Chapter 14%
Lucas’s POV
I was supposed to feel triumphant, wasn’t I? I’d just sworn an oath before the Silvana elders that I would let no harm touch Maurine, not even the tip of her hair. I made that promise with conviction. With fire in my blood
But now something itched under my skin. A deep crawl of something I couldn’t name.
I pushed the heavy wooden doors open and stalked through the halls. The packhouse was alive with laughter, soft music, and the lingering scent of wine and perfume. Maurine’s friends must be visiting again.
I slowed when I caught her voice down the corridor. The door to the sunroom was cracked slightly open, warm firelight spilling into the hallway.
I know I shouldn’t have listened. But I did.
“Oh, gods, I can’t believe that witch is finally gone,” Maurine laughed, her voice sharp like broken glass. “Rebecca marrying that vegetable Alpha? What a poetic ending.
There was a ripple of giggles.
Another girl chimed in, “Didn’t her mom die tragically too? So sad.“}
“Sad?” Maurine barked a laugh. “No, it’s perfect. That old hag raised a whore, and now both of them are where they belong. Forgotten. Rebecca was always in the way.”
The blood in my veins turned to ice. I stood frozen in the corridor, jaws clenched so tightly it ached. My claws itched to push through my skin.
One of her friends asked, “But what about your knight, Lucas? He’s so loyal. It’s kind of cute, honestly.”
Maurine’s voice dripped with amusement. “Lucas? Please. I’m just keeping him around like a pet. He’ll do anything I say, and I haven’t even given him a real treat yet. If he’s this obedient now, imagine when I let him think I might love him.” Then she added more. “Besides, the Alpha of Silvana Pack seemed to like me. I’d rather marry someone powerful.“B
My wolf snarled so loud in my chest I had to bite my tongue to stay silent. I should’ve stormed in there. I should’ve confronted her. But | didn’t. Instead, I turned around and walked away, my fists clenched so tight my claws plerced skin X
I should be happy, night? She liked me. No, she liked the version of me that showered her with luxuries. She didn’t like me as Lucas, her wolf knight. The one who served her with loyalty.!!
I stormed past the guards who tried to greet me, past the omega lending the fire pit, past the courtyard where the younger wolves were training. I couldn’t stay still. My wolf was pacing inside me, slamming against the walls of my ribs, demanding blood.
I ended up at the stables. The horses huffed in their stalls, but even they sensed the fury in me and stayed silent. I sat down hard on a wooden bench and buried my face in my hands.
What the hell was I doing?
For years I told myself this was for the mission. That guarding Rebecca was only ever a smokescreen. That Maurine was the true target- the key mentioned in the oracle. The one the vampires were hunting. The one whose essence, if taken, could cure poisoned vampires and werewolves.
If she was not my fated mate, I wouldn’t care what will happen to her. Besides, curing the infected was the most logical thing to do. But the seer told me she was my mate, and she told me that my mate wouldn’t be able to feel our mate bond because of her overflowing healing essence.
And if my mate died, I would probably die in pain too, I couldn’t let that happen.
But what I saw tonight. What I heard her say..
How could the Moon Goddess bind me to someone who took pleasure in others‘ pain? Who mocked the dead? Who lied about everything she was?!
I looked down at my palms, stained with the blood of every vow I’d made for her. Every order I followed without question.X
I thought of the way she laughed when I handed her that moonstone necklace, like it was a trophy. The way she smiled when I caught the runaway rabbit hybrid for her, like I was just some dog fatching a stick.
And then…. a face flickered into my mind.
Rebecca.k
That quiet, storm–eyed woman who once stood tall even when her name was dragged through, the mud. Who never once asked me for anything, yet always carried herself with a grace that demanded respect. Whose shoulder I watched heal after being clawed–too fast Who disappeared into silence without waming.
Why did she come to mind now?
I cursed under my breath and stood. I couldn’t afford distractions. Not when vampires were moving again. Not when the infected ones had started to creep back from the edges of extinction, hungry, desperate, searching
Still, I couldn’t stop the question echoing in my mind.
Did Maurine ever love me?
No. That wasn’t even the right question
Did she even care?!
8:13 AM
But what I saw tonight… What I heard her say…
How could the Moon Goddess bind me to someone who took pleasure in others‘ pain? Who mocked the dead? Who lied about everything
she was?
I looked down at my palms, stained with the blood of every vow I’d made for her. Every order I followed without question.
I thought of the way she laughed when I handed her that moonstone necklace, like it was a trophy. The way she smiled when I caught the runaway rabbit hybrid for her, like I was just some dog fetching a stick
And then… a face flickered into my mind.
Rebecca.
That quiet, storm–eyed woman who once stood tall even when her name was dragged through the mud. Who never once asked me for anything, yet always carried herself with a grace that demanded respect. Whose shoulder I watched heal after being clawed–too fast. Who disappeared into silence without warning.
Why did she come to mind now?
I cursed under my breath and stood. I couldn’t afford distractions. Not when vampires were moving again. Not when the infected ones had started to creep back from the edges of extinction, hungry, desperate, searching
Still, I couldn’t stop the question echoing in my mind.
Did Maurine ever love me?%
No. That wasn’t even the right question.
Did she even care?8
Ijbarked out a bitter laugh. Of course not. I wasn’t Lucas to her. I was a pawn. A tool. A leash wrapped around my own neck.
And maybe I deserved it.
Because deep down, I knew. I always knew.
The moment I saw her strike the slave, the moment I watched her eyes gleam with cruelty, something cracked inside me. The woman thought I loved–no, the woman I needed to believe in–is not the one standing before me now.
I shoved open the stable door and let the night wind hit my face. This wasn’t over. I still had a duty.
But maybe… it was time I stopped lying to myself about who I was really protecting.
And maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t Maurine at all.
Lucas’s POVI
