Chapter Ten

Lucian’s POV

 

My beast hasn’t rested since we escorted Selene to her room yesterday. The last time he was so happy was the day he found a host in me.

 

“You’re acting like you were also not happy around her.” He rolled his eyes in my head.

 

Such a dramatic fucker.

 

He wanted to continue bantering with me but I cut him off and put up a mental block between us as I opened the door to the conference room where the council members and other top officials were waiting for me.

 

“Your majesty.” They all said collectively, baring their necks in submission.

 

I nodded and they sat upright while I just sat down on the chair at the edge of the table.

 

“What’s the agenda of today’s meeting?” I asked, staring at the council’s secretary.

 

He cleared his throat, “It’s for the adjustment of some of the pack laws.”

 

If it wasn’t for the fact that it’s a weekly meeting which has been going on for years, I might have just rescheduled or sent a representative. The last place I wanted to be was in the midst of these men.

 

“Yeah, I’d rather also be holding a conversation with Selene right now.”

 

I thought I blocked him out. How did he even sneak out that easily?

 

“Go on,” I said in a bored tone, reclining on the chair I sat on.

 

“So, we had an internal meeting and we thought that since you made a change on the security system three days ago, your majesty, we should just use the opportunity to change the system at once.”

 

I sat upright, looking straight into the eyes of the head council who had just spoken. He held my gaze, his eyes defiant.

 

“You think we should give asylum to everyone who infiltrates the border like I did to Selene and Liam?” I asked, and he nodded.

 

“Yes, for a month.”

 

“No. I don’t approve of it.” I shook my head.

 

They all stared at each other, communicating with their eyes like they always did. One of them wanted to speak, but I interrupted him. My jaw tightened, annoyance bubbling up in me already.

 

“If you all think that because an exception was given to Selene and Liam and it should automatically extend to every other person caught at the border, then maybe you should think twice.”

 

I stood up, “Since that’s the purpose of the meeting, I’d just take my leave. It’s a total waste of my time.”

 

“Your Majesty…” The head council trailed off.

 

“Come up with other reasons why the rule should be reversed, and maybe by then, we’d all have a proper conversation about this.”

 

I stormed over to the door, but just as I reached it, he talked again. And this time, I couldn’t stop myself from turning around and going back to him.

 

“Does his majesty have something going on between him and the rescued lady?” He asked, “Or perhaps, you found out that she’s your mate.”

 

 Thick silence engulfed the room. I stalked closer to him, my hands buried deep into my pockets, “And if I say yes?”

“Your majesty—you know you can’t have a mate that’s not a lycan. It’ll cause an uprising in the lycan kingdom. It has never happened before, and it’ll never happen.”

 

Well, she’s not my mate. And he’s right.

 

“Watch me,” I said through gritted teeth.

 

I heard some of the council members gasp. I just silently admitted that Selene was my mate.

 

“If she’s your mate, then she has to participate in the trials.”

 

“She’s blind.”

 

“If she’d be our Luna, then she has to be strong. Her impairment issues can’t be her weakness. That only means she’s weak in general which in turn means she’s bad for this pack.”

 

A throaty growl tore through my mouth and before I could control it, my hand was making its way to his neck. I huddled him against the wall, my wolf threatening to break free.

 

“You. Will. Not. Call. Selene. Weak.”

 

“She has… to take the trials.” He coughed. “To become a full member of the pack.”

 

I released him, getting a hold of myself. As though a bucket of water was dumped on me, my brain came back to normal and the dark presence that seemed to have gripped my heart earlier let go of it.

 

I moved further away from him, the tension in the room thickening even more. The only sound was the choking sounds that came from the head council as he tried to catch his breath.

 

“She’s not my mate.” I forced the words out.

 

She can’t be my mate truly. My wolf just finds her different from every other female. We’re not from the same world.

 

The secretary butt in, “They still have to take the trial if they’ll stay for a month. The safety of our people has always been our utmost priority, and we shouldn’t throw that away because of two people that we don’t know.”

 

Other council members nodded in agreement to what he said.

 

“We’ll revisit this later.” I was storming out of the room before any of them could agree or disagree with my last statement.

 

I shifted into my wolf and went for a run for the second time in two days. Heck, I hadn’t shifted at all this month. That’s until Selene showed up. At this rate, I’m bound to start shifting every day till the month ends.

 

Fuck me.

 

~

 

It was the pack’s monthly dinner tonight. I ran in the woods for hours, falling asleep on the grass at some point. I arrived at the pack house in no time.

 

I had shoved my wolf to the deepest part of my mind as I didn’t want to think about you-know-who. The air this night seemed different, and the moment she walked in, I felt it.

 

I focused on holding conversations with the invited Alphas, not daring to turn my head in the direction of where she sat with her friend.

 

I felt her gaze roam the space in confusion as we sat down to start eating. I knew it was wrong of me to invite them to the pack function but I couldn’t help myself.

My gaze traveled in her direction once more and the moment I did so, I tensed up.

 

Liam, her friend was signaling to a maid who stood still like a statue. Selene on the other hand, had her hand over her mouth and was having a coughing fit.

 

I stood up, throwing every single restraint into the air. But as though the maid saw that I was coming, she moved and raced towards the kitchen. And I also couldn’t get to Selene because one of my warriors who just entered the dining hall met me halfway.

 

“Your Majesty, Alpha Leo’s men are at the entrance of the pack.” He said in a serious tone, his back straight.

 

I tensed up, different alarms going off in my head. My beast bristled within me, ready to take over if need be.

 

“What?”

 

“Yes. They said they’re carrying out a pack-to-pack search for their missing Luna. And the lycan kingdom is on their list as her scent led them to our border.”

 

“Take me to them,” I ordered, my fists balled up and blood boiling.

 

I didn’t have to know whatever happened between him and Selene to know that she wouldn’t want to go back to that pack. She ran away from him for a reason.

 

And I knew that even though I was head of all alphas, I was crossing a line by hoarding a Luna, but nothing else mattered at the moment.

 

And she’s my guest at the moment, she’s under my protection and as such, would be protected against any external threats.