LOGINCHAPTER 66: YOU WANT ME TO CHOOSE BETWEEN YOU?ADRIAN:“Get the fuck out!” I yelled, pointing to the door.I watched Lucian’s face as my words hit him. He’d come in here like he was proposing a business merger, like he was buying a piece of property, and he looked like I punched him in the face when I ordered him out of my study. He started to rise, his chair scraping against the hardwood floor with a grating screech.I leaned back in my desk chair, a cold, mocking smirk pulling at my lips. "Wait. Do you really want her that bad, Lucian?"He froze, his hands gripping the back of the chair. He looked at me, caught off guard. "What?"I laughed, a dry, humorless sound that felt like sandpaper. "Let’s say I actually let you have her. Do you even think Elena would want you? Hell, why don't you ask her yourself? She’s been standing outside that door for the last ten minutes, listening to every damn word."Lucian’s eyes went wide. He whipped around toward the door. "How do you know that?""
CHAPTER 65: LET ME HAVE HERADRIAN:The air in my master suite had been suffocating, but out in the hallway, it didn't get any better. I walked down toward my study, my blood still boiling. Elena probably thought I was just some jealous, caveman Alpha, and honestly? Maybe I was. But jealousy was the least of my problems. I was fighting for survival, and I was fighting to keep a viper out of my life.Lucian wasn't just a brother. He was a ticking time bomb.My father’s history was a mess of broken promises and secrets. Silas had loved Lucian’s mother long before he met my mom, his fated mate. The pack elders had forced his hand—a prophecy warned of total ruin if he rejected his fated mate, so he’d marked my mother and made her Luna. But he’d kept the mistress in the shadows, and eventually, he had Lucian.My mother had been a saint, honestly. She’d raised Lucian as her own once Silas brought him home to be tutored at the age of ten. But the day my mother died, the mask dropped. Lucian’
CHAPTER 64:ELENA:The hand on my shoulder was like a clamp, pulling me backward with enough force that I slammed straight into a hard, broad chest. The scent of him—sharp, dangerous, and overwhelming—flooded my senses before I even turned. My stomach did a somersault. It was Adrian.How had he recovered that fast? I’d caught him square in the groin; he should’ve been down for the count. But there he was, spinning me around until my face was inches from his. I went into full panic mode, twisting and thrashing."Let go of me, you savage!" I yelled, trying to shove him away."Elena, please stop," he grunted, his voice tight. "Just stop. We need to talk."I froze. I’d expected a roar, a strike, or for him to throw me across the hallway for the stunt I’d pulled. Instead, he sounded… tired? He kept one hand pressed firmly against his groin, his face pale, but his expression was disturbingly calm."There is nothing to talk about," I spat, my heart still hammering.He took a jagged breath, h
CHAPTER 62: OH, I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT, ELENA ELENA:Adrian’s presence felt like a physical weight, crushing the air out of the garden. He was looming there, his shadow stretching long and jagged across the grass, eyes locked onto my hair like he wanted to burn it off my head.Lucian didn't even flinch. He just calmly unwrapped my hair from his fingers, his movements slow and deliberate, designed specifically to push Adrian’s buttons. He turned, looking his brother dead in the eye with that infuriatingly calm smirk."We’re just catching some fresh air, Adrian," Lucian said, his voice smooth as silk. "It’s a beautiful night. You should try it sometime."Adrian took a step forward, his boot crunching on the gravel. "With her hair wrapped around your fingers?"Lucian chuckled, tucking his hands into his pockets. "There’s nothing wrong with admiring her hair. It’s elegant. Something you wouldn't understand, I guess."Adrian closed the distance between them in a heartbeat, standing
CHAPTER 61: JUST A CHAT IN THE GARDEN ELENA:When I told Adrian he was just mad because I found his brother more impressionable than him, I knew I was pushing it. But watching Adrian’s face turn that ugly shade of purple was worth every second of the risk. Adrian scoffed again. “More impressionable? You guys are going nothing but chattering like kids. It was annoying.”Lucian glanced from Adrian to me, a smirk on his face. I leaned just a little closer, my voice low enough that only he could catch the sting of it. “It's not the chattering that’s bothering you, Adrian. It’s the fact that I’m choosing to laugh with him instead of fear you."Adrian’s eyes snapped to mine, his pupils dilating until the iris almost vanished. He leaned in, his voice a lethal, vibrating growl. "You can’t talk to me like that. Know your place, Elena. I’m still your Alpha, and I can stop you from ever setting your feet in this dining room."Lucian looked shocked, watching his brother talk to me like a maid.
CHAPTER 60: ELANA MEETS LUCIAN ELENA:When Adrian and Purity finally left the room, I sighed and turned to my food. My appetite had dulled but I forced myself to eat because I needed my strength to face the constant challenges in this Pack. The dungeon was a ghost that still haunted my skin, but I refused to let it settle in my bones. For three days, I holed up in that room, eating, sleeping, and taking a short walk along the hallway, forcing my body to mend. On the third evening, I heard a knock at the door while I sat on the edge of the bed with a book in my hand. A maid poked her head in. "Dinner is at seven, ma'am. The senior Alpha requests your presence.""I'll be there," I said, my voice steady.Once she was gone, I stood up and walked to the mirror. I looked better, though the shadows under my eyes still whispered of the dark. I spent an hour in the bathroom, turning the shower into a sanctuary. When I stepped out, I pulled out a dress from the closet—a simple, body-hugging







