Chapter 18 – The Ash of the Covenant

                When the silence finally settled over the chamber, it felt heavier than the darkness.

                I just lay there, staring at the intricate carvings on the ceiling, winding vines and snarling wolves etched into the dark wood that seemed to pulse with a life of its own in the moonlight.             My breath was shallow and uneven. To be entirely honest, it was the most volcanic experience of my life. I had arrived at the Palace a virgin, guarded and cynical, but this Prince had dismantled every defense I possessed.     

                The mate bond was a treacherous, beautiful lie, it made the violation of my plans feel like a victory. For a fleeting moment, as the adrenaline receded, I simply didn't care about the world outside this bed. The betrayal, the Shaman, and the Secretary’s oily voice temporarily seemed like ghosts from a past life.

                Romani’s arm draped over me, a heavy, possessive weight that claimed my body as his territory. He was wide awake, wearing a smug, satisfied grin as if he had finally cornered a long-elusive prize. He looked like a man who had won a war, unaware that he had only sparked a revolution. To him, I was a conquest, a rare gem finally locked within his vault.

                My mind began to scream through the post-coital haze: This wasn’t the plan. This wasn’t justice.

                This was the moment I had to claw back my sobriety; I had to fight the crushing gravity of the bond before it swallowed my identity whole. Yet Era purred within the depths of my consciousness, content and wearing a haughty triumph. My wolf had been starving for this, conspiring with Romani’s wolf, Slade, to orchestrate this singular explosion of the senses. It was a primal transaction of fur and fated bond, and she was basking in the afterglow.

                But all this had to end. The warmth of the bed was a trap, and the Prince’s embrace was a silken noose.

                I turned my head slowly, meeting Romani’s gaze. His eyes held no apology, only an insufferable certainty. He looked at me as if I were a foregone conclusion.

                “You’re mine, Ana,” he stated plainly. “What we shared was incredible, the best sex I’ve ever had. I’m keeping you, little witch. I’m never letting you go.”

                I wanted to spit back at him, to deny the claim, to remind myself of the vengeance I had sworn under the Solstice moon. But the bond had already begun writing its own script in my marrow. I realized, with a chill that cut deeper than any silver blade, that the war I had prepared was no longer just against Romani. It was against the very cells of my own body.

                I forced my voice to remain steady, though my heart was a frantic bird against my ribs. “You think this bond makes me your property? You think a few hours of passion erases everything I am?”

                Romani’s lips curved into a gloating, unyielding smile. He reached out, trailing a finger along my jawline with a terrifyingly gentle touch.

                “It doesn’t erase you, Ana. It completes you. Era knows it. You know it. Stop fighting a destiny that was decided before you were born.”

                Era stirred uneasily at his words. That specific tone of male dominance was precisely what she abhorred, yet she was the one who had led me into his arms. I resolutely pressed her down, locking her in a mental cage. After her stunt today, she was no longer a trusted advisor, she was a liability.

                “No,” I said, my voice gaining a sharp, crystalline edge. “You’ve mistaken the urge of the pull for destiny. You’ve mistaken possession for entitlement. You speak of destiny while you hide the rot beneath your crown.”

His brow furrowed, his grip on my arm tightening slightly. “Ana—”

                “Do you really think I remained deaf to your schemes?” I cut him off, my words coming out like slivers of ice hitting a frozen lake. “That I didn't hear the plan to breed me with your Secretary, Eric? You intended to turn me into a living vein, selling my hybrid pups to the highest bidders just to gorge yourselves on stolen power? You underestimated me, my Prince. The witch in me was awake while you thought I was merely a wandering wolf. I heard the truth from your own lips and Eric’s.”

                He leaned closer, a flicker of genuine confusion or perhaps very skilled acting, crossing his features. He looked truly baffled, as if I were speaking a language he hadn't learned.

                “What are you talking about, Ana? We are mates. If you hadn't vanished for three days, we would already be officially recognized as the Crown Prince and Princess. The process is already in motion. Don't let paranoia ruin the bond.”

I let out a cold, hollow chuckle that lacked even a spark of humor.

                “Your mate? The Crown Princess? I never aspired to those titles, Romani. I fled an Alpha in the north who was no better than you, a man consumed by greed and a lust for power. I outran a Shaman’s traps, but I let the mate bond trip me up. I let you down me. But make no mistake: I will challenge this bond until it snaps like a brittle twig. I am leaving this cage. You can have your Elara, the perfect, pure-blooded Queen your father desires. I’m out.”

                I surged upward, attempting to twist out of the silk sheets, the cool air hitting my bare skin like a slap.

But Romani’s hand shot out like a predator’s strike. He seized my arm and yanked me back toward him. I fell half over his naked torso, our skin meeting in a heat that should have been intoxicating but now felt like a brand. Luckily, this time Era didn't succumb. She was finally awake to the danger, her pride overcoming her lust. She felt the weight of his leash, and she bared her fangs in defiance.

                “You are not going anywhere,” Romani growled, his Lycan aura beginning to leak into the room, heavy and suffocating. “When I say you stay, you stay. I am your mate, and I am entitled to you. No more games, Ana. You will behave.”

                The authority he tried to project didn't move me.

                As his fated mate, he had no inherent sovereignty over my soul, in the eyes of the old laws, we were equals. He was trying to rule a woman who was born to be free, a she-wolf with the blood of witches running through her veins.

                “You really think so? Watch me, Prince.”

                I inhaled a deep, steadying breath, summoning the cold fire of my lineage. I took his hand, locking my fingers with his, and felt the magic begin to surge from the soles of my feet to the tips of my fingers.