Lucian’s POV:
I was smiling.
Really smiling. The kind that felt foreign on my face, like stretching a muscle I hadn’t used in years. It didn’t come easy, not with everything this cursed title had done to me. Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack. The name alone came with blood, bruises, and burdens stacked so high they nearly crushed me.
Alpha of war.
Alpha of losses.
Alpha of the Damned.
But today… I wasn’t any of those things.
Today, I was just a man. A man holding a bunch of wildflowers, the kind she loved. Their colors were ridiculous: sunburst yellow, deep violet, a few soft pinks, and I’d spent way too long picking the best ones. She’d probably laugh, saying they clashed horribly. But that was part of the point. She’d smile, roll her eyes, and maybe, if I was lucky, she’d let me kiss h
