Chapter 70: What Does He Want?
One of the younger warriors stepped forward.
His name was Derek. He was maybe twenty-five, built like a tank, and he’d spent the last year establishing himself as one of the pack’s most promising fighters. He’d beaten most of the seasoned warriors at least once. He approached the mat with confidence, rolling his shoulders, preparing himself.
The moment Lucian moved toward him, the confidence evaporated.
They fought for maybe five minutes.
It was a massacre. Lucian was faster, stronger, more experienced, and completely uninterested in anything except the physical release of combat. He moved Derek around the mat like a dance partner, every strike landing with precision, every combination flowing into the next one seamlessly.
By the time Derek hit the mat and didn’t get back up, the other warriors had stopped watching from the sidelines. They’d retreated to a safer distance, their body language screaming discomfort.
Lucian stood in the center of the empty mat, breathing hard, his knuckles split and bleeding, his shirt soaked with sweat, and felt absolutely no relief.
The ache was still there.
The constant awareness of Lilith somewhere in this estate, recovering, getting stronger, existing just beyond his reach. The knowledge that his wolf had decided she was essential and nothing....not training, not fighting, not the physical exertion of combat.....could make that need go away.
"Another," Lucian called out.
None of the warriors moved.
He could see them glancing at each other. Communicating silently about whether any of them were brave or stupid enough to step into the ring with him again.
"I said another!" Lucian’s voice was sharp enough to make them all flinch.
Still, no one moved.
Lucian felt Zev surge forward in response to their resistance, demanding, aggressive, absolutely unwilling to accept that training was over. The wolf wanted to fight. Wanted to hurt. Wanted some physical outlet for the sexual frustration that was becoming unbearable.
"Cowards," Lucian spat. "All of you. Too scared to...."
"Alpha."
The voice came from the edge of the training ground.
Lucian’s head snapped toward the sound. Finn...his beta, his right hand, the warrior he trusted above all others in combat, was standing at the entrance to the training grounds with a carefully neutral expression.
"Alpha Nicholas is calling you," Finn said calmly. "He wants you in his office immediately."
Lucian felt Zev roar in frustration.
They’d finally had an outlet. Finally found a way to burn through some of the constant ache. And now he was being pulled away, forced to stop, forced to return to the torture of proximity without touch.
"Tell Nicholas I’m busy," Lucian said coldly.
"He said you would say that," Finn replied evenly. "He also said that if you didn’t come immediately, he would come here himself and drag you. His words, Alpha. Not mine."
Lucian clenched his fists, feeling the blood run down his knuckles from where the skin had split. His entire body was vibrating with the need to keep fighting, to keep pushing, to keep doing anything except thinking about her.
"What does he want?" Lucian asked.
"He didn’t say," Finn said. "Just that it was urgent."
Lucian looked back at the warriors who were still standing at a safe distance, watching him with fear in their eyes. Watching him like they were afraid he was going to snap completely and start hurting people not in the controlled environment of a training mat.
Maybe they weren’t wrong.
Maybe he was close to snapping.
"Get out," Lucian commanded, gesturing to all of them. "All of you. Leave the training grounds."
The warriors didn’t need to be told twice. They scattered like they’d been released from cages, moving quickly toward the exits, clearly relieved to be away from whatever was happening with their Alpha.
Lucian pulled off his sweat-soaked shirt and threw it to the side. His body was covered in sweat, his chest heaving with exertion and frustration.
"Come on," he said to Finn. "Let’s go see what Nicholas wants."
They walked through the estate in silence. Lucian was aware of the stares they got, his appearance, the blood on his knuckles, the feral edge that was still visible in his expression. Warriors and staff moved out of their way, giving them wide berth.
By the time they reached Nicholas’s office, Lucian had regained some semblance of control. Not much, but enough to not completely lose it when he entered the room.
Nicholas was sitting behind his desk, his silver eyes tracking Lucian’s appearance with a clinical assessment that suggested he understood exactly what had been happening on the training grounds.
"You look like hell," Nicholas said flatly.
"I was training," Lucian replied. He was still breathing hard, still covered in sweat and blood.
"You were letting your wolf run the show," Nicholas corrected. "There’s a difference. Sit down."
Lucian wanted to argue. Wanted to turn around and walk back out. Wanted to go back to the training grounds and keep fighting until his body finally gave out and he could sleep without dreaming about her.
But he sat.
"How long has this been going on?" Nicholas asked.
"How long has what been going on?" Lucian shot back.
"The constant need," Nicholas said. His voice was quiet, which made it somehow more intense. "The inability to focus. The physical ache that won’t go away. The desperation that’s driving you to fight warriors until they’re bleeding and terrified."
Lucian didn’t answer. Because what was there to say? That his wolf was dying? That being in the same building as Lilith without being able to touch her was torture? That the constant awareness of her existence was becoming a form of psychological warfare?
"Three days," Nicholas said. "She’s been awake for three days. And in that time, you’ve gone from barely functional to nearly feral. You’re fighting like someone possessed. Sebastian is disappearing to fuck she-wolves and still coming back unsatisfied. And I....." He stopped, his jaw clenching. "I can’t focus on anything except the knowledge that she’s down the hallway."
Lucian felt something shift inside him. The knowledge that he wasn’t alone in this. That his brothers were suffering too. That this wasn’t just him being weak or unable to control his wolf.
"What do you want to do?" Lucian asked quietly.
