Chapter 43: Something Is Off

Lucian’s POV

​"I’m going in," I said, my voice leaving no room for argument.

My Beta, Levi, immediately stepped into my path. "Alpha, no. It’s too risky. Teleportation magic doesn’t work inside the Forbidden Forest. If you go in there, you’ll be trapped on foot just like anyone else."

"And while we stand here arguing, my wife could be dying in there." The words left my mouth before I could think about them. My wife. I didn’t bother correcting myself.

Only a few minutes ago, word had reached me that Annabel had been attacked by a mob at the market and had run straight into the Forbidden Forest. The thought of her trapped in that place, surrounded by creatures that could tear her apart before anyone reached her, had left me with a feeling I didn’t particularly enjoy. Fear. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been afraid for someone, and I hated how useless standing outside this forest made me feel.

"I’m not waiting any longer," I told Levi.

"Alpha, give the warriors two more minutes. We can send several groups in at once. You don’t have to go in alone."

I had already waited long enough. I stepped forward, ready to move him out of my way myself, when the trees ahead suddenly rustled. Every warrior around us turned toward the sound, several of them reaching for their weapons as two figures appeared between the trees.

The moment I recognized the first one, the tightness in my chest finally loosened.

It was Annabel. She was drenched, covered in mud, scratched up, and trembling, but none of that mattered. She was standing in front of me, breathing, and for a moment, the relief was so strong that I almost forgot about everyone around us.

I had already started walking toward her when the second person stepped out of the forest behind her.

I immediately stopped. What the hell was my brother doing in there?

Annabel’s eyes widened the moment she saw me. Something else crossed her face before she quickly looked away, and that was when I noticed something strange. She wasn’t looking at Lucas. Lucas wasn’t looking at her either. Considering they had apparently just walked through the Forbidden Forest together, the sudden determination to pretend the other person wasn’t there caught my attention immediately.

"Lucas, what the hell were you doing in there?"

He brushed some dirt from his shoulder as though walking out of the Forbidden Forest was nothing unusual. "Sightseeing. It has been a long time since I walked through those woods."

I stared at him. Sightseeing in the Forbidden Forest? Even for Lucas, that was a ridiculous answer.

"It was lucky I was there, Lucian," he continued, his expression becoming serious. "Otherwise, your wife would probably be dead right now. You need to speak to your people. They chased her straight into a death trap."

My jaw tightened at that, but I said nothing. I was still watching the two of them, and the longer I did, the more certain I became that something was off. Annabel wouldn’t look at Lucas, and Lucas seemed equally determined not to look at her. Maybe nearly dying had shaken her. That would have been the reasonable explanation, except it didn’t explain Lucas.

Something had happened inside that forest.

I could have questioned them right there, but I had no interest in doing it in front of an entire group of warriors. I walked toward Annabel, grabbed her firmly by the wrist, and summoned my magic before either of them could say anything.

The field disappeared, and a second later, we were standing in the middle of my bedroom. Annabel stumbled from the sudden movement, and I caught her around the waist before she could fall. I waited until she regained her balance before releasing her waist, although my other hand remained around her wrist.

"What happened inside that forest?"

She frowned at me. "What?"

"You heard me."

"I almost got eaten alive. That’s what happened."

"With Lucas."

Her expression changed. It was small, barely noticeable, but I had been watching her too closely to miss it.

"What happened between you and my brother?"

"Nothing happened." She tried pulling her wrist free. "Didn’t you hear him? He was already inside the forest when he found me. One of those creatures was about to attack me, and he saved me. We walked out together. That’s all."

I continued staring at her, expecting more, but instead she looked away. That bothered me more than her explanation. Normally, Annabel would have given me another ten sentences by now. She would have complained about the villagers who attacked her, the creatures that nearly killed her, the mud covering her clothes, and probably me for questioning her when she had barely made it out alive. She never seemed to have trouble telling me exactly what she thought, yet now she could barely look at me.

"Lucian, you’re hurting my wrist."

I looked down and realized how tightly I was holding her. I immediately loosened my grip and released her. She rubbed her wrist, and seeing the red marks my fingers had left against her skin irritated me for an entirely different reason.

"Remember something, Annabel."

She looked up at me. "What?"

"You are my wife."

Her hand stopped moving, and her eyes widened slightly.

"My wife," I repeated.

I had no idea why I suddenly felt the need to remind her of that. A few days ago, I could barely stand having her in my house. I had spent more time reminding myself that this marriage meant nothing than actually behaving like a married man. Yet seeing her walk out of that forest beside Lucas had made every one of those reminders strangely easy to forget.

"Go clean yourself up."

She glared at me but didn’t argue. Instead, she turned and walked out of my room, shutting the door behind her.

I remained where I was for a moment. Then my thoughts went straight back to Lucas.

Annabel was hiding something. I was almost certain of it, and there was only one other person who knew exactly what had happened inside that forest.

I summoned my magic again and teleported directly into my brother’s private quarters on the other side of the mansion. Lucas was standing near the window, unbuttoning his dirty shirt when I appeared. He glanced in my direction but didn’t look particularly surprised to see me.

"Stay away from Annabel."

Lucas stopped what he was doing and slowly turned toward me. He studied my face for a few seconds before a faint smile appeared on his. "Relax, Lucian. I have no plans to take your woman."

"You better not."

"But you’re scared."

I scoffed. "Scared of what?"

His smile disappeared. "That I’ll pay you back for what you did to me ten years ago."

That was enough to wipe every other thought from my mind. My jaw tightened as memories I had spent years trying not to think about came rushing back.

"That was ten years ago, Lucas. I was nineteen. You know I didn’t know."

"Doesn’t change what happened," he spat.

"Neither of us knew the truth."

"But it still happened."

For a moment, neither of us spoke. Ten years had passed, but apparently not enough for either of us to forget. I had never done it intentionally, and Lucas knew that, but knowing something and forgiving it were two completely different things.

There were some things brothers could argue about, forgive each other for, and eventually laugh about years later. What happened between Lucas and me wasn’t one of them. We had buried it because neither of us wanted to dig through that part of our past again, but every once in a while, one of us managed to get angry enough to bring it back to the surface.

"Whatever, Lucian." Lucas turned away from me and pulled off his shirt before tossing it onto a nearby chair. "I already told you I have no plans for your wife. Now leave me alone."

I should have accepted his answer and left, but I remained where I was, studying him. He was calm. Too calm, considering I had just accused him of being interested in my wife. It was the same calm expression he had worn when he walked out of the forest beside her, and I couldn’t decide whether that meant there was truly nothing to hide or whether Lucas was simply better at hiding it than Annabel.

"Stay away from her," I repeated.

Lucas glanced at me over his shoulder. "Goodbye, Lucian."

I teleported out before my temper gave me a reason to stay.

A second later, I was back in my bedroom. I walked toward the window and stared outside, but my thoughts remained on Annabel and Lucas. Maybe I was reading too much into what I had seen. Maybe nothing had happened between them. Maybe Annabel had simply been shaken after nearly being eaten alive, and Lucas had nothing to say because, as he claimed, there was nothing to say.

But I didn’t believe that for a second.

If Annabel wasn’t going to tell me what happened, and Lucas had already decided to be useless, there was another way to find out.

I opened the mind link and reached for Levi.

Levi.

His response came almost immediately. Yes, Alpha?

Put someone on Annabel.

Understood.

Someone she doesn’t know. I want her followed whenever she leaves this mansion. The clinic, the market, anywhere else she decides to go. I want to know where she goes, who she speaks to, and how long she stays. Whoever you choose needs to know how to keep their distance. She cannot know she’s being watched.

Yes, Alpha.

I was about to close the link when another thought came to me.

And Levi, if she goes anywhere near Lucas, I want to know immediately.

Understood.

I cut the connection and walked toward the bed, sitting on the edge as I tried to make sense of the thoughts running through my head. Having Annabel followed because I was suspicious about what happened with Lucas should have been enough, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized Lucas wasn’t the only reason I no longer trusted what I was seeing.

Too many strange things had happened since Annabel arrived.

My mother’s reaction the first time she saw her still bothered me. She had looked at Annabel as though she had seen a ghost, only to later claim she had been mistaken. Then there was Annabel’s wolf, silent with no good explanation that completely made sense to me. Lucas had looked at her more than once as though he was trying to remember where he had seen her before, and Lord Axel’s behavior around her had been strange enough that I hadn’t forgotten it either.

One strange thing could be ignored. Two could be a coincidence. But this many?

No.

Something wasn’t adding up.

I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees as one question settled heavily in my mind.

Who exactly had I married?