CHAPTER 155: GET MY MARK WILLINGLY

"I didn’t believe your words. You didn’t chase Leia and took such a big risk to come here," Lucien said, looking at Eshira, who was bleeding to death. "This is the beginning of the hunters’ doom. If you want the others to get saved from my wrath, then you’d better tell me what your real motive was to attack Leia? And who are the others who helped you?"

Eshira had her hand clenched around her stomach, her entire face and neck were covered in sweat.

Lucien, on the other hand, was seated on a chair with his one leg resting over the other.

"I already t-told you the truth," Eshira said.

"No, you’ve not," Lucien remarked. "Why were you after Leia? You didn’t dare to enter this place just to take pride in killing the last she-wolf," he asserted.

Draven glanced at Lucien, wondering how long he would keep pressing Eshira. If she had to tell the truth, she would have done it long ago. However, no one could tell what was on the mind of their Alpha.

"Lucien, you can’t even touch the hunters. I don’t have any regret about dying. But keep in mind, more will come to hunt Leia. She is special after all. That’s why you all wolves had been searching for her relentlessly. What you should worry about is your security. I used to think you were... One strong Alpha in this world. But you’re a joke," Eshira said, again mocking his strength and security.

Draven stepped closer this time, his patience thinning. "Alpha, she will only waste your time. Give the order, and I’ll kill her."

"No," Lucien refused. His gaze stayed locked on Eshira, unblinking, merciless. "If she refuses to speak, then she will endure the worst torment imaginable. Death would be a mercy, and mercy is something she does not deserve."

Eshira swallowed hard, the lump in her throat betraying the flicker of unease that passed across her face.

"Which hand did you use to hurt Leia?" Lucien asked, his voice dropping lower as he rose from his chair. On the table nearby lay the dagger she had once driven into Leia, Lucien picked it up with a calmness that was far more terrifying than rage.

Eshira’s breathing quickened, but her lips curved in defiance. "You think going to this extreme will break me? That I’ll beg for mercy or betray my kind?" she rasped. "You’re wrong, Lucien. You will never have what you want."

Lucien raised the dagger. But before the blade could descend, a sudden movement intercepted him.

Ronan’s hand seized the dagger, wrenching it away with a sharp pull, and in the next second, he stood between Lucien and Eshira, blocking his Alpha’s path.

"Lucien, we can’t let her die. I’ll make her talk. You’ve given me the task to bring down the entire hunter clan who planned this attack. I’ve to earn your forgiveness, so don’t take that chance from me. But right now, you need to go. Leia is awake... and she needs you more than this hunter does."

As Ronan finished, Lucien’s brows furrowed. He gave no argument, only a curt nod. "Fine. I’m leaving."

Without another word, he turned and strode out of the cell. He took quick, long strides as though the need to see Leia outweighed the darkness still gnawing at his chest.

Moments later, his car screeched to a halt in front of the mansion. Lucien stepped out and hurried inside. The hallways blurred past him until he reached her room.

The door stood ajar. Inside, the warm glow of lamplight revealed a cluster of familiar faces gathered close to Leia.

"Lucien," Leia whispered as she set the bowl gently onto the table beside her. Her voice was soft, but it carried directly to him, pulling at something buried deep within his chest.

All eyes shifted toward the doorway. For a moment, silence blanketed the room.

Kieran was the first to rise from the bed. "Let them be alone," he said, motioning to his cousins. "Come on, let’s go to Grandma. She must be waiting for us."

"But I want to stay with Leia," Inara protested, clutching the edge of the blanket like she wasn’t ready to let go.

"You’ve been talking to her for over an hour," Travis reminded his sister with a gentle firmness.

Leia managed a faint smile. "Inara, you can come back once I’m done talking with your cousin," she reassured her kindly.

Inara hummed in defeat and slipped out with Travis, dragging her feet as though leaving Leia was the hardest task in the world.

Kieran lingered for a moment longer, his sharp gaze flicking between Leia and Lucien.

"Don’t scold her," he muttered, his voice carrying a protectiveness. With that, he followed the others, pulling the door closed behind him.

Lucien exhaled softly, his eyes tracing Leia’s face before he turned away. He shrugged off his blazer, draping it neatly across the chair, and began rolling up his sleeves.

The casual movement only made Leia tilt her head in bewilderment, wondering what he intended to do. When his fingers moved to unfasten the top three buttons of his shirt, her brows furrowed.

Without a word, Lucien crossed to the washroom. The sound of running water followed, and moments later he reemerged, hands clean, droplets of water still clinging to his skin. His hair at the front was damp, a few strands falling loosely against his forehead, giving him a slightly disheveled but striking look.

Leia’s lips parted, but no words came. Her chest tightened at the thought of what he had been doing before he came here.

"I heard from Kieran that you were upset at Ronan," Leia said finally. She lowered her gaze, unable to meet his eyes. "It wasn’t his fault. I was the one who believed Eshira... I told Ronan to send her to the shelter. He only followed my suggestion."

Lucien stopped in front of her bed and crouched slightly. Without hesitation, he drew the blanket down. The sudden intimacy forced Leia’s eyes back to his, and she found herself trapped in his steady, unreadable gaze.

Lucien gently lifted her top, his jaw tightening at the sight of the bandage already stained with blood. His thumb lingered just short of touching it, his control visibly fraying.

"It wasn’t deep, luckily," Leia whispered, biting her bottom lip as if to downplay her wound.

But Lucien wasn’t convinced. He lifted his head, his piercing gaze locking onto her hazel eyes, and in them burned a storm she had never seen before.

"The last thread of my patience broke today," he said, his voice carrying a dominance. "Get my mark willingly, or I’ll force it on you."

Leia froze, her breath caught in her throat. "Lucien, it won’t happen again."

"I don’t know that," he countered sharply. "I don’t know how many more times someone will come for you. Every time I close my eyes, I see the possibility of losing you."

"That won’t happen," she replied with a defiant certainty, though her trembling fingers betrayed her.

His eyes narrowed. "Then tell me, are you still refusing my mark?" His words were less a question and more a demand, as if her answer would decide everything between them.

"That’s not true," Leia said quickly. "But it shouldn’t happen this way. Not out of fear. I haven’t even confessed that I—" Her voice faltered, her heart pounding too loud to finish the sentence. "I don’t want your mark unless—"

Her words broke off with a gasp as Lucien suddenly leaned in, capturing her lips with his own. His kiss wasn’t gentle, it was urgent, fierce, a brand as much as a claim.

Leia forgot how to breathe and also, how to think. Her eyes widened, her hands instinctively pressing against his chest to push him away, but her strength faltered beneath the searing intensity of his lips.

Leia bit down on his lip, making him hiss, but Lucien didn’t pull away. If anything, her defiance only fueled him.

His kiss grew fiercer, his dominance pressing against her resistance until she finally parted her lips. His pheromones wrapped around her like invisible chains, drawing her in, dissolving the last fragments of her control.

Slowly, almost helplessly, Leia surrendered to the kiss.

When he finally pulled back, both of them were breathing unevenly. Lucien’s hand slid to cradle the back of her head, his forehead resting firmly against hers as if anchoring her to him.

"Leia," he rasped, finally withdrawing. "How can you still be so unsure about me? Just accept my mark. What’s the big deal about it? Do you want me to lose my sanity?"

Leia’s hazel eyes flashed with hurt as her hands tightened on his shirt. "How can you say it’s not a big deal?" she snapped, though her voice wavered. "Can’t you just this once be patient with me? Pamper me instead of pressuring me? I almost died today, Lucien. Do you even understand how terrified I was when that hunter came at me?"

Her throat tightened as she admitted the truth she had kept hidden from everyone else. "I didn’t tell the others, but I thought... I thought I was going to lose everything. That something awful would happen before I even got the chance to..."