128 Chapter 128 UNCHARTED TERRITORY
SERAPHINA’S POV 1
The OTS hall had been gorgeously transformed. Silken banners cascaded from the rafters, catching light
from the chandeliers above so that everything shimmered with a faint golden glow.
The air thrummed with conversation, a low hum of power and politics interwoven withughter, sses
clinking, and the weight of eyes that seemed to evaluate everything at once.
Guests poured in steadily–Alphas in tailored suits, Lunas draped in masterpieces of curves and contours,
allies and rivals mingling under one roof.
And at my side, Lucian.
I slipped my hand into the crook of his arm, pulse steady despite the cloud of expectation hovering over the
room.
The ne he’d gifted me two nights ago rested cool and solid against my corbone, its pendant a
reminder with every subtle shift of movement. His grandmother’s legacy–meant for the woman who was
worthy to stand beside him.
Tonight, I had to live up to that.
Lucian’s voice was steady as he guided me through the hall from one introduction to another.
“Seraphina ckthorne,” he said with quiet pride, his hand never straying far from mine. “My partner.”
I greeted each Alpha, Luna, and dignitary with measured grace. No fumbling, no shrinking.
My words didn’t feel like scraps of forced politeness or nerves, and their appraising gazes didn’t burn the way
they used to; they didn’t make me want to shrink and hide away.
Instead, I met them evenly, a faint smile tugging at my lips when someone’s gaze lingered too long on the
pendant.
I felt poised. Not exactly perfect, butposed, confident, and tonight, that was enough.
Then, from the crowd, a figure emerged who made Lucian still beside me.
Tall. Broad–shouldered. Dark hair threaded with faint silver, though his face bore only a few years more than
Lucian’s.
His presence drew attention like gravity itself, though it was less sharp than Lucian’s controlled authority
and more…rooted, like an oak tree.
“William.” Lucian’s voice carried both surprise and warmth.
The man smiled faintly as he approached, his gaze flicking once to me, then down to the pendant around my
neck.
He stopped short, his brow raising in something that looked very much like shock.
I tensed. “Is…is something wrong?”
The man–William’s eyes snapped up to mine, and his expression softened almost instantly. “Not at all. Only…
that ne is not given lightly.”
His mouth curved into something between a smile and a knowing smirk, that faint surprise still lingering. “He
must love you deeply.”
The word struck me harder than I expected. Love.
Lucian had spoken of wanting me. Of choosing me. Of wanting me by his side. But love? That waspletely
uncharted terrain.
My pulse faltered, and for a beat I forgot how to breathe.
Also…who was this man to make such an observation?
Before I could speak or ask my question, Lucian smoothly interjected, ignoring William’sment.
“Sera, I always intended for you to meet my brother,” he said, his hand resting lightly at my waist as his gaze
cut to William. “But OTS has been demanding, and LST even more so. William came tonight to support me-
and to meet you, Sera.”
Brother.
I blinked, suddenly seeing the resemnce.
Lucian’s piercing navy blue gaze softened in William’s eyes, but their bone structure was simr, the way
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they carried themselves, the quiet intensity in the set of their jaws.
“It’s an honor,” I said, inclining my head.
“And mine,” William replied, his smile warm and disarming in a way that instantly put me more at ease.
A flurry of movement caught my attention, and Lucian’s head dipped toward a flustered–looking Omega, whom I recognized as the one overseeing catering services for the g.
Lucian nodded once and turned back to me and William. “If you’ll excuse me,“-he gave me an apologetic smile-“there’s an urgent matter I have to attend to.”
William smiled. “I’ll keep your…partnerpany, don’t worry, brother.”
Lucian’s touch lingered on my waist as he nted an iprehensible look at his brother. And then his touch disappeared as he followed the Omega into the hall.
My side suddenly bereft, I became aware of how quickly the crowd could close in when I was alone.
William must have sensed it, and he effortlessly slid to my side, taking Lucian’s ce.
He offered me a ss of wine from a passing tray and a reassuring nod. “I’m sure he won’t be long. In the
meantime, I’ll keep youpany.”
I epted the ss, fingers curling around the stem. “Thank you.”
William’s smile was calm, reassuring. “You’re handling yourself well tonight. Most would feel cornered,
standing at the forefront of an event like this.”
I exhaled softly, amused. “I suppose that means I’m hiding my nerves better than I thought.”
“Or,” he countered gently, “you’re steadier than you give yourself credit for.”
A smile tugged at my lips. “You sound practiced at putting people at ease. Very like your brother.”
He seemed pleased at that and raised his ss in mock–toast. “That is a highpliment.”
For a moment, silence stretchedfortably, then curiosity pulled at me. “Will you tell me what he was like?
Before OTS? Before“-I waved around the morous hall-“all this?”
William’s chuckle was low and warm. “Lucian doesn’t talk much about the past, does he?”
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“Not really,” I admitted. “He’s always so focused on what’s ahead.”
“He’s been that way for as long as I can remember,” William mused. “But once, even though he wasn’t the first son, he was the prime candidate to lead our family’s pack. Everyone expected it–he was smarter, stronger, more ambitious than most–even me–then.”
I tilted my head, intrigued. “And yet he didn’t?”
William’s eyes softened, his tone contemtive. “He chose his own path instead. Strayed for a while, lost his way, but ultimately…his destination didn’t change. He still sought to lead. To build something of his own.
Shadowveil is impressive, but I think OTS is his truest expression of that.”
I let the words sink in, slowly swirling the wine in my ss.
I was surprised to hear that Shadowveil hadn’t been Lucian’s birthright, but honestly, I wasn’t surprised that
he’d walked away, carved something new, forged his own vision.
It fit him. He was too scrupulous, too upromising to inherit someone else’s mantle.
“Was he always thisposed?” I asked, my curiosity growing.
William barked out augh. “Composed? Hardly. He was a wild child–mischievous, impulsive. He and our
little sister Sabrina were constantly at each other’s throats. Always brawling, alwayspeting. We thought
the roof might cave in some days.”
Iughed with him, the image too surreal to hold in my head.
Lucian–the man who barely flinched at chaos, who could calcte ten steps ahead in a single breath–once
an unruly boy throwing fists with his sister?
The thought left me marveling. And wondering if I would ever be privileged to see that side of him.
“He doesn’t look it now,” I murmured.
“No,” William agreed, smile softening. “But that spark is still there. Controlled, directed. He’s only more
dangerous for having tamed it.”
Before I could respond, movement from the corner of the hall caught my attention.
A woman approached–tall, elegant, with hair the color of gilded bronze and eyes like jade. Her dress clung to<ol start="3"><li>03.</li></ol>
128 Chapter 128 UNCHARTED TERRITORY
<b>In </b>strategic ces, and her Alpha aura wafted off her like perfume.
ged in challenge before she even opened her mouth.
na ckthorne,” she greeted, though her eyes slid briefly to William–recognition flickering in her
gaze–then back to me. “I’ve heard quite a bit about you.”
“Have you?” I asked carefully, straightening.
“Oh yes.” Her lips curved. “I’m Helen. An old…acquaintance of Lucian’s.”
The pause before the word ‘acquaintance‘ was telling.
William stiffened almost imperceptibly beside me. His voice was low, a murmur meant only for me.
Trantion: She pursued him once. He rejected her.”
My stomach tightened. Lovely.
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Helen’s eyes glinted. “I couldn’t help but notice the ne.” She tilted her head. “A bold gesture. But words
and gifts can be deceiving, don’t you think? Perhaps we should test how well you fit Lucian’s world.”
I frowned. “Test?”
She gestured toward the far end of the hall, where an entire section had been cordoned off from the main
throng of mingling guests.
Silken ropes marked the boundary, beyond which the mood shifted from formal elegance to something more
yful.
There, attendants moved between clusters of guests as they tested their skills at various diversions: a table
warriors circled each other under watchful eyes.
But the centerpiece was the row of archery targets set up against a reinforced backdrop. Bows of polished
wood and quivers of feather–fletched arrows were neatly arranged on disy, gleaming under chandeliers.
The sharp twang of bowstrings asionally pierced through the hum of music, followed by the scattered
apuse of onlookers.
Helen’s eyes flicked deliberately toward the targets. “A friendly game,” she said smoothly, though her tone
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128 Chapter 128 UNCHARTED TERRITORY
left no doubt she meant anything but. Then her smile sharpened, wicked with challenge. “If I win, you leave
Lucian.”
The bluntness, the sheer audacity of it, took my breath for a moment. “E–excuse me?”
Then, colder: “If you refuse, well…I doubt Lucian would want such cowardice around him.”
I wanted tough at the absurdity. I wasn’t here to y childish games of jealousy.
But my gaze flickered around, and I noticed the gathering crowd, the watching eyes. The weight of OTS’s
reputation pressed in, and I knew refusal wasn’t so simple.
I’d been officially introduced as Lucian’s partner; if I backed down, it wouldn’t just be my pride that suffered- it would be Lucian’s standing.
eyes evenly. “And if you lose?”<ol><li>on. “I won’t-“”</li></ol>
<b>p </b>forward, voice steady. “When you lose, you’ll ept a condition of my choosing.”
Murmurs rippled nearby, attention sharpening, anticipation coiling in the air. Helen’s smile returned, sharper
now, almost hungry.