Elara's pov
The gates of the Valerius estate opened and i knew there was no going back from this point.
Stone pillars and iron bars gave way to a fortress. Men stood like shadow-statues, tracking the SUV with predatory stillness. As we rolled past, they snapped to a military salute.
"Stay close," Lucian rasped. I could smell the metallic tang of an impending shift. Beside me, Killian's thigh was a pillar of heat, pinning me against the door and he was looking at my neck.
The car screeched to a halt at a marble portico. A woman in tactical leather stood there, amber eyes pinned on me.
"Lucian," she called out. "The council is frantic. And you return with... this?"
Lucian ripped the door open. He hauled me out by the arm. My knees buckled.
If Lucian hadn't clamped a hand onto my waist, I would have facedived into the stone.
"Vanya," Lucian said, his voice absolute ice. "Move."
Vanya recoiled, nostrils flaring.
"You risked the pack for a human stray?"
She reached out, fingers hooked like claws, and grabbed my chin.
"Look at her. She can barely breathe our air."
A growl ripped from Lucian's chest. He swiped Vanya's hand away with a force that sent her stumbling.
"Touch her again, and I'll feed your hands to the hounds."
"You're protecting a pet? Over your Beta's daughter?"
"She isn't a pet." The silver in Lucian's eyes bled into the iris. "She is the Anchor. My Anchor."
The color drained from Vanya's face. "The debt... you used the Lunar loan for her?"
"Kneel."
Vanya's knees hit the gravel instantly. Forced submission.
Lucian didn't look back. He dragged me through the oak doors, my toes catching on expensive rugs.
Killian followed, his footsteps a rhythmic, haunting thud.
Lucian barked at the guards. "Her wing is off-limits. If a wolf comes near without my permission, they die. Clear?"
"Yes, Alpha!"
He shoved me into a bedroom. No gentleness. He began unbuttoning his vest, his movements jerky. Muscles twitched violently under his shirt.
"The suppression starts now," he said.
"I... I'm dizzy, Lucian. Please."
He was across the room in a blur, hands slamming against the wall on either side of my head. "If you don't do this, I will tear you apart."
He buried his face in my neck. Teeth grazed my pulse point. "Get on the bed."
His frame was distorting, broadening. "I can't filter the energy through fabric. The Suppressor strain in your blood... it requires direct contact."
I crawled onto the silk duvet.
Lucian stripped with violent efficiency and lunged. His heavy, fever-hot frame slammed into me, pinning me flat. The contact was an electric shock. He buried his face in my neck, breathing deeply.
Then, the pull started.
A cold sensation ignited in my chest. The destructive energy screaming through him flowed into me. My heart rate spiked. My vision went black. It was agonizing. My nerves felt like they were being threaded with live wire.
But for Lucian, it was a sedative. His muscles softened. His breathing slowed.
"Better," he whispered against my throat.
--
I woke up cold and...empty
When I tried to sit up, I retched into a porcelain basin.
"Don't move," Lucian commanded. He was by the window, fully dressed.
"I... I can't feel my legs," I croaked.
"Your human body isn't used to the strain." He walked to the bed, his fingers brushing my cheek. "I'm not going to hurt you. Not today."
"You already did. You took it all."
"I saved your father. In exchange, you keep me sane. That was the contract."
He signaled a maid who had been waiting in the shadows. "Feed her. High protein. She needs to be standing by noon."
"I'm not an animal, Lucian!"
He stopped at the door. He didn't look back. "In this house, Elara, everyone is an animal."
The door clicked shut. The maid, a young wolf with nervous eyes named Mia, approached with a tray. She stared at the bruising grip-marks on my arms.
"Eat, Miss," Mia whispered, her voice trembling. "The Alpha is right. If you don't have food in your system, the next pull will stop your heart."
"He's killing me." I whispered, clutching the duvet.
Mia paused, her hand hovering over a glass of a dark liquid substance. "The last Suppressor they brought in... she only lasted a week. Her organs just gave up.You're different."
"How?"
"He's still sane," Mia said, finally meeting my eyes. "Usually, by this point in the moon cycle, the servants are cleaning blood off the walls. You're holding back an explosion, Miss. That makes you the most powerful person in this house and the biggest target."
Mia helped me into a dress and every time she brushed against my skin, I flinched. The suppression had left my nerves raw.
"The Beta is waiting," Mia warned as we reached the hallway. "Stay upright. Wolves smell fear like a scent, but they smell weakness like a meal."
I dragged my feet to the Council Room. It was a pit of monsters.
Twelve wolves sat around a stone table. The smell of raw aggression made my stomach flip.
"Is this the savior?" Silas, the Beta, sneered. Vanya's father. "A fragile human? One shift and she'll be a corpse."
Lucian sat at the head of the table, Killian standing like a dark sentinel behind him. "My bloodline will be stable because of her."
"She can barely walk," Vanya mocked. "Is this what the Valerius name has come to? Depending on a dying girl?"
I gripped the back of a chair, my knuckles white. "I'm... I'm standing."
Silas slammed his hand on the table. Crack. "Silence, human! You only speak when spoken to."
Lucian's eyes flashed silver. A low vibration started in the floor. "She is under my protection, Silas. Insult her again and i will rip out your heart. "
"The council demands proof," Silas challenged. "Tonight is the peak of the moon. If you can't control yourself in front of us, with her... then we trigger the succession clause. We find a new Alpha."
Lucian looked at me. Cold calculation. "Tonight. We show them."
He stood up and dragged me into the hallway.
"Lucian, please," I whispered. "I'm shaking. I'll die."
He pinned me against the stone wall. "You have ten hours to rest. Tonight, they're going to watch me shift. If you fail to anchor me, they won't just kill me."
He leaned in, his scent of rain and blood filling my senses. "They'll hunt you for sport. And you're too weak to run."