CHAPTER TWO
978 Words
The firelight flickered across his face, throwing shadows beneath the hard lines of his jaw. I didn’t move. Couldn’t. His gaze pinned me like a blade, sharp and unrelenting.
“What are you?” he asked again.
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I had asked myself the same question a thousand times—when I healed too fast, when I heard whispers no one else could hear, when I woke up from dreams soaked in blood and wolves and fire. But how could I answer him when I didn’t understand it myself?
“I’m nobody,” I whispered.
Lucien chuckled—low and dry. “You broke into the home of the most dangerous Alpha in the city, found my hidden files, and survived my aura without fainting. Nobody does that, Aria.”
I swallowed hard. “I didn’t come here for you.”
He raised a brow, clearly amused. “Could’ve fooled me.”
I took a shaky step back as he moved closer. His presence was overwhelming—like a storm bottled into human skin. His scent—earth and fire and smoke—wrapped around me like invisible chains.
“I came for my brother,” I said. “Kai.”
That made him pause.
“He’s been missing for four months,” I continued, my voice gaining strength. “He disappeared near your territory. The last signal from his phone pinged in this district. Then… nothing. No body. No trace. Just gone.”
Lucien’s eyes darkened. “I don’t know any Kai.”
“You have to. He was part of the underground courier team. They ran messages for smaller packs. He was careful—never messed with mafia business. But he got close to something he shouldn’t have… and now he’s gone.”
Lucien studied me, unreadable. “And you thought breaking into my estate would bring him back?”
“I thought maybe… there was proof. Evidence. I didn’t plan to get caught.”
“That much is obvious.”
He turned, walking toward a nearby shelf. He grabbed a thick black book and tossed it onto the table between us. Dust flew. The smell of old pages filled the air.
He flipped it open to a page with red inked symbols and old photographs. A courier team. My heart skipped. Kai’s face was there—younger, smiling. Beside it were coded words in a language I couldn’t read.
“You’re not wrong,” Lucien said. “Your brother was sniffing where he shouldn’t have. But I didn’t kill him.”
“Then who did?” I demanded.
“I don’t know yet.” He looked at me, eyes sharp. “But I know someone who might.”
My breath hitched. “Really?”
“There’s a war coming, Aria. Between my pack and the Crimson Vires. Your brother might’ve gotten caught in the smoke before the fire truly started. If I help you… it won’t be for free.”
I folded my arms. “Of course not. What do you want?”
He smiled. A slow, dark thing that made my stomach twist.
“You.”
My heart slammed against my ribs. “What—?”
“I want you to stay here. In this house. With me.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Then your brother remains lost. And whoever took him gets away.”
“That’s blackmail.”
Lucien shrugged. “That’s business.”
I backed away, feeling the weight of my options crash down on me. Stay here—in a mansion full of wolves and secrets—and possibly find Kai… or walk out and lose him forever.
“Why me?” I asked finally. “You could have anyone. Why force this on me?”
He took a step closer, voice lower now. “Because the moment I smelled your blood, I knew it. You’re not just a thief. You’re not just part wolf. You’re something else. Something... old. Your blood sings to me, Aria.”
I shook my head. “You think I’m your mate?”
“I know you are.”
“No,” I breathed, panic rising in my throat. “No. That’s not possible. I don’t feel it. I don’t—”
He reached out and grabbed my wrist. The moment his skin touched mine, a jolt of heat raced up my arm and down my spine. I gasped. My legs nearly gave out. My vision blurred with light and memory—flashes of another time, another place. A forest. Blood. A kiss under a crimson moon.
I yanked my arm back, breathless. “What the hell was that?”
Lucien’s voice was rough. “Your soul remembers me.”
I stumbled back, shaking.
“This is insane,” I muttered. “You expect me to stay here, pretend like I belong, like I’m not trapped? That I’ll just roll over and accept this fate?”
“I don’t expect you to accept it,” he said. “I expect you to fight it.”
I stared at him.
“And when you finally give in,” he continued, “it will mean something.”
His words wrapped around me like fire.
A long silence stretched between us.
Finally, he turned toward the door. “You have one day to decide. Stay, and I’ll help you find your brother. Refuse, and I’ll erase, everything you’ve seen. You’ll never step foot in my territory again.”
The door creaked open, then closed behind him.
I collapsed onto the couch, heart pounding. My skin still burned from his touch. My thoughts were spinning like a tornado inside my skull.
I wasn’t just in danger. I wasn’t just hunted.
I was owned.
And deep down—where I didn’t want to admit it—part of me wanted to be.
- Writer
