98 (Lucian’s POV) Even For A Moment
Lucian
We drove straight to the office. I made sure Mara handled all the work that day-not just to keep her engaged, but to start preparing her for when I would fully step into the Alpha’s role. With my mark now active, it was only a matter of time.
Most of the day went into tracking the money trail from Jones’s bank statement. We found the deposit-six months ago, long before our wedding. It came from an offshore company called Cains and Whales.
I pulled up their info online.
All they had was a disconnected phone number and a generic email. No website. No physical address. Just a name
hiding behind nothing.
Shell company.
“We should trace their registration license,” Mara said, her tone focused. “There has to be a name behind the setup.
Something traceable.”
I nodded. “I was thinking the same.”
“But if it’s not incorporated in our country, it’ll cost a fortune to dig through the legal layers,” I added, already feeling the
financial bleed.
Still, we had no choice.
I pulled out my phone and sent the task to a contact who specialized in these kinds of deep data extractions. It would
take time-but it was the only way to move forward.
While waiting, we turned our attention to Martha’s bank statements. And there it was.
A payment-one million Kins-to another shell company.
Lambshed.
Another ghost.
What was it with shady people and shady names?
I called Darian immediately.
“Found something,” I told him. “Martha transferred a million to a company called Lambshed. It’s a shell too.”
“Got it,” he said. “I’ll get someone to dig into it.”
“Try to get her to talk,” I added. “She’s close to breaking. If she doesn’t open up soon, we might lose the chance to protect
her.”
“I’ll try,” he said, but he didn’t sound hopeful.
Neither was 1.
Whoever this blackmailer was-he was careful, well-funded, and possibly connected to Chase. And if these threads tied together… we were up against more than a personal vendetta.
We were dealing with someone building something.
And we were running out of time.
After a long day chasing ghosts in offshore accounts and fake companies, Mara and I ate lunch and dinner in the office.
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93 (Lucian’s POV) Even For A Moment
We were buried in work, but her presence made it bearable. Grounding.
At seven, we called it a day.
But instead of turning toward home, I took a different road-one I’d memorized for nights like this.
Mara glanced at me, curiosity lighting her face.
“So… where are we going?” she asked.
I smiled, keeping my eyes on the road. “You’ll see.”
She didn’t press. She just nodded. That was Mara-trusting me, even when she didn’t have all the answers.
48 Points
Ten minutes later, we pulled up to the cliff known as Lovers’ Hideout. It overlooked the city, dotted with lights like stars scattered across earth. I’d wanted to bring her here for a while-just us, away from everything.
She stepped out of the car and looked around, her lips parting.
“This place is beautiful, Lucian.”
I loosened my tie, shrugged off my jacket, rolled up my sleeves, and joined her. We climbed onto the hood of the car and sat together, the metal warm beneath us. I reached for her hand, laced my fingers through hers, and brought her knuckles to my lips. A soft kiss. Then I pressed her palm against my cheek.
Her fingers moved gently across my skin.
Her eyes closed.
“Lucian…” she whispered, her voice barely audible.
I pulled her close, burying my face in her hair, and kissed the mark I’d left on her neck-the one that meant she was mine.
“I wish we could leave all this behind,” I said. “Just disappear. You and me. No expectations. No legacy. No threats.”
She leaned deeper into me, silent but listening.
“I used to come here alone,” I continued. “Back when it felt like the world didn’t need me. This place made everything feel far away. But right now?” I looked at her. “Right now, I just want the world to go silent-for us. Even for a moment.”
She stepped off the hood and stood in front of me. No words-just her eyes locked on mine.
Then she rose onto her toes and reached for my lips. I leaned down to meet her halfway.
Her kiss was soft. Slow. Certain.
And in that moment, the world obeyed.
It went quiet.
“We’ll get through this, Lucian,” Mara said, her voice steady but soft. “The noise will quiet. People will move on. And it’ll
just be us… and our pups.”
The thought hit me deep-raising a family with her, in peace. No shadows, no ghosts. Just us.
I looked at her, heart full.
“Before you, Mara, I thought love was supposed to hurt,” I said. “I thought it meant chasing someone who would never look back. I brought that broken idea into our marriage, convinced I’d live in misery while your heart belonged to my
brother.”
Her eyes darkened with emotion, but she didn’t interrupt.
“I didn’t know I’d find something real. I didn’t know you’d teach me how to try. That love could be mutual. That peace
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98 (Lucian’s POV) Even For A Moment
could be earned. You’ve given me that, Mara. A home inside another person. I can’t say it enough-my heart has always
been yours.”
I took her hand and placed it on my chest.
“Feel that?”
She looked at me, eyes misting over.
“This rhythm is for you. And it’ll beat for you until it can’t anymore.”
Tears slid down her cheeks. She didn’t try to stop them. Instead, she leaned in and rested her head against my chest like
she belonged there. Because she did.
“Lucian,” she whispered through the tears.
I lifted her chin gently so she’d look at me.
“I didn’t say it to make you cry, Mara.”
She smiled through the tears.
“I thought I knew what love was… until you happened to me, Lucian. I love you.”
She rarely said it. And that made it land harder.
I wrapped my arms around her as the wind swept past us, carrying every worry away for just a while. We stayed like that
on the cliff-silent, weightless, holding each other as the city twinkled below and the stars blinked above.
The moon watched over us like a quiet witness, and I felt it: this was no mistake. This marriage, born from force, had
become fate.
And under that night sky, far from the chaos, I laid her down.
No noise. No past. No future.
Just her and me-finally alone in the quiet.
