CHAPTER 7 — THE ENEMY AMONG US
1029 Words
Annabelle stared at Lucien, her pulse pounding so hard she could hear it in her ears.
“Inside… your pack?” she whispered.
Her voice sounded small, fragile. Unsteady.
Lucien’s jaw tightened, the muscles in his neck flexing in barely contained fury.
“Yes,” he said quietly.
“Someone in Blackridge wants you dead.”
Annabelle shook her head, her stomach twisting.
“But… why? Why would someone in your pack do that?”
Lucien turned slightly away from her, hands braced on the windowsill, staring into the darkness outside as if he could burn holes into it.
The moonlight caught on the blood drying across his back.
He was still wounded.
Still bleeding.
Still more focused on her safety than his own pain.
“Because,” he growled, “having a human mate is already seen as a weakness for an Alpha. Having a mate with ancient blood—one that can command creatures like shades—”
He exhaled sharply, shoulders rising with frustration.
“—that threatens certain wolves’ ambitions.”
Annabelle felt a chill run down her spine.
“Ambitions… like taking your position?”
Lucien didn’t look at her.
“Power,” he murmured.
“Always power.”
He finally turned back, the silver in his eyes gleaming bright and cold.
“This pack is loyal to me. All of it. Or so I believed.”
He approached her, each step deliberate, heavy with purpose.
“But someone pretended loyalty. Someone hid their scent. Someone summoned that creature.”
Annabelle swallowed hard.
“So they know what I am…”
“They know more than they should,” Lucien said darkly.
“Which means someone has been watching you longer than I thought.”
Annabelle’s breath hitched.
“Watching me? Before I even came here?”
Lucien nodded once.
“I can’t ignore the signs anymore. Whoever it is, they’ve been waiting for you to awaken.”
Her throat closed.
“So you think they knew I’d end up here? With you?”
Lucien’s expression softened for the first time since the fight.
“I don’t believe in coincidence with mates,” he whispered.
“And I don’t believe the universe makes mistakes.”
Annabelle felt heat bloom in her chest — not from fear, but from the bond pulling them together like invisible threads.
But the moment shattered when a knock sounded at the door.
Three quick taps.
Too sharp.
Too eager.
Lucien stiffened.
“That’s Ronan,” he muttered.
Annabelle had met Darius only once — Lucien’s Beta, his second-in-command. Tall, muscular, and intense. But something in the man’s eyes had unsettled her. They were too cold. Too assessing.
Lucien opened the door just enough to see him.
“What?” he snapped.
Ronan bowed his head, but his eyes flicked past Lucien toward Annabelle.
“My Alpha,” he said smoothly, “I sensed a… disturbance in the forest tonight.”
Lucien didn’t move.
Didn’t let him in.
“We handled it.”
Ronan raised a brow.
“Handled it? Alone? Without alerting the patrols?”
His gaze hardened.
“That’s risky, even for you.”
Lucien’s growl vibrated through the floor.
“The situation was contained.”
Ronan’s lips curved slightly — not a smile, but something like it.
“Was it… a rogue?”
Lucien’s voice was low and dangerous.
“No.”
A flicker of something cold flashed in Ronan’s eyes.
“What was it, then?” he asked softly.
“That is none of your concern.”
Ronan leaned just a fraction, trying to look inside the room.
“Is the human unharmed?”
Annabelle flinched.
Lucien stepped fully into the doorway, blocking the view, towering over his Beta.
“She has a name,” Lucien said in a deadly whisper.
“And yes. She is safe.”
Ronan nodded slowly.
“As you say, Alpha.”
But something in his tone…
Something in the way his gaze lingered one second too long…
Lucien’s fingers curled, claws threatening to break skin.
“Return to your post,” Lucien commanded.
“Now.”
Ronan bowed again, but the stiffness in his posture betrayed irritation.
“As you wish.”
He walked away silently, but not before casting one more lingering glance toward the door.
Lucien slammed it shut.
Annabelle jumped at the sound.
Lucien turned to her immediately.
“Are you okay?”
“Lucien…” she whispered, “is he the one?”
Lucien shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
His voice was thick with frustration.
“But he’s hiding something. I scent it on him.”
Annabelle hesitated.
“Is he dangerous?”
Lucien crossed the room in two strides, cupping her face gently, his thumb brushing her cheek.
“Anyone is dangerous, Annabelle,” he murmured, “if they want you dead.”
Her breath caught.
“But listen carefully,” Lucien whispered, his forehead lowering to rest against hers.
“I don’t care who it is. I don’t care what they summon. What they threaten. What they want.”
His fingers slid to the back of her neck, pulling her closer.
“I will find them.”
A growl rumbled through his chest.
“And when I do, I will rip them apart.”
Annabelle shivered.
“Lucien…”
“You are my mate.”
His voice was soft but deadly.
“My equal. My destiny.”
His lips brushed hers — not kissing her, but close enough to steal her breath.
“And no one touches what’s mine.”
A knock sounded again.
But this time — only once.
A warning.
Lucien turned slowly, eyes blazing.
Annabelle clutched the blanket.
“Who… who is that?”
Lucien inhaled — and his expression changed instantly.
The silver in his eyes darkened to black.
“It’s not a pack member,” he growled.
Annabelle’s heart stopped.
Lucien’s claws slid out.
“Annabelle,” he said, voice dropping to pure Alpha command,
“get behind me.”
She obeyed instantly.
Lucien reached for the door.
And whoever — whatever — waited behind it…
didn’t knock again.
It whispered.
Her name.
“Annabelle…”
- Writer
