CHAPTER 3: THE ESTATE OF WOLVES
1177 Words
The car was worth more than my entire life.
Black. Silent. Untouchable.
The kind of car people like me only saw in passing—never from the inside.
I sat pressed against the door.
As far from Lucian as possible.
He didn’t move closer.
Didn’t try.
He just watched the window.
And somehow—
that felt worse.
“You’re thinking about running.”
His voice cut through the silence.
“Maybe.”
“You won’t.”
I let out a short breath. “You sound very sure of yourself.”
“I am.”
That made something in me bristle.
“Arrogant.”
“Observant.”
He turned his head then.
And just like that—
I couldn’t breathe properly anymore.
“You’re not a coward, Isabella,” he said quietly.
My chest tightened.
“Cowards break under pressure,” he continued. “They run from pain. From fear. From the unknown.”
A pause.
“You walked into a room with a monster… and stayed.”
My pulse stuttered.
“You’ll stay,” he finished. “Because you need answers more than you fear me.”
I hated that he was right.
The road changed.
Smooth pavement became gravel.
Gravel became dirt.
Dirt became… nothing.
The car didn’t slow.
Didn’t struggle.
It just kept moving forward—
as if the path existed only for us.
Trees closed in.
Ancient ones.
Massive trunks twisted with age.
Branches heavy with moss that swallowed the moonlight whole.
The world outside disappeared.
“Where are we?” I asked quietly.
“My territory.”
Something about the way he said it—
wasn’t geographical.
“How far?” I pressed.
“Far enough that no one will find you,” he said.
A chill crawled up my spine.
“No humans within fifty miles.”
My throat tightened.
“No one to hear me scream.”
Lucian’s jaw flexed.
“No one to hurt you,” he corrected.
A beat.
“The pack protects what’s mine.”
Mine.
The word didn’t sit right.
“Pack,” I repeated.
“My wolves.”
Another pause.
“My responsibility.”
And then, quieter—
“My problem.”
That caught my attention.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Silence stretched.
Long.
Heavy.
“They won’t accept you easily,” he said at last.
“Because I’m human?”
“Yes.”
Another pause.
“And because,” he added, voice tightening slightly, “they have waited five thousand years for me to choose one of them.”
Something twisted in my chest.
“A wolf mate,” he continued. “Someone strong. Loyal. Predictable.”
His gaze flicked to me.
“The moon gave them you instead.”
My stomach flipped.
Before I could respond—
the trees opened.
And everything else stopped mattering.
The estate rose from the darkness like it had always been there.
Waiting.
Not a house.
A fortress.
Black stone. Towering walls. Windows glowing like watchful eyes.
Ancient.
Wrong.
Alive.
My breath caught.
“They’re watching,” I whispered.
“They’ve been waiting,” Lucian corrected.
The car slowed.
Stopped.
Silence.
Then—
I heard it.
Low.
Rumbling.
Growls.
From the shadows.
From the trees.
From everywhere.
My pulse spiked.
“They know you’re here,” Lucian said.
“How?”
A pause.
Then he placed a hand over his chest.
“My heart hasn’t been steady in five thousand years.”
My breath caught.
“Tonight,” he said quietly, “it remembered how to beat.”
The growls deepened.
“Every wolf felt it.”
Something cold slid down my spine.
The door opened.
Lucian stepped out first.
Then came around to my side.
He held the door open.
Waiting.
Like this was my choice.
I stepped out.
The moment my feet touched the ground—
the growls sharpened.
Closer.
Hungry.
“They’re testing you,” Lucian murmured.
My hands clenched slightly.
“Don’t run,” he said.
“Don’t lower your eyes.”
“What do I do?”
He looked at me.
Really looked.
“Stand like you belong beside me.”
My heart pounded.
But I lifted my chin.
And stepped forward.
Then—
without thinking—
I reached for him.
My fingers wrapped around his arm.
The reaction was immediate.
Silence.
The growls stopped.
All of them.
Lucian went still.
Not tense.
Not angry.
Shocked.
“You touched me first,” he said quietly.
I frowned slightly. “So?”
Something shifted in his expression.
Something deep.
“Nothing,” he murmured.
“But it matters.”
Before I could ask why—
The massive doors opened.
And she stepped out.
Tall.
Silver-haired.
Beautiful in a way that felt sharp enough to cut.
Her eyes locked onto me.
And I knew instantly—
She hated me.
“So,” she said coldly.
“This is what you chose.”
Lucian’s body shifted slightly in front of me.
Not blocking.
But… claiming space.
“Careful, Elara,” he said.
His voice had changed.
Lower.
Heavier.
“She is your luna.”
The word echoed.
The woman laughed.
Soft.
Cruel.
“She is nothing,” Elara said.
Her gaze dragged over me like a blade.
“A human. Weak. Desperate.”
A step closer.
“A girl who sold herself to survive.”
The words hit.
Hard.
“She is not your mate,” Elara continued.
Her voice dropped.
“She is your mistake.”
The air snapped.
I felt it before I saw it.
Pressure.
Power.
Something ancient waking up.
Lucian stepped forward.
And suddenly—
he wasn’t just a man anymore.
His eyes burned gold.
Pure.
Blinding.
His presence expanded—
filling the space.
Crushing everything beneath it.
“Enough.”
The word didn’t sound spoken.
It sounded… enforced.
Elara’s breath hitched.
“Lucian—”
“Kneel.”
The command hit like a physical force.
Her body folded instantly.
She slammed to the ground.
Hard.
The sound echoed.
No one moved.
No one spoke.
The entire estate felt… still.
Waiting.
Lucian didn’t look at her again.
He turned to me.
And just like that—
the monster softened.
“Your room is in the east wing,” he said quietly.
His voice gentler now.
Controlled.
“No one enters without your permission.”
A pause.
“No one touches you.”
Another step closer.
“While I breathe.”
I should have felt safe.
But I didn’t.
Because behind him—
wolves were watching.
Silent.
Obedient.
Not to me.
To him.
And for the first time—
it truly sank in.
This wasn’t a house.
It was a territory.
A hierarchy.
A cage built on loyalty and fear.
And at the center of it—
Was Lucian.
Ancient.
Powerful.
Unbreakable.
And he was looking at me—
like I was the only thing holding him back from becoming something worse.
My pulse slowed.
Just slightly.
Because the truth was—
I wasn’t trapped with him.
He was holding himself back for me.
And I didn’t know which was more dangerous.
- Writer
