Chapter Five

CHAPTER FIVE

Lucien

---

Selene did not speak until the door closed.

The sound echoed through the room, sharp against the lingering tension Genesis Walker had left behind.

Lucien didn’t turn.

He remained exactly where he was, gaze fixed on the space near the desk where she had stood, as if the air itself still held her presence.

It did.

Faint.

Subtle.

Persistent.

Annoying.

“You’re distracted.”

Selene’s voice cut through the silence, controlled but edged with something sharper beneath.

Lucien said nothing.

“You never dismiss me,” she continued. “Not without reason.”

Still—nothing.

That, more than anything, irritated her.

“I saw the way you were standing with her,” Selene added, her tone tightening. “Close enough to forget yourself.”

Lucien’s gaze shifted slightly.

Not toward her.

Toward the desk.

Toward the exact point where his hand had closed around Genesis’s wrist.

A memory.

Brief.

Unwelcome.

Her pulse.

Fast—for a moment.

Then gone.

Controlled.

Like everything else about her.

Interesting.

“You’re reading too much into it,” he said finally, his voice even.

Selene laughed softly.

There was no humor in it.

“I don’t think I am.”

Silence settled again, heavier this time.

Then

“She doesn’t belong here.”

Lucien’s eyes darkened slightly.

“Neither did you,” he said.

The words landed.

Hard.

Selene went still.

A mistake.

He knew it the moment it left his mouth.

Not because it was untrue.

But because it gave her something.

A reaction.

She recovered quickly.

Of course she did.

“I earned my place,” she said coolly.

“And so will she.”

Selene stepped closer.

Not enough to challenge.

Enough to be seen.

“Or she’ll take it?” she asked quietly.

Lucien finally turned.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

His gaze met hers, and whatever she saw there made her pause.

Just for a second.

“She won’t take anything I don’t allow,” he said.

Selene held his gaze.

Searching.

Measuring.

“And if she tries?” she pressed.

A beat passed.

Then

“She won’t succeed.”

Confidence.

Absolute.

Unshaken.

Selene studied him for a moment longer before stepping back.

The tension shifted.

Not gone.

Just… redirected.

“There are rumors,” she said after a pause, her tone shifting slightly. “About the southern territories.”

Lucien’s attention sharpened instantly.

“Kael informed me.”

“And?” she asked.

“Handled.”

Selene tilted her head slightly.

“That quickly?”

Lucien didn’t answer.

Didn’t need to.

Because the truth was simple

Nothing in his territory moved without his knowledge.

And anything that threatened it

Didn’t last long.

---

Selene watched him for a moment longer.

Then—

“She’s a distraction.”

The words were softer this time.

Less accusation.

More warning.

Lucien’s gaze didn’t waver.

“She’s an employee.”

Selene’s lips curved faintly.

“You don’t watch your employees the way you watch her.”

Silence.

Sharp.

Precise.

She stepped closer again, lowering her voice.

“I felt it,” she said. “The shift. The moment you looked at her.”

Lucien’s jaw tightened slightly.

Barely noticeable.

“Be careful, Lucien,” Selene continued. “Things like that don’t happen without consequence.”

His eyes darkened.

“They don’t happen at all.”

Denial.

Cold.

Immediate.

Final.

Selene held his gaze for a moment longer.

Then nodded slowly.

“As you say.”

But her eyes said otherwise.

And they both knew it.

---

The moment she left, the room shifted again.

Quieter.

Still.

Lucien exhaled slowly, his control settling back into place like armor locking over exposed skin.

This was unnecessary.

All of it.

Genesis Walker was an anomaly.

Nothing more.

A variable that required observation.

Understanding.

Elimination—if necessary.

Simple.

Logical.

Controlled.

And yet

His gaze moved again.

To the desk.

To the memory of her standing there, unflinching, unyielding, entirely unaffected by everything that should have made her break.

She had challenged him.

Not openly.

Not recklessly.

But deliberately.

Calculated.

As if she knew exactly how far she could push

And chose to go further anyway.

A slow, deliberate knock broke the silence.

“Enter.”

Kael stepped inside, his expression as composed as ever.

“There’s been movement,” he said without preamble.

Lucien’s focus sharpened immediately.

“Where?”

“Southern border,” Kael replied. “Our scouts picked up a scent trail late this afternoon.”

Lucien’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“And?”

“It disappeared,” Kael said. “Too cleanly.”

A pause.

“Like it was meant to be found.”

Interesting.

Lucien stepped away from the desk, his mind already moving ahead.

Analyzing.

Calculating.

“If it’s a survivor,” Kael continued, “they’re not hiding.”

“No,” Lucien said quietly.

“They’re not.”

A beat passed.

Then

“They’re searching.”

Kael’s gaze flickered slightly.

“For what?”

Lucien didn’t answer immediately.

Because there was only one reason a survivor would return.

One purpose.

One driving force.

Revenge.

His expression hardened slightly.

“Find them,” he said. “Before they find what they’re looking for.”

Kael inclined his head.

“It will be done.”

He turned to leave

“Kael.”

The Beta paused.

Lucien’s voice dropped slightly.

Controlled.

Precise.

“Genesis Walker.”

Kael didn’t turn.

But his attention sharpened.

“What about her?”

Lucien’s gaze shifted, just briefly, toward the doorway she had walked through earlier.

“Expand surveillance.”

A pause.

“Discreetly.”

Kael’s brow furrowed slightly.

“You think she’s connected?”

Lucien’s expression gave nothing away.

“I think she’s something.”

Not what.

Not why.

Just—

Something.

Kael studied him for a moment longer.

Then nodded.

“I’ll assign two of our best.”

“No,” Lucien said.

Sharp.

Immediate.

Kael stilled.

“One,” Lucien corrected. “I don’t want her spooked.”

A beat passed.

Understanding settled.

“Of course.”

Kael left.

---

Silence returned.

Familiar.

Controlled.

Predictable.

And yet—

Lucien remained still for a moment longer than necessary.

His mind replayed it again.

Not the conversation.

Not the tension.

The moment.

Her wrist in his hand.

The way she hadn’t pulled away.

Hadn’t panicked.

Hadn’t submitted.

Most would have.

All would have.

Except her.

A slow breath left him.

Measured.

Deliberate.

His control settled back into place.

Unshaken.

Unbreakable.

This was nothing.

A distraction.

A variable.

Something to be understood and managed.

And if necessary

Removed.

His gaze darkened slightly.

Because one thing was certain

Genesis Walker was not here by accident.

And Lucien Varkas did not believe in coincidences.

---

Somewhere in his territory

Something had begun.

And whether it ended in blood…

Or something far more dangerous

Remained to be seen.