His Christmas Mate

Chapter 19

_Aria's POV_

Lucien still had not come back for lunch. I waited until my stomach gave a loud protest. I asked Jack where Lucien had gone. Jack shrugged and said he did not know. I tried calling Lucien twice. The calls went straight to voicemail both times. I left a short message that I was fine and that I would be waiting for him but the silence after my message felt heavy.

I ate alone in the dining hall. The long table had the same empty look as this morning but a plate had been left where I sat. I moved my fork slowly through the food without tasting much. My mind was turning over the things I had heard in the kitchen. The maids’ whispers would not leave me. The words “family” and “no food” kept looping in my head. I had wanted to believe Lucien was all truth and warmth but the sound those women made when they thought no one listened had planted a seed of doubt.

After lunch I went back to my room. I watched a late afternoon show on the small television but the actors on the screen spoke like someone far away. My eyes kept drifting to the window where the yard looked peaceful in the gray light. I tried to breathe like a normal person but my chest felt tight and my hands kept finding each other as if to hold myself together.

Then, there was a knock on my door. It was soft and polite, the kind of knock someone uses when they want to be gentle.

“May I come in?” Lucien’s voice said from the other side.

“Yes,” I answered before I could think too hard about it.

He opened the door slowly and stepped inside. He was smiling in that steady way he had when he wanted me to feel calm. For a second I forgot how angry and scared I had been. He looked exactly like the man who had held me and wrapped the blanket around me last night. He looked like the man who had knelt in the snow with a red-stitched wound. He looked like someone who cared.

“Good,” he said. “You are here.”

“I was watching television,” I said, trying to sound casual.

He came closer and sat down on the chair by my dressing table. “I have news,” he said. “I went to see Isolde, the seer. She will help us with the ritual. She will come tomorrow.”

I kept staring at him. I didn’t even blink. My mind was still stuck on the whispers I heard earlier. His words sounded far… almost like they were floating in the air and not reaching me.

Lucien frowned a little. “Aria… did you hear what I said? Are you even listening to me?”

I blinked quickly and nodded. “Yes… sorry. I heard you.” I forced my voice to sound normal. “But… what is a seer?”

Lucien relaxed a bit. He stepped closer and spoke in a calm and simple way, like he was explaining something to someone who had never heard it before.

“A seer is someone who can see things we cannot,” he said gently. “They see signs. They see clues in the world. They can sense danger or fate. They understand old magic and old stories. They guide people when the path is not clear.”

He paused and watched my face to make sure I understood.

“They cannot control the future,” he added softly. “But they can read it… just a little. Enough to help us with the ritual. Enough to keep you safe.”

I nodded slowly. My heart was beating too fast. His words were easy and simple… but they still felt heavy.

I took a small breath. “Lucien…” My voice came out low and unsure. “I appreciate everything you have done for me. Truly. But… I need you to answer some questions for me.”

His expression changed immediately. His shoulders tensed. His eyes became sharper.

“Which questions?” he asked quietly.

“First, I need you to promise me something.”

He turned and looked at me with a small frown. “What is it?”

“You must promise to tell me the truth. All of it. If there is anything I do not know, tell me now.” My hands were in my lap and they refused to stop moving.

He gave a small and almost playful smile. “I promise,” he said. “Tell me your questions.”

My tongue felt heavy. I did not want to start an argument that might make him angry with me. But the whispering in the kitchen had hurt something inside me. I needed to hear his voice speak clear facts.

“This morning I overheard two maids,” I began slowly while choosing each word carefully. “They were whispering that someone screamed last night and that the Alpha ordered no food until tomorrow. They said ‘he is family.’ Who did they mean? Who screamed? Who did the Alpha order to be starved?”

Lucien’s face changed. The smile left. His jaw set. For a second, I saw a flicker in his eyes that felt like a shield closing.

“What?” he asked softly. “Who said that?”

“Maids,” I said quickly. “Two of them. I didn’t see their faces clearly. I don’t want to accuse anyone. But they were whispering. I heard enough.”

He breathed out a long sound and leaned back in the chair. For a moment he looked tired in a way that had nothing to do with sleep. “Aria,” he said, “I should have told you. I should have made sure you heard nothing that would frighten you. I will tell you now.”

His voice was calm and steady but there was a weight under it that made me listen closer.

“There was a man,” he began. “His name was Eric. He was not my blood but he was my friend. He was like a brother. He stood with me for years. He fought for this pack. He was my Beta before Jack took the role.”

My stomach turned. It means that someone else was the Beta before Jack.

“One night,” Lucien continued, “Eric did something terrible. He killed Rose. Rose was his wife. He believed that she was unfaithful. He thought she had betrayed him. He was wrong. Rose was innocent. She was faithful. He killed her in a rage. He confessed the next morning because the truth found its way out and he could not hide it. The law of the pack is clear. He had to be punished. I could not save him. He was sentenced to life in the eastern wing prison.”

He paused and looked at me. “It was not easy. He was my friend. He was family to many here. But the law is the law. The pack must stay safe.”

Hearing him say the name of the man who had been punished made the knot in my stomach loosen a little. The story sounded terrible and true and heavy. If Eric had killed his wife, then punishment was right. I felt stupid for the quickness of my suspicion.

“So, they called him family because he used to be close to you,” I said, feeling both relieved and guilty. “They were talking about Eric.”

Lucien nodded. “Yes. They are afraid to speak his name freely. They fear he might hear or someone will tell the wrong person. Do not worry. He is locked away. He cannot harm anyone.”

I tried to let relief spread through me. I forced a smile and let the warmth of it hold for a moment. “I am sorry I doubted you. I was frightened and I let my mind run away.”

“You have every right to be frightened,” he said quietly. “But you must not let fear make you cruel. I would never hurt an innocent person.”

I felt shame at how fast I had accused him in my mind. He had risked himself to protect me. He had told me things and shown me evidence. He had offered me shelter. I had let whispers scare me.

“I should have asked you,” I said. “I am sorry.”

He reached out and touched my hand. His touch was light and steady. “It is all right,” he said. “You are still learning. This world is not like the one you grew up in. There are rules you do not know yet. Do not be hard on yourself.”

He stood up then, and for a moment he looked like the Alpha I had seen in formal settings — tall, controlled and impossible to read.

“I told you about Isolde,” he said. “She will come tomorrow. She is wise. She will guide us through the ritual. We will need her gifts to weave the old spells. She will tell us what must be done.”

I tried to listen. Part of me wanted to ask more questions. Part of me wanted to believe him completely. My heart still felt raw from last night and I wanted something steady to hold on to.

“Will Isolde be safe?” I asked, my voice small.

Lucien smiled softly. “She is old. She sees much. She will be safe here. The pack will protect her. We will not let anything happen to our guests.”

I nodded. I wanted to believe him with all my heart. I wanted to trust the softness of his tone and the firmness of his promise.

He paused by the doorway. “There is something else,” he said. “Tomorrow will be the first step. It is better to start soon so you will be safer. We will prepare. Rest now, Aria. Eat. Sleep. Do not worry.”

I watched him leave and the door close behind him. The quiet settled back over my room like a thin blanket. The sun had shifted and the shadows in the house felt longer. I sat on the edge of my bed and thought about Eric and Rose, the maids’ whispers and Lucien’s words.

I felt guilty for the doubt that had bitten at me but I also felt a small and stubborn thread of unease that would not go away. The house hid many things. People kept secrets. Even an Alpha could have a story that was hard to hear.

I wrapped my hands around my knees and pulled them in close. I would not let suspicion rule me but I would not ignore my instinct either. I would watch. I would ask questions. I would listen.

Isolde would come tomorrow. The ritual would begin. I had promised to be brave and to trust, but I also promised myself I would not be blind.

Tomorrow would bring the seer and the first step toward the transformation I had agreed to.