CHAPTER 19 - The Game Shifts

I refused to let them tear each other apart.

“Enough,” I said again.

My voice didn’t shake this time.

Damon and Lucian stood frozen, the tension thick between them. Both breathing hard. Both ready to strike.

I stepped between them. “You don’t threaten each other over me. Not anymore.”

Damon’s eyes locked on mine. Dark. Worried. “Get away from him.”

Lucian folded his arms. “She’s not a thing you move.”

I lifted my chin. “Stop.”

They did.

Not because they wanted to. Because they had to.

I turned to Damon first. “You said the council wants my child.”

His jaw tightened.

“You don’t deny it,” I said quietly.

“That’s not a question you should ask,” he replied.

“I will ask it anyway,” I said. “And you will answer.”

Lucian watched closely. Silent. Sharp.

Damon rubbed a hand over his face. “The council exists to keep balance.”

“Balance for who?” I asked.

“For the packs,” he said.

“And my family?” I pressed. “Was their balance?”

His silence burned.

“Damon,” I said softly. “Look at me.”

He did.

“Did you know what they planned for me?” I asked.

His voice dropped. “I knew pieces.”

“Which ones?” I asked.

“That you were… valuable,” he said. “That your bloodline could shift power.”

Lucian scoffed. “Tell her the rest.”

Damon’s head snapped toward him. “Don’t.”

I felt something cold crawl up my spine. “Tell me.”

Lucian’s voice was calm. “Your mother refused a council order.”

“What order?” I asked.

“To offer you,” Lucian said, “as a political bond.”

The words didn’t register at first.

“Offer me?” I repeated.

Damon stiffened. “It wasn’t like that.”

Lucian raised a brow. “It was exactly like that.”

My heart began to pound. Slow. Heavy.

“To whom?” I asked.

Lucian looked at Damon. “Your father.”

The air shifted.

Damon exploded. “I would never give her away.”

“That’s not what I said,” Lucian replied coolly. “I said your father pledged to her.”

I felt dizzy. “Before I was born?”

Lucian nodded. “Before you could choose.”

Damon stepped closer to me. “Aria, I swear”

I cut him off. “You knew.”

“I knew there were talks,” he said quickly. “Old ones. Dead ones.”

“Lies don’t die,” Lucian said. “They wait.”

I pressed my hand to my chest. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Damon’s voice cracked. “Because I didn’t want you to carry that.”

“You let me carry everything else,” I said.

Pain flashed across his face.

Lucian leaned forward. “The council never forgot the pledge.”

My breath hitched. “That’s why they want my child.”

“Yes,” Lucian said. “An Alpha heir with your blood ends the debate.”

Damon snapped, “Over my dead body.”

I laughed once. Sharp. Bitter. “They didn’t care about my body before.”

Damon reached for me. I stepped back.

“Don’t,” I said.

He stopped.

“I need the truth,” I continued. “Not protection. Not silence.”

Lucian spoke. “The council sees you as leverage.”

Damon countered, “They see her as a weapon.”

“And you?” I asked him. “What do you see me as?”

His answer came instantly. “Mine.”

The word struck harder than any blow.

Lucian’s eyes narrowed. “That’s the problem.”

I closed my eyes. A memory surfaced. My mother’s fear. Her warnings. Her secrecy.

“She hid me,” I whispered. “Because of this.”

“Yes,” Lucian said.

Damon swallowed. “And I helped.”

I opened my eyes. “You helped hide me?”

“Yes,” he said. “To keep you free.”

“And now?” I asked.

“Now the game has changed,” Lucian replied.

A sharp vibration cut through the silence.

Damon’s phone.

He answered. His face was drained of color.

“What?” he said.

I felt it instantly. Wrong.

Lucian straightened. “What happened?”

Damon’s voice was tight. “Sera’s gone.”

My stomach dropped. “Gone how?”

“She never made it home,” he said. “Her guards are dead.”

Lucian cursed under his breath.

I grabbed Damon’s arm. “Who would take her?”

He looked at me. “The same people who want your child.”

Fear bloomed in my chest.

“She warned me,” I whispered. “She said they own her.”

Lucian’s gaze hardened. “Then this isn’t a warning anymore.”

Damon met my eyes. “They’ve made their move.”

I swallowed hard.

“And now,” I said quietly, “we make ours.”

Before either of them could respond, a single message flashed on Damon’s screenSera for the heir. Choose wisely.

The silence felt wrong.

“This doesn’t make sense,” I said.

My voice echoed in my own head. Sharp. Too clear.

Damon stood a few steps away. Still. Pale. His eyes moved slowly, like he was afraid to see too much at once.

Lucian didn’t speak. He never did when the truth was close.

“They wouldn’t take her without a reason,” Damon muttered. “They would negotiate.”

“They already did,” I replied. “With fear.”

Damon shook his head. “Sera wouldn’t run. Not like this.”

“She wouldn’t,” I agreed. “Which means she didn’t.”

The words tasted bitter.

Damon walked forward. His steps slowed as he reached the far wall. His breath caught.

I followed his gaze.

Red.

Not splattered. Not wild.

Written.

THIS ISN’T HIS CHILD.

The room seemed to tilt.