Lucian's POV
"Explain it, Lucian."
The heavy oak door hadn't even fully clicked shut before Killian was moving. He leaned against my desk, and in his hand, he held a scrap of scorched silver lace, the remains of the glove Elara had been wearing when she touched the Seer.
"The Seer's hand turned to stone, and this turned to ash," Killian murmured, tossing the scrap onto the desk.
I looked at Elara. She had collapsed onto the chaise lounge, her violet silks sprawling around her.
My wolf paced in my mind, confused. Usually, after a shift, my head was a battlefield of rage and the constant urge to tear throats.
But touching her... it had left a terrifying peace.
"It's none of your business, Killian," I growled, stepping between him and the girl.
"None of my business?" Killian laughed, a sharp, cold sound that set my teeth on edge. He walked a slow circle around me, his gaze fixed on Elara. "I understand why you're obsessed with keeping her, and at first, I was on board. But this is different. It's not just about us, brother."
"I am keeping the Pack from tearing itself apart," I countered, my hand instinctively reaching for the silver dagger at my belt. "If the Council suspects I am unstable, a war will start before dawn."
"You're lying to the Council," Killian whispered, his voice turning lethal. "And if they find out the magnitude of her power, they'll take her from you. She is the last Anchor alive. I might not be able to hold you back from killing all of them this time."
"They won't find out," I said. "Because you're going to help me hide what she is. We already played the part out there, and we will keep lying until she is under my total control."
Killian paused, his smirk returning, darker than before. "Hide her? I'd rather see what happens when she's truly hungry."
"Killian—"
"I'll keep your secret," he interrupted. "But I want a seat at the table. Because if she can empty an Alpha... imagine what she could do to an army."
I looked at Elara. She was staring at us both, her eyes wide with a realization that made her look even more fragile.
"Get up," I commanded her, my voice lacking its usual bite. "Adjust your face. I won't have you fainting now. The night is far from over."
When we re-entered the Great Hall, I walked with my head high, my steps heavy and certain. I kept my hand possessively on Elara's waist. I could feel the cold radiating from her skin, a pull that tried to nibble at my aura. I fed it.
I deliberately pushed a steady stream of my excess power into her, keeping her hunger fed so she wouldn't accidentally snap at anyone else.
Alpha Skaroz of the Blackwood pack stepped into our path, his orange eyes fixed on Elara.
"Alpha Valerius," Skaroz rumbled. "Your Anchor looks... delicate. Like a glass doll that's been dropped once too often."
He didn't wait for a reply, instead he released a deliberate surge of his Alpha Aura. A crushing, invisible weight designed to make humans faint and lesser wolves kneel.
I felt Elara sway, her fingers digging into the sleeve of my suit jacket.
But then, something shifted.
The Void inside her reacted to Skaroz's pressure. It didn't just block his aura, it began to drink it.
Skaroz flinched, his face momentarily pale as he felt a piece of his own authority being stripped away. He gasped, his eyes widening in a moment of shock.
"She looks like a glass doll, doesn't she?" I said, my voice slick with a lethal threat. I tightened my grip on her waist, feeding her a steady stream of my own power to keep the power inside her from consuming him entirely. "Glass cuts. Don't forget that before you reach for what's mine."
"A bold claim," Skaroz countered, though he took a strategic step back, his orange eyes darting to Silas at the high table. "For a man whose Seer is currently being carried to the infirmary on a stretcher."
"The Seer was old," I lied effortlessly, my face a mask of bored arrogance. "She wasn't prepared for the sheer volume of energy Elara can process. She is a rare kind of Anchor and once again, she is mine."
Skaroz bowed his head, a gesture of submission and disappeared into the crowd.
Then came the Unity Toast— the serpent's Ichor. It was a bitter, metallic sludge laced with wolfsbane and raw iron, served in a crystal chalice. It was meant to test the stomach of the Alpha and the resilience of his Anchor.
I handed the glass to Elara, her hands shaking so hard the dark liquid sloshed against the silver rim.
"Drink," I whispered in her ear. "Drink it all, Elara. Show them you can swallow the poison and smile, or I'll let Skaroz take you home tonight."
She swallowed the poison. I watched the muscles in her throat move as she fought the urge to gag. She vibrated against me, turning a shade paler as the wolfsbane reacted with the serum in her veins, but she didn't fall. She handed the glass back to the waiter, her eyes glassy but defiant.
"To the Pack," I announced, raising my own glass to the silent, suspicious room. "And to the strength of the Valerius bloodline."
The rest of the night had been a performance, I forced her to stand by my side as I negotiated trade routes with Alpha Malphas and crushed the ego of the Northern Enforcer. Every time she looked like she might break, I gripped her tighter, my scent marking her, my power keeping her upright.
Now, back in the silence of the West Wing, the adrenaline had vanished, leaving a bone-deep exhaustion that made my bones ache.
"I can't," Elara sobbed from the chaise lounge, her voice barely a thread. She reached up to unpin the Twin-Headed Viper from her shoulder, but her fingers were too stiff to move. "I can't feel my hands. It hurts to breathe."
I stepped toward her, but Killian was faster. He moved with a feline grace, kneeling beside the chaise. He looked at her with the fascination of a boy holding a loaded gun for the first time.
He reached out, his hand hovering over the marks on her neck. "Look at her eyes, Lucian. The pupils haven't dilated back yet."
"Get away from her, Killian," I snapped, my wolf snarling at the back of my teeth.
"Your wolf's jealous," Killian laughed, looking up at me. "That's a discovery."
I looked at my brother, then at the girl who was now our shared secret. The Council thought she was a miracle.
Killian knew she was a weapon. And I?
I knew she was a drug.
"Stay in the shadows, little bird."