LUCIEN POINT OF VIEW
I wasn't the kind of man who gave up.
The paper shook slightly in my hand, I didn't know though whether it was from rage or anticipation, I didn't care enough to decide. The candlelight hover across the ink.
Sophie stood close behind me, her fingers resting lightly on my shoulder, possessive without permission. The same Sophie who once claimed she wanted nothing to do with me. Funny how quickly she returned the moment Araxie walked away.
She always hated her.
"So," Sophie murmured, leaning closer, her lips almost brushing my ear, "what are you going to do now?"
I didn't answer.
I unfolded the paper again.
Araxie's handwriting stared back at me.
Precise. Elegant. Controlled.
It used to calm me. Now it felt like a blade pressed against my ribs.
At the top of the page was a formal request, stamped with Cassian's seal.
**Araxie Hadley**
**Request for Luna Training Approval**
**Purpose:** Immediate preparation to assume the position of Luna of the Crimson Moon Pack.
**Date:** Three weeks before our separation.
My jaw tightened.
Three weeks.
Before she asked for space.
Before she claimed she was confused about our bond.
Before she looked me in the eyes and said she didn't know what she wanted anymore.
Sophie let out a low laugh. "Looks like she knew exactly what she wanted."
I ignored her and turned to the next page.
A list.
Tasks assigned by Cassian. Loyalty trials. Political training. Pack obligations.
Beside every single one, written neatly in the same ink:
**Completed.**
**Completed.**
**Completed.**
My grip tightened until the paper creased.
She hadn't been pulled into Cassian's world.
She had walked into it willingly, she Prepared for it, planned it.
Sophie's voice softened, dangerously so. "She didn't betray you in a moment of weakness, Lucien. She planned this."
I swallowed, my throat tight.
Then something caught my eye.
A corner of the page, scratched out, as if someone had tried to erase it in a hurry. The parchment was thinner there, the ink faded but not gone.
I rubbed my thumb over it slowly.
Faint words surfaced.
**For Aya… he must never—**
The rest was torn away.
My breath stalled.
Aya.
Araxie's little sister.
The name didn't belong here. Not on a document like this.
Sophie scoffed. "What is it now?"
I didn't respond. My eyes stayed on the torn edge, my mind already spiraling.
Why mention Aya at all?
And why erase it?
Whatever Araxie had been doing behind my back, it was bigger than ambition alone, she has a secret.
And that made it worse.
"She's not as innocent as you thought," Sophie said coolly. "People don't destroy evidence unless they're afraid of something coming out."
I folded the papers carefully, sliding them into my jacket.
No hesitation.
No doubt.
If Araxie thought she could rewrite the past and crown herself untouchable, she was wrong.
Very wrong.
I walked toward the door, my decision already made.
I wouldn't confront her yet. I would wait.
Watch.
And when the truth finally surfaced, whatever filthy thing she had tried to hide, I would make sure the entire pack watched her fall.
Because this wasn't just betrayal anymore.
It was war.
I headed towards Cassian office. Tomorrow was going to be their mating ceremony. And I know I add to stall it until I get what I want.
Fortunately, Cassian was in his office. Immediately his eyes met mine. It harden. "What do I owe this pleasure brother?"
"I've gotten updates on some of the threat..." before I could continue, I raised it hand. He was definitely mind linking someone.
I stared at him smirking because I know his days are numbered. Within few seconds Araxie was in the room. The loser mind linked her.
I stared at Araxie, as she bit a lips, playing with her robe. I understand that look well she was scared, and I scoff, enjoying the outcome of what is about to happen.
"Look, who we have here," I muttered "It's no one else but the back stabbing title greedy Luna," and I saw the look of fear in her eyes.
But she quickly masked it up. "You called for me baby," she said softly, and the word baby made my heart clenched, she fucking used to call me that, now she used it for another man.
"Yes, my Luna," Cassian answered, rubbing his finger over her palm, stylishly passing me a mocking look. "It has gotten to me that we have a traitor in this pack, his name is LUCAS."
At the mention of Lucas, something in her expression tightened, before letting out a small smile, "Are you sure about that baby," she asked calmly.
Araxie's calmness irritated me… no, it provoked me.
Her eyes didn't blink. She just stared at Cassian like she had already calculated the next ten steps ahead of everyone in that room.
Typical Araxie.
Cassian smirked at her reaction, proudly, with a smug and confident look on his face, like he owned her, like she belonged to him.
My jaw twitched.
I stepped forward before Cassian said another word.
Araxie turned to me slowly, lowering her lashes just a little, that soft expression on her face vanish for a few second.
That was all I needed, I grabbed her hard.
She let out a small gasp, but her hands didn't fly up to stop me. She just let me pull her close, too close that our bodies were brushing, and old memories of us together trying to crawl back to me.
Cassian chair scraped the floor violently as he stood up.
"Lucien..." he snapped.
"Relax," I muttered, my eyes still locked on hers. "Your Luna and I are just… catching up."
Araxie swallowed hard. It was the first real emotion I had seen flash across her face, and it wasn't fear, it was something sensual and dark.
I leaned in, my breath brushing her ear, my fingers gripping her waist just hard enough to leave marks.
"You're playing a dangerous game," I whispered. "And when I'm done with you… everyone in this pack will see more than the outward facade you put on. Even Cassian."
She didn't flinch, and that annoy me more, so I pushed further.
"And I promise you, Araxie…I will make sure I turn everything you think you have upside down. I'll make sure you feel every second of the pain you cause me."
Her calmness made me did what didn't except to do too soon. I brought out another evidence I found, the one her bodyguard gave me
"Can you tell your Luna this?"