Lucien’s POV

The throne room was colder than usual. Or maybe it was just me.

The fire roared in the hearth, logs cracking under the heat, but no warmth reached my skin. I stood with my back to the windows, watching the sunrise across the treetops. A messenger’s boots echoed in the corridor before he entered and knelt, his breath shallow.

“Report”.

“Two border patrols down mangled. Torn apart. We believe it was a coordinated strike”, he said, head low.

“Where?”, I clenched my jaw.

“Southern ridge, near the Silverwood line. Same area she…” He stopped himself.

The air stilled. I didn’t have to ask who he meant.

“Double the patrols,” I said.

“Reinforce the wall and assign a guard to the queen's wing at all times.

“All times, my King?”, he blinked. I didn’t repeat myself. He scrambled out.

I turned away from the sunrise and stared at the empty throne. My father used to sit there like a god. His presence made the entire hall still. Now, it just stared back at me, hollow and empty.

I sat. The chair didn’t fit me. I never felt like it was mine.

“ She's braver than she appears” I said at the thought of her. I should’ve felt something about her. The woman forced into my bed and into my name but all I could think of was how little she flinched. The way her body bent under my command, how she didn’t beg or cry until I was out of sight

“ She…”, I held back

There was something dangerous about her, Something I didn’t want to name.

A knock rattled the door.

“Enter”.

Seraphina stepped in, dressed in emerald green, hair braided back, face unreadable. She looked smaller here and still, too composed.

“I heard what happened,” she said.

“Handled”,I nodded once.

“Is the guard outside my chamber your doing?”, I looked at her she was sharper than I gave her credit for.

“It’s not for comfort,” I said. “It’s survival”.

“I didn’t ask why”.

“Then why are you here?”

“To say thank you”, she hesitated.

Her voice was soft. Not seductive, not submissive just…sincere. It shouldn’t have made my chest tighten.

“Don’t mistake survival for affection, Seraphina”, I saw her eyes flicker, just briefly.

“I don’t”, her voice calm, she turned and left. Her scent wild jasmine and burning cherry lingered too long after the door closed.

I sat back down and poured myself a drink. My eyes scanning around

“This throne was too empty”.

—

Later that evening, I stood on the west tower balcony, watching torches circle the perimeter. The guards obeyed without question. They always had.

A second knock came. This one hesitant.

“Speak”, my voice echoed.

“General Cael requests an audience”, I nodded in approval.

A few moments later, Cael entered. He bowed but didn’t waste time.

“We tracked the rogues’ scent,” he said. “They weren’t from the Southern wilds. They came from inside our borders. They were in disguise”.

“Infiltrators?”, I twitched my eyes.

“They knew the patrol pattern and struck between shifts. We lost six men”.

I gripped the railing. “Send word to the sentry towers. Code blue. If this is an inside job, I want every traitor dragged into the sun”.

“And… the queen?”

“What about her?”

“Some think she’s their target.”

“Let them think what they want. But if she dies, you die”, my voice firm as ever.

“Understood”, he nodded and dashed out.

My mind wondered what Seraphina was doing. If she was scared, if she had someone to run to.

“Not that I care”, I stepped out. Walked passed her door at midnight, the guards on duty bowed.

Her scent slipped beneath the cracks, teasing my senses. The bond tugged, a subtle shift in my core, but I ignored it. I was good at ignoring pain, fate, anything.

Before I realized it, I had knocked on her door.

The door creaked open. She was in a robe, barefoot, hair loose down her back. Her eyes were tired.

“Is something wrong?”, she asked.

“No”

“I thought you didn’t do late-night visits”, she said softly.

“I don’t”

“Then why…?”

“I don’t like repeating myself.”

“You can come in… if you want”, she nodded slowly, stepping back.

I shrugged past her like I heard nothing. Her room was warmer than mine. A book lay open on the bed.

“You’re studying?” I asked.

“It helps pass the time”

“Do you ever sleep?”, I nodded toward the fireplace.

“I try, my wolf can't”

“Why?”, i leaned against the mantle.

“She’s restless”.

“She should get used to disappointment”.

Seraphina looked at me then. “Is that all I should expect from you, Your Majesty?”

Her voice didn’t shake. She wasn’t baiting me. Just… asking.

I stepped closer before I could stop myself.

“Expectation is a luxury you haven’t earned”.

“Neither have you”, she said calmly.

I didn’t know what came over me then. The way the fire lit her skin. The way her scent curled around my ribs. I wanted to kiss her just to prove I felt nothing.

“ You're leaving?”, her eyes widened as I turned abruptly.

“ Want me to stay?”, I asked and she was silent. I walked back to my room, the air was cold, my wolf was needy but I won't let it control me.

By morning, the rumors had spread. Whispers that rogues were after the queen. That she was cursed. That her bloodline brought death.

I ignored them all until one reached the council chamber.

“The people are scared,” one elder said. “They think she’s a bad omen”.

“She’s an outsider,” another muttered.

“She is mine”

The room fell silent. I rarely spoke in meetings but when I did, it stuck.

“She carries the royal mark,” I continued. “And anyone who questions it can take it up with me.”

The warning settled and I dismissed them but Cael lingered.

“She’ll hear the whispers” he said. “Eventually”, he waited for me to speak.

“Let her”.

But later that day, I found myself by her door again.

“She went to the temple garden, Your Majesty”, the guard stammered.

Without thinking, I set out, i found her kneeling among wild roses, fingers grazing the petals like she was searching for answers in them.

She didn’t hear me approach at first.

“You can’t keep saving me in silence,” she said as she got a glimpse of me.

“I’m not”.

“Then what do you call this?”

“Precaution”, I crouched beside her and she held her gaze at me with intent, the bond pulsed again, even stronger this time.

“You feel it, don’t you?”

“Feel what?”, my jaw tightened.

“The pull”, she said and I scoffed. She looked at me then, eyes glinting.

“You can lie to everyone else. Don’t lie to yourself”.

I walked away.

But her voice followed me.

“This throne isn’t the only thing empty, Lucien. You are too.”