Lethal Temptation (by Michelle Ray) novel Chapter 212

212 The Price of Silence 1

212 The Price of Silence-1

Lucian

Darian and I rushed home right after the meeting. The air between us was tight with unspoken thoughts, the weight of what we had to do hanging like a storm cloud.

I didn’t know how I was going to break the news to Mara. But I had to.

Whether she liked it or not, Mistwood was no longer a place we could avoid. Chase Nighthorn was baiting

us, leaving breadcrumb trails that all led to that one place. He wanted us there.

Needed us there. And that alone made it more dangerous than we were ready for.

But if I was going to protect this pack, protect her, then I needed to know what Chase was doing in

Mistwood… and why he had such easy access.

Our military strength was fractured. Trust was eroding. We couldn’t afford to sit back and hope it resolved itself. We had to go straight into the lion’s den.

I just hoped Mara would understand, and not try to stop me.

When we entered the mansion, we took the left wing. I reached out to Mara through the link, but got no

reply. I could sense her, but there was no response.

That was strange.

“Tiffany and Emma are in your room,” Darian said.

“Is Mara there too?” I asked, just to be sure.

He nodded. “Yeah. She’s with them.”

“Take Tiffany to your room,” I told him. “I need to talk to Mara alone, about the trip.”

Darian snorted. “Good luck with that. With everything going on? Mara’s not going to let you walk off into whatever trap Chase is setting. You know that.”

He wasn’t wrong.

But that didn’t change what had to be done.

The signs were all there, fractured alliances, stolen resources, Chase pulling strings we couldn’t even see yet. If the packs in Mistwood turned against us, if they allied with him, we could be facing something far

worse than theft.

We could be staring down the start of a war.

And if it came to that, love couldn’t stop me from doing my duty.

I just had to make Mara see that.

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212 The Price of Silence 1

I stepped into the room and found Tiffany cradling Emma, the soft glow of the television painting their silhouettes in warm light. She looked up, and before I could speak, Darian appeared behind her.

“I’ll take her,” he said, gently motioning Tiffany out. As they passed, he smirked and muttered, “Good luck.”

I didn’t respond. I didn’t have time to.

I moved past the sitting area into the bedroom, and stopped cold.

Mara was lying on the bed. Her back was turned, but I saw the bloodstains on the pillow.

Panic gripped my chest. “Mara,”

She sat up slowly, raising a shaky hand. “Stop,” she whispered.

“What happened?” I asked, my voice tight. She looked pale, drained. Off.

“I’m okay,” she said, barely. “Just… don’t link me. Please.”

I frowned, concern crawling deeper under my skin. Still, I said nothing. Just quietly pulled off my shirt and climbed into bed beside her. I sat up so she could rest her head in my lap.

My fingers moved through her hair gently, trying to comfort her while I wrestled the fear building in my chest.

“What happened, Mara?” I asked again, softly this time.

She looked up at me, shame flickering behind her tired eyes. I could already tell I wasn’t going to like what she said.

“I promise I won’t react,” I added, trying to ease her fear.

She took a breath. “When I got to the building, the staff were being manhandled by the soldiers. They looked terrified. Confused. I needed a way to calm them down… to tell them what was going on.”

Her voice cracked slightly. “So I did something stupid, I linked all of them. At once.”

I froze.

“What the fuck, Mara?” I snapped, the words out before I could stop them. “Do you want to kill yourself? Why would you, why would you even think,”

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21. The Price of Silence 2

212 The Price of Silence-2

She winced, eyes closing as if my voice was another blade in her already frayed nerves.

I bit back the rest. No. She was already suffering. Yelling wouldn’t fix anything.

She whispered, “My father said I just need twenty-four hours without linking and I’ll be okay.”

I sat there, my hand still brushing her hair, my jaw clenched so tight it hurt. I wanted to scream. Shake her.

Hold her tighter. Do something.

Instead, I breathed through it.

She’d made a call. A dangerous one. But she’d done it for the pack, for the people. And she was paying for

it now.

I leaned down and kissed her forehead.

“Next time,” I said quietly, “you don’t go in alone. Not like that.”

She didn’t answer. She didn’t need to. Her hand reached for mine and held on, silent but steady.

Evening had settled in, casting long shadows across the room. I decided to take a shower and try to rest. Talking about Mistwood could wait, Mara wasn’t in the condition for it. Not tonight.

But as I stepped under the warm stream of water, she surprised me.

She joined me.

I expected her to be in bed, nursing her headache, but instead, she slid in behind me, her arms circling my waist, her cheek pressing softly against my back.

“I can still function, Lucian,” she said with a teasing lilt, her voice low and tired but laced with that familiar

fire.

It was her way of saying sorry.

She turned me around and rested her head on my chest. I held her, letting the water roll over us, the silence filling in what words couldn’t. My arms tightened around her, needing the closeness more than I

realized.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

I exhaled slowly and stroked her back, relieved she’d said it.

“Just don’t take risks like that again,” I murmured. “If something happens to you… those people won’t carry the pain. I will. Me and our baby.”

She looked up at me then, eyes shining, vulnerable in a way few ever saw her.

I held her gaze. “It’s okay to be selfish sometimes, Mara. No one’s going to protect you better than me. But

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