Chapter One
Seth
The palace groundsare alive with music and firelight. Drums and flutes rise in a rhythm that carries across the night, mixing with the laughter of wolves drunk on joy and wine. Astra and Lucian’s bond is sealed, their vows spoken beneath the moon. Now the celebration spills over the lawns, where tables are heaped with roasted meats, sweet fruits, and pitchers of mead. Lanterns swing from the branches overhead, casting everything in warm gold.
I should be among them. Celebrating my king, my friend. Instead, I lean against a tree at the edge of it all, arms crossed, jaw tight.
Leon stands beside me, motionless as stone. His voice cuts through the music, low and even. “You keep staring like that, you’ll burn a hole in her.”
My gaze doesn’t shift. “I’m not staring.”
But I am.
Selene is in the middle of the dancers, her auburn hair catching every flicker of torchlight as it brushes her jawline. Her soft, blue eyes shine as she laughs, caught in the spin of one of the younger soldiers.He’s overeager, fumbling through the steps, but she humors him. She always does.
The sound of her laughter hits like a blade sliding between my ribs.
“She’s been in your sight since the first drumbeat,” Leon continues quietly, patiently. “You haven’t looked away.”
I grind my teeth. I don’t need him to point it out. I already feel the bond clawing at me, dragging my focus to her no matter how hard I fight it.
My fated mate.
The words taste bitter even though they are unspoken. I never asked for this, never wanted it. The moment our eyes first met, the connection lit through me like fire—inescapable, unbreakable. And I’ve been ignoring it ever since.
She’s a healer, yes, but a mediocre one. Her wolf is weak. She doesn’t belong by my side; she doesn’t match the weight of command that I carry.
Yet every time she smiles, my chest aches with something I can’t control.
The soldier twirls her, his hand lingering too long at her waist when she stumbles. My grip tightens on my upper arms, a low growl catching in my throat.
Leon doesn’t move, doesn’t soften. He just says, “If it bothers you, make it stop.”
As if it’s that simple. As if I could step out there, take her hand, and pretend I don’t resent what she is to me.
I force my eyes away from her. “She deserves better than a commander who doesn’t want her.”
Leon’s steady, unreadable gaze lands on me. “And you deserve the pain you’re choosing.”
The statement falls like a stone, heavy in my chest.
The drums quicken, voices rising with them. Selene’s laughter bursts out again, but when her partner spins her too roughly, she crashes hard into his chest. He steadies her with both arms, her palm splayed against him.
Heat flares low in my gut, sharp and vicious. My wolf snarls, demanding I go. But I remain rooted in place.
Leon lets the silence linger before speaking again, his tone returning to business. “The west wall still feels thin. Too much shadow between the torch posts.”
I’m as grateful for the change in subject as I would be for air after nearly drowning. “The east and south walls are secure. I walked them myself before the ceremony. Patrols are doubled.”
He nods once. “North side?”
“Covered. Extra men at the gates. No one gets through tonight.”
“Good.” Leon’s eyes, sharper than mine, sweep the grounds again, though he doesn’t look twice at her. He never does. “When so many are gathered, enemies like to take their chance.”
I breathe out slowly, forcing my jaw to unclench. “They’ll find no opening here.”
Still, my gaze betrays me, sliding back to the circle of dancers and the auburn head thrown back in laughter that doesn’t belong to me.
