Claimed by The Alpha King

Lines in the Sand

Amara

I didn’t sleep.

Every time I closed my eyes, I felt his breath against my skin again. Heard the low rasp of my name on his tongue. Saw the way his gaze dropped to my lips like he wanted to devour them-and didn’t.

Because he didn’t.

Lucian had every opportunity to claim me. To press, demand, take. But he didn’t.

He stepped back.

And that unsettled me more than anything.

I was used to men taking what they wanted. I was prepared to fight that. I had sharpened myself into a blade, ready to cut anyone who thought my rank made me a possession.

But Lucian hadn’t treated me like a possession.

He’d treated me like I was something... fragile. Something precious he didn’t want to scare off.

And I hated that it got to me.

“Are you going to mope or are you going to talk about it?” Lena asked, tossing an apple from hand to hand as she leaned against the clinic's counter.

“I’m not moping.”

“You’re glaring at an empty tea mug like it personally offended you.”

“I’m thinking.”

“About how badly you want to jump the Alpha King?”

I threw the towel I was holding at her head.

She laughed, ducking. “You didn’t say no.”

“I didn’t say yes.”

“You didn’t have to. Your wolf said it for you.”

I turned away, grabbing a tray of fresh bandages just to give my hands something to do.

“He doesn’t push,” I said quietly.

Lena tilted her head. “And that scares you.”

“It makes me want to trust him.”

“And that’s worse?”

“Yes.”

Before she could press more, the clinic door opened-my heart tried to slam its way out of my chest.

Lucian stepped inside, ducking slightly under the doorframe, wearing black, smelling like wind and pine and command.

But this time, his expression was easy. Calm. His eyes met mine and held-soft, but unreadable.

“I’m not staying long,” he said.

“Then don’t stay at all,” I replied quickly, too sharp.

He didn’t flinch. Just walked to the side table where a box of medical supplies had been left unattended.

“I came to deliver something.” He pulled a scroll from the inside of his jacket and handed it to Lena.

“What is this?” she asked.

“A signed order,” he said. “Approving permanent upgrades to the clinic-funds, resources, and elite guard coverage on rotation. You won’t be unprotected again.”

My breath caught.

Lena blinked. “Are you serious?”

Lucian nodded once. “You keep this pack alive. I protect what’s mine.”

His eyes flicked to me at the last word.

And then, without waiting for gratitude or reaction, he turned and left.

No posturing. No smug smirk. No pressure.

Just... a gift.

And goddess help me, it rattled me more than any kiss ever could.

Lucian

It should’ve been a simple gesture. A signed order. A few lines on a parchment that changed the way the clinic was funded and protected.

But I didn’t do it because I had to.

I did it because I wanted her to feel safe. Because I wanted her to see that I wasn’t here to take-I was here to give. Even if she never asked.

I lingered outside after I left, just long enough to hear Lena exclaim something about elite guard rotation.

Amara didn’t speak. But I felt her silence.

Heavy. Tense. Struggling.

Good. She was still feeling.

“I swear, I’ve never seen you try so hard to impress someone that keeps throwing metaphorical knives at you.,” Idris said, appearing beside me with two mugs of coffee.

“She’s worth it,” I said simply, accepting the mug without looking at him.

He took a sip, eyebrows raised. “So, we’re playing the long game?”

“I don’t want her to come to me because of a bond.”

“Right,” he said, nodding. “You want her to choose you.”

“I want her to choose us.”

That was the difference.

I’d claimed land, fought for power, demanded loyalty from entire packs. But none of that mattered here. Not with her.

Here, I wasn’t the Alpha King.

I was just a man trying to reach a woman behind walls built out of betrayal.

Idris tilted his head. “You know Marcus is watching all of this, right? He's no fool. He sees what she means to you.”

“I know.”

“Then you know he’s going to use her.”

I looked down into the swirling black of my coffee, jaw tight.

“Let him try.”

Idris narrowed his eyes. “And Daniel?”

My eyes went cold.

“He’s a snake. And snakes are only useful until they bite the wrong hand.”

Idris’s lips quirked. “You planning to wait for that bite?”

I turned, watching the treetops in the distance, where the rogue activity was starting to gather like thunderclouds.

“No,” I said quietly. “I’m going to bait him into thinking I already have.”

Amara

I stood outside the clinic that afternoon, scroll still in hand, trying not to throw it into the forest.

The permanent upgrades. The guards. The supplies. All of it signed, sealed, and delivered by him like it cost nothing. Like it didn’t mean everything.

It wasn’t the gift itself that made my stomach twist-it was that he hadn’t said a word about it. No expectations. No demand for thanks or praise or some romantic reward.

Lucian had given it to me, and then walked away.

And goddess help me, I wanted to scream because it made me feel something I hadn’t in years.

Safe.

I stormed back inside, knowing exactly where he’d be.

I found him behind the packhouse, speaking to a pair of warriors. When he saw me. He dismissed them with hesitation.

He straightened as I approached, unreadable as always.

“You don’t get to buy me,” I snapped, thrusting the scroll toward him.

He didn’t even look at it. “It’s not payment. It’s protection.”

“I didn’t ask for it.”

“You didn’t have to.”

“I don’t want your charity-”

“It’s not charity.”

He stepped closer.

My breath caught.

His voice dropped, low and deliberate. “It’s respect.”

The word hit harder than I wanted it to. And I hated that he kept finding new ways to disarm me. Not with power, not with pressure-but with understanding.

“You can’t keep doing this,” I said, voice softer now. “Making it harder to hate you.”

His gaze locked onto mine. “Maybe I don’t want you to.”

He was too close.

Close enough that I could feel the warmth of his body, the heat rising between us like smoke. His scent wrapped around me-deep, heady, Alpha-and my traitorous wolf pushed forward with a quiet whine.

I hated the part of me that wanted to lean in.

I hated how badly I wanted to know how his mouth would feel against mine.

His fingers brushed a loose strand of hair from my cheek, and my breath hitched.

Our faces were inches apart.

“You’re not afraid of me,” he whispered.

“No,” I breathed.

“You’re afraid of what I make you feel.”

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t.

His lips lowered slowly, and my heart stopped.

Then the door behind me creaked open behind me.

“Wow, I can come back later if you guys need the room,” Lena’s voice said, amusement thick in every syllable.

I stepped back as fast I nearly tripped over my own feet.

Lucian didn’t move, but I saw the flicker of a smirk at the corner of his mouth.

Lena wicked at me on her way in. “Don’t mind me. I’m just here to reorganize the slaves. Definitely not interrupting something wildly inappropriate.”

I glared at her. She just grinned.

Lucian turned to me, voice soft.

“We’re not done, Amara.”

And then he walked out, leaving me there with my pulse racing and no idea what the hell was happening to me.

Lucian

Night had settled over the territory, heavy and restless. I stood near the war table in the temporary command center-Marcus's so-called strategy room. It was dusty and underused, much like his leadership.

I reviewed scout reports under dim lantern light when the door creaked open.

Daniel stepped inside.

My wolf growled low in my chest, instinctive and immediate, but I didn’t move. Didn’t show him teeth. Not yet.

He came to a stop across from me, posture stiff.

“We need to talk.”

I looked up, waiting.

He hesitated.

Then, he said “Alpha Marcus is working with the rogues.”

I didn’t react.

“I’ve seen him meeting with them in the woods at night. He’s planning to hand over your movements. He thinks he can negotiate power if they weaken you.”

Still, I said nothing.

Daniel cleared his throat, uneasy. “He’s not loyal to the throne. But I am.”

Now I tilted my head.

“To the throne? Or to me?”

“To both.” He lied.

He delivered it well-eyes open, voice steady. He even managed a flicker of humility. Anyone else might’ve believed him.

But I’d seen his kind before.

“I want to help you,” he said. “Take Marcus down before he takes us all down with him.”

I folded my arms. “Why now?”

He looked away. “Because Amara’s in the middle of it. He’s planning to use her to get to you. And if something happens to her...” He shook his head. “She doesn’t deserve that.”

Interesting.

He’d said it like he cared. Like he was afraid for her.

But the timing was too perfect.

Too sudden.

“You’re willing to betray your Alpha?” I asked.

He nodded. “To protect your future Queen? Yes.”

I studied him in silence.

“I’ll think about it,” I said finally. “Go.”

He left with the confidence of a man who thought he’d played me.

But he hadn’t.

He’d just drawn the first move in a much bigger game.

I turned back to the table, staring at the map of our borders, but my mind was already ten steps ahead.

Marcus was dirty.

Daniel was worse.

And Amara-my mate, my weakness-was now their weapon.

Which meant I’d have to become a weapon of my own.