Chapter 69: Her Scent

Lucian’s POV

​I teleported directly into my parents’ study and found them waiting for me, exactly as I expected. My father was sitting on one of the couches with my mother beside him. They were the ones who had called me here, but judging by their expressions, this wasn’t going to be one of their usual late-night conversations.

​I frowned as I stepped farther into the room. "Good evening, Dad. Mom," I greeted them. "Don’t you think it’s a little late for this? What’s so important that you had to call me here tonight?"

​My mother crossed her arms, her eyes fixed on me. "Come on, Alpha Lucian. You can teleport. It’s not like you had to take a long journey to get here."

​"Even so," I replied, narrowing my eyes slightly. "You sounded strange through the mind-link. What’s wrong?"

​Neither of them answered, and that was my first clue that something wasn’t right. My second came when I walked over and took a seat across from them. Now that I was closer, I could see just how serious they both looked, and that alone was enough to put me on alert.

​My parents could be serious when the situation demanded it. My father had once been Alpha King, and even though Lucas now held the title, there was still an authority about him that could silence an entire room without him raising his voice. But seeing both of my parents sitting this quietly together was rare. Normally, they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Even after all these years, my father still treated my mother like she was the center of his world. His hand would be resting on her waist, she would be leaning against him, or he would be kissing her temple without caring who was in the room. Sometimes they exchanged those quiet looks that made the rest of us wonder if they remembered other people existed.

​Tonight, there was none of that. They were sitting beside each other, but neither was touching the other. My father’s expression was hard, and my mother looked equally serious. Something was definitely wrong.

​"Dad. Mom. What’s going on?" I asked, looking between them.

​Before either of them could answer, a faint scent caught my attention. I went still as I breathed it in again. Vanilla mixed with a soft floral sweetness.

​Annabel?

​My wolf recognized it immediately, but the scent was so faint that I almost wondered if I had imagined it. Annabel was back at my pack house, hundreds of miles away. There was absolutely no reason I should be smelling her here.

​I shook my head slightly, annoyed with myself. Apparently, four days of trying not to think about that woman had done absolutely nothing for me. Now I was imagining her scent in my parents’ study. Wonderful.

​My tongue instinctively ran over the small cut on my lower lip, and her face immediately entered my mind again. The anger in her eyes. The way she had shoved me away. The look on her face when she told me never to kiss her like that again.

​Fuck. I really needed to stop thinking about her.

​Before I could question my parents again, the air inside the study shifted and Lucas appeared near the doorway. His eyes immediately landed on me, and something about his expression changed.

​"Lucian?" Lucas frowned. "What are you doing here?"

​I slowly raised an eyebrow at him. "Excuse me? Why do you seem so annoyed to see me?"

​Lucas ignored my question entirely and turned toward our parents. "What’s happening? Is there some kind of family meeting going on without me?"

​My father’s eyes settled on him. "Lucas, take a seat."

​There was nothing loud about my father’s voice, but there didn’t need to be. He had spent years ruling as Alpha King, and giving up the title hadn’t taken away the authority that came naturally to him. Lucas didn’t argue. He walked over and lowered himself into the single leather armchair a short distance away from mine.

​Almost immediately, a strong smell of cologne reached me. My nose twitched as I turned slightly toward him. Since when did Lucas wear that much cologne? The scent was heavy, far stronger than anything he usually wore, but beneath it, I caught the faintest trace of something familiar. Vanilla mixed with a soft floral sweetness.

​My brows pulled together. There it was again. Annabel’s scent.

​I breathed in slowly, trying to catch it again, but Lucas’s cologne was too strong. Whatever I thought I had smelled disappeared beneath it almost immediately. I found myself staring at my brother, trying to understand why his cologne seemed to carry a faint hint of Annabel’s scent.

​No. That was ridiculous.

​Maybe his cologne simply had vanilla in it. Plenty of fragrances did, and considering how much I had been thinking about Annabel lately, my mind was probably connecting every hint of vanilla to her. Still, something didn’t sit right. Why the hell was Lucas wearing enough cologne to fill half the room at this time of night?

​I studied him more carefully. His clothes were slightly out of place, as though he had dressed quickly or had been somewhere before coming here. Yet he sat there as if nothing was unusual.

​Lucas caught me staring and frowned. "What?"

​"Nothing," I replied, looking away from him.

​Maybe I really was losing my mind.

​"Lucian," my mother called, pulling my attention away from my brother.

​I turned toward her. She held my gaze, the seriousness in her expression reminding me why I was here in the first place.

​"Lucian," she said quietly, "we have something we need to discuss with you."

​I frowned as I looked between my parents. "Alright," I replied. "What is it?"

​My mother didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she looked at my father, and the two of them exchanged one of those silent looks they had perfected over the years.

​My patience thinned. "You called me here in the middle of the night. Whatever it is, just say it," I told them.

​My father leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. "It’s about your marriage to Princess Annabel."