Four

Gillian 'S POV

The council room reeks of fear and ambition. I can smell it on every wolf gathered around the ancient oak table, the fear of what Desiree represents, and the ambition of those who would use her as a weapon against me.

Lucius sits across from me, relaxed and smiling. Always smiling. Like he hasn't just threatened to kill my mate in my own fortress.

My wolf snarls beneath my skin, demanding I rip out his throat. But I can't. Not here. Not without proof of treason that even the council can't deny.

"The Oracle has spoken," Elder Moira announces, her voice brittle with age. She unfurls a yellowed scroll, her hands trembling. "A prophecy, given three nights ago when the blood moon rose."

The room goes silent. Even Lucius leans forward, his casual mask slipping slightly.

Moira reads:

*"A mate from the enemy will either save the True Alpha... or crown his brother in blood."*

Chaos erupts.

"She must be killed!" Beta Kael slams his fist on the table. "The risk is too great!"

"The prophecy doesn't specify which outcome.."

"It doesn't matter! We cannot gamble with our Alpha's life!"

"The Moon Goddess chose her for a reason.."

"The Moon Goddess makes mistakes!"

I let them argue, watching Lucius from the corner of my eye. He says nothing, but that smile grows wider with each passing second. He doesn't need to speak. The council is doing his work for him. Finally, I stand. Silence falls instantly.

"Enough." My voice cuts through the tension. "Desiree Greyfort is under my protection. Anyone who touches her answers to me."

"Brother." Lucius finally speaks, his tone deceptively gentle. "Be reasonable. The prophecy is clear, she's either your salvation or your doom. Can you honestly risk everything on a girl who hates you? Who tried to escape three days ago? Who would celebrate your death?"

His words hit their mark. I see it in the council members' faces, doubt, fear, suspicion.

"The bond.." I start.

"The bond means nothing if she drives a knife into your heart while you sleep." Lucius stands, addressing the council now. "I love my brother. We all do. But his judgment is compromised. The girl has bewitched him with the mate bond, and he cannot see clearly."

"I see perfectly clearly," I growl.

"Do you?" Lucius turns those gold eyes on me, and for a moment, I see past the charm to the hunger beneath. "Or do you see what the bond wants you to see? A beautiful, broken girl who needs your protection? Tell me, Gillian , if she wasn't your mate, if she was just Marcus Greyfort's daughter, would you still defend her? Or would she already be dead like the rest of her traitorous pack?"

The question hangs in the air like poison. Because he's right. Without the bond, Desiree would be dead. I would have killed her myself on that battlefield, another casualty in a war her father started. But she is my mate. And that changes everything.

"The prophecy will not be fulfilled through her death," I say firmly, though my wolf whimpers at the thought. "We will find another way."

"There is no other way!" Kael stands. "Alpha, please.."

"I have made my decision." My power floods the room, forcing submission. "Desiree stays. This discussion is over."

One by one, they bow their heads. All except Lucius, who watches me with something that might be pity or satisfaction.

"As you command," he says softly. "I only hope you don't regret this mercy, brother."

+++++

I find her in my chambers, staring out the window at the same forest she tried to escape into. She doesn't turn when I enter. Doesn't acknowledge my presence at all. But I see her shoulders tense, see her fingers grip the windowsill a little tighter.

The bond thrums between us, painful and persistent. My wolf wants to go to her, to hold her, to make her understand. But the man in me knows better.

"There was a council meeting," I say, closing the door behind me.

"Let me guess." Her voice is hollow. "They want me dead."

"Some of them, yes."

Now she turns, and the emptiness in her gray eyes cuts deeper than any blade. "And you? What do you want, Gillian ?"

The question shouldn't be complicated. But with her, everything is complicated.

"I want..." The words stick in my throat. I want her to look at me without hatred. Want her to accept the bond. Want her to forgive me for sins I can't undo. "I want you safe."

She laughs, bitter and broken. "Safe. In a fortress full of wolves who want to rip out my throat. Bound to the man who murdered my father. Yes, I feel so very safe."

"Desiree.."

"There was a prophecy, wasn't there?" She cuts me off. "I can see it in your face. Something about me. Something bad."

I shouldn't tell her. Should protect her from the weight of it. But she deserves the truth.

"A mate from the enemy will either save the True Alpha... or crown his brother in blood," I recite quietly.

She goes very still. "So I'm either your salvation or your death sentence."

"Yes."

"And Lucius wants me dead so the prophecy can't come true."

"Yes."

She nods slowly, processing. Then, to my surprise, she smiles. It's not a happy smile. "At least now I know why you're keeping me alive. It's not mercy. It's self-preservation."

"That's not.." But what can I say? That I'm keeping her alive because my wolf howls at the thought of her death? That the bond has carved itself so deeply into my soul that losing her would break me? That somewhere beneath the duty and the crown and the blood on my hands, I'm terrified she'll choose to be Lucius's victory instead of my salvation?

"You're staying here," I say instead, falling back on commands because I don't know how to do anything else. "In my chambers. Where I can protect you."

"Like a prisoner."

"Like my mate."

"I'm not your mate," she says, but there's less conviction in it than before. "I'm just a girl bound to her father's killer by a cosmic mistake."

"The Moon Goddess doesn't make mistakes."

"Then she's crueler than I thought."

I move toward her, and she doesn't retreat. Progress, maybe. Or exhaustion. "The pack is watching us. Lucius is watching us. Every move we make, every choice we make, they're all waiting to see which way the prophecy falls."

"What do you want me to do?" she asks, and I hear the weariness in her voice. "Pretend to love you? Play the perfect Luna while plotting your murder? Would that make your pack feel better?"

"I want you to survive." The words come out rougher than I intend. "Whatever it takes, Desiree. Survive."

Something flickers in her eyes, surprise, maybe, that I care more about her life than my own. But before she can respond, her eyes glaze over, her body swaying.

"Desiree?"

She collapses. I catch her before she hits the floor, her body suddenly deadweight in my arms. Her eyes are closed, but her lips move, whispering words I can't understand.

"Desiree!" I shake her gently. "Wake up!"

Her back arches, and a scream tears from her throat, pure terror, primal and desperate. She's dreaming. No, not dreaming. Something worse. I lay her on the bed, trying to wake her, but she's trapped somewhere I can't reach.

The door slams open. Lucius stands there, taking in the scene with those calculating gold eyes.

"What did you do to her?" I snarl.

"Nothing." He steps inside, uninvited. "But the witch did."

"What witch?"

"The Oracle, you fool. Did you think prophecies come without a price? She's been marked. Cursed. And now she's seeing what we all need to see."

Desiree's eyes snap open, wild and unseeing. She stares at something above her, something only she can see, and her voice comes out fractured, desperate:

"One brother will worship you. The other will destroy you. Choose wrongly and kingdoms fall."

Then she screams again, a sound of pure anguish that makes my wolf howl in response.

"Wake up!" I grip her shoulders. "Desiree, wake UP!"

Her eyes focus on me, then immediately fill with tears. She's shaking so hard I can feel it through the bed.

"What did you see?" I demand.

But she's not looking at me anymore. She's looking past me, at Lucius, who has moved to stand at the foot of the bed. His smile is back, wide and terrible.

"Bad dreams, little Luna?" Lucius asks softly, almost tenderly. "The witch has a gift for showing us our futures. All the possible futures. The good ones and the ones where everything burns."

"Get out," I order.

He ignores me, keeping his eyes locked on Desiree. "Which one did you see? The future where you love him and he still breaks you? Or the future where you choose me and I make you queen over his ashes?"

"Lucius, I swear.."

"Soon, little Luna," he whispers, and the promise in those words makes my blood run cold. "Soon, you will beg for my mercy instead of his."

My power explodes, but he's already gone, melting into the shadows like the snake he is. I turn back to Desiree. She's curled in on herself, trembling, tears streaming down her face. And for the first time since I marked her, I feel something besides anger and frustration.

I feel fear. Because the prophecy isn't just about my survival anymore. It's about hers. And I have no idea how to save either of us.