✦ Chapter 09 ✦
The Alpha didn't even flinch when Lucien's voice cut through the night, sharp enough to rattle the leaves. Felix's pheromones only grew thicker—hot, suffocating—rolling off him in waves that made Elian's breath stumble in his throat.
Lucien, clearly losing patience, crossed the garden in a handful of long, purposeful strides. The ground barely seemed to slow him.
His hand shot out, fingers curling into the collar of Felix's shirt. With a single tug—effortless, almost careless—he tore the Alpha away from Elian. The ease of it left Elian frozen, unable to reconcile the difference: how he, pinned moments ago, couldn't even move under Felix's weight, and how Lucien had yanked him off as if he weighed nothing at all.
It left Elian speechless.
Felix snarled, the sound low and guttural. His brown eyes gleamed, shifting, darkening—turning molten gold as fur rippled across his skin, spreading at a frightening pace. Bones cracked, reshaping. Muscles twisted. And in a matter of seconds, a huge wolf stood where the man had been.
Elian's breath faltered.
This was too familiar. Too close to memories he'd buried.
He tore his gaze away before they could break free.
The wolf lunged at Lucien, teeth bared, claws tearing into the soft earth. But before a single paw could brush him, Lucien's golden eyes flared—bright as twin suns—and the soft winter scent that usually surrounded him sharpened into something deadly and piercing.
The wolf collapsed mid-lunge, hitting the ground with a pained whimper.
Elian felt Lucien's pheromones flood the clearing, sharp as fresh frost, heavy as snowstorm winds. Yet strangely, Elian felt no pain from it. Only the weight of Lucien's presence, steady and cold.
Lucien stood there with his gaze locked on the trembling wolf, eyes glowing with predatory calm.
"You're planning on killing him over this thing, aren't you?"
A voice drifted through the quiet garden—smooth, cold, unmistakably familiar.
Golden eyes emerged from the shadows, cutting through the dark like lantern light.
Vynn.
Lucien's head tilted slightly at the sound of his sister's voice. His pheromones eased, their sharp edge fading until the wolf's whimpers softened. Felix's body shifted back into human form, shuddering on the ground, shirt torn open and breath ragged.
"He's your cousin, and you didn't even hesitate to torture him… over this thing?" Vynn said, arms folded tightly beneath her chest. Her gaze flicked dismissively to Elian, who immediately looked down.
Lucien let out a soft, humorless chuckle—dark, empty of warmth. He walked toward her with deliberate slowness, each step echoing through the quiet space.
"So you wanted me to let him," Lucien murmured, voice low, "rape an innocent beta? That was your plan, Vynn?"
Her eyes narrowed, then shifted once more to Elian—this time with open disdain.
Elian sat trembling on the ground, robes rumpled and pulled slightly up his thighs. His neck was littered with fresh marks—scattered red against pale skin, like blossoms blooming on untouched snow.
"You mean omega," Vynn corrected coldly, her sharp gaze cutting through him. Elian flinched and dropped his eyes to the dirt.
"Felix is in rut," she continued. "He wouldn't have come wandering out into the garden if all he wanted was a beta. There are plenty inside. So why," she paused, voice dripping with accusation, "did he come here and attack your little beta, Lucien?"
Her words landed like stones.
Lucien's eyes turned colder than winter frost. He stared at Elian with such intensity that for a moment Elian forgot how to breathe. The air grew thin around him, every second stretching unbearably long.
Minutes seemed to pass before Lucien finally spoke.
"Vynn," he said quietly, "Felix went through his rut two months ago. Why would he suddenly fall into one the moment he was with you? Care to explain?"
Vynn's expression froze. She didn't speak. Didn't blink.
A cold, sharp smirk curved at the corner of Lucien's mouth.
"So you truly went that far?" he whispered. "Drugging your own cousin… just to make him attack this little thing?"
Vynn's silence said everything.
Embarrassment bloomed across her face—raw, impossible to hide.
That was the difference between them.
Lucien could lock every emotion behind walls of ice.
Vynn wore hers across her face like an open wound.
"I'll say this once more," Lucien murmured, his golden eyes narrowing as he stepped closer. His height cast her in shadow. Their faces were only inches apart now. "Stop meddling in my affairs, Vynn."
His voice dipped, softer yet far more threatening.
"You won't take what I have. Not now. Not ever. No matter how hard you reach, Vynn Silvermoon…"
He leaned in, breath cold against her cheek.
"I'll always be one step farther than your grasp."
Her eyes widened—shock, anger, fear tangled together.
Lucien's final words fell like frostbite:
"Don't make me your enemy, sister…
You'll regret it."
The chill that followed sank straight into Elian's bones.
✦ End Of Chapter ✦