Chapter 202: Powers
Eryx leaned forward now, fingers steepled. "The powers you received from your wife."
Lucas sat there, the very picture of composed fury. "What about them?" he asked.
"The agreement," Eryx said. "We had a very clear understanding. That we could not, and would not, allow you to retain both your position as Alpha and the powers gifted to you by your Luna."
Lucas gave a mirthless chuckle. "If I clearly remember the details of that agreement," he said slowly, "you were supposed to provide support in rescuing my wife. In exchange, I would relinquish any and all power afterward. You reneged. You went back on your word. So forgive me if I don’t jump at the chance to keep mine."
"Lucas," Thorn interjected, palms up in a placating gesture, "the problem isn’t that you have the powers. It’s in the way you use them."
Lucas rose then, moving slowly, deliberately. He took a step toward the window, gazing out over his fortress with his back to the councilmen.
"The way I use them?" he repeated. "You mean saving an entire region from a tyrant? Protecting my mate from people who treated her like a pawn? Or is it that I didn’t burn the Council to the ground the moment I walked out of your prison?"
"You are too powerful, Lucas. You’ve crossed into a realm no Alpha has ever ventured into. You’re not just feared anymore. You’re revered. That kind of worship... it breeds dissent."
"Let me make one thing clear," he continued, each word deliberate. "The power I have came from love. From a bond stronger than any decree. Ava didn’t give me power. She is my power. And I will never give that up."