Lucien I could feel my wolf stir the moment I saw Chris go too close to Irene. He had been trying to harass her in my very presence without fear. Had he been blind to see that I was there? Or had he forgotten his place? The possessiveness slammed into me like a rush of waves, tightening my chest and heating up my blood. My fingers clicked and my hand tightened as I took a slow breath, willing myself to stay calm. Chris had no idea what he was playing with. Maybe I had been too cool with him, and he hadn’t realized how bad what he was doing was. And as for Irene? She sat stiffly in her chair, her face tight and her eyes dark with fear, so I thought. I caught a slight tension in her shoulders. I also saw the way her body fidgeted and the way her hand curled under the table as if she were restraining herself from doing something silly. She didn’t like his presence. Neither did I, and I was going to show him that now. “Back off!” I yelled at him, my voice filled with enough aut
IreneI barely made it two steps into the hallway before Eve appeared in front of me, looking so fierce as if she was about to fight someone.Hatred burned in her eyes, and I almost turned to take another route.I was sick of her. The other day, Lucien swore with everything in him that she was only going to stay for a few days, but now? That wasn’t the case.She was here to stay, and she had gotten so comfortable."You really have no shame, do you?" she sneered, and I sighed, already tired of the endless back and forth between us."What do you want, Eve? If I’m not mistaken, I didn’t do anything to you. Can you just let me be?” I asked, sighing for the second time.“Who cares, silly? I’m just here to remind you that you are going beyond your bounds,” she said, and I could feel her breath blowing hot against my face. “You think you can come in here, demand things, and have Lucien protect you like some fragile little princess? You are mistaken. I think I have to put an end to that.”I s
IreneI slammed my door shut, leaning against it for support as my heart pounded against my ribs.Peris. Of all people.It felt like some cruel joke and a twisted punishment.How could Lucien have done this to me?This was a slap in the face. It was an insult. He had so many men to choose from, but he had to get my ex.Taking a shaky breath, I pressed my forehead against the cool wood of the door.I needed to relax and relieve myself from this kind of prank that was being played on me.How was I going to cope with this? There had to be a way somehow. Lucien had to change it and send him away. That was all I wanted.But my moment of peace was short-lived as I heard a funny noise echoing through the walls, and surprisingly, it was coming close to me.I stiffened at the sound of it. I didn’t know what to expect, and I wasn’t scared.As long as what was coming wasn’t here to kill me, then I was cool.Slowly, I turned the knob and cracked the door open just enough to see him.It was Peris,
IreneIf I had been given an award for the many times I had called Peris names, then I was quite sure I would have had a lot.There was nothing good about him, and trust me, I wasn’t saying all of this because he was my ex.I was saying this because he was no good. That was the plain truth, and I wasn’t trying to mince my words.He hadn’t been a good person, and up until now, I was still in shock that Alpha Lucien had brought him to me.All of them had been the same. They had all been the same.I let out a frustrated sigh, rubbing my arms as Peris leaned lazily against the wall. He still had his usual infuriating smirk on full display, and it did nothing to make me feel better.Now, I regretted not having a gun because if I had had one, I would have shot him in the head long ago."You’re a pest," I complained, shaking my head. I didn’t care about how he felt; as long as the message was passed, then it was all good. "A stubborn, annoying, insufferable pest,” I added, and he just laughe
LucienChris barged into my office without knocking, distracting me from my work.His heavy boots kept hitting against the hard floor as he approached my desk, and I had to decide whether to leave everything I was doing to focus on him or not.“You need to get rid of him,” he informed me, and finally, after more consideration, I didn’t look up from the documents I was reviewing.“Get rid of who?” I asked, my eyes still on the documents, and Chris scoffed, placing his hands on my desk.“Peris,” he said, and I was quite surprised that this was coming from him.If anybody was to be complaining about this, it would be Irene, not him.At that, I finally raised my head.“What about him? Did he do something wrong, or did he go against the rules of this pack?” I asked, and Chris’s lips curled in disgust.“The truth is, he is a menace. He’s not doing his job. He’s too busy drooling over Irene like some pathetic fool. I caught him again today, hovering around her like a lost puppy. It was very
Irene"Stop it!"A sharp gasp tore from my lips as I was ripped from Peris’ hold with a brutal and sudden force that I barely had time to register what was happening.My feet stumbled over themselves, and before I could regain my balance, I was lying flat on the cold, hard ground. The impact of the fall sent a dull ache through my palms and knees.What the hell had just happened? I had fallen down? How? One moment, Lucien had sent him away.Then, the next minute, he had jerked him off the ground and thrown me to the floor.You might think I was at fault for following Peris after Lucien had dismissed him. But I wasn’t! I swear, I wasn’t. I had simply been following my bodyguard.My head snapped up in time to see Peris being kicked into the air like someone without bones.His body twisted mid-air before he landed with a harsh thud, rolling over the dirt.He groaned in pain, struggling to push himself up, but the menace of a man standing over him made it clear—he wasn’t allowed to move.
Lucien“You weren’t leaving, Irene! I wasn’t going to allow you to leave if you wouldn’t come here and let us have a discussion!”That was me shouting at the top of my voice and sweating profusely because of what had happened between the both of us some minutes ago.I didn’t know what else to tell her. I wasn’t too shy to face her, but she had tried to get herself away from me.No, I wasn’t going to allow that.“What else did you want from me, Lucien? Clearly, you could see that I wasn’t in the mood for this,” she had said, sitting on the edge of my desk with her legs crossed and her arms folded tightly over her chest.I couldn’t tell if she was angry or mad at me because of what had happened earlier. She was making me have different thoughts that were driving me insane.She had been thinking. She had been overthinking, actually. I could see it in the way she bit her lower lip, the way her fingers tapped against her arm slowly, and now, all I wanted was to have a word with her so that
IreneI felt so warm when I woke up and my body was on the softest bed sheets I had ever known.I didn't know what had happened to me, but I felt so satisfied.My eyes snapped open. I noticed it was morning already, but I felt a sharp pain shooting out from my head.My heart slammed against my ribs as the events of last night flooded back.Lucien, again! Now, I couldn't deny that I had loved every bit of what had happened last night.His touch, His lips, his body. Everything had felt right, and I could still feel the fire that had consumed the both of us.I sat up immediately, only to feel the cool air brush against my bare skin.Then, I looked down.“Oh my God!” I blurted out and quickly held my mouth with my hand after a gasp tore through me.I struggled to pull up the sheets tighter around my body, and I could hardly breathe.I had been completely exposed beneath the covers, lying across Lucien’s bed like it was a normal thing.It was then I began to panic. What had I really done?
Lucien's POV“Take them to the dungeon, make sure their screams don't disturb the peace of the house.” I ordered, my words heavy and final.The guards began to pull Malcolm, Peris, and the Elders forward, their hands were bound and their heads were lowered for the first time in years. The crowd parted for them, watchful. If not for the guards, I'm sure the pack wouldn't hesitate to kill them with their claws.Malcolm was the first to open his mouth. He was never the type to accept defeat when it came.“This is madness, Lucien!” he barked, fighting against the guards as they shoved him forward. “You’re letting emotion cloud your judgment. This is not the way of the council! You can't just discard us like that, this is barbaric!”I stepped forward, my gaze not leaving him. “You taught me the ways of this council. You knew everything, didn't you? But you still failed to live by your teachings. It's over, Malcolm.”His eyes narrowed, but before he could speak again, the eldest member of
Irene's POVI tried to sleep. The warmth of the blanket should have comforted me, but my instincts prickled beneath my skin. I was too restless. The bond between Lucien and I hummed with something heavy.Then I heard it—his voice, cold and full of command.“BOW DOWN!”“Lucien?” I echoed, and sat up instantly. My breath was caught in my throat. That wasn't a command whispered in private. That was Lucien's Alpha voice; the kind he'd used on Silas the first time we met. He told me to stay inside, but that was the last thing to do. I threw the blankets off and dressed quickly, tugging a robe over my body. I left the room and ran down the hall. I met a few guards posted around.“What's going on?” I asked breathlessly.The guards looked at themselves before one of them answered. “Alpha Lucien is exposing the traitors. The Council of Elders are being arrested.”“What?” I was shocked. Lucien hadn't said anything like that this morning. Why had he asked me not to come out? I didn't wait for
Lucien's POVThe morning sun barely broke out before I had my bath, got dressed, and crawled back into bed with Irene. She smelt nice after the thorough bath we had during midnight.“I need to meet the council,” I said, tightening the last button of my shirt as Irene stirred beneath the sheets.She opened her eyes slowly, still drowsy from the night we spent locked in each other's arms. “Good morning. What did you say?”I leaned down and kissed her gently, brushing her hair from her face. “You look so beautiful, Irene.”She giggled and kissed me. “That's not what I asked you, Lucien.”“I am meeting the pack council.” I repeated slowly. “This is something I should’ve done a long time ago, it's not too late now, though. But I need you to stay here.”Her brows furrowed, worry creeping into her gaze. “Stay here? Why?”“Because I can't risk you getting hurt again. Not like before.” I kissed her, slower this time, memorising the softness of her lips. “Please, Irene. Trust me, huh?”Her sile
Lucien's POV“I have stitched up his wound. He would come around in the morning. It's nothing serious.” The healer assured us and I gave him a nod of gratitude.Irene stood still, not wanting to leave the room.“Silas will be fine, Irene. Let's go to our room.” I whispered, pulling her away from the healer's chamber. Silas had passed out because of the blood he lost, but the healer assured us that he would be fine. I had no intention of going to the hospital, I wanted to do this low key and get to the councils when they were totally relaxed. Irene didn't argue with me this time, she just held my hand tight as I led her out. She made sure Silas was settled and he was breathing. “Will he be fine?” She asked silently, her voice warm.I nodded without saying a word. She seemed to trust my silence because she willingly allowed me to lead her down the hallway, past other rooms, until we got to our room. When we reached the bedroom door, I paused, reluctant to go in with her. She might b
Silas’s POV“Kael! Your time is up, man. Stop hiding.” I yelled into the empty hallway. Blood smeared my knuckles, and the lifeless bodies of Kael’s men that I had fought with were strewn across the floor. I was angry, and I needed to get to Kael to discharge that anger. I pushed open the last door at the end of the hall and let myself in. I discovered it was a mini bar. The room was dim, soaked in the amber glow of an overhead fluorescent light. The air was thick with the scent of whiskey, its smell made me wipe my bleeding lip with the back of my palm.“Kael!” I called angrily.He was slumped in a leather chair, his shirt unbuttoned, and an empty bottle dangled from his hand. He was wasted, asleep in fact.I stepped in and shut the door behind me. He didn’t stir. Rage and grief filled my mind as I lunged at him.“This is for my father!” I plunged the dagger forward but was stopped midair.“Shit!” Kael cursed, his eyes locking tight on me. He gave a strangled gasp, the bottle slipp
LucienWhile I was still trying to get myself as I stood beside the dead body. I heard a loud shout from outside. What can to me was my guards and Silas. I hope nothing had happened to them. I looked at the corpse on the floor which I had already decided was Irene and I tried to look for a way to get the corpse back to my pack. That was going to be very difficult because I didn't know how to do that. I needed help from Silas and my guards. But, I didn't know how I was going to do all that without attracting the people that we were hiding from. I was thinking so hard and while I tried to reach a conclusion. I heard a loud thud outside like an earthquake. I ran out of the room and I was that Silas and the guards were being rounded up by some guards. We were caught! I rushed towards them and one of them saw me and tried to jump on me. "Get your filthy hands off me!" I growled, slamming the guard against the wall with enough force to rattle the wooden frame.We had arrived and if
LucienI knew that this information came as a shock to me but I was not totally surprised. It was something that was expected from people like Kael and I had always suspected his ass. "He played us. Kael played us all,” Silas said. His face fell flat like he just got hit by a trailer load of disappointment. I remember when Kael promised him a lot of things and how he was so loyal to him. But, now everything has backfired. It was sad for him but I didn’t flinch when Silas said it. I couldn’t. I was too far gone in my thoughts to react the way he wanted me to. That feeling that had been sitting on my chest like a stone since Irene disappeared had finally taken shape. Kael.I should have known.I leaned forward in my seat and my fingers steepled under my chin as I replayed the last words we had heard through the bug in Peris's car. Kael, casually spitting out the exact location where Irene was being held, like it wasn’t someone’s life he was toying with."He sounded so... proud,"
LucienWe sat in my car, parked far enough from Malcolm's mansion to avoid suspicion, yet we were close enough to pick up every word through Silas' little device. The night was unnaturally still and calm and it was only the faint hum of Silas' recorder that played between us.Silas leaned forward, fiddling with the device volume. "Just listen, carefully,” he informed me and after that, Chris' voice came through clearly. "We are fighting for something that matters, Peris. The park spies are the backbone of our survival. If we can get our hands on the document…""The one with the names?" Peris interrupted."Yes, all of them. Every spy hidden in every pack. If we find it and deliver it to the right Alphas, we can expose corruption and reset the system."I let out a dry laugh. Are they mad?"Reset the system? By throwing us into chaos? These people are very sick!”Silas stayed quiet. I could tell he was trying to process it all.Chris continued, unaware of how his words were slamming a
Lucien"He is already on the move and he’s not alone, Lucien,” Silas said immediately as he stepped into my study. He didn’t bother knocking and he didn’t even shake when I whipped my head around so fast to look at him. My goodness! What was that? I appreciated the effort he was making towards this and I didn't damn care if he lacked courtesy or not. What I wanted was good information! "You followed Chris? How did it go? Please, spill the tea," I asked, heart thudding louder than it should."I did. Not for long, though," he said, moving to close the door behind him. "I didn’t need to. I know exactly where he is going."I stood up slowly, brows pulling together. "Where?""Malcolm’s house. There’s a meeting happening there and Chris isn’t the only one attending,” he informed me and my heart dropped.This was very concerning. My fists clenched and the veins on my face popped out. Of course Malcolm would be involved. The man had always rubbed me the wrong way. He was too quiet and