Chapter 15: No One Touches My Wife

Lucian’s POV

​It was barely six in the morning when I opened my eyes.

​I had never needed much sleep. Four or five hours were usually enough, and after the restless night I had just endured, staying in bed wasn’t going to do me any good. My body was already demanding its routine run through the woods.

​I pushed the covers aside, swung my legs over the side of the bed, and got to my feet. After stretching out the tension in my back, I pulled on a pair of black sweatpants and left my chest bare. My morning run usually cleared my head, and right now, I needed it more than ever.

​I stepped out of my private quarters and headed down the hallway.

​Instead of taking the lift, I chose the stairs. I preferred them in the mornings, especially before a run, to clear my head. By the time I reached the third floor, however, my feet slowed to a stop.

​Annabel’s room was on this floor.

​I stared down the corridor leading toward her bedroom.

​Keep walking.

​There was absolutely no reason for me to check on her. The guards would have removed the snake by now, and she was probably sleeping.

​Still, something made me stop. I couldn’t explain it, but I suddenly wanted to see her. To make sure she was fine.

​The thought irritated me.

​Why the hell did I care if she was fine?

​I should have kept walking. Instead, before I could talk myself out of it, I turned and headed toward her room.

​"Damn it."

​I didn’t understand the strange urge pulling me toward her room, and that irritated me more than anything else.

​When I turned the corner, shock hit me.

​Annabel was lying directly on the cold, tiled floor of the hallway.

​For a second, I simply stared at her in pure confusion and growing anger. She was curled up a few feet away from her bedroom door, her knees pulled up tight toward her chest and her arms wrapped around herself as if trying to keep warm. Her long hair was scattered around her face, and the dress she had worn last night was wrinkled around her body.

​Why the hell was she sleeping on the floor?

​"Annabel," I spat out.

​Nothing. She didn’t move. She didn’t even flinch.

​I scoffed under my breath. So she was a deep sleeper, too.

​I crouched beside her, bent down, and tapped her bare arm with my knuckles. The instant my skin brushed against hers, a sudden chill rushed over me. My expression changed. She was freezing. Not dangerously cold, but enough to tell me she had been lying here for hours.

​I tapped her again, harder this time. "Wake up."

​Annabel slowly blinked her eyes open. Her gaze was soft, heavy with sleep, and completely lost for a split second as she stared up at me like she couldn’t understand what I was doing there. But the moment her vision focused on my face, the softness vanished and recognition hit her. She shot upright.

​Before I could say anything, she scrambled backward, her hands and feet sliding against the tiles as she jumped up and backed away from me until she was pressed against the wall.

​There it was again. That fear of me in her eyes.

​"What is the meaning of this?" I demanded, straightening to my full height.

​She swallowed hard, her chest heaving as she pressed herself back against the wall. "I couldn’t go back inside," she whispered, her voice tight.

​"Why?"

​She looked at me as though the answer should have been obvious. "The snake."

​"It’s dead."

​"I know."

​"Then what’s the problem?"

​"The dead snake is still in there!" She folded her arms over herself, shivering slightly. "And what if there was another one? What if there were two? Or three?"

​I closed my eyes briefly. This woman was going to test every bit of patience I had.

​"You slept on a cold floor because there might be another snake?"

​"I wasn’t going back inside until someone checked."

​"Then why didn’t you call a guard?"

​She frowned. "I did."

​My eyes narrowed. "What?"

​"I saw two guards downstairs after you left. I asked them to check my room."

​"And?"

​"They ignored me." She looked down at the floor. "One of them told me they weren’t servants. The other one said I have no right to order them."

​For a moment, I said nothing. Anger quickly burned through me. I didn’t know why it bothered me so much. Maybe because I had already made myself clear after the storage room incident. Maybe because these men worked for me and had chosen to ignore the woman living under my roof. Or maybe it was because Annabel had spent the entire night curled up on a cold floor because no one would help her.

​Whatever the reason, I was done.

​"GUARDS!" I roared, my voice thundering through the hallway.

​Annabel jumped. Heavy footsteps immediately sounded from the stairs as boots echoed down the hall.

​Within seconds, four guards rushed into the corridor. The moment they saw me, they stopped and dropped their heads, bowing. "Alpha."

​I stepped closer, staring at them. None dared lift their eyes. "Did Princess Annabel ask any of you for help last night?"

​Silence. My patience disappeared.

​"I asked a question."

​Two of them exchanged nervous looks before one finally nodded. "Yes, Alpha."

​"Did Annabel complain to you about her room, and you ignored her?" I spat.

​His face immediately paled, and he stammered out, trembling under my gaze, "Alpha, we... we apologize. We didn’t think..."

​"That’s your problem. You didn’t think." My jaw clenched. If I didn’t put a stop to this right now, my people would keep testing my boundaries. They thought they were pleasing me by mistreating her, but they were forgetting who ran this pack.

​I stepped closer, and the guard stiffened. "If Princess Annabel gives you a reasonable order concerning her safety, you will listen. You don’t have to like her. You don’t have to respect where she came from. But you will respect my authority."

​"Yes, Alpha."

​I pointed at the first guard. "You. Go into her room, remove the dead snake, and search every single inch of the space to make sure it is completely clear. Under the bed, inside the bathroom, behind the curtains. Everywhere."

​"Yes, Alpha!" The guard nodded frantically and rushed past us into the bedroom.

​I turned my glare to another guard. "Gather everyone who works in this mansion downstairs immediately. Guards, maids, cooks, cleaners. Everyone."

​The guard hesitated. "Everyone, Alpha?"

​My gaze snapped toward him, and he immediately bowed. "Downstairs. Five minutes." He hurried away.

​I turned my head to look at Annabel. She was still standing against the wall, shivering with her arms wrapped tightly around herself. She looked exhausted, pale, cold, and frightened.

​For one brief second, something inside me softened. My wolf stirred, urging me to step closer and pull her against my chest to warm her up. I instantly slammed a wall down over that feeling, crushing it completely and masking my expression behind a cold, distant stare.

​Without saying another word to her, I turned around and walked away. My morning run could wait. Someone had brought a deadly snake into my mansion, and I wanted a name.

​By the time I entered the main living hall, all thirty staff members were lined up in neat rows. Guards, maids, cooks, and servants stood in complete, heavy silence with their heads bowed.

​The last time something like this happened, two maids had locked Annabel in the dark storage room. I had let that incident go with a warning because no lasting harm had been done. Clearly, that had been a mistake.

​I stopped in front of them, resting my hands on my hips, letting my heavy Alpha presence crush the air in the room.

​"I am going to ask one question," I said, my voice echoing. "And I expect an answer in less than five seconds. Who put that snake in Princess Annabel’s room?"

​The room became even quieter. I slowly looked across their faces, but I didn’t even reach three seconds before a young maid near the back gasped, lost her footing, and fell heavily onto her knees.

​"I did, Alpha!" she sobbed out, bowing her head until her forehead touched the floor.

​I walked over until I was standing directly over her, glaring down at her trembling frame. "Look at me. Who gave you permission to do that?"

​"No one, Alpha!" Tears streamed down her face. "Alpha, please! We just wanted to teach her a lesson!"

​"We?" My eyes narrowed as I noticed several people around her tense up. "Choose your next words carefully."

​"Some of us are angry, Alpha!" she cried out. "Her pack killed our people! We lost friends! Family! We thought she deserved to know what it feels like to be afraid!"

​"So you have the guts to bring a deadly serpent into my mansion?" I growled, my voice echoing off the high ceilings. "You brought a Black Mamba under my roof without my command—a snake that could have killed her?"

​"I am sorry! I wasn’t trying to kill her. I thought she would see it before... Please, Alpha, have mercy!"

​My expression remained cold. I understood their hatred. I carried the same hatred. But there was a difference between hatred and stupidity. This was my territory, and no one made decisions here without answering to me.

​I looked up at the guards standing by the doorway. "Take her out back. Give her one hundred lashes with the heavy whip. Then throw her off my territory. She no longer works here."

​The maid began to scream and crawl forward on her knees, pleading for mercy, but the guards quickly grabbed her arms and dragged her away, her cries fading down the hallway.

​I turned back to face the rest of the staff. My eyes swept over every single face. They called me a beast for a reason, and it was time to remind them why.

​"Look at me," I commanded. Thirty pairs of eyes rose nervously. "Princess Annabel is my wife now. It does not matter who she was or how much you hate the Blood Moon Pack. You will not lock her in rooms. You will not put deadly animals in her bedchamber. You will not refuse to protect her because you believe she deserves to suffer."

​Nobody moved.

​"If I decide she must pay for what her pack has done, that decision belongs to me," I warned. "She is under my roof. That means no one touches her without my permission. Anyone else who tries something foolish behind my back will lose more than their position in this mansion—you will be beheaded on the spot. Am I clear?"

​"Yes, Alpha!" the entire room chorused instantly.

​"Louder!"

​"YES, ALPHA!"

​"Get out."

​They scrambled out of the living room as fast as their legs could carry them, terrified to stay in my presence a second longer.

​I watched them leave. If anyone was stupid enough to try something again, I wouldn’t be as forgiving.

​"Lucian."

​I recognized the soft voice immediately and turned. My mother stood near the entrance, her expression unusually serious and composed.

​"Mother."

​She walked toward me, waiting until the last few servants had cleared out before stopping a few feet away. "Can I have a word with you?"

​I wiped a hand over my chest, trying to cool down my burning anger. "Of course."

​She took a slow, deep breath, her eyes searching my face carefully as she suddenly looked uncomfortable. "It’s about Princess Annabel... Have you been with her yet?"

​I raised an eyebrow at her. Why was she asking me about that out of nowhere? "No. Why should I?"

​Relief flashed across her face. "Good."

​My eyes narrowed. "Good? Mother, what exactly is going on?"

​She glanced toward the hallway, making sure no one was close enough to hear us, before looking back at me. There was something strange in her eyes—something that almost looked like fear.

​"If nothing has happened between the two of you, then this will be much easier."

​I was quickly losing my patience. "What will be easier?"

​She hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath.

​"You need to send her back."

​I stared at her.

​"What?"

​"Princess Annabel," she said quietly. "You need to send her back to the Blood Moon Pack."