Lucian's POV
Rage burned behind my eyes like a wildfire. It was a slow, insidious fire at first, then flared into an inferno that swallowed reason and left only one hunger, retribution. They had done this to her. To what belonged to me
"You are all going to die today," I stated. My words was not a promise, it was a verdict
Alpha Baston's shoulders buckled first. His pride cracked and fell away in a heap as he dropped to his knees, hands clawing at the stone as if to anchor himself. The Luna followed, silk and rage abandoned for the cold, bare thing of begging. Around them the pack folded, one by one, warriors, servants, the curious, the vicious. Heads bowed, backs bent, cowardice and survival braided together in a single, ugly thing.
All but one.
Aiden stood tall. He did not drop. He did not bow. He looked at me as if I were merely another inconvenience to be endured. That defiance, stupid, insolent, poisonous, it was the blunder that burned brightest.
I moved before anyone could blink. The world narrowed, a tunnel focused on the single arrogant shape that dared stand where the rest had knelt. My feet barely kissed the stone before I was there. His eyes widened only a fraction of an instant before my hand closed around his throat.
The sensation of crushing life has its own kind of relish. His pulse fluttered beneath my palm likd a frantic bird. He struggled, fists battering my wrist, but he had the strength of a pampered child who'd never known hunger for real power. I tightened, hands like iron straps, and his world tilted on its axis.
From somewhere a scream tore the air, the Luna's shriek, begging to not kill her son. The Alpha's voice followed, a broken plea that scraped at me.
"Let him go! Lord Lucian.... please"
Their plea should have had weight. It was supposed to be enough to stop me. But the truth of it is, anyone who had watched me for long enough understood that I did not let go. When I start a kill, I always finish it
I felt the hot, nauseating surge of joy at the thought of tearing into him, of letting his life pour out, hot and red, while the yard watched and learned. My hand crept farther, nails tensing, claws starting to dig into his throat.
And then....
There was a sound, different from the rest, not a plea, not a murmur, but a single, sharp human cry that splintered the moment. "Evelyn!" Lisa screamed
My grip faltered. For a second, my world shifted on the hinge of that cry. I didn't want to look. I had a hand wrapped around his throat, I could feel his life trying to push out.
But.... My Aveline...
I let him drop and he spluttered to the floor in a coughing, choking heap, grasping for air like a fish flung from its pool. Aiden clawed at his throat with both hands, eyes wide, shock and the first paler hint of fear widening them.
I turned.
There she was. Evelyn. Collapsed, as frail as a reed, splayed at the base of the post. Her chest beneath the robe, rose in shallow, trembling pulls. Her head lolled to one side as if gravity itself were a weight too harsh for her to hold. Blood crusted along her skin. Her face, when it moved, was slack with pain and fever and something like surrender.
Everything else, the hungry sound of the crowd, the Luna's parched breath, Baston's whimpering, faded to a distant, obscene echo. Something inside me snapped, I didn't think, I didn't breathe. I moved. The world blurred, the crowd vanishing into smears of color and sound as I supersped to her side.
"Aveline," I called, the name tearing out of me before I could stop it. My hand trembled as I touched her clammy cheek. "Aveline…."
But she didn't stir. Her head lolled, her breaths shallow and ragged, her skin hot with fever. She looked so fragile I feared my touch alone would shatter her.
No. I wasn't going to let her slip away.
I scooped her into my arms, her frail body light as air. I turned on Baston
"Get your best doctors and healers to my chambers. Now."
The Alpha and his wife flinched back, their lips parting to speak, but I didn't give them the chance. I blurred out of the yard, faster than their hearts could beat, leaving nothing but silence and fear in my wake.
I reached my chambers and I laid her gently on my bed. I adjusted the robe further over her, but it wasn't enough. She was still trembling, her breaths too shallow, her lips too dry.
And still….. she was her.
Every line of her face, the delicate curve of her lashes, the shape of her lips, it was Aveline. My Aveline. The Aveline I had buried in rage and time. Yet here she was. Human. Fragile. Wrong. And yet so painfully, agonizingly right.
The door burst open. The healers stumbled in with their satchels, eyes wide, sweat already beading their brows. They bowed low.
"Fix her," I snarled. My voice was low, dangerous, carrying the weight of slaughter. "If Aveline dies, I will not only kill you. I will hunt your families, your children, and burn your bloodlines from existence."
Their faces drained of color. They didn't dare argue. They scrambled to her side, laying out herbs, bandages, and potions, their hands trembling as they worked.
I paced like a caged predator. Every sound they made grated against my nerves, the rustle of cloth, the clink of glass. I hovered, leaning over their shoulders, my shadow swallowing them whole. They dared not look at me, dared not speak until one finally found the courage.
"My Lord," the oldest healer said, his voice shaking, "she is in a very feverish state. We've stabilized her body as much as we can. But until the fever calms, she will probably not wake up. We…... we can only wait."
Wait?
The word was like a death sentence. My jaw clenched, my claws threatening to break into something... someone. I could feel the pulse of my fury in my temples. "So that's it? You leave her like this? Pathetic." My laugh was bitter, sharp. "It's as if you really want to die."
They flinched, bowing lower, muttering apologies.
And then....
She coughed.
The sound was faint, broken, but it tore through me like a blade. In an instant, I was at her side, brushing the damp hair from her face.
"Aveline," I whispered, my voice raw, my hands cupping her cheeks. "Aveline, look at me."
Her eyelids fluttered. Slowly, painfully, her eyes opened. Confusion clouded them at first, hazy and lost. And then, ths recognition lit up in her eyes.
Her gaze locked on me.
Then.... she screamed.
With a strength I didn't think she still had, she shoved at me, scrambling back despite her weakness. "Stay away from me!" she cried, her voice hoarse, breaking.