The True Mate
1418 Words
Chapter Four
"No."
Lucian said it again.
This time, louder.
"No?" I muttered silently to myself while staring at him.
His face had gone completely pale.
The same man who had faced seven armed wolves without blinking was now looking at me as though I had become something he feared.
"Why are you saying that?"
He didn't answer.
"Lucian."
His jaw tightened.
Then he turned away from me.
"Forget what you heard."
I almost laughed.
"Forget it?"
"Yes."
"You just told me I'm your true mate."
"I didn't."
"The voice did."
"It wasn't the Moon Goddess."
"How do you know?"
He turned sharply.
"Because I know what the Moon Goddess sounds like."
His words stopped me.
There was something behind them.
Something personal.
"You have heard her before?" I asked but still he kept quiet.
I took a step closer.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“You're lying.”
His eyes flashed.
“Careful, Aria.”
I froze.
There was the Alpha King again.
Cold.
Commanding.
Untouchable.
But I wasn't going to back down.
Not anymore.
“You brought me here,” I said. “You offered me a contract without telling me the truth. You knew something was wrong with your curse. You knew something about my bloodline. And now you're telling me I'm your mate.”
My voice shook.
“You owe me answers.”
His expression softened for half a second.
Then it disappeared.
“You're right.”
I blinked.
Lucian walked toward the table and poured himself a glass of water.
His hand trembled.
I noticed.
He noticed me noticing.
He put the glass down.
“My curse began when I was nineteen.”
I said nothing.
“I was attacked during a peace ceremony between the northern packs and the Blood Court.”
“The Blood Court?”
“Ancient wolves who refused to follow the laws of the modern packs.”
He looked at me.
“They believe the first wolves were gods. They believe the royal bloodline stole their power.”
“And your curse?”
“Was placed on me that night.”
“By who?”
Lucian's eyes darkened.
“Your ancestor.”
My stomach twisted.
“The first Werewolf Queen?”
He nodded.
“Elyra.”
The name made the mark on my wrist burn.
I grabbed it.
Lucian noticed.
“You know her.”
“I saw her.”
His expression changed.
“In the vision?”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
I hesitated.
“She told me I had very little time.”
His face hardened.
“Anything else?”
I remembered the burning forest.
My mother.
The baby.
The necklace.
And those final words.
Don't trust the King.
I couldn't bring myself to repeat them.
Not yet.
Lucian studied me.
“You're hiding something.”
“So are you.”
Our eyes locked.
Neither of us looked away.
Then a loud knock interrupted us.
“Your Majesty!”
Lucian immediately turned.
“Enter.”
The door opened.
A woman in a black royal uniform stepped inside.
She was tall, with dark braided hair and a scar running from her left eyebrow to her cheek.
She bowed.
“Your Majesty, the northern wall has been breached.”
Lucian's expression hardened.
“How many?”
“We don't know.”
“Send the royal guard.”
“We already did.”
“And?”
The woman hesitated.
“They haven't returned.”
Silence.
Lucian's face became cold.
“Who is leading the attack?”
“We believe it's the Blood Court.”
His hand tightened into a fist.
“Then wake the entire palace.”
The woman nodded.
She turned to leave.
“Wait.”
Lucian looked at me.
“Take her to the underground chambers.”
I stared at him.
“No.”
He frowned.
“No?”
“I'm not hiding underground while everyone else fights.”
“This isn't a discussion.”
“I don't care.”
His eyes flashed.
“Aria.”
“I signed your contract.”
I stepped toward him.
“I didn't sign away my right to know what's happening.”
The woman beside us looked between the two of us.
Something that looked suspiciously like amusement appeared in her eyes.
Lucian noticed.
“Leave.”
She bowed.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The door closed.
Lucian looked back at me.
“You have no idea what you're asking.”
“Then tell me.”
“You want the truth?”
“Yes.”
“Fine.”
He walked toward me.
One step.
Then another.
Until he was standing directly in front of me.
“You're not safe anywhere.”
I swallowed.
“Because of my blood?”
“Because of what your blood can do.”
“What can it do?”
His gaze dropped to my wrist.
“It can wake the ancient wolves.”
My heart skipped.
“And?”
“It can break my curse.”
I stared at him.
“And what happens if it does?”
Lucian's expression changed.
“I die.”
My breath caught.
“What?”
He stepped back.
“If my curse is broken before the Moon Eclipse, my wolf will reject my body.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It doesn't have to.”
He looked toward the window.
“The curse isn't simply killing me. It's keeping something inside me.”
“What?”
He didn't answer.
“Lucian.”
His eyes met mine.
“My wolf.”
I frowned.
“Your wolf?”
“My wolf isn't entirely mine.”
A chill ran down my spine.
“What does that mean?”
“On the night I was cursed, something entered my wolf.”
“What?”
“The spirit of the first Blood King.”
The room suddenly felt freezing.
“You've been carrying him inside you?”
“For ten years.”
“And the Blood Court wants him back.”
“No.”
Lucian's voice was grim.
“They don't want him back.”
He looked at me.
“They want him awake.”
Before I could respond, another explosion shook the palace. The windows rattled and then came a scream from the corridor.
Lucian immediately shifted into his battle stance.
“Stay here.”
I grabbed his arm.
“Wait.”
He looked down at my hand.
The moment our skin touched, the mark on my wrist ignited.
Lucian sucked in a breath.
His pupils widened as a deep growl escaped his chest.
Not his human voice.
His wolf.
I felt something pull inside my chest.
Something ancient.
Something that recognized him.
The mark spread from my wrist toward my palm.
Silver veins appeared beneath my skin.
Lucian stared at them.
“No.....”
“What?”
His breathing became uneven.
“Aria, let go.”
I couldn't.
My fingers refused to move.
“I'm trying.”
The room began spinning all of a sudden, then I heard it again.
That voice.
Only this time, it wasn't inside my head.
It came from everywhere.
The first bond has awakened.
Lucian's eyes widened.
The palace shook violently.
A crack appeared across the stone floor.
Then another.
Something beneath us roared.
Something much larger.
Lucian grabbed me and pulled me against his chest.
“What is happening?”
I clutched his shirt.
“I don't know.”
The floor split open with a burst of silver light shot upward. For one impossible second, I saw a massive creature beneath the palace.
Black scales.
Golden eyes.
Wings folded against its body.
My breath stopped.
A dragon.
Lucian stared at it.
His face was filled with disbelief.
“That can't be.”
The creature opened its eyes.
It looked directly at me and then it bowed its enormous head.
Lucian went completely still.
The dragon spoke.
Not aloud.
Inside my mind.
My Queen.
I stopped breathing.
Lucian heard it too.
I knew because his arms suddenly tightened around me.
The dragon lifted its head.
A deafening roar shook the entire palace.
And far beyond the kingdom, thousands of wolves answered.
Lucian looked at me.
The color had drained from his face.
“Do you understand what you have just awakened?”
I shook my head.
He stared into my eyes.
“The last thing capable of destroying the entire werewolf kingdom.”
The dragon roared again.
And this time—
every wolf in the kingdom dropped to its knees.
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