°•○♡Chapter 4~The One That Got Away

》Third person POV

The heavy metal doors of the dungeon slammed shut behind him, the sound reverberating like a war drum through the cold, stone halls. The scent of blood still clung to the air, thick and pungent, but Lucien barely noticed it as he stormed through the corridors.

Aria was gone.

His Beta was already limping from where he’d slammed him against the wall. And the guards who’d allowed the breach were being dealt with. But none of it dulled the violent storm that brewed within him.

His claws extended involuntarily, scraping into the hard walls as he walked.

“Find her,” he roared to the soldiers scrambling in the halls, his voice was thunderous making everyone shiver. No one was safe from his wrath.

“Scour the territory! Search the rivers, the borders, the fucking clouds if you have to. I want Aria back before sunset—dead or alive!”

A young warrior dared to speak. “Alpha… She's injured. I'm sure she won’t make it far”

Lucien turned, eyes glowing with fury. “Then you have no excuse for your failure”

The warrior went pale and bowed low before rushing off.

Lucien exited the dungeons, still fuming and wondering how she could've possibly escaped. No one in the pack favoured Aria, absolutely no one.

So how did she do it?

He passed by her bedroom and on instinct, he went in. The room was cold, empty. He didn't hope to find anything in there but he still felt the need to be in her room.

Lucien scanned the room, completely oblivious to the pregnancy test still lying in the dustbin by Aria's bed. He hadn't always hated her. He'd loved her once.

But it was all a distant memory. A ghost of the past.

Behind him, Selene entered the room, draped in one of her finest silk robes, her golden hair cascading down her shoulders. She leaned against the doorway with a dramatic sigh, her voice laced with seduction.

“Lucien, love… this obsession with her is exhausting,” she cooed, approaching him with slow, deliberate steps, like a predator hunting prey. “She’s nothing now. Just a traitor and a liar. You should be celebrating—she’s finally out of our lives”

He didn’t answer. He would never admit it but despite how much he claimed to hate Aria, he also had an unhealthy obsession with her. It was the reason he'd never broken their mate bond, the reason he'd made her live with him, the reason he'd mated with her on countless occasions.

He'd first learnt of her deceit a few months after the mating ceremony and since then, he was never the same.

Selene slipped her arms around his waist from behind, pressing her body to his. “Let me take your mind off her,” she whispered, lips brushing the back of his neck.

She pushed him onto the bed, Aria's bed, her lips kissing his body and going lower and lower till she was at his crotch. Her hands moved slowly up and down his member as her tongue flicked at his tip.

Lucien’s jaw clenched. For a moment, he allowed her touch. He was tired—exhausted in ways Selene could never understand. But no matter how warm her skin was, it wasn’t hers.

It wasn’t Aria.

His mind betrayed him with flashes—Aria in a white dress, a soft smile on her lips, her sharp tongue and relentless spirit. Then flashes of her—sobbing on the dungeon floor, bloodied but still refusing to admit guilt. Her eyes, wide with pain and betrayal.

“Stop,” he growled, shrugging Selene off.

She blinked in confusion, adjusting her robe.

“What is it now?” she hissed.

He fixed his pants, finally meeting her gaze. “Don’t act innocent. You wanted her gone more than anyone”

“She tried to kill me!” Selene snapped. “She plotted with traitors to kill you and handed over secrets to enemies! She was going to destroy your reign, Lucien! I’ve done nothing but protect you and show you the truth”

Lucien’s eyes darkened. He knew Selene always picked on Aria. Perhaps in a moment of anger she plotted to kill Selene in revenge. But that wasn't where his hatred lied. “She was my mate” He whispered.

Selene stiffened, as if his words struck her physically.

“She was more than that,” he murmured, his voice quieter now, haunted. “She made me feel something I didn’t know I was missing…”

Selene stepped back, her composure breaking for a second before she recovered with venom in her voice. “You’re not still in love with her, are you?”

“No,” he said coldly, shaking his head. “I’m not”

But even he wasn’t sure if that was the truth—or a lie he needed to believe.

His fists clenched at his sides.

He had loved her. Before the betrayal. Before the letters. Before the whispers in his ear soon after they'd mated that she had planned it all.

Her standing with the rogues in secret meetings… the false documents found in her room… the dagger meant for his throat.

He'd believed it all.

He had to.

Because the alternative—that he had hurt the only woman who ever truly saw him—was too dangerous a thought to entertain.

Just then, one of the guards entered.

“Alpha, we found a body in the woods outside the castle. It was one of the maids. I believe her name was Mira”

“Ah yes, I did notice her being a bit too friendly with Aria despite your orders to castrate her” Selene inputted. She always spoke first. It was a tactic she'd used to make Lucien believe her lies from the start.

“There were also some rogue bodies found but Aria is still missing. We believe they might have all been a part of her escape plan”

“So you're saying she killed them? Even the maid who was kind to her? Oh my… she's worse than I ever imagined” Selene added, fueling the fire which was raging in Lucien's mind. Secretly, she hoped Aria was dead already.

Lucien turned to the window, staring out at the full moon rising high above the trees. His voice dropped to a chilling whisper.

“She thinks she can run”

Selene frowned. “You mean to go after her yourself?”

Lucien smirked, cruel and cold. “No. I’ll let the fear hunt her first. Let the cold nights remind her of what she gave up. And when she’s at her lowest…”

He turned, eyes glowing with raw fury.

“I’ll find her. And I’ll make her wish she’d died in those woods”