LOGINHe took a step toward her, slow and predatory. "There will never be another. Not while I breathe. Not while I exist."His voice dropped lower. "I would burn every kingdom to ash before I let another man look at you, Sera. Do you understand me?"Sera didn’t move. Her breath quickened. Not in fear, bu
She reached for his arm—He jerked away. "I left because the rut was coming. Because I knew if I stayed, I’d mark you with another child and destroy the last pieces of you I hadn't already taken.""Rhazien—""No." His eyes burned, voice rising like a storm ready to split the world. "You think I don’
The citadel had gone quiet for the night.Lioren had taken the last shift patrolling the outer hall, his boots silent against the stone. Even the flames in the sconces burned low, as if the mountain itself held its breath.Sera had watched him earlier from the nursery doorway, the way his small fram
“Then we find another way,” she said. “Mortals have ways to—”“No.”His voice was final, sharp as a blade. “We’re not talking about root teas or salves. I know what my body is capable of. I know what I’ll take from you if I lose control.”“You didn’t lose control. Not even once.”He shook his head s
It had been weeks since the birth, yet the mountain still felt like it held its breath—like every stone and shadow remembered the moment blood painted its halls. The air remained thick, not with smoke or heat, but with silence. A silence that pressed down, weighty and expectant, as though waiting fo
"So will I."Rhazien, watching from a short distance, didn’t speak. But he inclined his head once—slight, solemn. A gesture full of unspoken meaning.It was the closest thing to a blessing he’d ever given.And this time, Lioren didn't flinch from it.He straightened his spine.Sera watched him for a
But not broken.Not anymore.He had made sure of that.He hadn’t come to finish what the bond began.He had come to make it right.And still, he didn’t move.His massive head stayed low, wings drawn in, muscles rippling as if straining against his own instincts. He was a creature made for destructio
She gasped and bolted upright, lungs seizing with the weight of it. Her muscles screamed, her heart stuttered—and then she saw it.Not a man.A dragon.Night-black and monstrous, hunched within the stone-laid chamber as if the mountain itself had given birth to him. His wings were folded tightly, cr
And still—he wanted her. That was the worst of it.Even now, with her broken before him, the bond snarled within him, insatiable. It didn’t care that she was shaking. It didn’t care that she hadn’t pulled away. It only cared that she was his.And he hated it.Because he knew—if she had begged again,
And she gave in.She leaned into him, pressing her back flush against his chest, her body aligning with his rhythm like a flame drawn to heat. Her hands reached for the sheets—not to pull away, but to anchor herself in the storm.She tried to brace herself. Tried to hold. But her arms failed her. He







