Evelyn froze at the sight of Lady Selene seated in her chamber. The rival's beauty was undeniable, sleek midnight hair falling in waves, crimson silk clinging to every curve, lips stained the color of blood. Her eyes glowed with the sharp, cold cunning of a wolf used to getting what she wanted.
"Forgive my intrusion," Selene purred, rising with fluid grace. "Your door was open."
Evelyn's throat tightened. "You mean forced open."
Selene's smile sharpened. "Clever. But not clever enough. You don't belong here, little doe. This fortress… this court… this King. They are wolves, and you are prey."
Her words stung, but Evelyn refused to flinch. She met Selene's gaze, steady. "If I'm prey, then why are you here? Wolves don't waste their time warning prey. They hunt them."
For a heartbeat, Selene's eyes flashed. Then she laughed, a low, mocking sound. "Oh, you have spirit. No wonder he's amused by you. But don't mistake his fascination for permanence. Men like him burn through delicate things. And when he tires of you, it will be me he turns back to."
Her words twisted like knives. Evelyn had seen the hunger in Darius's eyes, but she had also seen something else, a flicker of restraint, of control. Selene's venom threatened to smother that fragile spark.
Before she could reply, a shadow filled the doorway.
"Enough."
Darius's voice cut through the room like steel. His golden eyes blazed, fixed on Selene. She bowed low, but her smirk lingered.
"My King," she murmured, "I only wished to… acquaint myself with your guest."
"She is no guest," Darius growled. "She is mine."
The words sent heat rushing through Evelyn's veins. Selene's smirk faltered, her lips thinning before she curtsied. "As you command."
With a swish of crimson silk, she swept from the chamber, her perfume lingering like poison.
Evelyn's chest heaved, with anger and confusion battling inside her. "You can't just say that. I'm not yours."
Darius turned his gaze on her, burning, unyielding. "The bond says otherwise."
"It's a chain," she snapped. "You keep calling it fate, but all I feel is trapped!"
He moved before she could blink, closing the distance until his shadow swallowed hers. His hand braced against the wall beside her head, his other curling under her chin.
"Trapped?" His voice was a dangerous whisper. "Then why does your pulse race when I'm near? Why do your eyes search for me, even when you wish they wouldn't?"
Her breath caught. Damn him, he was right. The bond sang whenever he was close, pulling her toward him like a flame to tinder. She wanted to deny it, to push him away, but his presence wrapped around her like smoke and heat.
"You're wrong," she whispered, though her voice trembled.
His lips curved, wolfish. "Am I?"
The tension coiled, tighter, hotter. For a heartbeat, she thought he might kiss her, and her body betrayed her, leaning closer, craving it.
Then he stepped back, leaving her breathless, her knees weak.
"Rest," he said again, though his voice was rougher this time. Tomorrow, the court will see the bond's strength. And so will you.
Evelyn sank against the wall, furious at herself. Furious at him. Furious at the way her heart ached when he walked away.
But sleep brought no peace. Whispers haunted her dreams, rebellion, betrayal, blood on moonlight.
And when she woke in the middle of the night, drawn to the balcony by an unexplainable pull, she saw him below in the courtyard.
The Alpha King stood bare-chested under the moon, his body a sculpted shadow. His head tilted back, golden eyes burning. And then, with a roar that shook the walls, his form tore apart.
The bone cracked. Muscles shifted. Fur spilled over the skin.
In the blink of an eye, the man was gone.
And in his place stood the largest wolf Evelyn had ever seen, midnight black, his coat shimmering under the moon, his eyes still burning gold.
Her breath caught, terror and awe tangling inside her chest.
For the first time, she understood the true meaning of the bond.
She wasn't bound to a man.
She was bound to a monster.
Selene did not leave without a final wound. At the threshold, she turned, her gaze sliding towards Evelyn like a blade.
"You should be careful, little doe. Wolves who think they can stand beside kings often end up devoured first."
The words clung to the air long after she swept out. Evelyn pressed her nails into her palms to keep from trembling.
When the door clicked shut, the silence between her and Darius thickened. He hadn't moved, still a looming wall of shadow and command. His eyes burned into her, daring her to say she wasn't his.
And she did. Because she had to.
"You don't own me," she whispered.
Something in his jaw tightened. "And yet the bond says otherwise."
Her chest burned with fury. "The bond isn't love. It's chains. You keep pulling me toward you, and I… I hate it. I hate that I can't breathe without feeling you in my veins."
He moved in a blur, faster than her breath. His hand slammed against the wall near her head, trapping her. His scent enveloped her dark pine, smoke, the faintest hint of blood.
"You think I asked for this?" His voice was a low snarl. "You think I wanted fate to give me a defiant slip of a girl who flinches at my touch, who looks at me like I am both fire and the pyre that will consume her?"
Her pulse thundered, her heart betraying her even as her words sharpened. "Then reject me."
Silence.
The word hung between them like a blade.
His hand caught her chin, forcing her to meet his golden gaze. "I. Cannot." The words were carved with something deeper than rage, something raw, something that shook her. "And neither can you."
She tried to wrench her free, but his hold wasn't cruel. It was possessive, magnetic. Her wolf stirred beneath her skin, whining with recognition.
He leaned closer, his lips brushing the shell of her ear. "You will learn, Evelyn. The bond is not a chain. It is fire. And fire either warms… or it burns."
When he pulled back, her knees nearly gave out.
That night, Evelyn wandered the halls, Selene's venom hissing in her skull. Every servant's eyes seemed to follow her, some with pity, others with contempt. She was an intruder in this world, a lamb in the wolves' den.
Near the kitchens, she overheard whispers.
"… the council grows restless…"
"… if Selene gains more favor, she may rally support…"
"… the Alpha grows weak, distracted by a mate who doesn't belong…"
The words chilled her. Selene was no simple rival in love. She was a threat to the King himself.
Later, restless, she found herself on the balcony. The moon hung heavy and full, silver spilling across the courtyard. And there standing beneath it was Darius.
His bare skin gleamed under the light, every muscle carved in shadow and silver. His chest rose and fell in a steady, powerful rhythm. For once, he didn't look like a king or a monster. He looked like a man standing alone against a world that demanded too much of him.
But then the shift began.
The bone cracked. Muscles twisted. His body bent and reformed in ways that defied nature. She should have screamed, but awe strangled her voice. Fur spilled across his skin, black as midnight, until the man she knew was gone.
In his place, the wolf stood.
Massive. Regal. Terrifying. Beautiful.
His golden eyes lifted to the balcony and found hers.
The bond surged, stronger than ever, slamming through her veins until her body shook with it. It wasn't fear. It wasn't even an attraction.
It was recognition.
She belonged to this beast.
And that truth, more than Selene's threats or the court's whispers, terrified her most of all.
The courtyard held only silence after the roar faded. The massive wolf stood tall beneath the moon, his fur gleaming like liquid night. Evelyn's hands gripped the stone balcony, so tightly her knuckles whitened, breath ragged in her throat.
His gaze never wavered. Those golden eyes, bright and merciless, pinned her as surely as his hands ever had.
She should have run. She should have hidden.
But she couldn't move.
Her body swayed forward, helpless, as if the bond itself was a thread pulling her closer. A connection not of choice, but of destiny, one that tied her not to a man, but to the beast that ruled him.
For the first time, Evelyn truly understood what Selene had meant.
To be chosen by the Alpha King was no gift.
It was to be claimed by the monster that haunted the dark.
And as his head lifted toward her, a growl reverberating from deep in his chest, Evelyn knew her life would never again belong to her.
It belonged to him.
The Alpha King.
The wolf.
The monster.
Her mate.