The third shadow stepped into the barn just as the thunder cracked overhead.
Water streamed off a long, dark cloak. The hood was still up, hiding the face, but the way he moved (slow, deliberate, like a predator who already knew the prey had nowhere left to run) told me everything. Another prince. Another Alpha. Another piece of the storm that was suddenly my life.
Caleb straightened at once, body shifting to shield me without thinking. His hand dropped to the hilt of the sword he still wore under the cloak. The air inside the barn turned sharp, electric, even before the lightning flashed again.
The newcomer pushed the hood back.
Prince Damon.
Fourth-born. The one the court called the Shadow Prince. Not because he was cruel (the stories never accused him of cruelty), but because no one ever saw him coming. He commanded the king's spies, the silent knives, the letters that arrived with black seals and made lords go pale. His hair was black as wet ink, eyes a cold, unnatural silver that caught the little light and threw it back like a blade. He was leaner than Caleb, almost too thin for an Alpha, but every line of him looked carved from night itself.
He didn't speak at first. He simply looked at me.
Not through me. At me.
As if he had already peeled away every layer I thought I had and was reading the raw pages underneath.
Caleb's voice cut the silence like iron. "You're a long way from your towers, little brother."
Damon's gaze flicked to him, unreadable. "So are you, general." A pause. "So is Aiden, I hear."
The name hung heavy. Caleb's shoulders tensed. My stomach twisted.
Damon took one step inside, letting the door swing shut behind him. Rain kept hammering the roof, sealing the three of us in this small wooden world.
"I felt it four nights ago," Damon said quietly, eyes coming back to me. "A shift. Like a string pulled tight inside my chest and someone started walking away with the other end." His voice was soft, almost gentle, but it made the hairs on my arms stand up. "I thought I was going mad. Then Blake rode in at dawn, half-wild, muttering about a village Omega who smelled like sin and salvation. Aiden hasn't been to council in two days. Caleb vanishes from the northern border without leave." He tilted his head. "Three princes lose their minds in less than a week. That kind of coincidence interests me."
He took another step. Caleb growled low, a real warning this time.
Damon stopped. Raised both hands, palms open. "I'm not here to fight. Not tonight."
"Then why are you here?" I asked. My voice cracked on the last word, but I was proud it came out at all.
Damon looked at me for a long moment. Something flickered behind the silver (something almost human).
"Because I wanted to see if you were afraid," he said at last. "Most people are, when they meet me. And you…" He exhaled, slow. "You should be terrified right now. Three Alphas in one barn. Storm cutting off the world. No one for miles who would hear you scream." He paused. "But you're not."
I wasn't.
I was shaking, yes. Heart trying to climb out of my throat. But not from fear of them hurting me. It was bigger than that. Like standing at the edge of a cliff and realizing you might want to jump.
Damon's mouth curved (not quite a smile, more the ghost of one). "That's what makes you dangerous, Nalia."
Caleb shifted, putting himself slightly more between us. "Say what you came to say and leave."
Damon ignored him. He kept looking at me. "Do you know what you are?"
I shook my head.
He reached inside his cloak (slowly, carefully) and drew out a small leather tube. From it he slid a single sheet of old parchment. Even in the dim light I could see the ink was faded, the edges burned.
"I stole this from the restricted archives two nights ago," he said. "A record from four hundred years ago. An Omega born in a time of war between the eleven great houses. His scent alone could calm rut-crazed Alphas or drive them to slaughter. Armies followed him without question. Kings knelt. They called him the Heartbinder." Damon's silver eyes never left mine. "The last line of the record says: When the realm is fractured, he will come again, low-born, unmarked, carrying summer in his veins. Ten Alphas of the same blood will break or bind the kingdom around him."
Silence. Only the rain.
Caleb's voice was hoarse. "That's a fairy tale."
"It was classified as prophecy," Damon answered. "Sealed by the royal mage-bloods. Hidden for centuries." He held the parchment out toward me. I didn't take it. "I don't know if you're him, Nalia. But three princes have already lost their minds. Seven more still sleep in the palace, unaware. When they wake up to this…" He let the sentence hang.
I found my voice. "I didn't ask for any of this."
Damon's almost-smile returned, sadder this time. "None of us did."
Lightning flashed again. In that white instant I saw all three of us clearly: Caleb, rigid with protective fury; Damon, still as a drawn blade; me, small and soaked and trembling between them.
Damon rolled the parchment, slid it away. "I won't touch you tonight," he said softly. "Not because I don't want to (gods know I do), but because I want you to choose. When you're ready. When you understand what's coming."
He turned toward the door. Paused.
"One more thing," he said without looking back. "Aiden is drafting an order to bring you to the palace as a 'personal guest.' Blake is preparing to kidnap you before that order is signed. Caleb will probably try to hide you in the northern legions." A faint, tired laugh. "We're already tearing ourselves apart, and you've done nothing but exist."
He opened the door. Rain lashed in.
"Whatever you decide, little Heartbinder… decide soon. Because the storm outside is nothing compared to the one following your scent."
He stepped into the darkness and was gone.
Caleb let out a long, shaky breath. He turned to me, eyes wild. "We ride north tonight. My men will protect you."
I stared at the empty doorway where Damon had vanished.
Ten Alphas of the same blood.
Ten princes.
My knees finally gave out. I sank into the hay, soaked to the bone, heart pounding so hard I could barely hear the thunder anymore.
From somewhere deeper in the woods, very far away, a wolf howled, long and mournful, like it already knew the ending.
And under the roar of the storm, I swear I heard more hooves approaching.