Chapter 56

Scarlett's POV The edge in his voice scraped something raw in me. "I'm not sneaking around, Lucien. I'm sure you know that too. And if I decide to face him, it will be on my terms, not his." He stepped closer, shadows sharpening the lines of his jaw. His voice dropped to a low growl. "Then let me be there when you do." Heat flared in my chest—anger, defiance, and something else I refused to name. "This isn't about protecting me from him. It's about proving to the council that I'm not chained to his shadow." I saw his eyes burn, the storm inside him pulling at something in me I didn't want to admit. His voice dropped, quieter but sharper. "I'm reminding you that you don't have to fight every battle alone, Scarlett." "You think I don't know that?" My voice rose. "Every time he corners me, every rumor he and his mistress spread, it isn't just me they look at—it's you too. If I lean on you, Lucien, they'll twist it until I'm nothing more than a woman hiding behind her Alpha! Do you want th