Chapter 103
🌙 Lilith
“The Luna Duel, throughout history, has been rare—so any statistics on winning strategies would be inconclusive p>
I felt my heart sink in my chest as I sat with the information. My trust in Vladimir had waned, my paranoia sharpening into something that had been needling me from the moment he let his true feelings about me be known.
My life was the one on the line. Not his.
And I was not naïve enough to believe I was some kind of chosen one.
I was one in a litter of hybrids the world puked out ever so rarely.
He could replace me—find someone with more promise, more utility for his plans—once I was dead.
My goals and motivations were of no use to him. Especially not now, when I had become an emotional burden in his life. In his home.
Her perfume p>
I clenched my eyes shut as the incomplete bond coiled painfully, no longer confined to my chest. Its ebbing ache threaded through every part of me—through muscle and marrow, thought and breath.
My head had not stopped pounding.
Being cold to Vladimir was taking its toll.
Kaia had grown quieter, though she never failed to reassure me that we were alright.
“I am not going anywhere, Lili p>
As if on cue, the low rumble of her voice in my subconscious tore me from the spiral.
I let myself smile, even if her presence felt faint.
I had to safeguard myself.
I had to safeguard us.
“You There p>
Another message came in from Sylvanna.
“Are you alright? I know it’s disheartening news. I wish had more to help p>
I read her message, unsure what to think.
I could be stupid at times but I was no dim wit. Sylvanna was no to be trusted but in the dark tunnenl I was in, even a flicker of light of a unlikely dangerous source felt like salvation.
So I had replied to her message and Began a tentative acquaintance with Her.
I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel the warning bells ringing in the back of my mind. Every instinct I had—every hard-learned lesson about trust and survival—screamed that this was a mistake.
But loneliness was a different kind of predator.
It didn’t announce itself with snarls or bared teeth. It crept in quietly, wearing down defenses until even obvious traps looked like shelter.
And Sylvanna was… careful. Strategic in a way that made it easy to ignore the red flags.
She didn’t push. Didn’t pry. Just asked if I was okay. Offered sympathy. Made me feel like someone actually cared whether I lived or died in two weeks.
“I’m managing,” I typed back, keeping it vague.
The three dots appeared immediately. She was waiting. Ready.
“I can’t imagine how stressful this must be. Preparing for something so dangerous with so little historical precedent. Do you have anyone helping you? Supporting you p>
The question landed like a knife between ribs.
Because the answer was no.
Dmitri trained me. Watched me. Corrected my form and pushed me harder.
But support? Someone who cared about *me* and not just my performance?
I thought of Vladimir. Standing at the observation deck. Watching with those cold, pale eyes that gave nothing away.
The same eyes that had looked at me with such desperate hunger at the gala. The same mouth that had bitten my throat in front of everyone.
The same man who’d told me I was driving him to the edge of madness.
And then disappeared for hours, coming back smelling like someone else.
My fingers hovered over the keyboard.
“Not really,” I admitted finally. “It’s… complicated p>
“I can only imagine. The political pressure alone must be suffocating. And from what I’ve heard, the High Alpha can be… intense p>
I stared at that word. *Intense p>
Such a careful choice. Not cruel. Not cold. Not dismissive.
Just *intense p>
Like she was giving me room to fill in the blanks myself. To say what I needed to say without her putting words in my mouth.
“He’s under a lot of pressure too,” I typed, then immediately wanted to delete it.
Why was I defending him?
“Of course,” Sylvanna replied quickly. “But that doesn’t mean you should bear the weight of it alone. You’re the one stepping into the arena, Lilith. Your life is on the line. His pressure is political. Yours is existential p>
The truth of it hit like a physical blow.
She was right.
He could survive me dying. He’d find another hybrid. Another solution. Another pawn for whatever game he was playing with the Veil and the Concord.
But if I died?
That was it.
No second chances. No replacements.
Just… gone.
“I know,” I typed back. “I’m trying not to think about it too much p>
“That’s probably wise. But if you ever need to talk—really talk, not the polite surface conversation—I’m here. No judgment. No politics. Just… one woman to another p>
I stared at the message for a long time.
It sounded genuine. Felt genuine.
And maybe that’s what made it so dangerous.
Because I *wanted* it to be real. Wanted someone—anyone—to see me as more than a political chess piece or a bonded mate or a hybrid freak.
Just… Lilith.
“Thank you,” I typed finally. “That means more than you know p>
“Anytime. Truly p>
I set the phone down, chest tight with something between relief and dread.
Kaia stirred in the back of my mind, uneasy.
“I don’t like this, Lili p>
“I know,” I murmured. “I don’t either. But what choice do I have p>
She didn’t answer.
Because we both knew.
I could keep isolating myself. Keep drowning in the bond’s agony and Vladimir’s cold dismissal and the crushing weight of knowing I might die in two weeks.
Or I could take the risk.
Reach out to the only person who’d offered me anything resembling kindness since the gala.
Even if it was probably a trap.
Even if I’d probably regret it.
0Because right now, a dangerous maybe felt better than a certain nothing.
My phone buzzed again.
Just as the door swung open, my entire body locked up as he stepped in, clad in his signature overalls and the scent of winter nights.
Our eyes met for the first time in days and in an instant the spark between us lit up the room.
For a moment, silence reigned, none of us looking away from The other despite The charge that made the air buzz like a live wire.
His fearures had grown harsher and darker than I remembered. His eyed were shadowed, that stubble lined his jaw that had grown impossibly sharper.
Now that I allowed myself more than a glance at him, his framed seemeD lighter.
“He has lost weight, Lili,” Kaia muttered in my mind.
Her observation carried an implication that I was unwilling to accept as it contrasted with Vladimir’s own word and actions.
His voice lacked inflection as it broke the silence. “Training will be a at midnight. Meet me at downstairs p>
His ominous tone made dread pool in the pit of my stomach.
I did not feign coldness this time as I spoke, letting my confusion be known. “Midnight p>
“Yes,” Was all the answer he awarded me with before he turned on his heel in one smooth motion and strided out the door leaving me speechless and anxious.
Even after his footsteps had faded, I was still reeling from his intrusion. Again, his expression had been too inscrutible for me to read his intentions, the wall between us raising higher and higher.
It only solidifed futher what I had feared. And If he needed this barrier between us, who was I to try and breach it?