Chapter 7

The castle’s moonlit corridors had a way of swallowing sound, and tonight, they seemed to swallow my thoughts too.

I had been pacing in my chambers, replaying Kael’s words from earlier like a song I couldn’t turn off. “Too bright for shadows like this.” Flattering, sure. Confusing? Absolutely. And maybe—just maybe—it had lit something reckless in me.

But before I could dwell on the warmth in my chest, there was a knock at my door. Not a hesitant, polite knock—more of a you’re going to open this door now kind of knock.

I already knew who it was.

Lucien didn’t wait for my invitation. He stepped inside, all sharp edges and colder-than-midnight elegance, closing the door behind him with a soft click.

“Is there a reason you’re wandering the castle at this hour?” I asked, trying to sound casual, though my pulse quickened.

His eyes—those molten gold flecked with crimson—met mine with unnerving steadiness. “You’ve been… distracted.”

I arched a brow. “By?”

He stepped closer, and I caught the faintest trace of something—spiced wine and frost. “The Alpha,” he said, his voice low. “You’ve been speaking to him. Laughing with him.”

My lips twitched. “Is that jealousy I hear, Your Highness?”

Lucien didn’t smile. “Jealousy is for mortals. I’m concerned.”

I crossed my arms. “Concerned for me or for your political alliances?”

He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he stepped close enough that I had to tilt my chin up to meet his gaze. “You don’t know what Kael is capable of. He plays games with people, Astrid. Games he always wins.”

“I’m not a game piece,” I said quietly.

His expression softened—barely. “No. You’re not.”

And then, without warning, he reached for my hand. Not to kiss it, not to pull me closer—just to hold it. His cool fingers closed around mine like a binding promise.

“I’ve been patient,” Lucien said. “But I’m not going to stand in the shadows while he circles you like prey.”

“Lucien—”

The way he said my name silenced me. It wasn’t a command—it was… something else. A warning. A confession.

“I’ve watched you since the moment you set foot in this court,” he said, his voice steady but carrying a strange urgency. “You walk like you don’t know the danger around you. You speak like you’re untouchable. But Astrid…” His thumb brushed over my knuckles. “…you’re not untouchable to me.”

My breath caught. There it was—the thing I hadn’t dared name. The thing that simmered under every glance we shared.

Before I could respond, he leaned in—not to kiss me, but to rest his forehead against mine. The closeness was dizzying. “Stay away from Kael,” he murmured. “For your own sake.”

The door creaked suddenly, and Lucien pulled back, sharp as a blade returning to its sheath.

Kael stood in the doorway.

He didn’t look surprised. Or angry. He looked… amused. Which, somehow, was worse. His gaze flicked from my face to where Lucien still held my hand, and something in his amber eyes darkened.

“Am I interrupting?” he asked, though his tone made it clear he already knew the answer.

Lucien dropped my hand like it had burned him. “Yes.”

Kael’s smirk widened just a fraction. “Good.”

The air between them crackled with unspoken challenge, and I felt like I’d been dropped into the middle of a sword fight without a weapon.

Lucien stepped toward the door. “This is not the time,” he said, low and dangerous.

Kael didn’t move. “Every time is the time, Prince.”

I tried to cut in—“Maybe we could not start a supernatural brawl in my room?”—but neither of them seemed to hear me.

It was Lucien who broke first, brushing past Kael with a look that could have frozen fire. “This isn’t over,” he said—to me or to Kael, I wasn’t sure—and then he was gone.

Kael stepped inside, shutting the door with a gentleness that didn’t match the storm in his eyes.

“I see the prince has finally decided to stop lurking,” he said.

I swallowed. “What are you doing here?”

He tilted his head. “Checking on you. Making sure you haven’t been talked into a gilded cage.”

I let out a breath. “You two are going to kill me with this tension before anything else does.”

Kael’s smile was slow and infuriating. “Not my intention.”

And then—because apparently tonight was determined to end my sanity—he stepped close, so close I could feel the heat radiating off him. “But I’m not going to pretend I don’t want to win, Astrid.”

My voice came out softer than I intended. “Win what?”

His gaze dropped briefly to my lips before meeting my eyes again. “You.”

The silence between us was louder than any words.

And in that moment, I realized that whatever game had started between these two men—it was no longer about politics.

It was about me.

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The next morning, the castle’s grand hall was buzzing with a strange kind of energy—one that made my skin prickle the moment I stepped inside.

The sunlight pouring through the high windows painted the marble floors in gold, but the brightness didn’t make the room feel warmer. If anything, it felt like stepping into a room full of hunters who’d just spotted prey.

And, judging by the stares that followed me, I had a terrible suspicion who the prey was.

Lucien was already there, standing at the center of the hall like it belonged to him. Which, I supposed, it did. His silver hair caught the light in a way that made him look almost unreal—otherworldly, even. His crimson eyes locked on me the second I entered, and something in his gaze made my steps falter.

Kael was here too. He leaned casually against one of the carved pillars, arms crossed, but there was nothing casual in the way his amber eyes tracked me.

Lucien raised a hand, beckoning me forward.

I had no idea what he was planning, but turning back wasn’t an option—not with the entire court watching.

When I reached him, Lucien offered me his hand. “Astrid,” he said, his voice carrying effortlessly across the hall. “Walk with me.”

It wasn’t a request.

I hesitated, glancing around. Every noble in the room seemed to be leaning just slightly closer, like they couldn’t wait to catch the next line of gossip.

Lucien’s lips curved—just barely—as if he knew exactly what they were thinking. And then, in one swift movement, he slipped something onto my finger.

A ring.

It was delicate but undeniably expensive—silver band, inlaid with a single moonstone that caught the light with an eerie glow.

Gasps rippled through the crowd.

Kael’s posture went from relaxed to razor-sharp in a heartbeat. His eyes narrowed, and his jaw flexed like he was seconds away from walking over and tearing the thing off my hand himself.

“Lucien,” I hissed under my breath. “What are you doing?”

“Protecting you,” he said, his voice low but steady. “And making sure no one forgets you are under my… patronage.”

“This is more than patronage and you know it,” I shot back.

He didn’t deny it.

Instead, he lifted my hand slightly, showing the ring to the watching crowd. “Let them wonder,” he said, his smile almost wolfish despite his vampire pallor. “Let them think you’re mine.”

Across the hall, Kael pushed away from the pillar and strode toward us. His presence hit the air like a clap of thunder—sudden, impossible to ignore.

He stopped just short of us, his gaze flicking to the ring before meeting Lucien’s eyes. “That’s a dangerous claim, Prince.”

Lucien’s smile didn’t falter. “Only if someone’s foolish enough to challenge it.”

The tension between them was so thick I felt like I could choke on it.

Kael shifted his attention to me. “Astrid, you don’t have to wear that if you don’t want to.”

It wasn’t a suggestion. It was a lifeline.

But with the entire court watching, with whispers already swirling around the edges of the hall, pulling the ring off would have been like throwing a match into oil.

So I did the only thing I could do.

I kept it on.

Kael’s jaw tightened, but he said nothing. Not here. Not now.

Lucien, on the other hand, looked… pleased.

The crowd began to disperse slowly, the air still heavy with curiosity and speculation. But I knew what this meant. The quiet days were over.

I wasn’t just caught between Kael and Lucien anymore.

I had just been placed in the center of the board.

And the game had officially begun.

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