I nodded. Then stepped aside. I swallowed the lump forming in my throat and closed the door behind him.
Lupercus stood in the middle of the room.
” I’m here to pick you up.” He didn’t meet my eyes as he spoke. “His Royal Highness has made accommodation arrangements for you outside the palace. There’s also a generous sum of money deposited in an account opened under your name to ensure you stay afloat.”
My heart twisted.
He made plans for me already?
Even now? Even after everything I said? After the way I threw his heart to the ground and stomped on it like it meant nothing?
I blinked quickly, willing away the sting in my eyes.
No matter how much I tried to paint him as the villain in my mind, he never fit the part. Every time, Sargis proved himself more kind, patient, and real than I knew how to handle.
And now, when he should’ve despised me, he was still taking care of me. Still protecting me in the only way he could from afar.
God. I regret it all.
Every word, defensive jab, and wall I rebuilt out of fear.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I whispered hoarsely, surprising even myself with how firm I sounded.
Lupercus finally looked at me, blinking. “You aren’t?”
I shook my head slowly.
“Isn’t that what you wanted?” he asked, confused. “To be free of this place? Free of him?”
“Yes.” I sighed. “I admit that’s what I always thought I wanted. What I told myself I wanted. But now…”
I looked away, trying to gather the mess of thoughts and feelings swirling inside me.
“I don’t want to leave anymore.”
I turned to him again. “Where’s Sargis? I want to talk to him.”
Lupercus’s mouth tightened. “I’m sorry. I can’t reveal His Majesty’s whereabouts. He’s… not in a good state of mind at the moment.”
That crushed me more than I expected.
“Please, Lupercus,” I whispered. He exhaled heavily, running a hand down his face. “Let’s assume I do take you to him,” he responded carefully. “What exactly would you do? Or say? Do you suddenly believe in the mate bond now?”
His words hit me harder than they should have.
I bit my lip and looked down.
What would I say?
I’m sorry?
And then what?
Would he even want to hear it?
Could a simple apology erase the things I said and the way I made him feel like he didn’t matter? Everything wouldn’t go back to the way it was. I knew that.
Too much had been said and too many lines were crossed.
Then why…?
Why was I like this? Why was I so desperate to see him, to hear his voice, even if he shouted and hated me?
Why did I care so much about how he felt?
The answer came to me in an instant.
Because he cared when no one else did, and he stayed, when all I did was push.
I drew in a sharp breath.
“I don’t know,” I said honestly.
“I don’t know what I’d say. I don’t even know what I want anymore… But I know I don’t want him hurting because of me.”
“You need to make a choice, Narine.” Lupercus’s voice wasn’t sharp, but it carried weight.
“This delicate dance between you two…” he exhaled, shaking his head slightly. “I always knew it could only last for so long. And now that it’s come to this, you need to look at yourself in the mirror and be brutally honest with what it is you want.”
I swallowed hard.
“I can’t take you to see him if you don’t even know what you want.”
His gaze didn’t waver. “Do you like him or not? Are you staying for him or not? Do you want to leave or not? Make up your mind and stand by it. Because I’m begging you, don’t give him hope. Don’t attempt to give him hope if you know, at the end of the day, you’ll never be able to see yourself with him.”
I looked away, his words pierced through every layer of denial I had built around myself like armor.
Narine’s POV
He wasn’t being cruel, just honest. Painfully honest. And the truth was… everything he said was right.
For a man I barely knew, who had never once spoken directly to me before now, Lupercus seemed to understand the storm inside me with alarming clarity. His words were laced with wisdom. And somehow, every syllable he spoke reached places I hadn’t dared to touch in myself.
“I know the concept of ‘mate’ doesn’t make sense to you,” he continued. “And that’s okay. Even among supernaturals, only Lycans truly understand what it means or what it feels like.”
He glanced out the window.
“To be tethered to someone, Narine… it’s not something you can easily explain. There are no words that do it justice. It’s like…” he struggled a little, gesturing vaguely, “…feeling something awaken in your bones and your blood, as though you were incomplete your entire life and never knew it until that moment.”
I stared at him.
“Normally, I wouldn’t interfere in a mate bond,” he added. “It’s always best to let the bond take its own course. Let the couple figure it out themselves. But Sargis…”
He smiled faintly, and for the first time, I saw something more than the stone-faced prime enforcer he always was.
“Sargis is my cousin, on his mother’s side. We grew up together. Practically inseparable when we were kids. And if there was one thing that boy wouldn’t shut up about, it was the concept of mating.”
He gave a small laugh, shaking his head like the memory warmed something inside him.
“When he ascended the throne at eighteen, you’d think that would’ve changed him. But no, he just got more determined. He used to tell me about the things he’d do for his mate when he found her. Used to plan double dates with me for some future we hadn’t even seen yet.”
Lupercus’s expression softened. “I was lucky. I found Hasmik. Elra’s daughter. She was always part of our world growing up, though she rarely came to the palace.”
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