CHAPTER FOUR - BEFORE THE STORM

The ceremony was set for midnight.

Which meant Selene had approximately eight hours to have a complete mental breakdown, and she was determined to make the most of it.

Kira had dragged her to what she called the “training grounds” … a massive courtyard where wolves sparred in both human and shifted forms, their bodies colliding with enough force to crack stone. The sound was brutal: snarls, thuds, the wet crunch of bone meeting bone.

“This is supposed to help?” Selene asked, watching two massive wolves circle each other, teeth bared.

“Distraction,” Kira said cheerfully, perched on a stone wall and eating an apple like they were at a casual sporting event. “Plus, you should see what you’re dealing with. Dorian’s wolf is bigger than all of these. And meaner. And hotter, if you’re into the whole feral murder puppy thing.”

“I’m really not.”

“Liar.” Kira’s grin was wicked. “I saw how you looked at him this morning. All ‘oh no, he’s broody and damaged and unfairly attractive, whatever shall I do?’”

Selene’s face heated. “I did not”

“You totally did. It’s fine. Everyone looks at Dorian like that. Well, everyone except the people who are terrified of him. Which is also everyone.” She took another bite of apple. “He’s complicated.”

“He’s an asshole.”

“True. But like, a tragic asshole. There’s a difference.”

Before Selene could respond, a commotion erupted across the courtyard. The wolves stopped mid-fight, heads turning in unison. The air shifted heavier, charged with a pressure that made Selene’s bones ache.

Dorian had entered the grounds.

He wasn’t doing anything dramatic. Just walking. But somehow, that was enough. Wolves moved out of his path without him saying a word. Even the ones in full shift lowered their heads, a gesture of submission so instinctive it looked like breathing.

He was shirtless.

Selene’s brain short-circuited for a second.

Okay, listen. She was only human (mostly). And Dorian Veyrath was built like some kind of ancient war god who’d been carved from marble and bad decisions. His chest was all hard planes and defined muscle, marked with scars that told stories she didn’t want to know. But it was the tattoos that caught her attention thick black lines that wrapped around his ribs and shoulders, forming patterns that looked almost like… chains.

“Those aren’t decorative,” Kira said, following her gaze. “They’re binding marks. Every Veyrath heir gets them when they come of age. They’re supposed to help control the beast.” She paused. “They don’t work very well.”

Dorian’s eyes found Selene across the courtyard.

The mark on her back ignited.

She gasped, hand flying to her shoulder blade. It felt like someone had pressed a hot brand directly against her spine. The pain was sharp, immediate, and deeply wrong like her body was being rewritten from the inside out.

Kira jumped down from the wall. “Shit. The bond’s getting stronger. It knows the ceremony’s coming.”

“Fantastic,” Selene gritted out. “Love that for me.”

Dorian was moving toward them now, his expression unreadable. Wolves scattered like he was a stone thrown into still water.

When he reached them, he didn’t say anything. Just stared at Selene with those molten gold eyes, and she had the deeply unsettling feeling that he could see straight through her every thought, every fear, every traitorous flutter of attraction she absolutely did not want to be feeling.

“You’re in pain,” he said. Not exactly a question.

“I’m fine.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“Then don’t ask questions you already know the answer to.”

His jaw ticked. Behind him, a few wolves had stopped pretending not to watch. This was apparently better than whatever fight they’d been having.

“You shouldn’t be out here,” Dorian said, his voice low. “You need to rest before tonight.”

“I’m not tired.”

“You’re terrified.”

Selene’s spine straightened. “Excuse me?”

“I can feel it.” He took a step closer, and suddenly the space between them felt too small, too warm. “Through the bond. Your fear. Your anger. It’s…” He paused, something flickering behind his eyes. “Loud.”

Oh, that was not fair.

“Get out of my head,” she snapped.

“I’m not in your head. Not yet.” His voice dropped lower, almost a growl. “But tonight, after the ceremony? There’ll be nowhere you can hide from me. Every thought, every feeling…I’ll know all of it.”

Selene’s heart hammered. “Then I guess I’ll just have to think really boring thoughts…. you know”

“It won’t work.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I know,” he said quietly, “because I’ve been fighting this bond since the moment it chose you. And I’m losing.”

The courtyard had gone silent. Every wolf was watching now, not even pretending otherwise.

Selene swallowed hard. “Maybe you’re not fighting hard enough.”

Something dangerous flashed in Dorian’s eyes. “Be careful what you wish for.”

Then he turned and walked away, his departure somehow more devastating than his arrival.

Kira let out a low whistle. “Okay, that was intense. You two are like, one argument away from either killing each other or-”

“Don’t,” Selene warned.

“-aggressively making out against a wall. I’m just saying, the tension is chef’s kiss.”

“I’m going back to my room.”

“Running away?”

“Strategically retreating.”

Kira laughed, but she didn’t follow. Which was good, because Selene needed to be alone. Needed to think. Needed to figure out how the hell she was going to survive tonight without losing every piece of herself that mattered.

The walk back to her room felt longer than it should have. The corridors twisted and turned, and more than once she could’ve sworn the walls moved, rearranging themselves just to mess with her.

Finally, she reached her door and found someone waiting.

A man she didn’t recognize.

He was tall, lean, with dark hair and eyes that gleamed silver instead of gold. He wore black from head to toe, and there was something about the way he held himself loose, relaxed, dangerous that made every instinct Selene had scream threat.

“Selene Duskbane,” he said, his voice smooth as silk. “I was hoping we’d get a chance to talk.”

“Who are you?”

“Silas.” He smiled, and it didn’t reach his eyes. “Dorian’s brother.”

Oh. Oh.

“He’s never mentioned you,” Selene said carefully.

“No,” Silas agreed. “He wouldn’t. We’re not exactly close.” He tilted his head, studying her like she was a puzzle he was trying to solve. “You’re different from the others.”

“So I keep hearing.”

“The last one Lyanna she was weak. Soft. She wanted to be loved.” His smile sharpened. “You don’t want that, do you?”

Selene’s skin prickled. “What do you want?”

“To give you some advice.” He took a step closer, and Selene forced herself not to back away. “Tonight, when the bond takes hold? Don’t fight it.”

“Thalia said-”

“Thalia’s a healer. She doesn’t understand what the bond really is.” Silas’s eyes glinted. “If you fight, you’ll break. The bond will shatter you, piece by piece, until there’s nothing left. But if you submit if you let Dorian’s wolf claim you fully you might actually survive.”

Everything in Selene recoiled. “Submit.”

“It’s not as bad as it sounds.”

“It sounds like losing.”

Silas laughed, low and cold. “You’re going to die anyway. At least this way, you’ll die whole.”

“Get away from her.”

Dorian’s voice cracked through the air like a whip.

He was suddenly there, moving faster than should’ve been possible, putting himself between Selene and Silas. His whole body vibrated with barely contained violence.

“I was just introducing myself,” Silas said mildly.

“You were giving her bad advice.” Dorian’s voice was pure Alpha command dark, absolute, laced with the kind of power that made Selene’s knees weak. “She’s mine, Silas. If you go near her again, I’ll rip your throat out.”

“How territorial.” But Silas stepped back, hands raised in mock surrender. “I’ll leave you two to your… bonding.” He shot Selene one last look. “Think about what I said.”

Then he was gone, disappearing down the corridor like smoke.

Dorian turned to face her, and Selene had never seen him this angry. His eyes were fully gold now, his wolf riding just beneath the surface.

“What did he say to you?” Dorian demanded.

“That I should submit.” Selene crossed her arms. “That fighting will break me.”

“He’s wrong.”

“Is he?”

Dorian’s hands clenched into fists. “Silas wants me to fail. He’s wanted it since the day our father named me heir. If you submit, if you lose yourself, then I’ll lose my humanity too. That’s what the curse does it feeds on weakness.”

“So what am I supposed to do?” Selene’s voice cracked, just a little. “Everyone keeps telling me to fight, but no one’s telling me how.”

For a moment, Dorian just looked at her. Then he reached out, his hand hovering near her face but not quite touching.

“You hold onto the thing that matters most,” he said quietly. “The reason you’re here. For you, that’s your family. When the bond tries to drown you, when my wolf tries to break you, you remember them. You hold onto that love like it’s the only real thing in the world. Because it is.”

Selene’s throat tightened. “And what do you hold onto?”

Something raw and broken flickered across his face. “Nothing,” he said. “I have nothing left.”

He turned away, but Selene caught his wrist.

“Wait.”

He froze.

“Tonight,” she said, her voice steadier than she felt. “If your wolf tries to hurt me really hurt me will you stop him?”

Dorian looked down at her hand on his wrist, then back up to her face. “I don’t know,” he said honestly. “I’ve never been able to before.”

It wasn’t the answer she wanted. But it was the truth.

“Then I’ll stop him myself,” Selene said.

Dorian’s eyes widened, just slightly. Then, for the first time since they’d met, he smiled. It was small, barely there, and sad in a way that made her chest ache.

“You really are different,” he murmured.

Then he gently pulled his wrist free and walked away, leaving Selene alone in the corridor with her racing heart and the growing certainty that tonight was going to change everything.