Celeste POV
Kael's chains break like glass.
He's free.
Damian scrambles backward, his eyes wide with fear. "No, no, no—"
Kael moves faster than thought. One moment he's against the wall. The next, his hand is wrapped around Damian's throat, lifting him off the ground.
"You tried to kill my mate," Kael says, his voice colder than death. "Give me one reason I shouldn't rip your heart out right now."
"Kael, wait!" I grab his arm. His muscles are like steel under my fingers.
He doesn't look at me. His green eyes are fixed on Damian with pure murder in them. "He tried to stab you with a poisoned blade."
"I know. But if you kill him here, the king will use it as a reason to separate us." I squeeze his arm tighter. "Please. Trust me."
For a long moment, Kael doesn't move. Then slowly, he drops Damian to the floor.
Damian gasps for air, clutching his throat.
"You get to live," Kael says quietly. "But touch her again, even look at her wrong, and I'll make you wish the poison had killed you instead."
Guards burst into the dungeon, guns drawn. The king follows behind them, his face tight with anger.
"Seize them both!" he orders, pointing at Kael and Damian.
"Him," I say strongly, pointing only at Damian. "He struck me with a poisoned weapon. Kael was protecting his bonded mate, which is his legal right."
The king's jaw tightens, but he can't fight with the law. " Fine. Arrest Lord Silverfox. As for you two—" He glares at Kael and me. "We're back to the Selection Hall. Now."
When we exit back into the hall, it's chaos.
Nobles are screaming. Parents are fighting. Someone's crying. The imperial woman in purple robes stands on the stage, trying to restore order.
The moment I step through the doors with Kael beside me, everyone goes silent.
Then Father's voice booms across the hall: "CELESTE! What have you DONE?"
He storms toward us, his face red with rage. "You linked with the cursed serpent? Are you insane? Do you have any idea what you've just—"
"Chosen?" I interrupt gently. "Yes, Father. I picked my bonded companion. That's what we're here for, isn't it?"
"You chose WRONG!" Helena shrieks, running over. "That thing will kill you! Every master who picked him died!"
"Then I guess I'll be the first to survive," I say sweetly.
Vivienne laughs—actually laughs—from where she stands with her butterfly shifter. "Oh, Celeste. You've finally done it. You've ruined yourself totally. No one will ever respect you now."
"Good," I say, meeting her eyes. "I never wanted respect from people like you anyway."
Her smile falters.
"Lady Ashford," the royal woman says, stepping forward. "I am Princess Elara of the Royal Court. I must insist you rethink your choice. The snake shifter is—"
"Mine," Kael interrupts, his hand landing possessively on my shoulder. "The tie is sealed. Imperial law says that once a bond forms at a Selection Ceremony, it cannot be undone except by death."
Princess Elara's lips press into a thin line. "There are exceptions—"
"None that apply here," Kael says easily. "Celeste picked me freely. No coercion, no manipulation, no magic effect. The bond is real and binding."
I can feel him through the bond now—his satisfaction at cornering them with their own laws, his protective rage at how they're treating me, and underneath it all, his absolute certainty that I belong to him.
It should scare me. Instead, it feels... safe.
"This is unacceptable!" Father shouts. "I ban this bond! As her father, I have the right to—"
"You have no rights over me anymore," I say softly, but my voice carries through the silent hall. "The moment I bonded with a shifter, I became officially independent. You can't stop me, Father. Not anymore."
His face goes pale. He didn't think of that. Neither did Helena.
But Kael did. I can feel his smugness through the link.
"Smart girl," he whispers in my ear, so quiet only I can hear.
Father opens his mouth, closes it, then storms out of the hall. Helena follows, shooting me a look of pure hate.
Vivienne stays, her smile gone now. She looks... worried. Like she's finally understanding I'm not the weak, stupid sister she can push around anymore.
"Well," Princess Elara says tightly. "Since the bond cannot be broken, you'll both need to register officially and attend the Bonding Ceremony tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" someone gasps. "But bonding ceremonies usually take weeks to prepare!"
"Not for dangerous bonds," Princess Elara says coldly. "We need to ensure the bond is stable before allowing them to leave the palace grounds."
Translation: they want to keep us where they can watch us.
"Fine," I say. "We'll be there."
As the crowd starts to disperse, still whispering and staring, Damian is dragged past us in chains. His golden eyes lock onto mine, filled with rage and something else.
Fear.
He says two words: "She knows."
My blood turns to ice. She knows? Who knows? Knows what?
Before I can ask, the guards pull him away.
Kael's hand tightens on my shoulder. "What was that about?"
"I don't know," I say.
But I'm lying. Because suddenly, a horrible thought comes to me.
What if Vivienne knows about my rebirth? What if she somehow figured out that I remember everything from my first life?
What if that's why she's been acting so strange, so careful around me?
"Celeste?" Kael's voice is worried. "Your fear just spiked through the bond. What's wrong?"
I'm about to answer when a servant rushes up to us, breathless and terrified.
"Lady Celeste! You need to come quickly! It's your father—"
"What about him?" The servant's face is pale. "He's fallen. The doctors think... they think he's been poisoned. " No. Not Father. Not now.
"How long?" I demand.
"They don't know. Could be weeks. Could be days." The servant wrings her hands. "But Lady Helena is already asking for lawyers. She's trying to take control of the Ashford wealth while your father is incapacitated."
Of course she is. She probably poisoned him herself.
Kael's arm wraps around my waist, steadying me. "What do you want to do?"
I take a deep breath. This is it. This is where I start fighting back for real.
"We go home," I say strongly. "And we stop them from stealing what's mine."
But as we walk toward the exit, I catch Vivienne watching us from across the hall. She's smiling again—that cold, calculating smile that makes my skin crawl.
And I understand with sinking dread that Father's collapse wasn't random.
It was planned. Timed perfectly to happen right after my joining, when everyone would be distracted.
They're moving faster than I expected.
Which means whatever they're planning, it's bigger than just stealing my fortune.
They're trying to destroy me totally.
And they're just getting started.