Selene’s POV
The Alpha had woken up. So they said.
I rushed to where he was admitted.
"Doctor, what’s the update now?" I asked in a panic, because these doctors could be double-minded at times ... they’d say one thing now and a completely different thing the next minute.
"He’s stable now. He says he doesn’t want to see anybody. He’ll be discharged soon," the doctor said.
Ohh, Lucian and his tough nature. He didn’t want anyone to see him. I just wanted to see him, to know why he’d done that for me. And to thank him. He must have been so broken not to accept the least bit of care from anyone at all.
I was the first to reach the place where Lucian was being kept, early in the morning. But what I wanted didn’t happen, so I turned to leave.
I didn’t want Tessa ... the premature Luna who killed for fun ... to see me going to check on Lucian. As if I’d summoned her, I saw her coming from the opposite direction, though she didn’t see me. She entered the room where Lucian was, and I slipped back to the breeders’ abode.
Everyone was awake, waiting for my next directive. We were twenty werewolves in that place now. Leah and Freya had been killed, which had reduced our number.
The breeders had no say in the kingdom. We were meaningless. But that was about to change, because of me. My presence was going to cause a revolution ... and it was going to happen through me getting close to the man I’d despised until now: Lucian Thornveil.
"You’ll have to get close to the king, Selene," Valerie said to me.
The other she-wolves screamed their agreement, like they already knew what was on my mind. I didn’t want to act like it had been on my mind all along, so I pretended otherwise.
"Why should it be me who gets close to the king? We’re all breeders. Any one of us can do it."
Valerie looked at me. "The king almost died for you. Use that to your advantage, Selene."
"How do I do that?" I asked, because I was out of ideas and didn’t want to walk into anything that wouldn’t yield results.
"You have knowledge in science. Offer to treat Lucian, make him rest. Offer to run errands for him, to please him. Then get close to him, and we’ll find our way out from there," Valerie said.
"Hmm. That sounds hard," I said.
"It’s hard until you try. Seduce him, every bit of it. He must fall for you. Then you take him out. That’s the only way we get our freedom."
What did she mean by take him out? That I should destroy the king ... the Alpha himself? I pretended to understand, but privately, I thought this was going too far. I didn’t want to be caught in a web of conspiracy that would lead to more deaths. Enough people had died already.
I was only doing this to free the nineteen breeders in the room with me. I was a captive too. But now I was the scapegoat ... I could die for this. Still, it was a sacrifice I was willing to make.
Lucian might not be who I’d first thought he was, but I had to go through him to reach freedom. The mission began in that very moment.
"Our blessings are with you," Valerie said, and the others came to lock hands with me.
We stayed in the room and ate what food we had together, in something close to love. Winterwood was a web of wickedness. It wouldn’t be easy, but a revolution was worth anything, I told myself.
The king was discharged from the ER. I went to see him. Tessa wasn’t going to send me back ... she couldn’t. We were all in this together. I deserved to know what was going on.
I reached the room where Lucian was being kept, a resting room specifically prepared and designed for him. Tessa met me at the door.
"What do you want?" she asked, rude as ever.
"I’m here to see Lucian," I replied.
"You’re not obligated to see Lucian. Go back."
I looked at her like she had to be joking.
"We were together when all of this happened. I have to see him," I said again.
She looked at me with eyes that screamed how dare this wolf talk to me like that. What followed was her jabbing a finger toward the door, motioning for me to go in.
"Five minutes. He’s resting," she said, before stepping aside.
I entered. Lucian was in bed, covered by a heavy duvet. He saw me and didn’t move an inch ... I hadn’t expected him to, anyway.
"Alpha, how are you doing?" I asked first.
"Do I look good?" he said.
I forced myself not to let any humor show on my face.
"I was so sad when it happened, honestly. I hoped you’d be fine, and now you are."
He only nodded.
"Sit down, Selene," Lucian said.
"I appreciate you coming here. I didn’t ask for it, but..."
His voice still sounded weak, and something in it told me he didn’t want me there. Like he didn’t care about me. Or maybe I was just choosing to ignore the obvious. Lucian had risked his life for me. I wanted answers, and I finally found the courage to ask.
"Why did you do it?"
He went silent.
"Why did I do what?" he asked back.
"Why did you take the bear’s bite for me?"
He looked away from me. "I’m a king. You’re my breeder. That’s your answer."
"You must care about your breeders a lot, then," I said.
"Yes, I do."
"Then you must have heard what happened to Leah and Freya, who were also your breeders," I pressed.
"Yes, I heard. She did what she felt was right."
The king said it flatly, and it stung. It felt like he didn’t want my wound to heal ... like he wanted to punish me. Dying would almost have been kinder. I wanted to react, but I kept my cool.
"Would you be needing anything?" I asked instead.
"I have servants for that. No, thanks."
"Please, it’s the least I can do for what you did for me."
I said it as I stepped back toward the door, my back nearly facing him.
"If I need you, I’ll call you. Which I won’t, so..." the king said.
Lucian was a proud king. Damn him and his pride ... I was going to make him need me. I’d be around so much he wouldn’t be able to ignore me.
But Tessa had become a threat too. And she was a formidable one.