CHAPTER EIGHT: THE ACCIDENTAL ANCHOR

Lucien

Seth didn't even have the decency to look worried.

He circled me like I was some rare, caged beast, his eyes narrowed in a clinical fascination that made me want to snap his stupid neck.

He finally slumped back into his chair and picked up an apple as if we were discussing the weather rather than my literal soul.

“It’s a forced binding,” he said, his tone infuriatingly casual. “I’ve never seen anything this aggressive. I need to meet this lady, Lucien.”

“What do you mean, bound?” I snarled. The word tasted like copper and ash. “I haven’t chosen anyone. I haven’t shared a drop of energy with a soul.”

“She stole it, Lucien. That kiss? It wasn't just a distraction. She’s a strong mortal. Very rare, of course, but they exist. She bound you in one swoop. You’re locked.”

He snapped his fingers, "Just like this."

The sheer audacity of it made my vision blur with a violent, white-hot heat. My wolf lunged at the against my restraint, howling for blood.

“She dared... I’ll kill her. I’ll end this right now and find a way to scrub her scent from my life.”

The moment the threat left my lips, my heart violently seized like a vice. It felt like a hot chain tightened around my chest, crushing the air out of my lungs with a great force.

I gasped desperately for air, clutching the edge of the mahogany table so hard that the wood groaned and splintered under my grip.

“Don’t,” Seth warned, his voice sharpening with a rare note of gravity. “Few survive killing their mate, especially one with this kind of hold. You’d be tearing your own heart out through your throat.”

“Is there a way to break it?” I managed to wheeze, the pressure finally easing as the thought of killing her faded.

My eyes burned and watered.

Seth paused, his expression unreadable. “I’ll look into the archives. But Lucien... this binding behaves like a curse because there was no consent. There might be a loophole. Until then? Keep her close. Keep her safe. And for the sake of your own survival, keep her alive.”

I spent the rest of the day in a state of simmering, cold resentment. I was an Alpha. I didn't get...claimed. I didn't get bound by a human girl in a red suit who didn't even know what I was. I was the one who dictated the bloody terms.

Yet, as the clock ticked toward five, the agitation returned. That frantic, buzzing restlessness in my bones that only quieted when I was near her.

It was straight-up humiliating. I was like a machine running on a failing battery, and Ariana Vale was my only charging station.

I didn't use the sedan. I took the SUV with the reinforced glass. I needed the heavy steel around me to contain the storm in my blood.

I pulled into the basement lot and watched the elevator. When she appeared, looking rumpled and exhausted from her day, my wolf went silent, replaced by a dark, possessive curiosity.

“Waiting for an invitation?” I asked as she knocked on the glass.

She scrambled inside, looking like she expected me to snap at any moment. She wasn't wrong. I slammed the gas before she could even click her seatbelt.

The silence in the car was suffocating until her phone rang. I expected her to sound frightened or small. Instead, the rabbit I had spent the night holding suddenly turned into a viper.

“If you have nothing to say, Mrs. Johnson, I’m ending the call,” she snapped.

I glanced at her from the corner of my eye. Her back was straight, her jaw set in a line of pure iron and those eyes were suddenly as cold as ice.

“Is Selene looking for a reason to cancel?” Ariana’s voice was a cold blade, slicing through the air. “Why should I help for free? Do not raise your voice at me. Don’t think you can throw your weight around just because you’re far away, and I can’t slap you through the phone.”

I found myself tightening my grip on the steering wheel, but not out of anger. There was a spark of something inside my chest.. amusement? Admiration? I couldn't quite place it.

Watching her dismantle her own grandmother with the precision of a surgeon was... exhilarating.

“Oh, close your mouth; you’re abusing the night air,” she continued, not caring if I could hear her or not. “Go back to the grave you crawled out of, you old witch. My mother and I can’t afford you as a relative. Have you asked the devil why he hasn’t come for you yet? Even you living this long is proof there’s no God.”

She slammed the End Call button, her chest heaving, her eyes flashing with a fire that made my wolf tilt its head in interest.

She was dangerous with her words, just as she had been at the restaurant. She was fierce, toxic to her enemies, and utterly unyielding.

She was exactly the kind of woman an Alpha should have by his side.

But then, she made a second call. Her voice shifted instantly. The jagged edges of her tone smoothing out into something soft, something warm. Something that wasn't meant for me.

“Doctor Martin? Good evening. It’s Ariana.”

The name Martin felt like a low-frequency vibration against my nerves. I watched her face soften as she spoke to this man, making arrangements for her mother, ensuring her protection.

And then, she said it.

“Thank you. I’ll treat you to a meal when you’re free.”

The air in the SUV completely vanished.

A meal?

She was making plans to sit across from another man?

To offer him that soft voice and that warm smile?

The bond in my chest roared. It was a primal jealousy that had nothing to do with logic and everything to do with the fact that my energy was currently anchored to her very soul.

She hung up, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the man beside her was vibrating with enough jealousy to crumble the fucking city.

She muttered something about ghosts under her breath, looking satisfied with herself.

She thought she was free to make plans. She thought she was just an employee in my car.

She had no idea that her meal with this Doctor Martin was never going to happen.

I stomped on the accelerator, the SUV lunging forward as I navigated the traffic with dangerous speed.

Ariana gasped, her hand flying to the dashboard to steady herself, but I didn't slow down.

She wanted to play the rabbit who could run away?

I was going to remind her that once an Alpha is bound, he doesn't share. Not his energy, and certainly not his mate.