Lucian's POV
She was going to do it.
I watched Elara turn her back on Kieran and walk straight toward me. My heart pounded so hard I thought everyone could hear it.
In the last timeline, she picked Kieran. I watched her smile and take his hand like he was her savior. I watched her marry him. I watched her slowly fade away as he used her for the rite.
And I couldn't do anything to stop it.
But now she was walking toward me. Her hands shook, but she didn't stop. Didn't pause. She moved through the shocked crowd like she had nothing left to lose.
My Lycan impulses roared to life. Protect her. Claim her. Keep her safe.
I'd waited fifteen years for this moment. Fifteen years of watching from a distance because royal tradition wouldn't let me approach her without proper courtship. Without her wolf present to recognize the bond.
But she was coming to me now.
Elara stopped right in front of me. Up close, I could see the fear in her eyes mixed with desperate drive. She was scared but doing this anyway.
Brave. She'd always been brave.
"Your Majesty," she said, her voice shaking. "I need your help."
Her smell wrapped around me—wildflowers and moonlight, exactly like I remembered from when we were children. My wolf wanted to claim her right there, but I forced myself to stay still.
"Do you know what you're asking?" I said quietly.
She needed to understand. If she did this, there was no going back. The mate tie couldn't be broken once claimed at the Moon Dance.
"Yes," she said.
Liar. She had no idea what she was really asking for. But I'd give it to her anyway. I'd give her anything.
"Then ask properly," I said.
Her hands trembled as she reached up toward my mask. I held perfectly still, barely moving. This was it. The moment that would change everything.
She pushed my mask away.
And I saw the exact moment she recognized me.
Her breath caught. Her eyes went wide with shock. "Luca?"
That name.
That nickname she gave me when we were six years old because she couldn't pronounce Lucian right. The name I thought she'd forgotten after I left to begin royal training.
My chest felt like it was breaking open.
"Hello, Elara," I whispered. "I've waited so long to hear you say my name again."
Then she kissed me.
The mate bond exploded between us like lightning hitting. Silver light burst everywhere, so bright I could see it through my closed eyes. Every cell in my body lit up with one word: Mine.
My wolf howled in victory. After fifteen years of waiting, our mate finally picked us.
I could feel Elara's locked wolf trying to break free inside her. She recognized the link even through the curse. Even trapped, she knew her mate.
When Elara pulled back, tears shimmered in her eyes. "You remember me."
"How could I forget?" My hand came up to cup her face. "You were my best friend. My first love. The only person who ever called me Luca."
"You're the Lycan King," she breathed. "All this time—"
"I've been waiting for you," I finished. "Watching you. Hoping you'd remember me too."
Something flickered in her face. Understanding. Relief. And then fear.
"We need to talk," she said quickly. "Privately. There are things—"
"I know," I cut her off kindly. We couldn't talk about the time lapse here. Not with so many ears listening. "I know about all of it, Elara. We have the same memories."
Her knees buckled. I caught her, pulling her against my chest. She was shaking.
"You came back too?" she whispered against my shirt.
"Three days after you died," I said quietly, so only she could hear. "I found you in Kieran's cell. I killed him for what he did to you. His friends poisoned me in revenge. When the Moon Goddess offered a second chance, I thought I'd be alone in remembering."
"But you're here," Elara said, looking up at me with wonder. "We're both here."
"Yes," I said. "And this time, I won't let anyone hurt you."
Kieran's roar of rage broke our moment.
I moved Elara behind me, putting myself between her and the angry Alpha. My wolf growled, ready to rip Kieran apart if he touched what was mine.
"She was supposed to be mine!" Kieran shouted.
Supposed to be. Past tense again.
So Kieran remembered too. That made him even more dangerous. He knew exactly how to influence Elara because he'd done it before.
But he wouldn't get the chance this time.
I handled the argument coldly, protecting Elara from Kieran's accusations. When he requested the Moon Temple examination, my stomach dropped.
The preachers could see everything. They'd know Elara was a time regressor. They might even declare her cursed or tainted.
But Elara agreed to the test before I could stop her.
Brave and reckless. Just like always.
We needed to leave immediately. I had Sera organize the guard while Elara said goodbye to her father.
As we rode away from the Moon Dance, I kept Elara close to my side. My mate. Finally mine to protect.
But something was wrong.
I noticed it first—the way Elara's mother watched us leave. Cold. Calculating. No tears. No protests. Just cold opinion.
And she was talking to someone in the darkness. Someone with dark hair and bright green eyes.
Morgana.
My blood ran cold.
In the original reality, Morgana helped Kieran perform the ritual that killed Elara. She was the one who made the final poison.
But I never knew how she got close enough to give it. Elara's family should have protected her.
Unless someone in Elara's family let Morgana in.
Unless someone in Elara's family wanted her dead too.
I looked at Elara riding beside me. She'd seen her mother talking to Morgana. I could tell by the way her face had gone pale. By the way her hands gripped the reins too tight.
She was putting the pieces together.
"Lucian," Sera said quietly, riding up beside me. "We have a problem."
"What now?" I growled.
"A message just came from the Moon Temple." Her face was grim. "Three priests died this afternoon. Poisoned. The ones who would have been assigned to check Elara tomorrow."
My heart stopped.
"Who found them?" I asked.
"Lady Morgana," Sera said. "She claims she was visiting the temple for prayers and discovered the bodies."
A trap. It was clearly a trap. Morgana killed those monks and now she'd be the one to choose their replacements.
Replacements who would lie about what they saw in Elara's examination. Who would declare her ruined. Who would give Kieran legal grounds to take her back.
But there was something worse. Something that made my stomach turn.
"How did Morgana know which priests would be assigned?" I asked. "Those assignments aren't made until the day of the examination."
Sera's face darkened. "Someone told her. Someone with inside knowledge of Moon Temple rules."
Only a few people had that kind of access. High-ranking pack members. Temple leaders.
Or someone from the Lycan Court itself.
"We have a traitor," I said quietly.
"Yes," Sera agreed. "And whoever it is knew about the examination before it was even released. They were ready."
I looked back at Elara, who rode with her brother, still pale from seeing her mother with Morgana.
Someone betrayed her before we even left the Moon Dance. Someone was giving information to Kieran and Morgana. Someone who wanted Elara dead.
And that someone had entry to my court.