Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
Lucian
The rage inside me is its own entity—pure, molten fury that consumes every rational thought. They hurt her. They whipped her. They made her bleed. And I wasn’t here to protect her.
I step forward, and the world narrows to this single moment of retribution. My wolf is howling for blood, demanding justice for our mate, and I don’t fight it.
Before anybody can react, I thrust my hands into the chests of the two guards with the whips and rip out their still-beating hearts.
The satisfaction that floods through me is dark and primal. These men hurt what’s mine. They deserve this. They deserve worse.
Their bodies slump to the ground with wet thuds. Blood pools on the pristine marble floor, spreading outward in viscous, crimson rivers.
A collective gasp echoes through the throne room. Someone screams. Several nobles press their backs up against the walls, looking frantically for the fastest escape route.
I let the hearts drop from my hands, and the soggy splats echo in the sudden silence. Blood drips from my fingers, and I look around to see who should be next. Let them all witness what happens to anyone who touches my mate.
The beast inside me wants to tear apart every person in this room. They allowed this to happen. They stood by and watched. They cheered for her pain.
But Astra needs me more than my wolf needs vengeance. The bond between us thrums with her agony, her confusion, her desperate need for safety. She anchors me, pulling me back from the edge of complete savagery.
I drop to one knee beside her. Her wrists are bound with thick ropes, the fibers cutting into her raw skin. I slice through them with a claw, steadying her as she sways to her feet.
“You’re safe now,” I murmur, my voice gentle despite the violence I’ve just committed. “I won’t let anyone hurt you anymore.”
She’s quiet, but through our bond, I feel everything. The humiliation. The pain. The bewilderment about who I really am and what it means for us. This hurt cuts deeper than any physical wound.
“Seth,” I call without taking my eyes off Astra.
“Your Highness?” Seth appears at my side, his expression grim but unsurprised at the carnage.
“Find a healer. Now.”
He nods and rushes from the throne room.
“Let go of the traitor.” My father’s voice booms across the throne room, cold and commanding.
I look up at him, this man who raised me, who taught me duty and honor and the weight of the crown. “Did you not hear me refer to this woman as my mate?”
His pale eyes narrow. “I heard you, yes. But I also know that she has used dark magic on you to seduce you. Lady Zari has provided compelling evidence—”
I laugh. The sound is sharp and angry, echoing off the marble walls. “Dark magic? Father, I want you to summon every royal magician in this palace. Have them examine me for any trace of dark magic. Any at all.”
“Lucian—”
“Do it.” My voice carries the authority of the crown prince, the weight of command I’ve learned from years of leading armies. “All you’ll find is that Astra is my fated mate. That’s why I’ve been taking my time in returning. I’ve been busy wooing my mate.”
Gasps echo from every corner of the throne room. Nobles whisper frantically among themselves.
An outraged cry tears through the air. Harper steps forward, her face red and twisted with anger. Her composure completely shattered, she points at Astra.
“That useless thing can’t be his fated mate!” Her voice cracks with hysteria. “She’s a fraud! A traitor who defied the crown! How could someone like that possibly be destined for a prince?”
I look between Harper, Alpha Gareth, and Zari, who has gone as pale as death. The pieces fall into place, and my red-hot fury shifts to something colder, more calculating.
“The three of you,” I say icily, “have cooked up quite the conspiracy.”
Zari lifts her chin defiantly. “I don’t know what you mean.”
My father’s voice suddenly cuts in. “Is it true?” he demands, staring at me. “What you said about this woman being your fated mate?”
I meet his gaze steadily. “I am not a liar, Father. Astra wears my mark. I’ve already claimed her as mine.”
“You can’t do that!” Zari’s poise finally breaks completely, her voice sharp with rage and desperation.
“I am your intended! You belong to me! The King promised you to me! Our families have been discussing our engagement for months! I am the one qualified to be crown princess, not that country bumpkin of a traitor!”
Lord Vance steps forward, his face flushed with fury. “Your Majesty, this cannot be allowed. My daughter was promised the position of crown princess. How can a traitor to the crown wear that title?”
My father raises his hand for silence. The throne room falls quiet except for the soft dripping of blood from my fingertips.
“The woman you call your mate,” he says to me slowly, “defied a royal decree. She is to be executed for treason.”
Through our bond, I feel Astra go tense beside me. Her fear spikes, but underneath it is something else. Trust. Despite everything—despite learning who I really am, despite the horror of this moment—she still trusts me to protect her.
“Father,” I say, my voice carrying clearly throughout the throne room. “If anyone in this room touches Astra again, they will discover firsthand why they call me the Mad Wolf on the battlefield.”
A hush falls across the entire room. Even the nobles’ whispers die away completely.
My father watches me closely. He knows exactly what that title means, what I’m capable of when pushed too far.
“You would threaten the crown?” he asks quietly.
“I would protect my mate,” I correct him. “From anyone. Including you.”
Silence stretches between us, heavy with the weight of challenge and consequence. I can feel every eye in the room on us, waiting to see who will break first.
Behind me, Zari lets out a choked sob. “She is destroying everything, Lucian. Our engagement, your honor, the alliance between our families—”
“The only thing being destroyed here,” I say without turning to look at her, “is your pathetic scheme.”
I take a step toward my father’s throne, my boots squelching in the blood pooled on the marble floor.
Astra follows me, huddled by my side. “You want to know the truth? Astra’s wolf is latent.
She can’t shift. Alpha Gareth chose her precisely because she was expendable, not because she was the strongest.” I look directly at Gareth, whose face has gone pale.
“The most powerful female in his pack is Harper, his own daughter. But he couldn’t bear to sacrifice her, so he lied to the crown and tried to send Astra instead. ”
“That’s not—” Alpha Gareth starts trying to deny his plan, but I cut him off.
“When I began my investigation, you sent warriors after Astra to find her and kill her. Those warriors had wolfsbane on their claws. Wolfsbane wouldn’t have affected Astra because her wolf is latent.
It was meant for me. You tried to kill me with wolfsbane.
” My voice grows softer now, and I look back at the King. “Astra saved my life.”
I watch as my father’s face transforms into something terrible to behold. Rage burns in his pale eyes like wildfire, and his knuckles go white where they grip the arms of his throne.
Gareth shakes his head frantically. “That’s not true, Your Majesty! The Prince is mistaken—”
“Are you calling me a liar?” The words tear from my throat, low and deadly. Every eye in the throne room fixes on the Alpha, waiting for his answer.
Gareth’s throat works frantically. “Your Highness, I—There must be some misunderstanding—”
“Answer the question.”
Sweat beads on his forehead. “I never sent anyone to harm you, Your Highness. If my warriors acted against you, they must have been operating on their own initiative. Rogue elements within my pack.”
I laugh, the sound sharp and bitter. “‘Rogue elements.’ How convenient.”
“The truth,” Alpha Gareth continues desperately, “is that this woman has bewitched you. She’s fooling you about her true nature. Astra is a powerful shifter—one of our strongest. The two women standing right there helped her escape from pack custody.”
Astra whispers to me pleadingly, “Lucian, please. Save my friends.”
I squeeze her hand, the contact grounding me. Then, I turn my attention to the cowering figure Seth dragged in here with us: the witch who has been hiding in the shadows of this conspiracy.
I leave Astra’s side to go grab him by the throat and bring him forward. His feet barely touch the marble as I haul him to the center of the throne room.
“Tell them,” I snarl. “Tell them the truth about what Lady Zari asked you to do.”
The witch’s eyes dart frantically between me and the nobles. His voice comes out as a croak. “Lady Zari—She told me to approach Alpha Gareth weeks ago. She wanted to know about the girl. About Astra.”
“And what did Gareth tell you?”
“That she has a latent wolf,” he says. “That she can’t shift. That she’s powerless.”
The confession hits the throne room like a sledgehammer. Gasps echo from every corner. Alpha Gareth’s face goes ashen.
“He’s lying!” Gareth shouts, but his voice cracks with desperation.
The witch shakes his head frantically. “Lady Zari paid me well for the information. She wanted to know if the girl posed any real threat to her position.”
My father’s voice booms from his throne. “GUARDS. Arrest Alpha Gareth and his daughter at once.”
“Your Majesty, please—” Gareth begins, but the royal guards are already moving. They seize both him and Harper, dragging them toward the doors despite their protests.
I turn to Seth. “Take these two women to the healers,” I tell him, indicating Astra’s friends. “They, too, are victims of Gareth’s plot.”
He nods and moves to escort the barely conscious women from the throne room. Through their pain and exhaustion, I catch glimpses of gratitude in their eyes.
My father’s cold gaze fixes on Lady Zari. “Did you know this girl was a latent shifter?”