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84: Re-announce

Author: Gudwritez
last update Last Updated: 2025-09-11 23:25:42

Lucien’s POV

The night had been long, longer than any council meeting I had ever sat through, longer than the endless hours of writing decrees or listening to voices drone about problems they could never fix. The darkness itself had become a restless companion, refusing to grant me the mercy of sleep.

I lay there, eyes fixed on the ceiling, listening to the faint hum of the wind as it clawed against the edges of the palace walls. The candles had burned out long ago, yet the night carried enough light from the moon to etch shadows across the chamber. They twisted, stretched, and bent like they had a mind of their own, reminding me of every thought I was trying to push away but couldn’t.

Yesterday’s scene replayed without pause. Natasha’s face when she looked at me. Her wide eyes, her fidgeting hands, the way her words broke before they even left her lips. She had been scared of my voice, not of Damon. And that disturbed me more than anything Damon could have said.

I had not meant to ra
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  • When My Mate Chose Another, the Lycan King Chose Me   86: Leadership

    Natasha’s POVMy palms had grown clammy, though the room wasn’t hot. The silence between us pressed against me like stone, and I wanted nothing more than a second, just one, to breathe and clear my head.“Your Majesty,” I started, my voice thinner than I intended, “perhaps I should go and change first. I’m not exactly dressed for… for something like this.”His gaze flicked briefly to my gown. My strap sleeves suddenly felt like chains on my shoulders, too bare, too open, as though the fabric that had seemed perfectly fine a moment ago was now scandalous.“There will be no need for that,” he said flatly.I shifted on my feet. “It’s just—this is a strap-hand gown. I thought perhaps—”“If you find it comfortable enough to walk around in,” he cut me off, his tone steady, “then why does it matter now?”His eyes moved then, and I felt them travel. Not a careless glance. Not one of those dismissive looks he often gave, skimming over things as though they hardly mattered. This one lingered.I

  • When My Mate Chose Another, the Lycan King Chose Me   85: Council Meeting

    Natasha’s POV“Mom, at least eat something, please.”I pushed the bowl a little closer to her, the steam rising in soft curls from the porridge the maid had just brought. It smelt warm, faintly sweet, something that should have tempted her, but she only shifted on the bed and turned her face away.“I’m not hungry,” she muttered, her voice hoarse, carrying the same resistance it had carried for the past week.I sat on the edge of the mattress, looking at her, fighting the urge to snap. My patience had been stretched so thin that I felt it vibrating in me like a thread about to break. But this was my mother. I couldn’t break.“If you don’t eat, how then do you expect to get better?” I tried again, softer this time, almost pleading. “Your body needs food, you’ve been like this for days. Please, Mom.”Her eyes lifted to mine then, tired but sharp, the frustration there cutting deeper than I expected. “Food is not the solution to my problem, Natasha.”The words hit me like a weight. I look

  • When My Mate Chose Another, the Lycan King Chose Me   84: Re-announce

    Lucien’s POVThe night had been long, longer than any council meeting I had ever sat through, longer than the endless hours of writing decrees or listening to voices drone about problems they could never fix. The darkness itself had become a restless companion, refusing to grant me the mercy of sleep.I lay there, eyes fixed on the ceiling, listening to the faint hum of the wind as it clawed against the edges of the palace walls. The candles had burned out long ago, yet the night carried enough light from the moon to etch shadows across the chamber. They twisted, stretched, and bent like they had a mind of their own, reminding me of every thought I was trying to push away but couldn’t.Yesterday’s scene replayed without pause. Natasha’s face when she looked at me. Her wide eyes, her fidgeting hands, the way her words broke before they even left her lips. She had been scared of my voice, not of Damon. And that disturbed me more than anything Damon could have said.I had not meant to ra

  • When My Mate Chose Another, the Lycan King Chose Me   83: Finished man

    Lucien’s POVThe papers in front of me blurred until they became nothing more than smudges of ink. I had been trying to go through them since morning, the usual council requests, the endless signatures, repairs that needed immediate approval, names of men who demanded an audience they hadn’t earned. My desk had become a battlefield of parchments, yet my focus broke with the vibration of my phone.I reached for it without thought, intending to dismiss whatever it was, but when the screen lit up, my hand froze. Gavril.The message was short, sharp, not one of his usual detailed reports. Just a photograph. Natasha and Damon standing together. Her posture rigid, his expression leaning too close to her comfort. And below it, only a line: I don’t know what Damon is planning now.My heart gave a heavy thud, and before I realized what I was doing, I had pushed my chair back so hard it scraped the floor. The council documents scattered, ignored. Nothing mattered. I was already moving, abandoni

  • When My Mate Chose Another, the Lycan King Chose Me   82: Can never be trusted

    Gavril’s POVThe King’s voice still lingered in my ears as I stepped out of his study. His orders were clear—he wanted me to oversee the work being done on the southern wing, where repairs had slowed after the last storm. Lucien had that way of speaking that left no room for debate, no gap for hesitation. He trusted me, and that trust was heavier than any chain. I carried it everywhere, in the way I walked, the way I stood, even in the way others looked at me when I passed.I left the study, nodding briefly to the guards stationed along the hall, and descended the steps that led out into the courtyard. The sun was warm but not harsh, sitting lazily in the sky as if it too had grown used to the rhythms of the palace. The driver was already waiting by the car, the engine humming low, the door held open for me.I was halfway to it when movement caught my eye.At first it was nothing unusual—just two figures standing further along the terrace, their voices low, their heads tilted toward e

  • When My Mate Chose Another, the Lycan King Chose Me   81: Ladies First

    Natasha’s POVMy fingers hovered over the knob, though I never touched it. The knock still echoed inside me, stirring an unease I couldn’t quite shake off. My phone was warm in my hand, but Lani’s voice had already faded into nothing. The line was still alive, her muffled words somewhere in the background, but I couldn’t register them anymore. My entire focus was on the door and the presence standing behind it. Damon.I drew in a shallow breath, my throat tight. My voice wavered as I spoke, low and sharp enough to sound guarded. “What do you want from me?”For a moment, there was nothing. Just silence, broken only by the faint hum of air passing through the hall. Then his voice came, steady, warm in that way he always managed to make it, like he was speaking to calm a child rather than a woman caught between dread and suspicion.“I just wanted to talk,” he said. “It’s harmless, Natasha. That’s all. I don’t know what Lucien might have filled your head with, but I’m not your enemy. I wo

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