Chapter 133: The Devil And The Darkness

Selene’s POV

He had that same serious look as the last time he came, but Lucian refused to give him the audience he was clearly seeking.

"Am I being ignored here?" William asked.

"Guards!" Lucian barked.

They came running instantly.

"Why did you let this man through?" Lucian demanded.

"He said he’s an alpha too ... the alpha of..."

"Icefang," William cut in smoothly. "I told you before. I’m a remnant."

"I don’t give a damn if you’re a remnant or whatever the hell you call yourself," Lucian snapped, his aggression barely contained. "You had no business letting him anywhere near this building. We were in the middle of a serious meeting."

He ordered the guards to remove William immediately.

"Get him out. Now."

William didn’t move a single inch.

He looked right past Lucian and said, "I’m not leaving here without my Luna."

Lucian told the guards to drag him out by force if they had to.

That was when the wolves appeared ... pouring in from the back, surrounding William like a wall. Who the hell were these people? Where had they even come from?

They reached for their guns, and that was the moment everything shifted. This wasn’t a bluff anymore. This was real.

Everyone at the dinner table shot to their feet and stepped back. The energy in the room changed entirely.

"What the hell is this?" Lucian asked, his jaw tight.

"I told you I’m not here to play games," William said calmly. "I came for my Luna."

"She is not your Luna!" Lucian growled. "How many times do you need to hear that before it gets into your thick skull?"

Winterwood guards pulled out their own weapons almost instantly, and just like that, two sides were seconds away from tearing each other apart. The elders who had been seated at the dinner table scattered ... they bolted from the room, fear written all over their faces. I couldn’t blame them.

I was scared too.

But I was the center of all of this, which meant I had no choice but to stay right where I stood.

"What makes you so sure I’m your Luna?" I asked William directly.

He looked at me with steady, unsettling eyes. "Because the goddess told me so."

"I’m not your Luna," I said firmly, holding his gaze. "I belong to someone, and that someone is Lucian."

He laughed ... a quiet, unbothered laugh that made my skin crawl.

"I didn’t come here for your opinion, Selene," he said. "My territory is ready. You’re the only missing piece, and I am not leaving this place without you."

Lucian lunged toward him, but the guns swung in his direction immediately. He had to pull back, and the fury on his face was something I had never seen before.

"Hey ... you little remnant of Icefang," Lucian said, his voice dangerously low and his eyes locked onto William like a predator. "Your ancestors would be ashamed of what you’ve become, and I will personally send you to meet them if you don’t get the hell out of my territory."

William didn’t flinch.

"Icefang is about to become the most dominant territory in the entire district of Morvaine," he said with the kind of calm that only came from someone who had nothing left to lose. "We will rise from the ashes, and there is nothing you can do to stop it."

He let that sit in the air for a moment before he continued.

"I’ll be back. And when I return ... if Selene is not handed over to me, her rightful mate ... I won’t be coming with words."

Then he turned his back and walked out like he hadn’t just threatened an entire pack.

I stood there staring at the door long after he was gone.

What kind of audacity was that?

As much as I wanted to dismiss him as a fool, something about the way he moved, the way he spoke ... measured, unhurried, certain ... told me he wasn’t bluffing.

Never give the devil a chance. Not even when he looks small and harmless.

The moment he cleared our gates, Lucian turned and pulled me into his arms. I let him.

"He’s a joker," I said against his chest. "I’m not his Luna. I never was."

"I know he’s a loser," Lucian replied. "But I’m not underestimating him. I’ll prepare."

He pulled back and called the guards together, ordering the entire pack to stay on high alert. Anyone could strike at any time. Every entry point needed to be watched.

I was still trying to understand how William and his men had managed to walk into Winterwood so freely ... past the gates, through the grounds, all the way to our dinner table.

The next morning, Lucian met with the council of elders.

"Regarding the man who came here yesterday," he said, his voice measured as he looked around the table. "What do you know? What haven’t you told me?"

One of the elders leaned forward slowly. "We are not entirely surprised, Alpha. The fall of Icefang was never truly the end. There were prophecies ... old ones ... that spoke of their rising again. The details beyond that are... less clear."

"Then tell me what is clear," Lucian said. "Everything. Now."

Another elder cleared his throat. "Icefang was originally the prophesied ruling bloodline of Morvaine. Power only shifted when their own recklessness and carelessness cost them their standing. But like a bamboo tree ... you cut it down, and it grows back. They are never truly finished."

The weight of that sat heavy in the room.

These people weren’t coming to negotiate. They were coming to reclaim something they believed had been stolen from them. We couldn’t afford to treat this like a minor inconvenience.

"That wolf dragged rogue wolves out of the shadows and called it a territory," Lucian said finally, his tone flat and unamused. "Fine. Let him come. We’ll be ready."

We went inside after the council.

"I am not losing you to anyone," Lucian said quietly, watching me.

I hadn’t said anything, but the fear must have shown on my face ... in the way I held my hands, the way I kept glancing at the door.

I needed to shake it off. I couldn’t afford to carry that energy into what came next.

Tessa was gone. Kael was gone. We had cleared every obstacle. All that was left was to get married and finally step into the future that had been promised to us.

"He’s not a hurdle, Selene," Lucian said like he could read every thought behind my eyes. "We’re setting a date, and we’re doing this. What day works for you? We need to start planning."

I didn’t want any delays. I was done waiting.

"This weekend," I said.

He blinked. It was a Tuesday.

"This weekend works perfectly for me," he said ... and I noticed how he caught himself before saying a name that was no longer here. The ghost of that bond was still real for him, even now.

"When we’re married," he said after a pause, "I’ll appoint a new Beta."

"Do you trust anyone enough for that?" I asked carefully.

He was quiet for a moment. "Honestly? No. Not right now. If Kael ... Kael ... could do what he did, then I can’t just hand that position to anyone walking around this pack claiming to be loyal."

He shook his head slowly.

"I’m not afraid of William or any outside threat. What keeps me up at night is betrayal from someone standing right beside me."

I reached out and held his hand.

"This is just a phase," I told him. "And we’re going to get through it. Together."

A little while later, I slipped away to my own room to pack a few things I needed.

"I’ll be back," I told him as I left.

I hadn’t even made it five steps from his door.

The explosion hit like a fist from the sky ... a deafening crack of sound and force that shook the entire building in one violent second. Then came the fire.

I spun around, and through the windows I could already see it ... blasts hitting multiple buildings from different directions, perfectly timed, perfectly coordinated. This wasn’t an accident.

This was an attack.

I turned back toward Lucian’s room, but the corridor had already become chaos. Chunks of the wall tore loose ... the foundation had been hit. I could feel it in the trembling floor beneath my feet.

I was running when it happened.

A slab of stone ripped free from the wall and slammed into my head like something out of a nightmare.

I dropped to the ground instantly.

The shouting outside was muffled now, distant and warped. My vision swam. Another piece of debris had landed across my leg and I couldn’t move it ... couldn’t move at all.

William Steelborn.

His name was the last clear thought I had before the darkness started closing in.

This had his hands all over it.