CHAPTER 201: CHAPTER 201: NOT A DREAM

Lucian’s POV~

When I first saw her in that hall, I thought I had finally gone insane.

Selene.

The name had haunted me like a curse, endless, whispering in every dark corner of my mind.

For the past week, I had built walls of steel around that sound. I told myself she was gone, that she no longer existed in this world. But then...there she was.

So close I could hear the faint tremor in her breath as she greeted everyone.

I had spent the entire dinner convincing myself that it was a trick of the light. That my eyes, hungry for her ghost, were deceiving me. But every time she moved, the air changed. Every time her voice floated softly across the table, it hit me like a blow to the chest.

It was her.

And I...gods help me... I wanted to go to her.

I wanted to drag her out of that cursed hall, pin her against the nearest wall, and demand to know where she had been all these days. I wanted to scream, to hold her, to shake her, to fall apart at her feet.

But I didn’t move.

I sat there, smiling politely like a civilized monster, while every part of me burned alive inside. My claws dug into the underside of the table so hard I could feel the wood splintering beneath my fingertips.

I kept my composure for the sake of appearances. I laughed when I was supposed to laugh. I nodded when spoken to. But every second was a battle.

Because all I could smell was her.

Her scent had changed...fainter, guarded, but still undeniably hers. That maddening scent that had once driven my wolf to the edge of insanity.

He was restless now. Snarling, pacing, clawing at the inside of my skin.

She’s ours. She’s right there. Take her.

I clenched my jaw until my teeth ached.

I couldn’t let the beast out.

But the longer I sat, pretending not to care, the more I realized that pretending was no longer possible.

When the dinner finally ended, I didn’t even remember standing. One moment I was seated among them; the next I was in the corridor...searching for her, guided by instinct more than thought.

And then I saw her.

Alone.

I didn’t think. I just moved.

I grabbed her wrist, maybe too roughly, but she didn’t resist. I dragged her into the shadowed corner of the hall, where the light couldn’t reach. My heart was a drumbeat of fury and disbelief.

Every time, I had imagined this moment. I thought I’d be angry...furious enough to break something, to break her.

But when I finally had her in front of me, when her wide trembling eyes lifted to meet mine and full of the same pain that had lived in me for years...my anger vanished.

All that was left was silence.

And relief so sharp it hurt.

I opened my mouth to speak, but the words wouldn’t come. I didn’t know what to say. I had dreamed of her return a thousand times, but not once did I prepare for the reality of it.

And then...she moved.

Her hands rose, trembling, her gaze uncertain. Before I could understand what was happening, she kissed me.

That first touch... gods, it shattered me.

Every carefully placed wall, every rule I’d built to keep myself sane, was gone in an instant.

Her lips were warm, trembling, and desperate. I froze for a breath, torn between disbelief and terror, and then everything inside me just... snapped.

I responded before I even realized it.

It wasn’t a kiss of greeting...it was an eruption. Years of loneliness, guilt, rage, and unspoken words exploded in that single, searing contact. I pulled her against me, my arms tightening like I was afraid she’d vanish again if I let go.

And maybe I was.

The feel of her, the taste of her tears, and the small sounds she made were all too much. I could feel her heartbeat pounding against mine, the heat of her body melting through the layers of restraint I had left.

My wolf roared inside me, demanding more.

He didn’t understand caution. He didn’t care about logic or consequence. To him, this was simple...our mate was here. We had lost her once. We would not lose her again.

I kissed her harder, deeper, trying to breathe her back into my soul. Every gasp, every movement, every small surrender from her only fed the hunger burning in my chest.

And when she whispered my name... when she said she wasn’t going anywhere...

That was it.

I broke completely.

I wanted to mark her right then. To seal it. To claim what had been mine since the first moment we met. My wolf pushed forward, wild and uncontrollable. I could feel the sharp sting at my gums, the instinct clawing to the surface.

Her pulse beat against my lips like a drum, and I pressed my mouth there...against the soft curve of her neck.

The scent of her blood. The heat of her skin. The trust in her voice.

It all tangled into something unbearable.

I felt the fangs graze her skin...just barely...and that tiny, startled sound she made was what broke through the haze.

I froze.

For a moment, I didn’t even recognize myself.

I had almost marked her without her consent, without her understanding.

Shame slammed into me so hard it made me dizzy. I jerked back, heart pounding, horror flooding my veins. My hands dropped uselessly to my sides.

What had I done?

I couldn’t even look at her. The scent of her blood was still in the air, faint but heavy enough to twist my gut.

I cursed under my breath, words slipping out in my old tongue...harsh, broken sounds of self-disgust.

And then I saw her...standing there, dazed, flushed, her gown undone because of me.

That was enough. I couldn’t let her stand there like that...vulnerable because I had lost control.

Without thinking, I tore off my jacket and threw it around her shoulders, covering her, shielding her from the cold and from me.

Her eyes searched mine, confused, asking silent questions I couldn’t answer.

I wanted to tell her everything—that I had missed her every single day, that her absence had turned me into something less than human, that I didn’t know how to live without her.

But I couldn’t.

If I stayed another second, I would lose control again.

So I cupped her face, pressed one last, hard kiss to her lips, a promise that this wasn’t over, and forced the words out.

"We will meet again."

And then I left.

Vanished before my resolve broke again.

Now, alone, my back pressed to the cold stone wall of the corridor, I could still taste her on my lips. The echo of her heartbeat still thundered in my chest.

I looked down at my trembling hands and saw faint smears of her blood.

My wolf was silent now; the bastard was ashamed but satisfied.

I closed my eyes and breathed in the fading scent of hers.

***

Serena’s POV~

By some miracle, I managed to slip back into my room without anyone seeing me. My heart was still pounding, my lips still tingling, and Lucian’s jacket still hanging around my shoulders.

The halls were dark and quiet. Every step I took echoed faintly, and I half expected someone to jump out and question me... but no one did.

When I finally shut my door and leaned back against it, I let out a long, shaky breath.

I didn’t even have the energy to think.

The whole night felt unreal—the dinner, the confrontation, the kiss... and the way he had almost marked me. My fingers brushed the faint sting on my neck, and even now, I could feel the ghost of his touch there.

I thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep at all. I thought I’d lie awake the entire night, replaying every second, torturing myself with what-ifs.

But strangely, the moment I collapsed on the bed, the exhaustion hit me like a wave.

And for the first time in what felt like years, I slept.

No nightmares. No restless tossing. No tears.

When I opened my eyes again, sunlight was spilling through the curtains, soft and golden. The birds outside were singing, and for a few seconds, I just lay there, staring at the ceiling, feeling... calm.

It felt wrong to feel this calm after everything that had happened.

After Lucian.

After that kiss.

But somehow, it was like a huge weight had been lifted off my chest. Maybe the confrontation had been what I needed all along...not to end anything, but to face it. To face him.

I sat up slowly, stretching, and a small, involuntary smile tugged at my lips.

I shouldn’t have felt this good, not after what had happened last night.

But I did.

I hummed a soft tune under my breath as I walked toward the bath. The warm water and soft scent of herbs wrapped around me, washing away whatever tension still lingered in my body.

By the time I stepped out and dried my hair, I actually felt... light.

Almost excited.

Though I couldn’t explain why.

Maybe it was the sunlight.

Maybe it was Lucian.

Maybe it was just relief.

Whatever it was, I was smiling, and that’s exactly when Lira walked in.

Her eyes went wide for half a second before she grinned, crossing her arms with a knowing look.

"Well, well, good morning, Princess," she sang teasingly. "You look... refreshed. Did something good happen last night?"