Lucian's Pov
I wasn't sure how much longer I could sit there and listen to the elders test the limits of my patience. The audacity they had—suggesting I take another woman just to produce an heir—was beyond offensive. It was bold, reckless, and just another clear sign of how much power they desperately sought to take from me. As if choosing some random woman to bear my heir would stabilize anything. As if I'd just step aside and let them mold my legacy into something weak and controllable.
They knew I had a mate. They knew.
Sure, I hadn't claimed her. I hadn't even acknowledged her and almost rejected her, but that didn't give them the right to start matchmaking like this was some royal tea party. I'd barely gotten the words out when one of the elders—the same smug bastard who suggested the heir idea—started, looking stunned, as though my refusal had personally wounded him.
"Your mate..." He said slowly. "You mean the girl who humiliated herself at the world meeting?
