Chapter 41

Commander Jace Corowa

For ten years, my loyalty to the Vanguard had been the most important thing in my life. I lived by the Crown’s rules, followed every military order, and believed that being a ruthless soldier was all I was good for. I had buried my humanity long ago, turning myself into the kind of monster the Empress needed to keep control of New Avalon.

But the moment my fangs pierced Elouera’s skin and the mate bond connected our souls, everything I had believed in for ten years became meaningless.

I no longer cared about the empire.

I no longer cared about the Vanguard.

When the thirty-foot wall of fire surrounding us suddenly went out, leaving the ruined courtyard covered in smoke and darkness, only one thing mattered to me.

The fragile girl bleeding and trembling in my arms.

My mate.

I pulled her behind me, shielding her with my body. Then I wrapped my heavy trench coat tightly around her shoulders and pulled the collar closed with one hand. I tucked her face against my neck, making sure nobody could see her exposed skin or the remains of her disguise.

Through the thick smoke, I could see fifty Vanguard executioners pointing their heavy crossbows straight at my chest.

Behind them stood the Empress, her violet eyes narrowed as she watched me with deep suspicion.

Her gaze moved from the blood on my chin to the motionless figure hidden inside my coat.

“Commander Corowa,” she said coldly.

Her voice cut through the sound of the freezing rain.

“I ordered you to burn this entire labyrinth to the ground and destroy the abomination hiding inside it. Explain why the fire has gone out, and tell me exactly what you are holding.”

The sensible part of my mind told me to drop to one knee and bow before her. I could come up with a convincing lie, something that might keep her from asking more questions.

But something inside me had changed.

My Alpha instincts had awakened completely, and the golden bond connecting me to Elouera pulsed inside my chest. Every part of me wanted to draw my weapons and kill anyone who dared to threaten her.

I wanted to tear through every soldier standing in front of us.

I wanted to protect her, no matter what it cost me.

I clenched my jaw so tightly that I could taste blood in my mouth.

I had to control myself.

If I allowed my instincts to take over, the soldiers would shoot us both with their crossbows before I could reach them.

I forced myself to take a deep breath. Then I pushed my Alpha scent outward, letting it spread across the courtyard.

It was more than just a smell. It carried a powerful force that made it difficult for anyone nearby to stand against me.

The scent of dark earth, crushed cedar, and lightning filled the air, covering the lingering sweetness of Elouera’s heat.

Several of the weaker Alpha and Beta guards immediately flinched. Some even stepped backward, their boots scraping against the wet ground as my powerful presence washed over them.

They might have been carrying weapons, but they could feel the warning in my scent.

Nobody was going to touch my mate without going through me first.

“The storm put out the fire, Your Majesty,” I lied. My voice was cold and empty, carrying clearly through the rain. I held the Empress’s gaze without blinking. “And the feral Omega is dead.”

The Empress narrowed her eyes. “Dead?”

“It was nothing more than a stray,” I continued, keeping my face calm and emotionless. “Some filthy creature that wandered onto the palace grounds. Its scent drove the lords in the inner court out of their minds, so I dealt with it myself.”

I wiped the back of my black glove across my mouth, smearing Elouera’s blood onto my cheek.

“I tore its throat open. The heat is gone.”

Silence fell over the ruined courtyard.

The only sound I could hear was Elouera’s weak heartbeat against my chest. The venom was working. Her heartbeat was becoming steady again, but she remained completely unconscious.

Her life depended on me now. If the Empress discovered the truth, everything I had done to save her would be for nothing.

“Show me the body,” the Empress ordered, taking a step toward me.

My blood ran cold.

“No.”

The word came out sharp and firm, stopping her in her tracks.

Immediately, all fifty guards raised their crossbows toward my head. I could hear the metal mechanisms creaking as they prepared to shoot.

But I didn’t step back.

Instead, I took a step forward.

I allowed the fear my reputation inspired to show in my eyes and the way I held myself. I was the most dangerous man in the Vanguard. Every soldier standing in that courtyard had trained under my command.

“It is nothing but a mutilated mess, Your Majesty,” I said, lowering my voice until it became a dangerous growl. The guards closest to me swallowed nervously. “There is no reason for you to see it. Its blood is contaminated with the heat toxin. I’m taking the remains to the lower incinerators to make sure the sickness doesn’t spread to the barracks.”

I tilted my head slightly.

“Unless you wish to inspect the body yourself?”

The Empress stared at me for a long moment.

I could almost see her weighing my disobedience against the ten years I had spent serving her without question. Her eyes moved to the blood on my face, then to the heavy, motionless figure hidden in my arms.

She could also feel the powerful Alpha presence coming from me. It was so strong that even the guards around her were struggling to stand their ground.

Finally, she waved her hand in disgust.

“Burn it to ashes, Commander,” she spat. “And have your men remove the bodies of those lords. I will not have my gardens smelling like a slaughterhouse by morning.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

I didn’t wait for her to dismiss me formally.

I turned around and walked straight through the line of armed soldiers.

Not one of them dared to stop me.

They moved aside as I approached, like water parting around a stone. Some lowered their eyes to the wet ground rather than look directly at me.

Every step I took required all the self-control I had left.

My heavy boots crunched over the broken stones as I left the hedge maze and entered the servants’ corridors.

I kept walking until I reached the underground passage beneath the palace. The moment the heavy oak doors closed behind me, shutting out the guards and the freezing rain, I finally let my mask fall.

My breath escaped in a rough, unsteady gasp.

I leaned against the cold stone wall and pulled Elouera closer to my chest.

My hands were shaking.

For the first time in years, Commander Corowa

the man everyone feared, the man who never showed weakness was trembling in the darkness.

I lowered my face to her wet, tangled hair and held her as carefully as I could.

“I’ve got you,” I whispered.

My voice was no longer cold or commanding.

“I’ve got you, Elouera.”

She let out a soft whimper in her sleep and turned her face toward the warmth of my neck, as if she could feel where I had bitten her. The small, helpless movement stirred a powerful feeling of possessiveness inside me.

I hated myself for what I had done. I had taken away her choice and tied a royal heir to a bastard from the colonies like me for the rest of our lives, all because I couldn’t bear to watch her die.

But as the poison causing her dangerous heat slowly left her body, her scent began to change. The suffocating smell of her heat faded, replaced by the gentle scent of wildflowers and rain.

And in that moment, I knew the truth.

I would burn the entire continent to ashes before I ever let anyone take her away from me.

I pushed away from the wall and moved quickly.

I avoided the main corridors, choosing the forgotten maintenance tunnels that only the Vanguard’s secret operatives used. The narrow passages were filthy and filled with rats, but they were the safest way to move without being seen.

Carrying her in my arms, I crossed the western compound and passed through the heavy iron gates of the military sector. I didn’t stop until I reached my private quarters at the top of the command tower.

I kicked the heavy iron door shut and locked all three deadbolts, sealing us inside the room protected by powerful wards.

My quarters were cold and bare. The walls were made of stone, a desk covered in tactical maps stood against one side, and a heavy iron bed sat in the corner.

There was no warmth or comfort in the room. It belonged to a man who had spent his entire life fighting and killing.

I carried her to the bed and gently laid her down.

Then I knelt beside her. My large hands moved carefully as I unbuttoned the wet trench coat and opened it.

The sight of her damaged chest bindings and the dark bruises covering her pale skin made rage burn through me. Callan and those other lords had hurt her badly.

For a moment, I wanted to hunt down every man responsible and make them pay.

But I forced myself to calm down. Right now, she needed me to help her.

My attention returned to the side of her neck.

The bite mark.

My mark on her. The sign that she now belonged to me through the mating bond.

I reached for a clean cloth beside the basin on my nightstand and poured some medical alcohol over it. My jaw tightened as I prepared to clean the wound.

The mark was going to look terrible. A Vanguard Alpha’s bite usually left a deep, permanent scar. It was meant to show the world that the person had been claimed.

I leaned closer and gently wiped the dried blood from the two puncture wounds on her neck.

Then I stopped breathing.

The cloth slipped from my fingers and landed on the stone floor.

What I saw wasn’t the ugly, bruised scar I had expected.

The venom from my bite hadn’t only stabilized her body. It had reacted with her blood and awakened something ancient that had been hidden inside her for ten years, buried beneath the poison and suppressants she had been forced to take.

Golden lines of light spread from the two bite marks on her neck.

They glowed beneath her skin, moving in time with her heartbeat. The shining lines climbed toward her jaw and stretched down to her collarbone, forming a symbol I knew from the oldest royal records.

The royal crest of the Sunfall Dynasty.

The ancient ruling family.

The true royal bloodline that the Empress had supposedly wiped out thirty years ago when she stole the throne.

The fire I had watched disappear wasn’t just a strange burst of power.

It had been a sign of who she truly was.

She wasn’t simply an Omega.

She was the true Queen of New Avalon.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

The voice came from the darkest corner of my locked bedroom. It was smooth and full of cruel amusement.

I jumped to my feet instantly, pulling out my hunting knife. I held it firmly, positioning my body between the intruder and Elouera.

Someone was sitting comfortably in the shadows of my armchair, resting his chin on the silver handle of a brass cane.

Uncle Holden.

He shouldn’t have been able to enter my quarters. The door was locked, and the room was protected by powerful wards.

Yet there he was, watching us as if he had been waiting for this moment.

“You fight beautifully, Commander Corowa,” Holden whispered.

A cold smile spread across his face as he stared at the golden symbol glowing on Elouera’s skin.

“But I’m afraid you’ve just bonded yourself to a weapon you have no idea how to control.