I stared at him blankly, the storm behind my eyes barely contained. My hands curled into fists at my sides, but I refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing me lose control. Without a word, I brushed past him.

“You still have the audacity to stand in front of me like this?” I muttered under my breath. “Pathetic.”

His low chuckle echoed behind me, as grating as I remembered.

“Correction,” he said coolly. “You came to me.”

I stopped cold. My spine straightened as I turned back slowly.

There he was, the same insufferable arrogance draped over him like a tailored cloak. He gestured lazily between us.

“You came to me,” he repeated, as if to remind me just how little power I had in this moment.

“Oh, please,” I snapped, my voice sharper than I intended. “If you hadn’t twisted my father’s hand, if you hadn’t manipulated him into summoning me here, do you really think I’d be standing in this miserable place?”

He laughed. Quiet, low, infuriating. The sound of every wound he’d ever carved into me.

And then he stepped closer. One step, then another, eating up the space between us until there was barely a breath separating his body from mine.

“You think I have that much sway over your father?” he murmured, eyes catching mine in a vice grip.

His gaze didn’t just look at me, it sifted through me, stripping every layer, every mask I’d ever worn to survive. I stood still, willing myself not to flinch, not to break, but his presence... it was heavier than before. Like he wasn’t just a man anymore but a force.

When the air grew too thin between us, I stepped back.

“What do you want, Lucas?” I asked, my voice tight with exhaustion.

“To survive,” he said, simply. Flatly.

I frowned. “What the hell does that mean?”

He turned his back, walked to a cabinet, and retrieved a folder. Without ceremony, he tossed it onto the table between us.

“Your father isn’t just sick,” he said darkly. “Someone’s been trying to kill him.”

I stood frozen. The words barely made sense.

“What?”

“Open it.”

My fingers trembling despite my effort to appear composed. Photographs. Diagrams. Surveillance reports. Territory disputes marked in ink, and my father’s name circled in red like a target.

My throat clenched. My body couldn’t remember how to breathe.

“The council is fractured, Anna,” Lucas said, voice gentler than I expected. “Some want him dead. Some want you gone. If they believe you’re isolated, vulnerable, they’ll come after you next.”

My heart thrashed in my chest. All this time, I thought I was already alone. Already discarded. But apparently, I was still useful... as a target.

I looked up, my voice cracking. “So what? You swoop in and play savior? Since when do you care what happens to me?”

“Because I hate them more than I hate you,” he said. Unflinching. Honest. His voice was iron.

I almost laughed. Almost.

“So what’s your grand solution, then? Hide? Run? Let them tear down what’s left of my pack?”

He stepped forward again, eyes fixed on mine, his voice steady.

“No. We fight back. But not with swords or claws. We fight the only way they’ll understand, through power.”

He took a breath. The air seemed to still around us before he spoke.

“We fake a bond.”

For a beat, I thought I misheard him.

I blinked. “What?”

“A mate bond,” he said, calm and deliberate. “We’ll make it look like we chose each other. The council won’t dare move against someone under my protection.”

I stared at him, wide-eyed, incredulous. Was he serious?

“You want me to play your Luna? To smile and stand beside you while I rot on the inside?”

His expression didn’t even flicker. As if he’d already played this scene out in his mind.

“It would be temporary.”

A bitter laugh tore from my throat. I turned away, eyes stinging, walking to the window as if the cold glass could hold me together.

Temporary. Pretend. Another mask. Another performance. That was all I was good for, wasn’t it?

My last bond... I’d barely survived it. A rejection so brutal, so public it played on every damn screen in the territory. The humiliation, the disgrace, it never faded. My father had stood silent. The crowd cheered when my replacement was chosen. As if I was nothing but a failed promise.

And now Lucas wanted to paint a new smile on my face and parade me around like a pawn?

No. Absolutely not.

“You think I’d let you parade me around just to keep me alive?” I hissed, still facing the window.

Behind me, his voice came again, quieter this time. Almost... careful.

“Think about it, Anna. I’m not asking you to love me. I’m asking you to stand beside me, just long enough to make them afraid.”

I closed my eyes. My hands pressed against the window frame, my reflection staring back..

“I don’t like you,” I whispered.

“Good,” he said without hesitation. “I don’t like you either.”

I walked past him, wanting to leave this stupid conversation behind. Our shoulders brushed, but then his hand caught mine.

And that’s when it happened.

A pulse. Like a shock but deeper, humming under my skin, right to my bones. My breath caught in my throat. The air shifted. My blood felt like it was vibrating. Something inside me cracked open, like a locked door I didn’t know was there.

My vision blurred, but then it sharpened again, and everything looked... different. Brighter. Sharper. Like the world had tilted just slightly.

I turned my head sharply and stared at him. I saw him through the glow, my vision washed in silver, his expression mirrored mine.

Then it was gone.

The glow faded. The air stilled. I yanked my hand free, breathing hard. My wrist still burned where he’d touched me.

He stared at me like he didn’t recognize me. Like maybe I didn’t recognize myself either.

I made it halfway to the door when his voice stopped me.