The Lycan King's Second Chance Mate: Rise of the Traitor's Daughter-Chapter 219: Extra Protection

Sebastian~

The ash of Jacob’s illusion still clung to the air.

It danced lazily in the shafts of little sunlight breaking through the tall, cold windows of the trial chamber. The same chamber that had nearly become my tomb an hour ago.

The same chamber where I had just slaughtered a man wearing the face of the woman I love.

My hands trembled, slick with drying blood. A strange pressure pulsed in my chest, like a memory trying to claw its way back to life.

And yet, they cheered.

"Our leader!"

"Sebastian the Just!"

"He gave us vengeance!"

It was deafening. The applause, the shouting, the praises—I couldn’t breathe under the weight of it all. I’d just committed a brutal murder, and they handed me a crown for it.

I stood there, in the silence between their roars, drowning.

That was when I saw them through the crowd—two young blonde women, wide-eyed and trembling, and a tall, grizzled vampire whose presence once commanded attention.

I remembered them.

Two months ago, they came to me—shattered souls gripping the ruins of their hearts. Cassandra—my Cassandra—had torn their families apart. They despised her. They wept, pleaded, demanded justice. And I gave them my word: she would pay.

Now, they knelt before me, eyes wet, expressions solemn.

"You did it," one whispered, her voice cracking like old wood. "You kept your promise."

The other reached out and gripped my hand with a reverence that made my chest tighten. "We can sleep tonight. Thank you, Lord Sebastian. Thank you for ending her."

The man bowed his head. "Closure is all we ever asked for."

I forced a smile. My throat burned from the inside.

"You’re welcome," I whispered, voice hollow. "I’m glad you can have peace now."

But peace didn’t come for me. Not in the cheers, not in the kneeling gratitude, not in the knowing looks from my coven.

Because I had lied.

Because they believed I had killed the monster.

Because they would never know that she was no monster. That she had changed. That she was mine.

And I would carry that secret like a dagger buried in my ribs.

The celebration carried through the evening. Wine flowed, music played, bodies danced through crimson-lit halls. The coven honored me with silver goblets and haunting chants. They called me the greatest leader in centuries.

I nodded. I laughed where I was meant to laugh. I gave them what they wanted.

But the moment I could disappear, I did.

I got into my black Bentley and drove like a demon. Through winding roads, past the woods that once nearly killed me, past centuries of lies and loyalty and love I couldn’t afford.

All I could think was—

Cassandra. Cassandra. Cassandra.

When I got to the house, I didn’t even shut the car door. I raced through the entrance, boots pounding against the marble floor.

And there she was.

In the living room. Talking to Zane.

My heart stopped.

She was real.

She was alive.

Her eyes—dark, fierce, and burning with a thousand unsaid things—locked onto mine. And in the next heartbeat, she was in my arms, crashing into me like a storm that had finally found the shore.

"Sebastian," she whispered against my neck, her breath shaky, her arms wrapping around me like she was afraid I’d vanish if she let go. "You did it. You actually saved me..."

I held her like she was the only thing keeping me upright. Like if I let go, the whole world might fall apart again. "Jacob did most of the work," I managed with a rough laugh, running my fingers through the strands of her hair—still soft, still hers. "I just gave the performance of my undead life."

She leaned back just enough to see my face, her eyes searching mine like she was reading between the lines of everything I wasn’t saying.

"I had to destroy Jacob’s illusion," I told her, my voice a whisper. "He used your face. Your voice. I had to rip you apart in front of everyone—to sell the lie. Cassandra, it was hell. It was the worst thing I’ve ever done."

I looked away, blinking fast. "And for a moment... I forgot it was a trick. I thought I was really killing you. And it shattered something in me."

Her hand came up, warm and grounding, cradling my cheek like it was the only truth that mattered. Her eyes didn’t flinch—full of fire, full of love. "I’m here, Sebastian. I’m real. You saved me. You saved all of us."

I couldn’t even get the words out. I just pulled her into me again, tighter this time, burying my face in the curve of her neck and breathing her in like she was the anchor to everything I still had left in this world.

A quiet throat clear broke the moment—low and deliberate. I turned slightly to see Zane standing a few feet away, arms crossed, that classic scowl on his face like he was allergic to emotions. The ever-brooding prince.

I gave Cassandra one last squeeze and glanced over at him.

"Thanks," I said, my voice quiet but steady. "For having my back. You always do."

He didn’t move, didn’t flinch. But there was a faint, knowing smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. His version of a full-on bear hug. "Always will, Seb. You’re my brother."

And then, inevitably, the question came. The one we’d all been avoiding, hovering in the air like smoke we didn’t want to breathe in.

"So... what now?" he asked, his voice low but steady, the kind that didn’t need to be loud to hit hard. "Is she supposed to keep running forever? Just... hiding? Is that really what her life’s going to be now? What your life’s going to be?"

The room went still.

No one answered. Because none of us had one.

And then—because timing is apparently a cosmic joke—he walked in.

Jacob strolled through the doorway like a man returning from a coffee run, not someone who’d just been shredded, burned, and presumably erased from existence in front of a very angry coven.

Not a bruise. Not a burn. Not even a wrinkle on his shirt. Just that same smug grin and hair like he’d stepped out of a shampoo commercial.

"Did you miss me?" he said with an exaggerated bow, like he was accepting an award for ’Most Dramatic Return.’

I stared at him. "How the hell are you still in one piece?"

Jacob grinned like a cat who knew exactly where the canary went. "Sebastian, come on. You really thought that would be the end of me? I’m the Wolf Spirit, not a background extra in your doomed romance."

Zane let out a snort from across the room. "Natalie’s gonna lose her mind if you ever actually die. And if it happens while I’m standing there? I’m screwed too."

Jacob gave him a playful salute, the kind only he could make look both mocking and charming. Then he turned to Cassandra.

And for a moment, the air shifted.

The arrogance fell away from his face, replaced by something quieter. Gentler. His eyes landed on her with a strange kind of softness—like an old guardian who’d seen too much.

Without a word, he raised his hand and murmured something ancient—words that felt like they’d been plucked from the beginning of time.

Cassandra’s body seized, her back arching as her eyes rolled into white. Then she dropped like log.

"Cassandra!" I caught her before she hit the ground, panic seizing every fiber of me. "What did you do?!"

Jacob didn’t flinch. "Relax, Shakespeare. She’ll wake up in a few minutes."

"She better," I growled, baring my fangs.

Jacob smirked. "I just rewrote her aura."

I stared.

"From now on," he continued calmly, "any time she’s near an enemy, they’ll see someone else. A harmless face. A stranger. Even her scent will shift. She’ll blend in perfectly. No more constant hiding. No more running."

I blinked at him. "You can do that?"

"Please," Jacob said with mock insult. "You saw me fake her death with a full-scale illusion and get burned alive in the same hour. You think I can’t throw in an extra protection enchantment?"

Zane shook his head. "Remind me not to play poker with him."

I looked down at Cassandra—peaceful, breathing softly.

"She’s safe now?" I asked.

Jacob nodded. "Safe as anyone can be in our world."

I breathed out for what felt like the first time in hours.

And then, maybe for the first time in centuries, I laughed.

It started slow—just a breath. Then a chuckle. Then a full, head-thrown-back laugh that echoed in the house.

Zane looked at me, half amused, half concerned. "You okay?"

"No," I grinned. "But I’m getting there."

Because she was alive.

And that was more than I’d dared hope for.

And in that moment, with Zane beside me and Cassandra breathing in my arms, I knew one thing for sure:

No matter how long I lived, no matter how many lies I told or blood I spilled...

She was worth it. Every drop.

And I’d burn the world all over again if it meant keeping her safe.