MasukELI'S POV
The sting lingered in my palm long after the sound of the slap faded.Elric staggered half a step, more from shock than force. His head turned with the impact, dark hair falling messily across his forehead. For a split second, his smirk vanished, replaced by something raw and ugly... disbelief, wounded pride, and then anger.The hallway seemed to hold its breath. A nurse at the far end froze mid-step. Somewhere behind me, a cart rattled to a stop. The sterile hospital liELI'S POVI decided to walk along the small town and then I saw it. The sign read “Café Lumen.” I pushed open the door, the bell chiming a bright note that seemed to cut through the lingering fog of my thoughts.Behind the counter stood a man whose presence felt oddly familiar, as if the universe had taken a breath and exhaled him into this moment. He was tall, with dark hair swept back, and eyes like polished onyx that shifted between amber when the light hit them just right.There was an ease to his movements, a fluid confidence... an alpha.“Morning,” he greeted politely, offering a small professional smile. “What can I get started for you?”I hesitated briefly before answering, “Just… a black coffee. Strong.”“Of course,” he said easily.He reached for a cup, but his movements slowed slightly when his gaze flickered downward for the briefest second toward my stomach. His expression didn’t change much, though I noticed the faint crease between his brows.“Actually…” he said careful
LUCEN'S POVFor the entire night, I never stepped outside its doors... the study had become my prison. I sat behind my desk with the bloodstained piece of uniform that Eli wore when he left the estate. The cloth clenched tightly in my hands, staring at it until my vision blurred. The dried crimson across the torn fabric looked darker beneath the dim light of the study, but no matter how many times I blinked, it never changed.Eli’s blood.Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him again... pale, shaking, emotionless, kneeling in front of me while I chose duty over him.I thought I had time... that was the cruelest part, the stupidest mistake I did.I thought I could fulfill my obligations as Alpha first... Mark Caden, appease the council and secure the pack. Then afterward, when the pressure settled, I would explain everything to Eli. I would tell him the truth. I would make him understand why I acted the way I did.But I forgot something vital. Eli was not some immortal creature made to
ELI'S POV“You carry life,” she said gently, “a twin.” Everything inside me shattered.“…I’m…” My voice cracked, ragged with disbelief. “Pregnant…?”My knees nearly gave out, a wave of nausea crashing over me like a tide. “No… no, that’s—”“The child is his,” Lunethra said softly.Lucen. His name echoed in my mind like a wound reopening, a scar that never fully healed. Tears spilled instantly, hot and unbidden. “…He…” My voice cracked. “He left me…”Images flashed... his cold eyes, his silence, the way he chose duty over me. A pact made in the night, a promise broken in the light of dawn.“He was going to mark someone else…” I whispered, shaking. “While I was bleeding…”My chest tightened violently, a fist around my heart. “…Why?” I choked out, turning to her. “Why did you let me go through all of that?!” My voice broke. “Why did I have to suffer like that?! Why did you just watch me breaking like that?”Silence swallowed the clearing, the only sound the low rustle of leaves. Then, so
Eli’s POVAt first, there was nothing... no pain, no coldness and no fear.Just… quiet. The kind of quiet that didn’t suffocate... it held you, cradled you, as if the world had been folded into a single, soft breath.For a moment I thought this was what dying felt like... this afterlife feels like... so pure and peaceful.“ Eli. ” The voice came again, soft and warm, wrapping around me like something I had never known but somehow missed. My eyelashes fluttered open.Light greeted me... but not the harsh kind. It was gentle, silver, and alive. I inhaled sharply, my body tensing expecting exploding pain all over, but there was no pain. No bleeding wounds, no burning flesh and no spilling blood.“What…?” My voice came out hoarse, confused. I sat up slowly... and froze.This wasn’t the darkness of the forest. This wasn’t anywhere in the realm where I ram away from.Beneath me was a bed softer than anything I had ever touched, draped in flowing white silk that shimmered like liquid light.
LUCEN'S POV“…No.” The word left my mouth like a fracture... sharp, hollow, and already too late to mean anything.For a moment, I just stood there, frozen in the doorway, staring at the scene as if my mind refused to process it. The bed... No, Eli’s bed, was a mess of twisted sheets and rope. The guard lay there half-naked, bound tightly to the bedpost, his chest rising and falling in shallow, uneven breaths.Eli was really gone. Something inside my chest caved in.“Alpha…” Drew’s voice was cautious behind me, but I barely heard him.I moved so fast that I didn't know I did it instinctively because in two long strides, I reached the bed and grabbed the guard by his neck, yanking him up slightly despite his dead weight. My voice dropped into something cold… something lethal. He didn't stir so I dropped him down again.“Wake him up.” I ordered coldly to Drew.Drew didn’t question me. He moved to the bedside table, grabbed a glass of water, and without hesitation...Splash.The water h
LUCEN'S POVThe grand ballroom felt suffocating, a gilded cage designed to masquerade as a celebration. I stood at the altar, dressed in ceremonial black, the fabric stiff and heavy against my skin, mirroring the weight of a hundred watching eyes pressing into me like chains. Above, the crystal chandeliers cast a golden, mocking glow over polished marble floors, the place is filled with faces of neighboring pack leaders who smiled with teeth that looked too much like knives.Guests from across the territories filled the hall, their murmurs blending into a low, expectant hum. It was the sound of politics, of alliances being cemented in the blood of tradition. It sounded distant, hollow, and utterly wretched. My gaze swept across the room, not truly seeing any of them. I wasn’t looking for allies; I wasn’t looking for their hollow approval.I was looking for someone who wasn’t there. Eli.My jaw tightened, a tremor of suppressed fury vibrating through my neck. He should have been here







