Chapter 3

VAEL

The ride back to Velmir was quiet, too quiet.

The kind of silence that only existed when something dangerous was about to happen. I could feel it pressing at the edges of my mind. My wolf, clawing at me, desperate, demanding to be heard. The scent of him—Aurelian—still filled in the air. Sweet, intoxicating, too fucking sweet. It was stronger than anything I’d ever smelled, even stronger than an omega in heat begging to be breed. The scent wrapped around me like heat, a heat that made me want to rip through anyone who ever dared to come near him.

I didn’t glance back at him. My eyes were fixed on the road ahead, but my mind? The gods know It kept wandering back to the moment I opened the tent. His scent hit me too hard, and then it wasn’t just the scent.

It was the pull.

My wolf snarled inside of me, trying to rip through my skin, clawing to get out. I wanted to feel it, feel him—claim him. There was no controlling it. No fighting it. It burned in my chest, my soul, a hunger I hadn’t even known was possible. It was like everything in my life had led to this moment. Aurelian—the fucking human prince—was my mate.

I let the thought sink in, grinding my teeth so hard I believed they’d crack. My mate.

I had never wanted anything so badly in my life, but I didn’t have a fucking choice. My wolf didn’t care that Aurelian was a human, didn’t care that he was the prince of a kingdom we had just brought to its knees. Didn’t care about the damage this would cause, the instability.

He’s mine.

My horse’s hooves hit the hard earth as I urged it forward. I ignored the sounds of the men behind me, the sound of Aurelian’s chains scraping against the dirt as he’s forced to walk. I couldn’t bring myself to glance back. I wouldn’t.

“Alpha.”

The voice was familiar. Elias. My second-in-command, the one who never seemed to keep his mouth shut when he should. He rode up alongside me, his eyes scanning back at the men.

“The men are restless,” Elias said, his voice low, cautious. “This whole thing… it’s messing with their focus.”

I didn’t respond right away. Didn’t even look at him. My eyes were still on the horizon, my mind still lost in the fevered thoughts of what had just happened. What was happening.

But my wolf was no longer a whisper. It was a growl. A constant, burning force that burned beneath my skin, pushing for Aurelian. For him.

I was an Alpha. I was always in control, but this… this was different. I could feel the bond tying me to Aurelian, pulling me in a way that I couldn’t ignore, couldn’t shake off. My chest tightened. My breath caught in my throat.

“Shut up, Elias,” I finally growled, the words coming out harsher than I intended. But it didn’t matter. My wolf was howling inside me, and I did not have time for this.

Elias shot me a sidelong glance, clearly taking in the anger radiating off of me, but he didn’t push.

When we got to Velmir, I dismounted, my muscles tight as I turned to Elias, “The dungeon, Alpha?” he asked, his voice now wary as he glanced back to no doubt my prisoner. “Are you sure?”

The question rattled through the air and I finally nodded. “Take him there. But don’t touch him. No one touches him.”

I could feel Elias’ surprise, but he didn’t question it. The men were already feeling the heat of the situation—freaking out about having a prince chained up in the back of the procession. A human prince. But the worst was the sweet scent that kept oozing out of him. But none of them dared to question me.

As the camp came into view, the stress only grew. My mind felt scattered—too many thoughts clawing for space. I could feel the eyes of the men on me, feel the way they judged me.

I didn’t care.

I went straight to my chambers, ignoring the glances of the servants as they watched me walk the halls. The unease in the air was too much to bare. My skin was hot, itching, and I knew my wolf was getting worse, more violent. I reached my room and immediately threw open the door.

The servants scrambled to leave. They could feel it too. The thick, suffocating air that clung to my skin like a cloud. My breath came out in shallow bursts as I crossed the room and poured water into the tub myself. The warm water should’ve soothed me, but nothing did.

I stripped off my armor, my clothes, and sank into the bath, but the moment I closed my eyes, all I could see was Aurelian. His daring, disgusted face. His body, chained, kneeling before me like a king reduced to nothing. His scent still lingered on my skin like a fucking curse, pulling me, drawing me in.

I clenched my fists under the water, trying to hold onto the control I had left, but my wolf wasn’t listening. It was too strong. The need, the hunger, was too much. I could feel it—Fucking need, clawing at me, making my cock throb.

A growl slipped from my lips, low and guttural. A primal sound that made the servants who had remained in the hall to scurry away. The growl stayed in the air, loud and filled with frustration.

I didn’t know what to do anymore. Everything was fucking wrong. I could feel the pull of the bond, raw and consuming. Mine.

I slammed my fist into the edge of the tub, the sound reverberating throughout the room. I forced myself to stand, to regain some semblance of control, but as I dried off, I realized it didn’t matter. I couldn’t escape this.

I had to face it. I had to face him.

I dressed quickly in fresh clothes, the silk smooth against my skin. My gaze shifted to the door.

Aurelian was in the dungeon, waiting for me.

I left my chamber and descended the stairs quickly, every step heavier than the last, but my mind was fixed on one thing—him.

I reached the dungeon and turned to the guard who stood straighter at my presence. “Leave,” I said to the guards and immediately the rushed out.

The door creaked as I entered the cold, dimly lit room. Aurelian was still chained, strippped of his kingdom clothes and was in nothing more than a torn shorts but he didn’t look broken. His boldness was still there, and it stirred something in me.

Mine.

His eyes met mine, burning with hatred, and he grinned that same bitter smile.

Aurelian didn’t flinch when I stepped closer. His eyes met mine with a mixture of hate and amusement, that damn grin still tugging at his lips.

“You’re here,” he sneered, his voice dripping with disdain. “Come to finish what you started? Come to kill me?”

I didn’t answer immediately. I was too busy watching his every movement, his every expression. His boldness stirred something inside me, something primal and dangerous. Mine. But I knew that wasn’t all. There was more. Something else, something that made everything feel wrong.

And I knew exactly who to blame.

Without warning, he leaned forward and spit.

The saliva hit me square in the chest, and for a moment, I stood frozen. Not from the disgust, but from the raw audacity of it. He didn’t even seem to care. It was as if he thought I wouldn’t retaliate—or maybe he wanted me to.

I grabbed him by the throat, my fingers closing around his windpipe with the force to break. His eyes widened for just a second, surprise flickering before it quickly morphed back into that same arrogant daring look he seemed to always wear.

“You’ve used black magic.” The words came out as a growl, low and lethal. My grip tightened, and Aurelian choked, gasping for air. “You’ve cursed me, cursed my wolves.”

I wasn’t sure what the curse was, but I could feel it. I could feel the something swirling around us, dark and ugly. It was in the air, in the pull of every breath I took. I had no proof, but I didn’t need it. I knew. He had done this to me.

Aurelian coughed, his laughter a harsh, cruel sound that made my blood boil.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” he rasped, mocking me, his voice cold and filled with contempt. “You’re insane. There’s no curse. You’re just a beast who would shove his cock at the nearest hole.”

His words made my ears twitched and I leaned in, my nose brushing against his, my grip still tight around his neck, cutting off his air supply.

“I know what you’ve done.” My voice was a whisper now, even as I tried to fight against his scent that wrap around me. “I know you’ve twisted the gods’ will. The gods would never give you to me as my mate.”

His grin faltered for a split second, but it was enough. I could see it then, the way his eyes flickered with something darker. Fear. Hate.

He could feel it too—the pull. The bond. But I could also feel the magic, the taint of it. This wasn’t natural. This wasn’t right.

Something about this fallen prince wasn’t right.

“You’re mine,” I growled, my voice thick with possessiveness, a claim he would never escape. “And you’re going to tell me everything you’ve done, every spell, every curse you’ve cast. Or I swear, I’ll make you wish you were dead.”

He laughed again, though this time it was strained. He was trying to play it cool, but I could see the cracks.

“You’re delusional,” he spat, his words barely audible as he struggled against my grip. “I don’t know what curse you think I’ve put on you, but I’m not afraid of you. And I am not your fucking mate. The gods would not betray me twice.”

I chuckled and I leaned closer, so close that our foreheads nearly touched, my breath hot against his skin. I could feel the tremors in his body, the rawness of his fear. But he wouldn’t let it show.

“You can lie all you want,” I whispered, my lips brushing his ear making my wolf beg for more. “But I can smell the magic on you. I can feel it. It’s in the air, in the way your blood runs. You’ve cursed us. You’ve cursed me. But you won’t escape it. Because now, you belong to me. And I will break you untill you tell me everything I need to know and be done with this curse.”

I could feel him tense under my grip, his body fighting, trying to break free from me but instead,

I slammed his head back against the stone wall with a sickening thud, and his eyes glazed with the force of it, but still, he didn’t break. His spirit was stubborn, but I would break him. I would break that pride until he begged.

I let go of his throat and took a step back, watching him struggle to catch his breath, his chest heaving as he glared at me.

“You think you’ve won?” he spat, the blood from the back of his head mixing with his sweat. “You think you can just take me, use me, because of some fucking bond you claim that doesn’t mean shit to me or my kind?”

His words were bold itself. But beneath that, I could hear the fear—louder now, crackling under his cold exterior.

I smirked, the corners of my lips pulling up in a grin.

“I do.”

The look in his eyes shifted again, and for a brief moment, I could see the hate growing more.

But that didn’t matter.

“Tell me what you’ve done.” I stepped forward, the silence heavy between us. “Tell me how you’ve cursed me. How you’ve made me yours and maybe I would give you what you beg for…” I grinned and leaned closer to him.

“Death itself.”