Aurelia did not sleep.
Not after Draven's interruption on the balcony.
Not after Kael's warning.
Not after feeling the bond flare in her chest like a star waking inside her ribs.
The castle felt alive around her, restless with whispers and shifting shadows. Something in the air hummed against her skin, the Moonfire pushing awake again, sharper than before.
It was difficult to tell whether it was fear or anticipation that kept her eyes open.
A soft knock sounded at her door.
Not loud.
Not urgent.
More like someone asking permission to enter her silence.
Aurelia pulled the cloak Kael had left her around her shoulders and opened the door only halfway.
Lucian stood there, hands behind his back, dark hair falling into his eyes, robe slightly open at the collar as if he had been reading near a fire and forgot the hour entirely.
He smiled softly, the kind of smile that made her guard waver without her permission.
"I hoped you were awake," he said.
Aurelia swallowed. "Why?"
Lucian stepped back a little, giving her space, as if showing he meant no threat. "Because your energy shifted again. I felt it from the east tower."
She frowned. "What does that mean?"
"It means…" Lucian hesitated, biting his lower lip as he studied her face. "It means the bond within you is evolving faster than expected."
Aurelia looked down. "Is that dangerous?"
"For us," Lucian murmured, "very."
He extended his hand, palm up. Not demanding. Not coaxing. Simply offering.
"Walk with me. I want to ask you something important, and Kael would kill me if I asked in front of the others."
Aurelia hesitated only a heartbeat before placing her hand in his.
His fingers closed around hers gently, but the moment they touched, her pulse jumped, lightning-fast. Lucian inhaled sharply through his teeth.
"I knew it," he whispered. "Your energy is humming."
"Humming?" she echoed.
He nodded, still holding her hand as if he feared letting go too quickly might startle her. "Like something inside you is trying to speak. The Moonfire is choosing its first direction."
Aurelia stiffened. "Does that mean… choosing one of you?"
Lucian did not answer immediately.
Instead, he guided her through the corridor, past flickering torches that cast molten shadows along the stone walls. The castle seemed to lean closer, listening.
They stopped before a heavy wooden door carved with ancient runes.
Lucian pushed it open.
Inside was a circular room filled with floating blue flames, books stacked in spirals, and crystals that pulsed with soft light. It smelled of old paper, ink, and storm-charged magic.
Aurelia's breath caught. "This is your study."
Lucian looked at her with a warmth that melted easily into something deeper. "This is the safest place in the castle. And the only place where the Moonfire can be studied without interference."
He approached a floating crystal the size of a fist and touched its surface. The flame inside brightened, pulsing in time with her heartbeat.
Lucian turned to her slowly.
"Aurelia," he said softly, "I need to ask you something. And I need you to answer honestly."
Her stomach tightened. "What is it?"
Lucian stepped closer, eyes glowing faintly from the reflection of the blue fire. He reached out, almost touching her face but stopping just short of her skin.
"When Kael was close to you earlier… when the pull rose… did you feel it only toward him?"
Aurelia's breath stalled.
She remembered Kael's nearness, his voice rough with restraint, the heat of his warning, the way her knees nearly gave out when he touched her elbow.
But she also remembered Draven's voice calling her little flame, the hunger in his amber eyes.
And now Lucian.
Lucian who stood so close the space between them felt charged.
Aurelia forced herself to meet his gaze.
"No," she whispered. "It wasn't only Kael."
Lucian's shoulders sagged as if he finally got an answer he had been afraid to hope for.
"Good," he murmured. "That means your bond is not choosing quickly. We still have time before anything becomes permanent."
Aurelia's pulse kicked faster.
"Permanent? What becomes permanent?"
Lucian circled her slowly, studying her with the focus of someone examining a rare, powerful artifact. But his eyes softened whenever they met hers.
"The first bond," he said quietly. "Whoever you feel the strongest pull toward will leave a mark. One that the others will feel the moment it forms."
Aurelia shivered. "And if I choose wrong?"
Lucian stopped behind her. She could feel his breath against her neck though he didn't touch her.
"There is no wrong," he said gently. "There is only the one who matches your fire first."
Aurelia turned her head slightly.
"And you? What do you feel?"
Lucian's voice dropped to something dangerously soft.
"Every time you walk into a room, it is like the air rearranges itself around you."
"Every time you choose someone else to look at, something inside me pulls tight."
"And when you touched my hand just now, my magic reacted before I could stop it."
Warmth brushed the back of her neck.
Magic. Not breath.
Yet her skin prickled as if touched.
Aurelia's heartbeat fluttered.
"Lucian…" she whispered.
He moved to face her again, eyes glowing with unspoken questions.
"That is what I wanted to ask," he said, voice trembling almost imperceptibly. "Do you feel anything when I stand close to you?"
Aurelia stepped closer, unable to stop herself. The air between them thinned. Lucian inhaled sharply, his control wavering.
She lifted a hand to his chest. Not touching. Only hovering.
"Yes," she said softly. "I feel something."
Lucian closed his eyes for a moment as if steadying himself.
When he opened them again, they glowed brighter.
"I want to test it," he whispered. "Only if you agree."
"What kind of test?"
"A harmless one. A magical one. I need to know if your bond reacts to me the same way it reacted to Kael."
Aurelia nodded slowly. "How do we test it?"
Lucian reached toward her cheek.
Not touching.
Just near enough for her skin to warm under his palm.
"If I move closer," he murmured, "your heartbeat will tell me before you say a single word."
Aurelia swallowed hard. "And if it reacts?"
Lucian's voice fell to something low and aching.
"Then it means I am not as far from your fire as Kael thinks."
A spark jumped between their skin. Aurelia gasped softly.
The flames in the room flared brighter.
Lucian's eyes widened.
"There it is," he breathed. "Your energy just reached for mine."
Aurelia stepped back instinctively, heart racing.
Lucian didn't chase her.
He simply watched her with a wonder that bordered on reverence.
"You are getting stronger," he whispered. "And the princes are not ready for what you are becoming."
Aurelia wrapped her arms around herself. "What exactly am I becoming?"
Lucian stepped closer, slowly, carefully, as if approaching something sacred.
"The girl the Moonfire chooses to bind four wolves," he said. "The heart of a prophecy older than this kingdom."
Aurelia tried to steady her breathing. "And what do I do with that?"
Lucian touched the crystal again. It glowed with her heartbeat.
"You survive us," he answered softly.
"And we survive you."
Before Aurelia could question him further, the door slammed open.
Draven leaned against the frame, eyes burning gold, expression dark and hungry.
"There you are," he said, voice deep with something dangerous. "I could feel your heartbeat from three halls away, little flame."
Lucian stiffened.
Aurelia's pulse spiked.
Draven smirked.
"Good," he said. "It means this is getting interesting."
Aurelia realized something with a shiver.
The first bond was coming.
And none of them were prepared.
---
Aurelia's breath tangled in her chest as Draven stepped into the room, his presence heavy with heat and unrestrained hunger. Lucian moved slightly in front of her, subtle but protective, the blue flames reflecting sharply in his violet eyes.
The two princes stared at each other like wolves circling a spark they both wanted to claim.
Aurelia could feel the energy tightening between them, sharp and electric.
Before anything could erupt, a soft voice echoed from the doorway.
"Aurelia."
Rowan stood there, chest rising and falling a little too quickly, his usual calm shattered by something she didn't understand. His blue eyes flicked from Lucian to Draven, then landed on her with a tenderness that hit her harder than the tension in the room.
"I need her," Rowan said quietly. "Now."
Draven's jaw flexed, Lucian's eyes narrowed, but neither stopped him.
Rowan extended his hand toward her.
"Aurelia… something is happening downstairs. Something you should see."
Her pulse tripped.
Because the moment Rowan spoke, the Moonfire inside her stirred again, softer this time, but impossibly warm. It pulled her toward him like a gentle tide.
Lucian exhaled sharply.
Draven's smirk faded.
Rwan's voice trembled as he whispered her name again.
And Aurelia realized something terrifying.
The pull she felt toward Kael was sharp and consuming.
The pull toward Lucian was electric and curious.
The pull toward Draven was dark and dangerous.
But the pull toward Rowan…
Was something she didn't have a name for yet.
She stepped toward him.
And the entire castle seemed to hold its breath.