Chapter 132 HER DREAM


    LUCIAN’S POV 1


    The following morning, I was back at OTS before the sun had fully crested the horizon.


    Thepound still hummed fromst night’s spectacle-echoes of voices, whispered disbelief over the Moon


    Dew Nectar, air charged with a promise too big to ignore.


    Even in its quiet hours, the ce felt alive, pulsing like a heart that beat in rhythm with my own ambition.


    I didn’t allow myself too much time to bask in it. There was a lot to do.


    With the preliminary rounds looming closer, my desk was littered with reports, schedules, andst-minute


    revisions.


    I moved through them with brisk precision, my pen shing signatures across pages, my voice sharp and


    Every detail mattered. Every piece had to fall perfectly into ce.


    But even as I leaned over the glowing monitors, watching the Arena, my focus slipped. The rigid control over


    my thoughts loosened in that brief reprieve.


    And then she was all I could see.


    Zara.


    Once one thought slipped past my mind’s blockade, more followed. For once, I didn’t resist. I closed my eyes


    and let the wave wash over me.


    The twinkling music of herughter, the bright sparkle of her eyes, the searing ache of her touch.


    It felt so wrong that I was here, making all these preparations, without her.


    After all, OTS had been her dream as much as it was mine.


    I remembered her perched on the edge of the table in one of these conference rooms, gesturing wildly with


    her hands as she described how she wanted the Arena to feel: grand, yes, but not suffocating; dangerous, but


    not reckless.


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    A ce where warriors would be tested to the marrow of their bones, yet also given the stage to prove their


    worth before the world.


    Her passion had been a storm I willingly walked into; her brilliance had ignited me in a way nothing before or


    after her had.


    My eyes tracked thetest projection of the Arena’syout-pirs rising like ancient monuments, shadows


    cut sharp across the sand, the faint shimmer of protective wards designed to heighten the trial’s intensity.


    I could almost hear her voice again, teasing, insistent, challenging. I could imagine her next to me, peering


    over my shoulder.


    ‘Perfect, Luc, she would whisper, pressing her lips to my temple. ‘It’s perfect!’


    But then-just as suddenly as the ghost appeared-Zara faded, leaving behind an unfortunately familiar


    hollow ache.


    In her absence, Seraphina’s face surfaced, vivid and inescapable.


    It happened without my consent-a cruel trick of my mind.


    And of course, like I’d been doing since I met Sera, I began topare them.


    Sera didn’t burn with the same fever Zara had, no. But her quiet strength, her refusal to bow even when the


    world had all but broken her, lit something fierce, determined, unyielding in me.


    This time, thinking of Zara-and the way I measured Sera against her-didn’t wound me as it once had.


    Something like…eptance murmured beneath the old ache.


    It still carried weight, but the sharp sting of grief had dulled into something quieter, almost reverent.


    I would always carry her in the bones of this ce, in the very fabric of my soul. But the radiance OTS was


    about to witness would not belong to Zara.


    It would belong to Sera.


    And soon, so would I.


    Still, unless the opportune moment arose, I would keep her true purpose-her true power-veiled.


    Sera’s role in this legacy was not for careless spection or the greedy whispers of rivals.


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    216


    I leaned forward slowly, steepling my fingers against my lips as I considered the options. “We can’t simply


    rece him with any Alpha-the wrong choice would jeopardize the entire event’s fairness.”


    The staffer nodded vigorously, sweat beading on his brow. “We’ve already reached out to several candidates,


    but…time is short, and most are entangled in obligations to their packs. None can arrive before the trial


    begins.”


    Damn it.


    The Gatekeeper wasn’t just another piece of this puzzle.


    He or she was the crucible, the force that would push the contenders to their limits, the mirror against


    which their strength and resolve would be measured.


    Without the right candidate, the final trial would lose its teeth.


    Worse, it would lose its legitimacy.


    I pinched the bridge of my nose, mind racing. Possibilities shed through me like cards shuffled too quickly


    to grasp.


    Each name I considered was discarded in the same breath. Too weak. Too biased. Too far away.


    What I needed was someone formidable. Someone whose presence alonemanded respect, whose


    strength was beyond question. And above all, someone whose loyalty to me, orck thereof, would not


    And then-unbidden-a name surfaced.


    Kieran.


    Of course.


    The thought was absurd. Dangerous, even. Yet as soon as it struck me, I couldn’t shake it.


    Alpha Kieran ckthorne of Nightfang.


    His reputation was irond, his dominance undisputed. Every wolf alive knew his name, whether it was


    because they respected him or despised him.


    And though his presence would no doubt ignite tension, perhaps that was exactly what the LST required.


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    132 Chapter 132 HER DREAM


    Formidable. Impartial. Untouchable.


    Except to me.


    And to her.


    My lips curved faintly, although I felt no amusement. Fate was cruel, weaving us intoplicated knots.


    To put Kieran in that arena was to ce him a step away from Seraphina-closer than I would ever allow


    under ordinary circumstances.


    But this wasn’t about my personal war. This was about OTS. About the legacy Zara had dreamed, and the


    future Sera deserved to shine in.


    The staffer’s voice broke into my thoughts again, tentative. “Alpha Reed…what are your orders?”


    I rose from my chair slowly, the decision solidifying in my chest like tempered steel.


    “I have someone in mind,” I said. “I’ll speak to him myself.”


    The staffer opened his mouth-perhaps to question me-but the look I gave him silenced the words on his


    tongue.


    He bowed stiffly and hurried out of my office.


    Alone once more, I stood before the broad window that overlooked the training grounds.


    Wolves were already gathering below, sparring in the early light, their movements crisp and powerful.


    The hum of their energy seeped through the ss, thrumming in my bones.


    Yes. It had to be Kieran.


    Not because I trusted him. Definitely not because I weed him.


    But because, on such short notice, he was the only one who could stand as a gate no contender could simply


    walk through.


    And if I hated the thought of himing even a hundred yards from Sera, I leashed those feelings.


    Decisions like these could not be made based on sentiment.


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