When Lucian returned, the guards on the stairway dropped to one knee without a sound.
He walked past them without looking.
His cloak still smelled faintly of blood and smoke and something sweeter, something that refused to leave his senses. Aeris. But he didn't think of her. He refused to.
He entered the great hall, where his Beta, a tall, scarred Lycan named Varian, waited with his head bowed, a scroll in hand and unease in his eyes.
"My lord," Varian began carefully. "Your father, he's begun arrangements. The council has approved a marriage between you and Lady Eve of the Northern Pack. He believes such an alliance would..."
Lucian raised a hand, and the words died instantly. "My father believes many things," he said, his tone flat, unreadable. "None of them have ever mattered."
"But this is different," Varian pressed, voice low. "The girl is pure blood Lycan. The court sees it as reconciliation. A show of unity. They think it will make you..."
"Human?" Lucian's voice darkened. The torches flickered. "I stopped pretending centuries ago." Varian's throat tightened.
He bowed deeper. "Forgive me, my lord. I meant no..." Lucian turned away, his gaze fixed on the dark windows. Outside, thunder rolled. Inside, silence stretched like a blade between them.
He didn't care for marriage. He didn't care for politics.
If his father wanted to parade him like a tamed beast, so be it.
He'd stood in blood before kings, what was one more ceremony to endure?
But elsewhere in the same palace, another figure moved like shadow among servants. His brother. Cassian. Born first, strong, cunning and burning with a hatred that time never cooled.
A hybrid, not as powerful as Lucian but close enough to think about rivalling him. Cassian doesn't care about if Lucian becomes a human or not, in his eyes, the marriage with the strongest Lycan pack will make his brother stronger and he won't let that happen.
When Aeris opened her eyes, the dungeon was gone.
In it's place was warmth, perfume, and hands. Too many hands. Silken fabric brushed her skin as maids circled her like ghosts, silent but trembling.
Their eyes darted toward the door every few seconds. She didn't know where she was. Only that the chains had been replaced by a silver gown heavy enough to crush her.
Her hair was braided with cold gems. Her wrists still bore the faint scars of iron.
"Why, what are you doing?" Her voice cracked. No one answered. One of the maids, older, whispered just once "Do what they say, child. It's the only way to keep your heart beating tonight." Then the doors opened. And she was led out.
The great hall was alive. Torches burned blue. The music was low and strange, strings played by pale creatures whose eyes gleamed like wet glass.
The crowd was a storm of fangs and claws hidden beneath velvet. Vampires drank from golden cups while Lycans laughed too loudly, their laughter edged with threat. And at the center of it all stood him. Lucian.
The moment she saw him, her knees almost gave out. He was dressed in black, the kind that seemed woven from shadow itself. A crown sat carelessly on his head, a cruel mockery of royalty.
His eyes found her instantly. Recognition hit like lightning. The air around him darkened, a small, silent storm. Aeris breath hitched. But she couldn't run. Not here.
Behind her, a figure stood smiling, Cassian. Lucian's brother. The same one who'd dragged her from the dungeons before sunrise with a whisper and a blade at her throat. "Do exactly as I say," he'd hissed. "Or I'll have them feed you to him before dawn."
Cassian's grin widened from the crowd. Aeris's throat tightened. And Lucian, Lucian smiled, slow and deliberate, like a wolf tasting the scent of a trap and choosing to step inside anyway.
If this was his brother's game, he would play it. Lucian's hand didn't let go. His mind was already moving, slow and precise, like a predator circling prey.
If this was what fate brought him, he would see how far it could burn. If this girl was meant to destroy him, he would let her try.
He leaned close, his voice a whisper against her ear as the priest finished the vow, "Smile, little mortal. You just married a monster."
And when he kissed her, the hall erupted in applause, but all she could taste was the edge of danger, sharp as a blade's kiss.