CHAPTER THREE: He Said I Was Forbidden
1256 Words
The wolves didn’t bow for long.
The moment their heads lowered, the air in the clearing shifted, thickened with tension so sharp it felt like it could cut skin. My knees threatened to give out, and if Lucien hadn’t been standing directly in front of me, I would have collapsed.
“What did they just do?” I whispered.
Lucien didn’t turn around, but I saw the muscles in his shoulders tighten. “They acknowledged something they should not have.”
The gray wolf lifted its head slowly, eyes gleaming with challenge. “The moon does not make mistakes, Alpha.”
Lucien’s growl vibrated through his chest, deep and dangerous. “The moon does not rule my pack.”
A murmur rippled through the wolves. Some shifted uneasily. Others stared at me like I was a puzzle they couldn’t decide how to solve or a threat they wanted to tear apart.
My skin prickled under their gaze.
“I don’t understand,” I said softly. “Why are they looking at me like that?”
Lucien finally turned to face me. Up close, the worry in his eyes was unmistakable now, etched deep beneath the steel-hard control he wore like armor.
“Because you should be prey,” he said quietly. “And instead, the moon marked you.”
Marked.
The word echoed painfully in my chest.
The gray wolf shifted, bones cracking as fur receded. In seconds, a tall woman stood in its place, naked and unashamed, pale hair falling down her back like a blade.
Her eyes were the same sharp gray.
“Selene,” Lucien said coldly.
She smiled, slow and dangerous, her gaze never leaving me. “So this is her.”
I swallowed. “Hi?”
Lucien shot me a look that clearly said, “Don’t speak.”
Selene stepped closer, circling Lucien like a predator assessing distance. “A human,” she said, voice laced with disbelief. “Bleeding in our forest. Under a full moon.”
Her eyes flicked to Lucien. “You felt it, didn’t you?”
Lucien didn’t answer.
Selene laughed softly. “You did.”
My chest tightened. “Felt what?”
Lucien grabbed my wrist again, his thumb brushing my pulse like he was checking I was still real. The contact sent another wave of heat through me, sharp enough to steal my breath.
“The bond,” Selene said, watching us with open interest now. “It doesn’t lie.”
Lucien released me as if burned.
“There is no bond,” he snapped. “Not with a human.”
Selene’s smile widened. “Then why did the moon bow her to us?”
My stomach dropped.
Lucien’s jaw clenched so hard I thought his teeth might crack. “Enough.”
He turned to the pack, voice rising, Alpha power rolling off him in invisible waves. “Leave us. Now.”
Some of the wolves hesitated. One snarled under its breath. Selene held their gaze for a long moment, then inclined her head, just.
“For now,” she said.
One by one, the wolves retreated into the forest, their eyes lingering on me like promises.
When the last shadow disappeared, the clearing felt suddenly too quiet.
I hugged myself, shivering. “They hate me.”
“They fear what you represent,” Lucien corrected.
“And what is that?” I asked.
He looked at me like he was trying to memorize my face, like he might never see it again.
“Something forbidden.”
The word hurt again, sinking deep this time.
“Lucien,” I said carefully, “I need you to explain. Please. I don’t even know what you are.”
“I’m a werewolf,” he said bluntly.
I flinched despite myself.
“Yes,” he continued, voice steady. “We exist. We hide. We survive by keeping humans ignorant and distant.”
“And I just walked into your territory,” I murmured.
“And bled,” he added.
“And bled,” I repeated weakly.
He nodded. “Blood under the full moon awakens instincts. Claims. Bonds.”
“Like mating?” I blurted.
Silence fell between us.
Lucien closed his eyes briefly. “Yes.”
Heat flooded my face. “You’re saying?”
“I’m saying it shouldn’t have happened,” he cut in sharply. “Human-wolf bonds were outlawed centuries ago.”
“Outlawed?” I echoed.
“They led to wars. Massacres. Entire packs wiped out.” His eyes darkened. “Humans died too.”
My stomach twisted. “So what happens now?”
His gaze softened again, pain threading through his expression. “Now, I send you away.”
The words hit harder than I expected.
“You just said your pack would kill me,” I whispered.
“They won’t touch you if you leave before the next full moon,” he said. “After that… I can’t protect you.”
My heart skipped. “You mean you won’t.”
He stiffened. “I mean, I shouldn’t.”
Anger flared, pushing back the fear. “You dragged me here. You touched me. You put voices in my head and expect me to just walk away?”
“I’m trying to save you,” he said, voice rough.
“By abandoning me?” I shot back.
A flicker of something dark crossed his face. Desire. Hunger. Frustration.
“Do you have any idea what staying near you does to me?” he growled.
The clearing pulsed with tension.
“No,” I admitted. “But I’m starting to feel it too.”
His breath hitched.
“What do you feel?” he asked quietly.
I hesitated, then told the truth. “Pulled. Like something is tying us together, tightening every time you get close.”
He looked at me like that was the last thing he wanted to hear.
“Aria,” he said, stepping back, “you cannot stay near me.”
“Why?” I demanded.
“Because my wolf already sees you as mine,” he said hoarsely. “And if I lose control—”
“What?” I pressed.
“I’ll mark you permanently,” he finished. “And if that happens, the pack will demand your death or your transformation.”
My breath caught. “Transformation?”
He stared at me, eyes glowing faintly now. “Humans don’t always survive it.”
Fear gripped my chest. “And if I do?”
His voice dropped to a whisper. “Then you would never belong to the human world again.”
The thought terrified me.
And yet… a small, dangerous part of me wondered what it would feel like.
“Lucien,” I said softly, “if I leave, will the bond go away?”
His silence was answer enough.
I took a shaky breath. “Then running won’t fix this.”
A howl echoed in the distance, closer than before.
Lucien’s head snapped up. “They’re restless.”
He stepped toward me again, slow and deliberate. “You need to decide.”
“Decide what?”
“Whether you trust me,” he said. “Or whether you run.”
I looked at the forest. At the path back to a life that suddenly felt like a lie.
Then I looked at him.
The Alpha.
The monster.
The man who saved me.
“I’m not running,” I said.
His eyes flared silver.
The moon above us brightened.
And somewhere deep inside me, something ancient stirred awake.
- Writer
