The Price of Power
747 Words
“Like hell he does.” Kade’s voice was a growl that seemed to shake the very foundations of the room.
Darius chuckled, the sound like ice cracking. “You don’t understand, old friend. The child isn’t just yours. He’s mine too.”
The words didn’t make sense at first. Then Selene saw the way Lucian’s small body went rigid with terror, saw the recognition in his silver eyes, and the pieces of a horrifying puzzle began to fall into place.
“What are you talking about?” she demanded, even as her arms tightened protectively around her son.
“Tell her, Lucian,” Darius said softly, his voice deceptively gentle. “Tell your mother about our special arrangement.”
“No,” Lucian whispered, pressing his face against Selene’s side. “I don’t want to.”
Darius’s expression hardened. “Tell her, or I’ll do it for you.”
Selene felt like the world was spinning beneath her feet. “Lucian, baby, what is he talking about?”
Her son looked up at her with eyes far too old for his face. “He found us last year. When you were sleeping. He said… he said he could teach me to control the dreams.”
“What dreams?” Kade’s voice was deadly quiet.
Lucian’s small hands began to shake. “The ones where I see people dying. Where I know things before they happen. Where I can make things… move.”
The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees. Selene stared at her son, her beautiful, innocent child, and realized she’d been blind.
“You’re an Oracle,” she breathed.
Darius smiled. “A very powerful one. Perhaps the most powerful born in centuries.” His gaze fixed on Lucian with hungry intensity. “And he’s been mine for months now.”
“No.” Kade stepped forward, his entire body radiating lethal intent. “He’s my son.”
“Your son, yes. But my pupil.” Darius gestured, and one of his wolves moved closer to Lucian. “Haven’t you wondered why your nightmares stopped, boy? Why the voices in your head went quiet?”
Lucian nodded reluctantly.
“I taught him to build walls in his mind,” Darius continued, his tone conversational. “To control his gift. To use it.” His eyes gleamed. “In exchange for small favors, of course.”
Selene felt sick. “What kind of favors?”
“Nothing too taxing. A glimpse into an enemy’s plans here. A warning about an impending attack there. Simple things.”
“You used my son as a spy,” Kade snarled.
“I helped him become what he was meant to be,” Darius corrected. “Unlike his parents, who were content to let him suffer.”
The accusation hit home, and Selene flinched. She’d known something was wrong with Lucian, the nightmares, the strange incidents, the way he sometimes knew things he shouldn’t. But she’d convinced herself it was trauma from their constant moving, their unstable life.
She’d been wrong.
“The deal was simple,” Darius continued. “I would teach him to control his abilities, and in return, he would come with me when the time was right.” He smiled. “That time is now.”
“I won’t go,” Lucian said suddenly, his young voice steady despite the fear in his eyes. “I want to stay with Mama and… and my father.”
Darius’s expression darkened. “You don’t have a choice, child. A deal is a deal.”
“He’s four years old!” Selene exploded. “He can’t make binding agreements!”
“He can when his abilities are already manifesting.” Darius’s tone was matter-of-fact. “Oracle law supersedes pack law, as you well know.”
Kade looked like he was about to launch himself at the other Alpha, but before he could move, Lucian stepped away from Selene.
“I’ll come,” the boy said quietly. “But only if you promise not to hurt them.”
“Lucian, no!” Selene lunged for him, but one of Darius’s wolves blocked her path.
“Don’t worry, Mama,” Lucian said, his silver eyes beginning to glow with an otherworldly light. “I have a plan.”
The last thing Selene remembered was the sound of glass shattering and the smell of ozone, like the air before a lightning strike.
When she woke up, Lucian was gone.
- Writer
