All Chapters of Mated to Death: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

LUCIEN’S P.O.V. Elara went still behind her, and I could smell the subtle scent of her fear under her anger. It wrapped around my chest, squeezing it tightly. “They can wait,” I growled automatically. Every time they showed up here, I had to remind them who was in charge. It was exhausting to deal with their obsession with power and remind them that with me, they had none. “No. They can’t,” Hera said quietly from behind me. “Not after what you did to them last time. You need to be civil this time, Lucien. They are just doing their job.” “They want to place blame on someone, so there is no need for Elara to go. I am who they need to speak to, and I will deal with them.” I growled, fighting the urge to add that I might just be the one to kill them as well. Members of my pack stood scattered around the sitting room, openly staring at us…at her. The daughter of the Stormhearts, who had either just saved their lives or doomed them. If Death wanted her, he would have her. And he wo

ELARA’S P.O.V. I had no response. I had never had someone defend or protect me before. Especially not from a force as strong as the King’s council. “Before we talk about yesterday,” Lucien said, his voice cutting through the air, “We’re going to address something else. We all seem to have questions we want answers to, and this is my pack, so I expect my questions to be answered first." Elder Murack raised his eyebrows, smirking with amusement, but I could see the irritation he was trying to hide as he tapped his finger impatiently against the top of the dais. “This is not…” “Who here has ever laid a hand on my mate?” Lucien asked, scanning the half circle of elders. The room fell silent, and the tapping of Elder Murack’s finger stopped. My breathing caught in my throat as I looked up at Lucien. I don’t move. Don’t speak. My fingers tightened around his. Why would he care? I would be dead soon, and he still had Abigail waiting for him for when that day came. He could defend

ELARA’S P.O.V.Lucien’s mouth crashed onto mine, and the world around us faded.I gasped as his hand slid from my hip, under my shirt, and up to my ribs. His rough, calloused hands felt so good that I arched my back, pressing my chest into his, needing to be closer.His body gently settled on top of mine, and I moaned as he pressed me into the mattress, my knees lifting on either side of him to cage him in. My fingers tightened in his shirt on his sides, desperate to keep him close. This felt unreal, like a dream my exhausted brain had conjured up, and that any moment I would wake up.“Lucien,” I breathed against his lips as he pulled back.Lucien answered with a low growl that vibrated through his chest and into mine. My eyes fluttered open to see his were flickering between his dark brown and the black of his beast as he stared down at me. My wolf purred with satisfaction at the sight, loving that a man as powerful as he was was on the verge of losing control because of me.‘Ours,

ELARA’S P.O.V.My gaze swept the room. The large mahogany desk sat at the center. Neat stacks of paper sat on top with a multitude of wax seals visible as if they had been sorted by pack, but why would Lucien have so many official letters?Whatever they were, they must not have been important if Lucien left them there for anyone to find. I knew right away that searching through those would be a waste of my time. Shelves lined the walls, filled with books, what appeared to be rolled-up maps, and a framed picture of two women, one significantly older than the one next to her, who had to be in her forties. There was no layer of dust like the shelves in his room, so I knew it was either cleaned regularly by the staff or he used it often. I wasn’t going to let any stone go unturned.I moved toward the desk, my finger tips sliding across the surface. The air tingled, and I felt the faint brush of the wards as they recognized my presence again. He was protecting something in his desk, som

ELARA’S P.O.V.“Lucien,” I whispered, failing to hide the fear that flooded my body from being caught. My wolf urged me to walk toward him, to remove every last trace of Abigail’s scent from him, but the hard look in his eyes had me frozen.He stood in the doorway, darkness rippled off him in violent waves, crawling over the floor, climbing the walls, and hissing like static. My breath caught in my throat as I waited for Death to reemerge, but he never came.“Elara,” Lucien growled, stepping inside and slamming the door shut behind him. “ Twice now I have felt you touching my wards.”My throat tightened in shock.He hadn’t said anything about me snooping in our room when it happened, but he knew.“Lucien, I…” I started, but he cut me off.“You were in my desk,” Lucien said with frustration, and I was surprised that he wasn’t shouting. “You shouldn’t be here.”I braced for anger…real anger, the kind the council had put into me when they were screaming, cutting, burning, and torturing