“I’ve no desire to waste time with lengthy deliberations,” Kaelen said. He sat straight-backed in the saddle. “Come, brother, let’s head to the harbour. We’ve always been good at finding things others miss.”
Those golden eyes found him, gleaming with restless determination. “Once we’ve obtained clues, we’ll leave. If we hurry, we can still catch up.”
Alarik stilled, the weight of his brother’s words settling like a stone in his chest.
Always rushing in, always chasing. Kaelen never seemed to understand some pursuits didn’t end in victory. Most left Alarik hollow,standing at the edge of what could’ve been, wondering if the chase was worth the fall.
“If we do find her,” he said cautiously, “then what? Drag her back kicking and screaming? If she wanted to stay, she would have.”
Kaelen scoffed, the sound full of impatience, as if the very idea of giving up offended him. His energy rolled off him in waves, like a horse straining against its reins.
“You think she genuinely wants to leave? You heard Thorir. It’s fear driving her. Fear and misunderstanding.”
“Or maybe it’s what she wants,” Alarik countered. He could feel the words wedging a divide between them, heavy and uncomfortable. “She made her decision. Forcing her to change her mind won’t help anyone.”
Kaelen’s gaze darkened, a flicker of something dangerous sparking in his eyes. “You think she’s better off with him?”
“I think we’re better off leaving her to her choices.” His thoughts were already drifting toward the packed bags waiting in their room. That was what mattered—getting back on track, not running after someone who’d already decided. “If she wanted us, she’d be here.”
Before he could take more than a few steps, Kaelen swung off his horse in one fluid motion. His hand clamped around Alarik’s arm, the grip firm, teetering on the edge of pain.
“She might’ve made a choice,” Kaelen said, voice low and fervent, eyes burning with conviction. “But I don’t believe it was the right one. I won’t rest until I see her with my own eyes—until I hear it from her lips that shewantsus gone.”
Something inside Alarik snapped, a dam breaking against the tide of that relentless determination. Without thinking, he grabbed his brother by the arms, pivoted sharply, and slammed him against the stone wall with a force that rattled the air between them.
Another man would’ve grimaced, maybe cursed. Kaelen only arched a brow, too calm—dangerously so, as if the state of his bones and muscles were an afterthought. Being Sunborn, he could weather far worse.
“Do you even hear yourself?” Alarik growled, voice trembling with frustration that burned too hot for him to examine closely. His gripremained ironclad, knuckles stark white against his brother’s tunic. “We’ve offered hereverything—time, freedom, every damn thing we have. And still, she chose to walk away.”
Kaelen’s brow furrowed, the flicker of knowing in his golden eyes cutting through Alarik’s haze of anger. With deliberate calm, he raised a hand and pressed his palm to Alarik’s chest—right over his heart, and stilled, just long enough to turn the gesture into a reminder. Then, he pushed, not violently, but the force behind it was enough to dislodge Alarik’s hold and shifted him back.
“Noteverything,” Kaelen said softly, his words carrying more weight than volume.
Alarik froze, tension bleeding from his limbs. The weight of the statement hit him more squarely than the push itself, slicing through his anger.
When he’d agreed to their pact, he had envisioned a simple, distant arrangement. Their father’s vision of them marrying an Omega princess to secure Asadia’s borders and trade routes had seemed sensible, even strategic.
He’d have someone to protect, someone to respect, yes—but also someone he could keep at an arm’s length, never letting her too close. He would do his duty—assist her during her Heat, provide her with his seed, sire her children if she so wished. He would remain true to her and look at no other.
He had never expected more.
Kaelen, though, was born differently. Kaelen always wantedmore. His boundless desire to claim everything life had to offer was as maddening as it was inevitable. But why shouldn’t he shoot for the highest stars, him being who he was?
Alarik let out a sharp exhale, his anger receding as quickly as it had risen, leaving him hollow and spent. The fire was gone, but the ache in his chest remained.
“There is nothing more we can do,” he said, his tone quieter now. The words hung heavy in the space between them. “Let her family reckon with the consequences. If they find her—and if she chooses to return—then we shall see. Until then, chasing shadows across the nine kingdoms is a fool’s errand.”
His gaze flicked toward Kaelen, lingering just long enough to catch the restless set of those shoulders. He could feel the fight simmering beneath his brother’s skin, but he wasn’t about to feed it.
Kaelen’s jaw tightened. “What if you’re wrong?” he demanded, his voice quiet but no less intense. “What if she didn’t choose this? Could you live with yourself?”
He hesitated, just for a moment, but long enough for doubt to slip in. He’d told himself chasing after a woman who’d never belong to him was a mistake he wouldn’t make again. He knew what it was to let someone go, to accept some things were never meant to be.
But a tiny voice spoke inside him, asking him the very question he’d refused to entertain until now:what if this was different?
Aethonia was supposed to be a detour, a quick stop, but its princess had now become more than a passing thought. She lingered beneath his skin, in the spaces between doubt and certainty.She was quietly becoming a storm he hadn’t seen coming, a choice he hadn’t thought he’d have to make.
And the worst part? He wasn’t sure what terrified him more: that Kaelen might be wrong?—
