The fire in the suite had burned low again, embers glowing like dying stars beneath a mantle of ash. The kiss—soft, devastating, shattering—still burned on my lips, a brand more permanent than the silver chain wrapped around my wrist. Kaelen hadn’t moved. He still knelt beside the bed, his hand on mine, his golden eyes locked onto mine, wide with something I couldn’t name. Not shock. Not regret.
Recognition.
Like he’d just woken up.
Like he’d just realized he wasn’t alone.
Riven stood in the doorway, tall and still, his dark vampire eyes flicking between us. He didn’t speak. Didn’t react. But his scent—cold iron and old wine—shifted, just slightly. Surprise. Curiosity. And beneath it, something else.
Understanding.
“We have a problem,” he repeated, voice low, measured.
Kaelen didn’t look away from me. “Then make it quick.”
“Mira,” Riven said. “She’s released an image. Doctored, but convincing. It shows you biting her neck in your chambers. Claiming her.”
My breath stopped.
Kaelen finally turned, his expression hardening into the mask of the Alpha. “When?”
“Minutes ago. It’s already spreading. The pack is in an uproar. The Council is calling an emergency session. They’re demanding you address it before moonrise.”
“It’s a lie,” I said, sitting up, the fever still dull in my veins but my pulse roaring. “She’s done this before. Glamour. Illusion. She can’t prove it.”
“She doesn’t need to,” Riven said. “The image is good. Too good. And she’s claiming you came to her after the ritual, that you chose her over the challenger.” His gaze flicked to me. “She says the bond was a farce. That you never intended to honor it.”
“She’s wrong,” Kaelen said, standing. His voice was ice. “And she’ll learn that soon enough.”
“You can’t just deny it,” Riven said. “The pack needs certainty. The Council needs control. If they think you’re unstable, if they think the bond is failing—”
“Then they’ll try to break it,” I finished. “And if they break it, the Contract might retaliate. It’s already rewriting itself. What if it decides to rewrite us?”
Silence.
Kaelen turned to me. “Stay here.”
“Like hell,” I said, swinging my legs off the bed. My body was weak, but my will was iron. “This is about me. About us. I’m not hiding while she spreads lies about you—about us.”
“You’re in no condition—”
“I’m fine,” I snapped, standing. My knees wobbled, but I held firm. “And if you think I’m going to let her win by staying silent, you don’t know me at all.”
He stared at me—gold eyes blazing, jaw clenched. Then, without a word, he stepped forward and gripped my wrist, the one bound by the chain. A jolt of heat. A pulse of connection.
“Then come,” he said. “But don’t speak unless I tell you to.”
“Don’t order me around,” I hissed.
“Then don’t act like a child,” he shot back. “This isn’t about pride. It’s about survival. And if you get in my way, I’ll lock you in a cell myself.”
I glared. But I followed.
—
The Council Chamber was chaos.
Fae nobles whispered behind fans. Vampires stood in silent judgment. Werewolf enforcers prowled the edges, their eyes on Kaelen, their tension palpable. And at the center—
Mira.
She stood beside Cassian, dressed in a gown of deep crimson, her hair cascading over one shoulder. On her neck—just visible above the neckline—a red mark, faint but unmistakable. A bite. Fresh. Glowing with residual magic.
And in her hand—a tablet, its screen glowing with the image.
Kaelen and I stepped forward, the chain between us catching the light. Every eye turned to us.
“Ah,” Cassian said, smiling. “The bound pair returns. Just in time to witness the truth.”
Mira held up the tablet.
The image filled the chamber—a projection, large and clear. Kaelen, shirtless, fangs bared, his mouth at the curve of a woman’s neck. Her head was thrown back, her fingers tangled in his hair. The room was dark, but I recognized it instantly.
His chambers.
And the woman—
Was me.
But it wasn’t me.
The face was wrong. The body. The hair. Everything but the setting was forged. A perfect, cruel lie.
“This was taken last night,” Mira said, voice sweet, melodic. “After the ritual. Kaelen came to me, heartbroken over the failure of the bond. He said the challenger was weak. Unworthy. And he claimed me—fully, completely—as his true mate.”
Gasps. Murmurs. The werewolves growled, low and dangerous.
Kaelen didn’t flinch. Didn’t speak. Just stood, a statue carved from ice and fury.
“You lying bitch,” I said, stepping forward.
“Blair,” Kaelen warned.
But I didn’t stop. “That’s not real. That’s glamour. You’ve been trying to steal him since the moment we arrived. You can’t have him, so you forge a bond that doesn’t exist?”
“Prove it’s fake,” Mira said, smiling. “Go ahead. Use your truth magic. But be careful—what if the Council sees something else? What if they see you in his bed? What if they see the bond isn’t just political, but personal?”
My blood turned to ice.
She wasn’t just attacking Kaelen.
She was attacking us.
And she was winning.
Cassian stepped forward. “Alpha Vire. The pack demands clarity. Was this image taken in your chambers? Did you bite Mira? Did you claim her as your mate?”
All eyes turned to Kaelen.
He didn’t look at them.
He looked at me.
And in that moment, I saw it—the truth.
He wasn’t going to deny it.
Because denial wouldn’t be enough.
He needed to erase the lie.
So he turned to Mira, his voice low, rough, final.
“No,” he said. “I did not claim you. I have never touched you. And if you wear that mark again, I will tear it from your skin myself.”
Mira’s smile didn’t waver. “Then explain the image. Explain why you were in my chambers last night. Why the guards saw you leave at dawn.”
“I was never in your chambers,” he said. “And the guards were glamoured. Just like you’re trying to glamour them now.”
“Then prove it,” she said. “Let me test your scent. Let me see if your pheromones match mine. If they don’t—”
“Enough,” Kaelen said, stepping forward. The air around him crackled. His eyes burned gold. “You want proof? You want truth?”
He turned to me.
And before I could react—
He kissed me.
Not soft. Not gentle.
Violent.
His hand fisted in my hair, yanking my head back. His mouth crashed onto mine, hot, demanding, possessive. A growl rumbled in his chest, vibrating through my bones. My body arched into him, traitorous, hungry. The chain between us burned, a pulse of heat, of magic, of something deeper.
And then—
He bit me.
Not hard enough to mark. Not enough to claim.
But enough to hurt.
A sharp, stinging pain at the base of my throat, where my pulse hammered. I gasped, my fingers clutching his arms, my body pressing into his.
And the chamber—
It went silent.
When he pulled back, his lips were wet with my blood. His eyes glowed gold. His chest rose and fell fast.
“There,” he said, voice raw. “That’s what a real claim feels like. That’s what my bite does. And if you think for one second I’d ever give that to you—”
He turned to Mira, his gaze like a blade. “—you’re more deluded than I thought.”
She stared at him—her face pale, her hands trembling. Then, without a word, she turned and fled.
The chamber erupted.
Whispers. Gasps. The werewolves roared—approval, triumph, loyalty.
Cassian’s smile was gone. His eyes were cold, calculating.
And I—
I stood there, my lips swollen, my throat stinging, my body trembling with something I couldn’t name.
Because that kiss—
It hadn’t been for show.
It hadn’t been just to silence the lie.
It had been real.
And I had kissed him back.
—
Kaelen didn’t speak as we left the chamber. He didn’t look at me. Just walked, the chain tugging me forward, his pace fast, unrelenting. We moved through the halls, the whispers following like shadows.
“Did you see that?”
“He claimed her.”
“The challenger—she’s his now.”
I didn’t care.
All I could feel was the sting at my throat. The taste of him on my lips. The way my body still burned from his touch.
When we reached the suite, he barred the door behind us. The fire was out. The room was cold. But I was on fire.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I said, my voice shaking. “You could’ve just denied it. You didn’t have to—”
“Lie?” he interrupted, turning to me. “That wasn’t a lie.”
“It was a performance,” I said. “You did it to prove a point. To shut her up.”
“No,” he said, stepping closer. “I did it because I couldn’t stand the thought of her touching you. Of her pretending to be you. Of her wearing my mark when it should be yours.”
My breath caught.
“You don’t get to say that,” I whispered. “You don’t get to bite me and kiss me and then pretend it means something.”
“It does mean something,” he said, closing the distance. “It meant I was done pretending.”
“Pretending what?”
“That I don’t want you,” he said, his voice rough. “That I don’t need you. That every time you walk into a room, my wolf doesn’t go still, waiting to see if you’ll look at me. That every time you fight me, I don’t want to pin you down and make you stop. That every time you pull away, I don’t want to drag you back.”
My heart hammered.
“Then why do you?” I whispered. “Why do you keep pushing me away?”
“Because you came here to destroy me,” he said. “And I can’t let you destroy yourself in the process.”
“Maybe I don’t want to destroy you anymore,” I said. “Maybe I never did.”
“Then what do you want?”
“I want—”
But I couldn’t say it.
I couldn’t say you.
Because saying it would make it real.
And if it was real—
Then I was already lost.
He stepped closer, his hand gripping my wrist, the one bound by the chain. “Say it,” he growled. “Say what you want.”
“I want—”
And then—
I slapped him.
Not hard. Not with magic.
But with everything I had.
My palm cracked against his cheek, the sound sharp in the silence. He didn’t flinch. Didn’t move. Just stared at me, his eyes blazing.
“You don’t get to do this,” I said, my voice breaking. “You don’t get to kiss me and bite me and tell me you need me and then expect me to just—”
But I didn’t get to finish.
Because he grabbed me.
One hand fisted in my hair. The other gripped my waist. He spun me, slamming me back against the wall. My breath left me in a gasp. His body pressed against mine, solid, unyielding.
And then—
His mouth crashed onto mine.
Not gentle. Not careful.
Desperate.
His tongue swept into my mouth, claiming, devouring. One hand slid down, gripping my thigh, lifting it around his waist. I gasped, my fingers clawing at his shoulders, my body arching into his.
The chain between us pulsed—hot, heavy, alive.
And then—
He lifted me.
One hand under my ass, the other fisted in my hair. He carried me across the room, his mouth never leaving mine, and slammed me onto the desk. Papers scattered. Inkwells toppled. But I didn’t care.
Because he was on me.
His body between my legs. His hands on my skin. His mouth at my neck, biting, sucking, marking.
And then—
His hand slipped under my shirt.
Calloused fingers glided over my stomach, my ribs, my breast—just beneath the fabric. My back arched. A moan tore from my throat.
“Kaelen—”
His lips found mine again, rough, hungry. His thigh pressed between my legs, grinding against the ache, the heat, the need.
And then—
His fingers brushed the edge of my bra.
Just an inch more.
And he’d touch bare skin.
And I’d be lost.
And then—
A scream.
High-pitched. Terrified.
The door burst open.
We broke apart.
Riven stood in the doorway, his eyes wide. “Kaelen. The prisoner—Elara. She’s been captured. They’re bringing her to the Blood Cells. Now.”
My breath caught.
Elara.
Alive.
And in danger.
Kaelen stepped back, his chest rising and falling fast. His eyes were gold, feral. His lips were swollen. His scent—pine, smoke, desire—wrapped around me, thick, intoxicating.
And then—
He looked at me.
And I saw it.
The crack in the armor.
The hunger.
The need.
And beneath it—
Fear.
Not of the Council.
Not of Cassian.
Of me.
Because he was falling.
And so was I.
“We have to go,” I said, sliding off the desk.
He didn’t answer.
Just reached for my hand.
And as we ran through the halls, the chain between us tugging with every step—
I knew.
The real battle wasn’t against the Contract.
It wasn’t against Cassian.
It wasn’t even against Mira.
It was against this.
Against the truth.
Against the desire.
Against the love I was trying so hard to deny.
And I wasn’t sure I could win.
Because the worst part?
I didn’t want to.