The Ghosts In The Blood

Lucian’s POV 

Bang!

The heavy oak door slammed shut, and for a moment, the entire room seemed to vibrate with the force of Sophia’s exit. The air she left behind was still thick with the scent of her, that maddening mix of jasmine and something wild that made my wolf want to howl at the moon. It was better the way she left. I need to focus. I can’t let her get under my skin. I can’t let the daughter of a murderer make me forget the blood on the floor of the Great Hall.

I ran my hands through my hair, gripping the dark strands and pulling until my scalp stung. I left it messed up, a reflection of the chaos inside my head. I cursed heavily, the words sounding like gravel in the quiet room. How did I let it get that far? I was an Alpha. I was the man who had rebuilt my life from nothing in the human world. I was supposed to be in control.

I picked up my phone, my fingers trembling with a mix of leftover adrenaline and pure rage. I dialed the number that had interrupted what could have been a disaster. If that phone hadn’t rung, I would have lost myself in her. I would have been buried in the very thing I swore to destroy.

While the phone rang, I scrubbed my lips with my palm so hard that I hissed in pain. I wanted to wash away the taste of her. I wanted to erase the memory of how soft her mouth felt and how she had looked at me with those wide, honest eyes. My veins popped out from my forehead angrily as I stared at my reflection in the dark window. I looked like a man possessed.

I stared at the phone screen, seeing the number I had dialed. It was a contact I hadn't spoken to in months, a shadow from my past. My thumb hovered over the screen. What was I doing? I ended it immediately, the call cutting off before it could connect. I tossed my phone on the bed, the device bouncing once on the silk sheets where Sophia had just been lying.

I sat weakly on the desk in my room, burying my face in my hands. The wood was cold under my arms, a sharp contrast to the heat that had been radiating from her body. My mind was a whirlwind of dark memories and darker fears. This was exactly how the mother had manipulated Shawn into becoming that beast that ended my family so bad.

I could remember it like it was yesterday, the whispers in the corridors, the look of shame on the faces of the elders. I could remember how the pack publicly rejected Hannah. They knew she was trouble. They knew she was a human who saw our world as a playground for her greed. But Shawn was weak. He was blinded by the same drive that was currently tearing me apart. Shawn had to forfeit his title as an alpha and married that human Hannah just to keep her.

Just when all thought there was peace, the betrayal happened. The Harveys didn't just want love; they wanted the throne. The Harvey killed my father alongside my mother just to be an alpha of the Raven pack. They didn't just kill them; they butchered them. He killed his best friend, a man who had shared his bread and his secrets.

And now, the same elders who watched my world burn have pushed Sophia to me? They stood in that hall and told me it was the will of the Goddess. They told me she was my mate, my anchor, my future. But all I saw was a trap.

“Are they planning to end my entire lineage using Harvey?” I growled into the empty room. The thought made my blood run cold. If I accepted her, if I let her bear my children, the blood of the murderer would mix with the blood of the victim. The Raven Pack would belong to the Harveys forever. It was the ultimate revenge.

I sat there for a long time, the silence of the room feeling like a heavy blanket. My wolf was pacing in the back of my mind, frustrated and confused. He didn't understand the history. He didn't care about the crimes of the father. He only knew that the female was gone and the den felt empty.

There was a screech on the bed.

It was a small, sharp sound, like metal sliding against fabric. I didn't care to check what happened because I was lost in my own head. I thought it was just the phone settling into the mattress or the house shifting in the wind. I didn't even lift my head.

But then, a voice was heard from the phone on loudspeaker.

My heart skipped a beat. A cold sweat broke out across my neck. I thought I ended the call but I never knew it was on loudspeaker. I must have hit the button in my haste, or the phone had malfunctioned.

The voice was clear, crisp, and chillingly familiar. It sounded like it was coming from right next to me, vibrating through the air with a weight that made my hair stand up.

The voice said, “Who's planning to end Alpha Lucian's lineage?”

Lucian turned with speed immediately.