CHAPTER 3

LUCIAN

When my men reported that they had found a rogue near the cliff border—possibly having fallen from the edge which is Ashen pack—I immediately gave the order to eliminate her and dispose of it’s body in the woods. I wanted to make a clear message to any rogue who might wander into Bloodfang territory: this pack does not tolerate rogues, whether they come here by design or mistake.

But then Aaron mentioned something that made me pause. He said the rogue was a woman, and she had a star-shaped imprint on her inner thigh. That detail stopped me in my tracks and I knew I had to see her for myself.

When I arrived and confirmed his words, I made a different decision. Instead of killing her, I chose to spare her life. She could provide valuable information, and I needed to know if she was really the one I had been looking for all this time.

“You think that’s Whitee?” Aaron asked as he entered my office, his brows knitted and his voice unsure. “She doesn’t act like her, but she sure looks like her.”

Albena Lyall Obsidian, or Whitee as she was known for the pure, unblemished white furs of her wolf, had been thought dead for years.

She was the daughter and only offspring of Lysandra and Magnus Obsidian, two powerful figures within the Obsidian pack.

That was, until they were brutally murdered by rogues who attacked their pack, burning their home to the ground along with it. Everyone believed that the entire Obsidian family perished that day, their legacy wiped out in the flames. But now, the woman in my private suite, carries a star-shaped imprint on her inner thigh—the very mark that only the Alpha family of the Obsidian pack wore.

This mark, passed down from generation to generation, was not something just anyone could have. It was the seal of a lineage that had been thought lost forever. So, I found myself questioning everything. If she really was Albena Lyall, then she was not only alive, but she was also home, where she truly belonged.

But something didn’t sit right with me. I couldn’t just jump to conclusions. “I don’t know what to think, Aaron,” I confessed. The possibility that this woman was Whitee was there, but there was also the chance that our enemies had planted this mark to confuse us, to distract us from the truth.

“The only way to confirm if she’s really the one is to have her transform into her wolf.” I continued. Only the Obsidian Alpha Clan produced white wolves, and since that tragic day, there hasn’t been a white wolf in existence. “If she shifts, it’ll prove everything.”

“Then order her to,” Aaron suggested. “That way, we can clear up this dilemma once and for all.”

The idea of forcing her to do something against her will didn’t sit well with me at all. “Leave her be for now,” I replied. “A werewolf can’t hide their wolf form forever. She’ll eventually transform on her own, so there’s no need to rush this.”

Aaron raised an eyebrow and flashed me a knowing smile. “Already having a soft spot for her?” he teased, his brows waggling suggestively. I could tell he was enjoying this.

The rumor had always been there, the one that suggested we were destined to be mates. Back then, I didn’t think much of it. But now? I couldn’t ignore it.

I’d never found my true mate, and over the years, I believed that it was because Whitee was my mate and she’s dead.

It was possible—no, likely—that she could be the one.

“Don’t you have anything useful to do with your time?” I snapped. I wasn’t in the mood for Aaron’s teasing, not when I had so many unanswered questions swirling in my head.

Aaron threw his head back and let out a loud laugh, clearly amused. “I haven’t seen you this uncomfortable in forever,” he said, enjoying the moment. It wasn’t often that he got to see me off-balance, and I could tell he was relishing in it.

The door to my office creaked open, and Maren walked in, holding a cup of ice cream in her hand. “Who is uncomfortable and why?” she asked, her eyes flicking between Aaron and me with a raised brow.

Aaron glanced at me, a silent question in his gaze—should he tell her what was going on? But a glare from me quickly silenced him. No matter how close he was to Maren, his loyalty was to me and the pack first, not to her curiosity.

Maren, however, wasn’t the type to back down so easily. Her eyes narrowing as she studied both of us.“No one’s really going to say anything?”

I cleared my throat and decided to change the topic. “What are you doing here?”

Maren clearly caught on that I wasn’t interested in discussing her observations. She rolled her eyes at me, unimpressed. “I was at your place,” she said, her voice nonchalant as she took a bite of her ice cream. “And I saw a weird lady. No one seems to know where she came from, but according to them, they’ve been instructed to treat her nicely.”

“She is my guest, and there is nothing weird about her.”

Maren cocked her head to the side, clearly intrigued. “A guest from this pack?” she drawled, dragging out the last word as if to emphasize her skepticism. “I mean, she has our scent, but she doesn’t look familiar in any way.”

“How about you treat her nicely while she’s here?” Aaron suggested. “Lucian’s guest is our guest, no?”

Maren shot him a look of disbelief. “I never said I wasn’t going to treat her nicely,” she defended herself, clearly irritated by Aaron’s implication. “I was just curious about her, that’s all.”

Aaron raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced. “You never treat any female around Lucian nicely unless she’s you,” he deadpanned. “This one’s different. Treat her well if you don’t want to have a problem with Lucian. And if you know you can’t do that, then just avoid her.”

Maren’s eyes narrowed at Aaron’s words. “Why are you making it sound like she’s someone important?” She demanded, her eyes bouncing back to me.

“Because she is,” I growled in reply, agitated by the way Maren spoke about her.

The burning sensation in my chest told me I wasn’t the only one pissed, my wolf is too.

If she’s who I think she is, then she owns as much as half of this pack. Half of the wolves here are her subjects.

“What’s her name?” She asked through clenched teeth as she crossed her hands in a defiance stance.

Aaron glanced at me, blinking rapidly. “I didn’t get her name.”

“Aria.”

“Aria,” Aaron repeated, his voice soft and almost wistful as he said the name. His smile—lost, almost dreamy—didn’t sit well with me. I could feel the growing irritation within me at the way he spoke about her. It wasn’t a feeling I often had, but in this case, it was clear: I didn’t appreciate the fondness he was showing, and I intended to correct it.

“So this Aria,” Maren spat. “How long is she staying?”

I regarded her slowly. “Aria is in my house as my guest. She is in my space. What business of yours is it when she leaves?”

“When the people find out that their unmated Alpha is staying with an unmated female in the same house, it’s going to cause an issue for you—and you know it.”

I’ll handle my people. “It is my issue to handle,” I snapped. “And she leaves when I say so.” The fact that she thinks she can question me shows just how much I gave babied her in this pack.

Maren opened her mouth to argue further, but I cut her off before she could speak. “This conversation is over,” I said sharply, my eyes locking onto hers with an unspoken challenge. I dared her to push it any further.

Aaron, sensing the change in my demeanor, quickly stood and grabbed Maren’s hand, pulling her gently to her feet. “I think it’s time you leave,” he said, offering me an apologetic smile on Maren’s behalf. “I’ll escort her out.”

“Leave me alone!” She hissed at him. “I came here on my own and I can find my way out.”

She turned sharply at me, her eyes suddenly glassy. Chuckling sadly to herself, she sniffed and stomped out.

Clearly surprised yet affected by her reaction, Aaron ran his fingers through his hair. “I’ll go make sure she’s fine.” He mumbled before walking away.

The moment the door slammed shut behind them, I realized that I had never spoken to Maren like that before—never so cold, so dismissive.

Aria had only been conscious for a single day, yet she was already affecting me—changing how I interacted with others. And I wasn’t sure whether that terrified or intrigued me.