Three

Daisy's Pov

The morning sun felt like a spotlight on my guilt. I woke up tangled in dark silk sheets. The heavy weight of an arm was draped across my waist. Caspian was still asleep, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. In the daylight, the black ink creeping up his neck looked even more dangerous.

I carefully slid out from under his grip. My body ached in ways I did not want to think about. Last night was a blur of heat, claiming, and a primal desperation that still made my blood hum. But the madness of the night was fading, and reality was crashing down fast.

I grabbed his oversized shirt from the floor and buttoned it up. I needed water. I padded barefoot into the massive living room. That was when I saw it.

On the glass coffee table, resting next to a half empty crystal decanter, was a thick manila folder and the latest issue of a global shifter magazine.

The cover featured two men in sharp black suits. Caspian and his identical twin brother. The headline made the air freeze in my lungs.

The Twin Kings: Caspian and Octavian Vance Prepare to Absorb the Blood Moon Territory.

My hands started shaking. I picked up the magazine. The article detailed how the Royal Lycans were coming to collect an old blood debt from Alpha Blackwood. Nathan's father. The article called them the most ruthless executioners in the shifter world.

It hit me then. Three weeks ago, in the alley behind the city bar. I had snuck off the territory to breathe, and I watched a man tear three armed rogues apart with his bare hands. I had thrown a glass bottle to distract the last rogue who was sneaking up behind him. He had spun around, grabbing me in the shadows. He breathed in my scent, his golden eyes locking onto mine in the dark. He whispered You. But I had bolted before the streetlights caught my face.

He had recognized my scent last night. That was why he brought me here. He did not know my name. He did not know I was a Blood Moon wolf. He did not know I was the pathetic, rejected mate of the very Alpha heir he was coming to destroy.

If I stayed, I would be a pawn. Or worse, collateral damage. I was carrying a secret I barely understood myself, and I could not trust a King who made a living out of slaughter.

I dropped the magazine. I scrambled into the bathroom, grabbed my ruined sundress, and slipped out the front door before Caspian could open his eyes.

The trek back to the territory took hours. By the time I crossed the border into the Blood Moon pack, my feet were bleeding. I thought I could sneak around the back of the pack house and hide in the basement.

I was wrong.

Nathan was standing on the back porch. He was not in his ceremonial clothes anymore. He wore dark jeans, his arms crossed over his bare chest. His icy blue eyes locked onto me, and the air around him turned toxic.

"Where have you been?" Nathan demanded. His voice was deathly quiet.

I stopped in my tracks. "I went for a walk."

He closed the distance between us in three long strides. He grabbed my shoulders, pulling me flush against his chest. He buried his face in my neck, taking a deep breath. I tried to push him away, but he was a stone wall.

Nathan recoiled, his face twisting in pure disgust and fury.

"You reek," he snarled, his fingers digging into my collarbones. "You smell like another male. You smell like pure Lycan. Who touched you, Daisy? Who did you spread your legs for while I was out looking for you?"

"Let go of me," I cried out, kicking his shin. "You rejected me! You have no right to care!"

"I own you!" Nathan roared, shaking me so hard my teeth rattled. "You are my property! I told you last night you are going to be my breeder. I will rip the throat out of whoever put his scent on you!"

There was horning at the front house.

Nathan froze, dropping me to the dirt. The entire pack link exploded with panicked voices. Warriors were rushing out of the main house, shifting into their wolf forms mid stride. Alpha Blackwood sprinted onto the porch, his face pale.

"Stand down!" the Alpha shouted to the warriors. "Open the gates! They are here early!"

"Who?" Nathan barked, stepping in front of me.

"The Royal Vanguard," his father replied, his voice shaking.

Five matte black SUVs rolled into the clearing. They moved in perfect unison, surrounding the pack house like a tactical strike team. The engines cut off.

The scent hit Nathan first. He stumbled back, his eyes widening in horror as he looked at me, then back at the cars. He recognized the scent on my skin. It was the same dominant, terrifying scent now suffocating the entire clearing.

Caspian stepped out of the lead vehicle.

He was no longer the man who held me in the dark. He was a King in a tailored charcoal suit. His golden eyes swept over the kneeling pack members until they landed on the porch. Until they landed on me.

His twin stepped out right behind him, a cruel smirk playing on his lips.

Caspian did not look at the Alpha. He did not look at Nathan. He kept his eyes locked on my face as he walked forward, his raw power forcing the Blood Moon warriors to their bellies.

"Alpha Blackwood," Caspian said, his voice echoing like thunder. "We are here for the century settlement. But the terms have changed."

Nathan stepped forward, trying to look brave. "What do you want, Your Majesty?"

Caspian smiled, but it was a terrifying sight. He pointed a single, tattooed finger right at my chest.

"I want her," Caspian declared.

Nathan's jaw dropped.