Lucien ~

She collapsed.

For a second, I thought she’d died, then her stomach rumbled.

“Shit,” I muttered under my breath.

I looked at the two guards behind me. “Don’t just stand there. Get her off the goddamn floor.”

They rushed forward, lifting her gently this time, careful not to provoke me again. I watched her head loll against one man’s chest, her skin like porcelain, her breaths shallow.

Dante, my beta and enforcer, appeared just as they carried her onto the bed.

“She fainted?” he asked, raising a brow.

“No, she’s training for a fucking nap,” I snapped.

I turned to one of the men carrying her. “Leave, send a female maid in, make sure she’s fed properly.”

He nodded and went out immediately.

As I stepped out, a familiar set of footsteps fell into place behind mine.

“That went smoother than expected,” Dante said behind me.

“She wasn’t given much of a choice,” I muttered.

“She looked like she was going to pass out the entire time,” he added. “And you kissed her. On the cheek. In front of the council. You never do shit like that.”

“I had to sell the lie. She’d be treated as my mate. The only one that gets to make her suffer is me.”

Dante kept pace beside me. “Still. Bold move. Especially for a girl you want to ruin.”

We turned down another hall, deeper into the estate, the side reserved for business. Dante was the only thing close to family to me but that didn’t mean he didn’t know his limit.

Dante cleared his throat. “So… what are you actually going to do with her?”

“What I said,” I snapped.

“You said a lot of things,” Dante shot back. “One minute she’s your cursed mate, next she’s your Luna. I’m confused, boss. And I don’t get confused often.”

I stopped walking and turned to face him slowly.

“Exactly what I said. Break her. Raise her back up each day just to stomp on her all over again.” I straightened his collar and gave a soft pat to his chest before continuing forward.

He followed quietly.

“She’s wolfless. Always bullied. Already weak. I think the Moon Goddess handed her a punishment before you even laid eyes on her.”

“Great. That’s the Moon Goddess’s judgment.” I glanced over my shoulder. “But I haven’t passed mine yet.”

There was silence.

I could feel him biting back what he really wanted to say.

“She’s not going to stay alive for long after being locked up, dragged, threatened, and then paraded in front of the most brutal wolves in our network,” he muttered finally.

I stopped again. Slower this time.

My eyes narrowed. “Are you questioning me?”

He raised both hands. “Hey, I’m on your side. Just wondering how far we’re taking this vendetta. You’re not exactly thinking straight when it comes to her.”

“I’m thinking exactly straight,” I said coldly. “She’s a Rune. That’s all the reason I need.”

“She was just a child when it happened.”

“So was I.”

Finally, the door to the chamber opened before me. Men circled round the room, and the smell of cigarettes filled the air.

Three men sat at the round table, not just Alphas, or council members, but Dons. Old blood. The kind that ruled with fear and contracts signed in flesh.

Dante stood behind me.

“About time,” Vincent Marek muttered “For a minute there, I thought you wouldn’t show up.”

The meeting was short. As it should be.

Three Dons. Old blood. The type who signed their alliances with iron and blood, not talk.

Vincent Marek lit a cigar, smirking through the smoke. “We heard something interesting, Valentini.”

I didn’t answer.

Alric leaned in. “Word is you brought someone into the estate. A girl.”

“I bring in a lot of people.”

Kerrick gave a slow, mocking grin. “But not usually ones you defend in front of a council chamber.”

My jaw flexed.

“I said what I said,” I murmured. “She’s under my protection. That means hands off. That's clear enough for you?”

Vincent raised a brow. “Crystal.”

I stood. “Are we done here or should we keep talking about things that don’t concern you?”

No one stopped me.

Good.

I returned to the estate as the sun began to set behind the high walls. My guards straightened when they saw me, heads down in silent respect.

But before I even reached the inner hall, I heard voices.

The glass in the hallway trembled from the force of a slammed door.

I stepped through the threshold.

Ivy was backed against the wall, her face pale but furious, jaw clenched.

In front of her stood Bianca Voss. She turned the moment she sensed me.

“Well, is it true?” she asked. “I thought the rumors were beneath you, Lucien. But now I see they weren’t rumors at all.”

I ignored her.. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to see my fiancé,” she said simply, then glanced over her shoulder at Ivy. “Imagine my surprise when I found your supposed Luna already wearing the title.”

Ivy didn’t flinch. Her fingers were clenched into the wall behind her.

“She doesn’t concern you,” I said.

Bianca’s gaze slid back to me, slow and cutting.

“You promised me the title of Luna,” she said. “And now… this is what I hear?”

She smiled. But there was no humor in it.

“I deserve to know,” she added quietly. “Or have I been replaced by someone wolfless and pathetic?”

My fists curled.

I stepped forward once.

“Of course not. This low brat can never replace you.”

Bianca’s lips curled at the corners, but there was nothing soft about her. She took a step closer, pressing her hand against my chest, staking her claim like she had every right to.

I didn’t move.

“She’s just here for now,” I said, tone flat. “Nothing more than circumstance. An unfortunate one.”

Ivy lowered her eyes but clenched her shoulder tightly, a bruise, one that wasn’t there before. And worse, she was holding her arm, jaw clenched like she was trying to bite back a sound or stop a tear. I wanted to see her suffer but not when I wasn’t the one making her pay.

Bianca scoffed, eyes cutting toward her. “Then why is everyone whispering that she’s Luna? That the council saw you touch her. Protect her.”

A whimper escaped before she could stop it.

My eyes snapped to Bianca.

“Did you touch her?”

“What?”

My voice dropped as I took a step toward her to get a better look.

“I said, did you lay a single finger on her?”

Bianca straightened, bristling. “I only—”

“Under no circumstances,” I growled, “should anyone touch her.”

The silence that followed was absolute.

I let my gaze burn into hers. “She is mine to deal with. Mine. Not yours. Not anyone else’s. If I find out you so much as shoved her again, Bianca, I will remind you what happens when someone oversteps in my house.”

Bianca looked stunned, offended, but she didn’t dare speak a word.

I turned my head slightly, still watching her from the corner of my eye.

“She is not Luna,” I said coolly. “She never will be.”