LOGINLUCEN'S POVI had chosen black for Eli tonight, a stark, obsidian void that swallowed the natural radiance of his skin. I told myself it was for the aesthetic of the gala, a requirement of the high-society Alphas who prowled these marble floors. But that was a lie.I dressed him in black because white made him look like something that could be saved. White made him look like a dawn I wasn’t allowed to own. Black was the color of our reality: a three-year contract with only three months remaining on effectivity, a convenient arrangement signed in ink and sealed with cold indifference. Or so I kept telling myself."Focus, Lucen," I thought, my eyes tracking the movement of the elites around me. He’s a tool. A shield against the elders. Nothing more.But every time he moved, the scent of him... jasmine and gardenia—cut through the heavy perfumes of the ballroom. It irritated me. It drew me in. When he excused himself, claiming he needed a moment, I didn't look at him. I simply nodded, my
ELI'S POV. The black wool of my tuxedo jacket felt like a shroud. I had spent my life gravitating toward white and the reliable comfort of linen—fabrics that let you breathe, that didn't demand a certain kind of posture. But Lucen was a man of contrasts, a man who saw the world in high-definition ink. To be his partner was to be painted in his colors, whether or not they suited the canvas. "Elion wears black," he had commanded, his voice a low, gravelly vibration that left no room for negotiation. It wasn't a suggestion; it was an instruction on how to exist within his orbit... within the shadow of his true mate... my brother I adjusted the cuff for the tenth time, staring at my reflection in the floor-to-ceiling mirror of our foyer. My face looked less joyful, or perhaps just hollowed out by the artificial light. I was two years into a life that had become increasingly performative, and yet, staring at the man in the mirror, I felt like a stranger. I was a prop in the Blackthorne n
LUCEN'S POVHis breath hitched. “…what?”“With him.” My grip tightened, my fingers digging into his ribs as if I could feel the beat of his heart.“Ion is...” he hesitated, the word choking in his throat, “...a childhood playmate.”The darkness in my chest twisted tighter, a coil of venomous satisfaction. So he does know Eli even from before.Before he could finish, my lips found his again. This time there was no restraint. Hungry. Intense. Demanding. My teeth brushed his lower lip, a reminder that this was my claim, my territory, my blood.”Uhmmm," a sound echoed on Eli's lips.When I finally pulled back, his breathing was uneven, ragged, a symphony of desire and fear. Good.“Don’t do that again,” I said, my tone is colder than the night outside. “Don’t smile like that. Don’t laugh like that.”His brows furrowed, confusion knitting his features. “What?”“Smile like that,” I repeated, “and you will learn what it means to give something to no o
LUCEN'S POVIrina’s hands moved with the practiced precision of a surgeon, the tape sliding over my shoulders, down my arms, across my chest. She was a Beta, an attendant... her position was clear, her tone polite. My body, however, was anything but polite.I barely registered the weight of the measuring tape against my skin. My focus had already shifted, a silent camera swiveling toward the only thing that mattered in the room... Eli.He stood a few steps away, I caught it immediately... an almost imperceptible tightening of his jaw, the subtle elevation of his shoulders as he tried to mask something. A flicker of jealousy burst through the periphery of my awareness, bright enough to catch my eye.Even a man who could recite the contractual clauses of our marriage with the cold efficiency of a ledger clerk could not fool his own body. We have both insisted... that this was nothing more than a contract, binding of assets and obligations. Yet his muscles whispered a different story, a
ELI'S POV “Mathilde,” he acknowledged, the name slipping from his mouth with a mixture of respect and familiarity. Her gaze flicked to me, sharp, assessing, but it lasted only a heartbeat before she turned. “Amorelia Gala preparations, I assume?” she asked, already moving toward the elevator. “Come.” She didn’t wait for a response. The trio fell in step, and the elevator doors closed with a soft sigh. The ride down was a descent through concrete and steel, the numbers flashing past in a monotonous rhythm: one floor, two, three. When the doors opened, the world I had known fell away. The hallway beyond the doors was a cathedral of fashion, rows upon rows of immaculate suits and gowns hanging like silent witnesses. Tailored cloth draped on mannequins in a choreography of color and cut. The air was scented with fresh cotton, leather, and the faintest whisper of lavender—an attempt to mask the more primal scents that lingered. My steps slowed without my consent. I was drawn to a suit
ELI'S POVHalf an hour later I slipped into the dining hall, the long oak doors sighing shut behind me. The room was flooded with the golden wash of morning, a soft light that turned the polished silverware into mirrors and the polished marble floor into a river of glass. Lucen was already there, already seated, already waiting.The table was a tableau of excess. Platter after platter overflowed with delicacies I could barely name—pâtés that glistened like dark jewels, ribbons of smoked salmon that curled like sea‑serpents, mountains of buttery croissants that seemed to rise on their own.Bowls of steaming broth sat beside crystal goblets that caught the light and flared it back like tiny suns. It was more food than any banquet I’d ever witnessed, a feast meant for a king and his court, not for a single omega who had barely made it through the night.“…you’re late,” Lucen said, his voice low, a note of amusement threading through the words.“I’m not,” I replied automatically, the refl
LUCEN'S POVThe week had been a slow bleed of every kind of pain. The kind that starts in the chest and radiates out, a hollow ache that no amount of pack business or physical punishment could touch. Six days. Six days since Luke dragged a coughing, smoke-choked Eli out of the wreckage of Elric's c
ELRIC'S POVThe hallway swallowed me and Liam whole... Lucen’s broad shoulders shielding Eli like a living wall... and the moment we disappeared from view, the air felt thinner. Emptier. As if something vital had been torn out of the space they left behind.My fists clenched at my sides.
ELI'S POVThe sting lingered in my palm long after the sound of the slap faded.Elric staggered half a step, more from shock than force. His head turned with the impact, dark hair falling messily across his forehead. For a split second, his smirk vanished, replaced by something raw and ug
ELI’S POVWhen Lucen said the word mating ceremony, something inside me went utterly still. Not calm. Not relieved. Still... like the moment right before a storm breaks, when the air grows heavy and every instinct whispers run even though your feet won’t move.I nodded when he told me. I even smile







