Chapter Eight: Come to the Estate now!

Alaric’s ( POV)

“Come to the estate now!”

My grandfather never calls.

He summons.

The message came through my private line just after dusk—no greeting, no explanation.

I already knew what this was about. I need not waste time to deliberate about it. I got ready and called Alex to get the car ready.

The Carrington estate loomed the way it always had—too large, too quiet, too certain of its own power. I hadn’t lived here in years, but the house still recognized me. The guards stepped aside without a word. The doors opened before I touched them. Some things never change.

My grandfather was waiting in the west study.

Of course he’s always there, his second bedroom.

He stood by the window, his back straight despite his age, hands clasped behind him as he watched the city lights flickered far below. He didn’t turn when I entered. He didn’t have to.

“So,” he said calmly, “you’re engaged.” He added which sounded more like a question than a statement.

I closed the door behind me. “Good evening to you too, Grandfather.”

The silence grew louder than the eruption of krakatoa.

Then, slowly, he turned.

Gregor Carrington’s eyes were the same as they’d always been—sharp, pale, dissecting. The kind of gaze that stripped men down to motives and found most of them wanting. If you hadn’t met him you would mistake him for my elder brother. We look so much alike and that made him very strict with me. He wants me to be a better version of him unlike my father.

“You didn’t inform me,” he said.

“It wasn’t a request.” I said, my voice a bit hoarse.

A faint smile tugged at his mouth. Not amusement. Appraisal.

“Still arrogant,” he murmured. “That’s good. Arrogance built this family.”

“And caution nearly destroyed it,” I replied.

His eyes narrowed. “Careful there boy.”

I stepped further into the room, unbuttoning my jacket, unbothered by the tension thickening the air. “If you wanted politeness, you should’ve called my uncle.”

He studied me for a long moment. Then he gestured toward the chair opposite his desk.

“Sit.”

I didn’t.

His brow twitched—just slightly. A warning.

“Tell me about her,” he said.

“Elena,” I corrected.

The name landed between us like a live wire.

“Tell me,” he repeated, “why you chose now.”

I met his gaze evenly. “Because it was time.”

“That’s not an answer.” He muttered.

“It’s the only one you’re getting.” I rasped almost immediately.

He exhaled through his nose, displeased. “You don’t bring an outsider into this family without cause.”

“She’s not an outsider anymore.” I murmured.

That earned me a sharp look.

“You expect me to believe this is sentiment?” he asked. “You?”

“No,” I said simply. “You’re smarter than that.”

He nodded once. “Good.”

He circled the desk slowly, like a predator that didn’t need to rush.

“She was dismissed,” he continued. “Humiliated. Stripped of position.”

“Yes.”

“And you elevated her the very next day.”

“Yes.” I said.

“Publicly.” He continued.

“Yes.” I answered again this time with a little irritation in my tone.

“Why?” He asked as he turned to meet me.

I didn’t hesitate. “Because I love her.” I lied through my teeth but it felt good coming out of my mouth.

“You love your cousin’s ex-girlfriend ?” He asked mockingly.

“It was never a relationship to start with, Xavier was just being an idiot.” I rasped.

“Are you not one?” He asked.

“No, this is different, I believe she’s the one for me.” I lied again but I’m surprised at how joyous I feel when I talk about Elena and the feeling to protect her growing faster than a kitty.

“Xavier labeled her a cheap whore.” He mutttered taking a drag from the stick of tobacco in front of him.

“I knew they were wrong.” I answered defensively.

He walked to my side , Close enough that I could smell the faint trace of tobacco and old paper.

“You tied yourself to her,” he said quietly. “That makes her a target.”

“I’m aware.”

“Your enemies will circle.”

“Let them.”

“And if she breaks?”

“She won’t.”

“That’s confidence,” he said. “Or blindness.”

I leaned forward slightly. “You didn’t raise a blind man.”

His lips thinned.

“Elena believes she’s leverage,” he said. “I believe she’s a variable.”

“A necessary one.”

“Necessary for what?”

“For change.”

The word landed heavier than I intended.

His gaze sharpened. “Change is dangerous.”

“So is stagnation.”

Silence stretched between us, thick with unspoken history.

Then he said it—the thing I knew was coming.

“The sister.”

The room went still.

I didn’t react. Not outwardly.

“You’ve entangled unfinished business with a public declaration,” Gregor continued. “That’s sloppy.”

“It’s strategic.”

“You’re exposing a weakness.”

I met his eyes. “No. I’m drawing out the truth.”

His fingers tightened around the cane beside the desk.

“You always did like fire,” he said. “Even as a boy.”

“And you always taught me that monsters come out in flames,” I replied. “I’m ready.”

He studied me for a long moment, searching for cracks.

He didn’t find any.

“Do you care for her?” he asked suddenly.

The question was quiet. Dangerous.

I answered just as quietly. “Yes.”

His eyes flickered—just once.

“Care clouds judgment.”

“So does cruelty.”

He looked away, toward the window again. “This woman—Elena—she doesn’t belong to our world.”

“Neither did you,” I reminded him. “Once.”

That struck something.

He turned back slowly. “If she falls,” he said, voice low, “she’ll fall hard.”

“I won’t let her.”

“You can’t protect everything.”

“No,” I agreed. “But I can protect what’s mine.”

The word hung in the air.

Possessive. Final.

Gregor Carrington watched me like he was seeing not just his grandson—but his successor.

“Very well,” he said at last. “I cannot approve of her yet.”

I inclined my head slightly.

“But know this,” he added, eyes hard. “They will try to get to her and she will be a liability to you.”

I straightened fully.

“I won’t allow that.”

We stared at each other—two men cut from the same ruthless cloth.

Then I turned and walked out.

As I left the estate, one thought echoed clearly in my mind:

They could doubt her.

They could hunt her.

They could test her.

But Elena Hart was already changing the board.

And they hadn’t even realized the game had begun.