The Silver Wolf (Diana and Talon) novel Chapter 161

Chapter One Hundred Sixty One

“Agatha, I love you.”

Lucian’s voice was quiet, but the emotion behind it seemed to fill every corner of the hidden forest. The afternoon sun filtered through the thick canopy above them, spilling golden light across the ground. A gentle breeze moved through the trees, carrying the scent of pine, wildflowers, and damp earth. Somewhere nearby, water rushed over stones in the narrow stream where they had first spoken without anger or fear.

Their forest.

Lucian could no longer remember when he had begun thinking of it that way. Perhaps it had been the second time they met, when Agatha brought him healing herbs and scolded him for reopening his wounds. Perhaps it had been the first time she laughed with him. Or perhaps it had happened the moment he opened his eyes in the snow and found a white witch kneeling beside him, using her magic to save his life when every law of her people demanded that she leave him to die.

Whatever the reason, this place belonged to them now. It was where hatred had first weakened. Where suspicion had slowly turned into trust. Where trust had become friendship. And where friendship had grown into something neither of them could deny any longer. This was where the Moon Goddess had taken two souls born on opposite sides of an ancient war and quietly sewn their threads together.

Lucian reached for Agatha’s hands and held them tightly between his own.

“You are my mate,” he continued, his silver eyes fixed on hers. “My fated mate and my chosen mate.”

Agatha’s breath caught. The word mate carried great meaning among wolves. She knew enough about their customs to understand that it was not spoken carelessly. A mate was not merely someone a wolf desired. A mate was home. A mate was the soul another soul recognized. A mate was a promise meant to last beyond death. Lucian stepped closer.

“I love your kindness,” he said. “I love the way you heal every creature you find, even when you know it might turn against you.”

A small, trembling smile appeared on Agatha’s lips.

“I love your loyalty,” he continued. “Even when I disagree with the wolves and witches you defend, I admire how fiercely you protect those you consider yours.”

He lifted one of her hands and pressed it against his chest. His heart beat hard beneath her palm.

“And I love your strength.”

Agatha shook her head slightly.

“I am not strong.”

“You are stronger than anyone I have ever known.”

Lucian gently brushed a strand of dark hair away from her face.

“You entered wolf territory alone to find medicine for sick children. You healed an enemy while knowing

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your coven might execute you if they discovered the truth. You continued meeting me even when everything you had been taught told you I was a monster”

His thumb caressed her cheek.

“You are kind without being weak. Loyal without being blind. Fierce without becoming cruel.”

His gaze softened.

“I love everything about you, Agatha.”

Tears immediately gathered in her eyes. Lucian saw them and tightened his hold on her hands.

“Please,” he whispered. “Accept me as your mate.”

Agatha closed her eyes. Her heart wanted to answer him immediately. It wanted to scream yes before fear could steal the word from her. She wanted to throw herself into his arms and tell him that she had loved him for weeks. Perhaps longer. She wanted to admit that every moment apart from him felt empty and every moment beside him felt like the life she had always been meant to live.

But fear was deeply rooted inside her. It carried the voices of her elders. Her mother. Her coven. Every witch who had ever warned her that wolves were savage and untrustworthy. And beneath all those voices was another. Gideon.

“Lucian…”

Her voice broke.

“I am afraid.”

Lucian’s expression softened, but he did not release her.

“What will happen to us?” she asked. “What we feel is forbidden.”

She pulled one hand free and placed it over her heart.

“What I feel for you is a betrayal of my coven.”

She looked at him through her tears.

“And what you are asking is disloyalty to your pack.”

Lucian shook his head.

“Choosing love is not betrayal. If our people will see it that way. Then they are wrong.”

“It will not matter whether they are wrong,” Agatha argued. “They will still punish us.”

Her tears began falling freely.

“My family could be cast out because of me. My mother could lose her place in the coven. The elders might accuse me of treason.”

She swallowed painfully.

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And your pack… They may challenge you. They may call you weak. They may believe I have enchanted you”

Lucian’s jaw fightened

“Let them.”

“Lucian-”

“I mean it.”

He pulled her closer.

“If my pack demands that I hate you in order to prove my loyalty, then I no longer belong with them.”

Agatha stared at him. He looked completely certain. No hesitation. No doubt.

“We leave,” he said.

Her eyes widened.

“What?”

“We leave both of them. Your coven. My pack. We walk away.”

Agatha shook her head in disbelief.

“You would leave your pack?”

“I would leave anything that demanded I live without you.”

The certainty in his voice silenced her. Lucian gently wrapped his arms around her waist.

“I choose you, Agatha.”

He rested his forehead against hers.

“I choose you freely. No spell. No duty. No law. Just you.”

His voice grew more emotional.

“I do not want a life where I wake every morning wondering whether I will ever see you again. I do not want to meet you in secret for the rest of our lives. I do not want to hide every smile, every touch, and every word.”

He held her more tightly.

“I want to wake beside you. I want to build a home with you. I want a family. I want children who are taught that love matters more than ancient hatred.”

Agatha’s heart ached at the image.

“I want to grow old with you,” Lucian continued. “And I will never believe I sacrificed anything by leaving.”

His silver eyes shone with hope.

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“I will never feel alone if I have you. Choose me, Agatha.”

His voice dropped to a whisper.

“Choose a life with me.”

Agatha searched his face.

“What life?” she asked softly. “Where would we even go?”

Lucian smiled.

“To the human lands.”

She blinked.

“The human lands?”

“Yes.”

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