LOGINLucien’s POVI was back in the wardroom.But this time around, it wasn’t quiet.The machines were beeping really fast. Natasha was on the bed. Her skin was grey and her lips blue. She looked like something no living soul should ever look like. Her chest didn’t move. Her hand was cold when I grabbed it. No warmth. Nothing.I called her name.Once. Twice. Over and over until it stopped sounding like a name and became a plea.The doctors were there, moving too fast, speaking too loudly, words crashing into each other. Cardiac arrest. No response. Time of death.No.I held her tighter. I begged, threatened. I said everything I could.Yet, she didn’t come back.Someone dragged me away. I fought them. I screamed until my throat started to hurt. My knees hit the floor by the bed and I stayed there, forehead pressed to the sheets, shaking. Broken.“She’s gone,” someone said. Soft, but the words sounded final.I looked up at her face one last time.And then—I woke up.I jerked upright, gaspi
Lucien’s POVDamon kept asking to see her. Over and over, for weeks. Like he thought I’d ever say yes.He sat in one of the cells, two corridors away from Sonia. I had ordered it that way deliberately.I didn’t torture him as I did with Sonia because I had no proof that he was involved in this.But I locked him up anyway. I didn’t need proof to distrust him. I knew Damon too well to fall for that.He kept saying he had nothing to do with it. That he didn’t know. That he would never hurt Natasha. He said her name as if she meant something to him, something I could never understand. And that alone made something ugly twist inside me. Innocent men beg. Guilty men lie. Damon did neither.Weeks passed like that.Natasha didn’t wake up.But she changed.It started small. Just a twitch of her fingers when the healers moved the tubes. A slow curl of her hand when I talked too long. Once, her brow creased, like she was dreaming something heavy. The healers called it progress. I called it tortu
Lucien’s POVThe question remained without an answer of course.I just sat there, listening to the room breathe for her. I could almost pretend it was normal, until my phone started vibrating against the metal tray and yanked me back to reality.I looked at the screen.It was Gavril.“What’s the matter?” I said.“We found something, Your Majesty,” he said.“Sonia... She was not acting alone,” he replied.I frowned because I already knew that Sonia was not working alone.“There is a higher command,” he said carefully. “Someone who orchestrated the poison and even gave the access for such a clean and unsuspected movement. Sonia was just a tool.”I was aware that on her own, Sonia already wanted to get rid of Natasha, but she couldn’t have pulled that clean move on her own.My fingers folded. “Name them.”He was silent for a while as if the name was too heavy to say.That silence? It told me more than words ever could.“I’m waiting,”He exhaled. “The orders trace back to the Queen Mother
Lucien’s POVThe jealousy sank in deeper by each passing moment, Why did I even let him in? I thought.I hated that he got a reaction out of her when I had begged for weeks. I hated that I understood why. Some bonds don’t die just because we want them to. They stay. Regardless of everything.The door opened behind us.I felt it before I heard it. The doctor didn’t even have to say my name. I turned and so did Jace. It wasn’t the female doctor this time, but he still had an expression similar to hers.“Your Majesty,” the doctor said quietly.“Speak.”He hesitated for a moment, eyes moving once to Natasha before returning to me. “Can I see you privately, please.”I was skeptical about leaving Jace alone with Natasha, though I knew he couldn’t really do anything, the place was packed with security. Yet I said to one of the guards to stay with him and make sure he doesn’t misbehave.Once we got to the office, he handed me a file.“The poison,” he began carefully. “As we know was very aggr
Lucien’s POVJust as I expected, the knock came.I didn’t look up immediately. I already knew who it was. I had felt him the moment he got to the corridor. Jace never knew how to keep his emotions to himself. It was almost always too loud, even when he tried to hide them behind that Alpha posture he forced on himself.“Your Majesty,” one of the guards said from the other side of the door, with a careful voice. “Alpha Jace of Shadow Moon Pack is here.”I let a few seconds pass before answering.“Send him in.”The door cracked open, then widened. Jace stepped inside like a man walking into judgment. His shoulders were straight, his chin lifted, but his heartbeat betrayed him. I could hear it. Too fast. Too uneven.He bowed to show his respect.I didn’t tell him to rise immediately.Instead, I examined him the way I would examine an enemy on the battlefield. From the way his hands clenched and unclenched at his sides, to how tight his jaw was. He was trying to look brave. Trying to look
Jace's POVFrom the moment that I heard about Natasha's condition, I had been so restless. I didn't even know how long I had been pacing back and forth in my office. Until my Beta said."Your majesty, since you're so bothered about her, do you want me to reach out to her mother. To know how she is?"Of course I wanted to know how she is, but not just that. I wanted to see her for myself."I'm heading to Dark Moon Kingdom!" I said without even thinking about my words first. It just came into my mind and I opened my mouth."Your... Your majesty?" My Beta stuttered like he wasn't sure that was a good idea. But I definitely wasn't bothered whether it was good or not.I just needed to know so badly. I just want to hold her in my arms and be sure that she's okay. I don't care what I have to do to get to her, I just had to."Get the car ready!" I ordered and immediately left for my room to get changed.While on my way to my room, I bumped into my mother. She looked at me with a confused expr







