LOGINELI'S POVThe cabin door groaned as it swung closed, the hinges protesting under the force of Lucen’s boot. I barely had time to turn before his body crashed into mine, the weight of him slamming me back against the wood with a dull thud.His mouth was on me before I could draw breath... hot, demanding, his tongue forcing its way past my lips like he owned them. And fuck, maybe he did. My spine arched against the door, my fingers clawing at his shoulders, not to push him away, but to pull him closer, to anchor myself against the storm of him.He kissed like he fucked... relentless, consuming, like he wanted to crawl inside my skin and never leave. His hands were everywhere, one fisted in my hair, yanking just enough to make my scalp sting, the other gripping my hip hard enough to bruise. I could taste the iron tang of blood where his teeth grazed my lower lip, could feel the way his chest heaved against mine, his heartbeat a wild drum against my ribs. Then, just as suddenly as he’d t
ELI'S POV“I left the contract,” I said, lifting it slightly, my voice steadier than I felt. “It ended.”“That’s not what I asked,” Lucen snapped, his voice cutting through the room like a blade barely held in its sheath.The air pressed in on me. Too heavy. Too full of him. “You weren’t there,” I shot back before I could stop myself.The words hung between us...sharp, raw, undeniable.For a second, something flickered in his expression. Not anger. Not dominance. Something closer to… guilt. But it vanished just as quickly. “You think that gives you the right to disappear?” he demanded, stepping closer. “To leave my house like you were never there?”I took the spare copy of the mating bone breaking agreement. My grip tightened around the paper in my hand. “I didn’t disappear,” I said, quieter now. “I ended what was already over.”His jaw clenched. “…over?” he repeated, like the word itself offended him.I swallowed, forcing myself to hold his gaze. “That’s what it was, Lucen. A contrac
ELI'S POVThe night felt wrong long before anyone said it out loud. I knew it the moment the sky turned darker than usual outside my window, the way the silence in the halls stretched too far, too thin… like something was missing. Or maybe someone.Lucen.I sat at the edge of the bed, hands resting on my lap, staring at the door like it might open if I just waited long enough. Like he would walk in the same way he always did... unannounced, composed, carrying that quiet authority that filled every space without trying.He was supposed to come tonight... that was what I had been bracing for. I am not hoping… no, I wouldn’t call it that. I wasn’t hoping. I was preparing for the end, conversation we both knew was coming. The one that would strip everything down to what it had always been... a contract. An agreement. A transaction that had reached its expiration. Vulk was probably already adjusted by now.I thought he would come in, look at me with that unreadable expression, and say it p
LUCEN'S POVThe door had barely finished echoing shut behind the last of them when the silence settled again... thick, heavy, almost intimate.I didn’t let go of him. Not after the kiss. Not after the way his lips had softened under mine, the way his hands had instinctively clutched at my suit like I was something solid he could anchor himself to. That reaction… it lingered. It stayed with me longer than it should have.”Lucen,” Eli murmured after the kiss.Eli was still close. Too close.Close enough that I could feel the uneven rhythm of his breathing, still trying to steady itself. Close enough that the faint trace of his scent... jasmine, gardenia and something softer tonight, dampened by tears and fountain water... curled into my lungs and refused to leave.Dangerous. I should’ve stepped back. I didn’t. Instead, my hand remained at his waist, firm, grounding. Keeping him exactly where he was.Mine. The thought came uninvited. I exhaled slowly, forcing it down before it could take
ELI'S POVHis hand didn’t let go. Even after the kiss or even after the music swelled again and the world slowly returned around us like nothing had just shifted.His hand stayed wrapped around mine... firm, warm, unyielding. And that… that alone was enough to unsettle me more than anything else that happened tonight. Because Lucen didn’t hold on to things. Not people. Not me. Not beyond what was necessary. And yet... Here he was. Still holding on mine. At some point, I want to believe this is all real. But I'm afraid that it is just wishful thinking... because I'm not in Lucen's side as myself but a temporary replacement to my brother.The doors to the ballroom opened, and the noise crashed back into me... music, laughter, the low murmur of conversations layered beneath chandeliers and gold light. The same place that had suffocated me earlier now felt… different. Not welcoming. Not comforting.But different because this time I wasn’t alone. Lucen didn’t slow as we stepped in. If anyt
LUCEN'S POVFor you.The words left my mouth with a simplicity that betrayed nothing of the storm beneath it. But there was nothing simple about this. Not anymore.I watched him as he held the suit… the silver catching the faint garden lights, reflecting against his damp skin, against the tear tracks he thought I hadn’t noticed. His fingers trembled slightly against the fabric, careful... too careful, like he was afraid it would disappear if he held it too tightly. Like everything else in his life. My chest tightened. Annoying. Unnecessary. Dangerous.“Change,” I said, my tone steady, controlled. “We’re not finished yet.”That was easier. Command. Structure. Distance. It was how I kept everything in place.Eli blinked, pulling his gaze away from the suit to look at me. His eyelashes were wet, clumping together in small, dark fans, and his lower lip quivered... a flicker of vulnerability that sent a jolt of alarm through my system. There was something in his eyes… something softer now.
ELI'S POVThe heavy fog that clung to the stone walls of Blackthorne never seemed to lift. Inside the estate time moved like syrup... slow, thick, and stubborn.Days slipped into weeks unnoticed, weeks folded into months, and the world outside turned from winter to spring to summer while I still wo
ELI'S POVEverything was prepared in a single day. That realization unsettled me more than anything Cody had whispered in my ear the night before.By morning, the estate no longer felt like a guarded residence...it felt like a royal court awaiting coronation. Workers moved in perfect synchronizatio
LUCEN'S POVSleep became a stranger to me.Not the kind that drifts lightly and disappears at dawn... but the kind that stands at the edge of my bed and refuses to come closer. Every night I dismissed the servants, barred the doors, and sat across from Drew in my private study with maps sprawled be
ELRIC'S POVI could hear the bass thudding through the floorboards, a low, relentless heartbeat that matched the rhythm of my own. The club was a dimly lit cavern of shadows and neon, the kind of place where Alpha’s like me came to shed the veneer of responsibility and indulge in what the day denie







