Chapter 24: Family Reunion~

ANNABETH’S POV~

The air went dead silent.

One second Mrs. Halloway was pushing me back toward the mansion, and the next, her whole body had gone stiff like she’d seen a ghost. Her hand on my back wasn’t gentle anymore. It was trembling.

“Dear, please,” she whispered, her voice tight. “We need to go inside. Now.”

I didn’t move.

Because the man was getting closer. And his eyes were hypnotizing.

He was tall, taller than Kael, if that was even possible. His shoulders were broad, his chest bare except for the thin jacket hanging open over it. Snow clung to his skin, but he didn’t seem cold. Didn’t even shiver. His long blonde hair was tied back low, wet strands sticking to his neck, and his eyes…

Goddess. He was gorgeous. Built like a god, just like Kael.

His eyes were an electric blue, Cold, sharp, and locked right on me like I was the only thing in the whole world.

My breath hitched slightly.

Something about him made my skin prickle. Not in a good way. Not like Kael’s presence. Kael made me hot, made me feel seen, made me want to run and stay at the same time. But This man, his eyes made me feel hunted.

“Who is he?” I whispered, but I didn’t take my eyes off him.

Mrs. Halloway didn’t answer right away. Her jaw clenched so hard I thought she might crack a tooth. “A problem,” she muttered finally. “A very big problem.”

The man stopped about ten feet away. Close enough that I could see the scar cutting down his left cheek.

He smiled. Slow. Dangerous.

Mrs. Halloway stepped in front of me then, shielding me with her small frame like it would actually do anything against this huge man. “You don’t have permission to be here, Lucien. Leave.”

Lucien. That was his name.

Lucien’s eyes dragged over me again, slow and deliberate, like he was cataloging every flaw, every weakness. Studying me.

The smirk on his face deepened, sharp and cruel.

“What is Kael doing, having a weak human dwell and roam freely in his fortress?” he mused, voice smooth but laced with venom. “Is she some kind of pet?”

My throat tightened. I wanted to answer, to snap back, but the words died before they reached my tongue.

Mrs. Halloway stepped forward, her whole body trembling with barely contained fury. “I said leave, Lucien. You have no business being here.”

Lucien just grinned wider.

“Ah, Martha... Martha,” he said, and the way he said her name made her flinch. “Always so cold and mean to me. But So obedient and loyal to Kael.” He took a step forward, then another, brushing past both of us like we were nothing more than furniture.

His shoulder bumped mine as he walked by, and I stumbled back a step, almost falling to the ground but thankfully Mrs Halloway held me.

“It’s been a long time,” he said over his shoulder, heading straight for the mansion doors. “I just wanted a little family reunion. Where is that rascal called Kael anyway.”

We stood there, frozen, watching him disappear inside like he owned the entire place.

“Who… who is that man?” My voice came out shaky, barely above a whisper.

Mrs. Halloway closed her eyes for half a second, like she was bracing herself. When she opened them, they were sad. Resigned.

“Lucien is Kael’s brother,” she said quietly. “Another Lycan. And twice as dangerous.”

Brother.

The word hit me harder than his stare had.

I’d thought Kael was alone in this. That the burden of being a Lycan Enforcer, the monster everyone feared, was his alone. But now there was another one. Another Lycan, one who looked at me like I was prey.

“Come,” Mrs. Halloway said softly, her hand on my arm again. “We need to get inside.”

I followed her without argument.

The moment we stepped into the living room, I stiffened.

Lucien was there, sprawled across Kael’s chair like it was his throne. One ankle propped over the other, jacket still open, hot bare chest gleaming under the chandelier light. He looked comfortable. Proud.

He didn’t react much when we entered. Just tilted his head, those electric eyes locking onto me again.

I dared not speak.

I knew Lycans were dangerous. I’d seen Kael’s restraint, the way he fought himself every second he was near me. But this man… I was nothing to him so he wouldn't fight it. He would relish the thought of tearing me apart.

Lucien’s gaze was like a blade against my throat. Cutting with a Promising pain.

I dropped my eyes fast, staring at the floor, my hands trembling at my sides.

The only reason I was alive in this place, with Kael, was because I was his Mate.

His stare stayed on me, heavy and predatory, until I thought I might suffocate under it.

“Annabeth,” Mrs. Halloway said quietly, breaking my thoughts, guiding me past him toward the stairs. “Go to your room.”

I was thankful to her for this. It felt like his stares froze me to the ground with him watching me like that.

~

KAEL’S POV~

The air changed the moment I crossed the wards back to my mansion.

Something was wrong.

Wrong, sour, out of place, anything you can call it. A familiar scent, sharp and invasive, stained the clean scent of my home.

Lucien.

My Lycan surged forward, snarling, tearing at the edges of my control.

Mate. Danger. Now.

I didn’t think. I moved quickly.

The guards at the door stepped aside the second they saw my face. I didn’t even register their bows. My only thought was her.

Annabeth.

I took the stairs, my shoes hitting the marble hard enough to crack it. Every instinct screamed at me to run faster, to get to her before it was too late.

When I burst into the living room, I stopped short.

Lucien was sitting in my chair.

Relaxed and Comfortable, reading a book.

His eyes flicked to me, and his lips curled into that infuriating smirk.

“Brother,” he said lazily. “You’re home early. I heard you were out for serious business.”

I didn’t answer.

My eyes scanned the room, it was empty. No Annabeth.

“Where is she?” The words came out low, dangerous, each syllable dragged through my clenched teeth.

Lucien chuckled, leaning back further. “You must be referring to the pretty little human you're housing. She's Safe. For now. Your loyal servent, Martha made sure of that.”

Martha. He always called Mrs Halloway by her first name.

Hearing him say her name like that again made my vision go red at the edges.

I stepped forward, and the temperature in the room dropped ten degrees. The chandeliers rattled.

“Get. Out.”

Lucien didn’t move. He just watched me, amused. “Or what? You’ll kill me? You wouldn’t. You can't.”

I bared my teeth. “Do you want to Try me?”

For a second, the air between us crackled with real violence, real intent. Two Lycans, ready to tear each other apart in the middle of my home.

Then Lucien stood, smooth and unhurried. He straightened his jacket, his eyes gleaming.

“Relax, Kael,” he said. “I didn't come brewing trouble.”

"You always carry trouble wherever you go. What are you doing here?"

He walked past me, stopping just close enough that I could smell him on my skin.

“I missed you, brother,” he murmured, then chuckled, voice low enough that only I could hear.

Then he moved around, humming and touching everything he could lay his hands on, with amusement written all over his face, before walking out the room, but not before giving me a dreadful wink.

I knew he wouldn't leave yet, not until he had caused some kind of trouble for me.

I stood there for a long moment, my hands shaking with the effort of not following him and ripping his throat out.

He always had this effect on him. We didn't get along, never did for a long time.

And then it dawned on me.

Annabeth.

I turned and ran like a breeze.

I needed to see her. Needed to see with my own eyes that she was unharmed.

Because if he’d touched her…

If he’d so much as looked at her wrong…

There wouldn’t be enough of Lucien left to bury.

~