changed since the night we tore down the heart of our kingdom, and with it, he had become less of a tyrant and more of an equal."You look troubled," he murmured, his voice low and filled with a new, gentle strength.I swallowed hard, unfurling the scroll. "It's from the capital. They want an audience—"Before I could finish, he took the scroll from my hands, his eyes scanning it. His face hardened as he read, his jaw tightening."Lucien?" I stepped closer, my heart racing. The shift in his demeanor was enough to stir the unease in me."Look at this," he said, handing it back to me with a look that mirrored my own uncertainty.My eyes scanned the word
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“Lucien,” I whispered, my voice barely above a tremor, the letter shaking between my hands. The wax seal, still warm with the recent press, bore a symbol I could never mistake. It was Varyn’s—his mark, the same mark I had seen burned into the old tomes and whispered in the shadows of the pack’s darkest corners.Lucien’s fingers grazed mine as he reached for the letter. His intense gaze softened, and for the first time in days, I saw something like unease flicker in his stormy eyes.“What does it say?” His voice was low, strained.I unfolded the letter slowly, the weight of it pressing against my chest. The words on the parchment were short and cryptic, and yet they carried the weight of a prophecy I had never hoped to hear again.“A god who walks as a man is still bound to fate.”I felt the cold air in the room grow heavy as if the walls themselves were closing in, drawn tight by the threat in those few words.Lucien’s jaw clenched, his fingers curling into fists at his sides. “Varyn,
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I never imagined that standing beside Lucien would feel so... heavy. The weight of his silence, the pressure of his thoughts, it all pressed against me like an invisible storm. But this time, it wasn't just the looming danger of his past decisions or his oppressive presence that worried me. It was his own struggle—Lucien, the once-immortal Alpha, now feeling the pull of his humanity."How do you feel?" I asked, the words slipping out before I could think them through. The question felt small compared to everything we had been through, but I couldn't help it. I wanted to know. His face remained stoic as ever, but there was a subtle tightness around his eyes, something that spoke volumes without a single word.He exhaled slowly, rubbing his temple. "I feel... weak," he admitted, his voice low and strained. "The power I once had is gone. And without it, I'm just a man. A man who has spent his life commanding others, and now..." He paused, glancing up at the throne that once felt so fitti
