Chapter 16
Chapter 16
Lucien’s jaw clenched with enough force to crack granite, his canines lengthening visibly beneath his upper lip. “Are you conveniently forgetting that Mira carries my mate mark?”
“Does she?” Riven’s eyebrows arched with theatrical surprise as he glanced down at Mira. “Curious. My wolf must have missed that when we performed the preliminary bond ritual last night”
He pressed his lips to Mira’s temple, his amber eyes never leaving Lucien’s “Darling your former Alpha seems confused about your status. How awkward for him.”
Mira laughed–not the breathless, hopeful laugh Lucien remembered, but something sharper, edged with newfound confidence. Her gaze swept over him with clinical detachment, as if assessing a stranger.
“Ex mate, Ex–Alpha. Ex everything” the clarified, each syllable precisely delivered. “What I do with my body and my life is no longer your concern, Lucien.”
Something primal twisted in Lucien’s chest, his wolf surging forward with territorial rage. In three fluid strides, he crossed the distance between them, his fingers closing around her wrist with unmistakable possession. The contact sent an electric shock through his system–her skin still warm, still familiar, but somehow changed.
“I never agreed to sever our bond,” he growled, his voice dropping to the commanding timber that had subdued countless challengers. “You’re coming home. Whatever happened before–I’ll make it right.”
Mira yanked her arm free with surprising strength, her eyes flashing amber with a defiance he’d never witnessed from her before. “Make it right? With more compensation?” The word dripped with contempt.
“What is it this time? Another overpriced bracelet? More ancient artifacts? Maybe another skin graft for precious Saela?” Her laugh held no humor. “Do you think your little peace offerings are some divine blessing I should weep with gratitude over?”
The bitterness in her voice hit Lucien like a physical blow. This wasn’t the woman who had chased him for six years–who had bent herself into impossible shapes just to please him.
“There was a time,” she continued, her voice softening with something like pity, “when I would have crawled across broken glass for a single kind word from you.” She stepped back, deliberately threading her arm through Riven’s.
“But now-”
She lifted her chin, meeting Lucien’s gaze directly. “I don’t love you anymore.”
“Go back to Saela. Play your twisted games with someone who still cares.”
Lucien’s control slipped further, his scent spiking with distress his pride would never allow him to acknowledge. “Saela and I are finished,” he insisted, the words rushing out. “We’re nothing but siblings now, I’ve made that absolutely clear-”
“And I should care because…?” Mira cut him off with brutal efficiency. “I’m with Riven now. For the first time in years, I’m actually happy.”
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The Unclaimed Luna’s Final Goodbye: No Longer a Stand In for His Forbidden Love
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Cheyer
******? Larted the ever coated in coolfshame, each syllable etched with primal hatred.
WA, MALAMO? A dose de interrupted their œandoff
*** **** *rowed with hontes of aged wolfshane wine dangling from his fingers, his casual posture beying the www editing from him. When he spotted Lorien, his eyebrows lifted momentarily before his
What the hate the mighty Xiph of Shadowpine doing on European soil?” Ellas’s voice carried the unmistakable *d of oral challenge “bw remember sending an invitation.” w/fwtremember
Loclaw met his former ally’s gaze directly. “I’m here to bring my Enna home where she belongs
“That’s formating” thas replied with exaggerated surprise “Considering I’ve already welcomed Riven’s courtship of my day
Something dark and volcanic erupted in Lucien’s chest. His legendary composure finally shattered. “She’s your only sister,” he snarled, abandoning all pretense of diplomacy. “Are you really this eager to pass her around like some consolation prizer
“The most effective care for a toxic relationship is to begin a healthier one,” Elias replied with deliberate emphasis. “‘t that exactly what you told me at the North American Summit last year? Right after you ignored Mira for three straight days to hover around Saela?
The reminder landed like a silver bullet. Lucien felt something in his chest contract painfully. His voice dropped, a note of genuine pleading entering his tone for the first time in living memory.
“What happened. I was wrong”
He turned to Mira, his pride visibly fracturing, “Please. Come home.”
Mira’s smile was brittle–sharp and unfamiliar on features he’d once known better than his own. “Why are you so desperate for me to return? Have you suddenly discovered feelings for me after all this time?”
The question hamg in the air between them. Lucien hesitated, the truth catching in his throat like a fishbone. “I’m…. not certain.*
He swallowed hard. “But I know our den feels wrong without you in it.”
“Hat Mira’s laugh cut through the air like a silver blade. “Am I a piece of furniture to you? Some decorative element that completes your perfect Alpha aesthetic? Her eyes narrowed dangerously. “You can’t even bring yourself to say you love me, yet you expect me to come running back like I always have?”
She pressed herself closer to Riven with deliberate provocation, tilting her head to expose the curve of her neck where a mate mark would traditionally be placed. “Listen carefully, Lucien Ashmorne, because I won’t repeat myself. L. Don’t Love You. Anymore.”
“I’m with Riven now. He sees me–really sees me. And I’m happier than I’ve been in six years.”
With that final blow delivered, she turned and walked into the house, her back straight and steps unhurried–the
The Thrimad maa Timal Coothne No Longer a Stand In for His Forbidden Love
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Chapter 16
gait of a wolf who had nothing left to prove.
Lucien moved to follow, his wolf nearly frantic beneath his skin, but Elias blocked his path with casual efficiency. “Careful now. This is Mooncrag territory.”
Lucien’s voice dropped to a dangerous rumble. “Riven is your brother–in–arms. Does our alliance mean nothing?”
“As your former ally, let me stay. Just a few days.”
Elias studied him for a long, measuring moment before his lips curled into a knowing smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Why not? Misery loves company. But…”
He leaned closer, his voice dropping to a whisper. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you about what you’re about to witness.”
Lucien’s brow furrowed, not comprehending the cryptic warning until he stepped into the spacious living room.
There on the sofa, Riven was delicately placing a plump strawberry between Mira’s parted lips, his thumb lingering to catch a drop of juice at the corner of her mouth.
“What do you think, she–wolf?” His voice was a low rumble meant only for her ears.
Mira’s response was to bite into the fruit with deliberate sensuality, then playfully offer him a grape in return. “Your turn, Alpha.”
The intimate feeding ritual–an ancient werewolf courtship behavior–quickly evolved into a languid kiss, their lips meeting with unhurried intensity.
Lucien stormed across the room, physically inserting himself between them with barely contained fury. “Is it physically impossible for you two to exist in the same space without mauling each other?”
Elias leaned against the doorframe, his schadenfreude almost palpable. “Actually, yes. Welcome to my personal hell. They’re in that disgustingly intense pre–bonding phase. Riven practically lives here now. My morning routine begins with watching them feed each other breakfast like they invented the concept of romance.”
He clapped Lucien on the shoulder with false sympathy. “I tried to warn you this would be psychological torture.”
Lucien’s chest heaved with emotions he couldn’t even name–jealousy, rage, confusion, and something dangerously close to heartbreak. He grasped Mira’s wrist again, his voice rough with desperation. “Stop this juvenile performance. You’re coming home with me.”
Mira wrenched free, something genuinely dangerous flashing in her eyes. “What part of this situation aren’t you comprehending, Lucien?”
“The divorce is real. My relationship with Riven is real. And my refusal to ever return to your cold bed–that’s the most real of all.”
Something snapped inside Lucien, his voice rising with raw emotion. “You loved me for six years!”
“You can’t just extinguish feelings that deep overnight! You can’t replace six years of devotion with a convenient
new romance!”
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No Longer a Stand–In for His Forbidden Love
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Chapter 16
“Do you honestly expect me to believe this isn’t some elaborate scheme to punish me?”
Sunlight streamed through the floor–to–ceiling windows, casting their confrontational shadows across the polished hardwood. Mira pulled away from his grasp with quiet finality, her eyes unnervingly calm as she delivered the killing blow.
“You’ve always been so confident, Lucien.”
“But here’s something you never understood about love.”
“When a heart has been wounded enough times… it doesn’t just heal differently. It can actually die.”
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