The Siren in Hiding

They say sirens are the most dangerous creatures in the world. Not because we kill—but because men want to be destroyed by us.

I don’t sing. I don’t seduce. I don’t even look anymore.

That’s how I’ve survived this long.

I adjusted the neckline of my charcoal dress for the fifth time before I stepped into the ballroom. It was too low. Too tight. Too seen. I hated it. But in a world run by wolves, demons, and war-bred fae, you play your part or you get devoured. And tonight, I was playing the assistant to my witch roommate who’d landed an invite to the most powerful networking event in the supernatural world.

Onyx Vale Enterprises

Run by the infamous Cassian Morningstar and Xanden Moon. The Demon King and the Fae Warlord. Untouchable. Unmated. Ruthless.

Perfect.

I had one goal: blend in, make it through the night, and get the hell out before anyone noticed the way the air shifted around me. Sirens aren’t allowed in corporate power circles. We’re too… persuasive. Too much of a threat to the natural bond system. Unclaimed males with wealth and status don’t just want sirens—they crave them. And no male in power wants to admit his throne could crumble because a pretty mouth told him to kneel.

So, we’re banned. Hunted. Hidden.

And I was very good at hiding.

Until I stepped past the marble threshold—and felt him.

Heat slid over my skin like smoke, curling under my collarbone and pulsing low in my stomach. The instinct flared fast and brutal: Run. Now.

I turned my head—and locked eyes with him.

Cassian Morningstar.

He stood on the far end of the room, surrounded by lesser alphas and sycophants dressed in sharp suits and darker smiles. But he wasn’t looking at them.

He was looking at me.

And gods, that look…

It was hunger. Raw, dark, ancient.

The room buzzed louder. My pulse quickened, my magic flinching beneath my skin like a living thing. I could feel my scent slipping, calling out to him like it was hardwired in my blood.

I shoved it down. Hard.

But it was too late.

He started walking.

And just behind him, another presence bloomed—cooler, quieter, but no less intense. I felt it before I saw him. Like moonlight slicing through fog. Controlled, watching, waiting.

Xanden Moon.

Two apex predators. Both unclaimed. Both staring straight at me like I’d already been marked.

My hands shook.

This wasn’t fate.

This was a nightmare.

Cassian’s POV

There were hundreds of bodies in the room—laughing, drinking, posturing like any of them mattered.

And then she walked in.

And the rest of the world stopped breathing.

At first, I didn’t know what hit me. Just… a scent. Barely there. Sweet. Wild. Something ancient in my blood sat up and growled. My chest tightened. My instincts sharpened like a blade between my ribs. And then I saw her.

Red hair like a fire set just for me. A dress that clung like it knew what it was doing. And eyes—gods, those eyes—like starlight on still water.

I didn’t hear the conversation I was in. Didn’t care. My body was already moving before I realized it.

Every step I took toward her, the tension grew. The bond—the fucking bond—was snapping loose inside me. Not just attraction. Not just lust. This was deeper. Older. A calling carved into my damn soul.

She saw me.

And flinched.

Not in fear. No—worse. In recognition. Like she already knew what I was. Like she’d been running from this moment her entire life.

A siren.

Beautiful. Forbidden. Impossible.

My jaw clenched. Everything in me screamed to take her—to bind, to claim. The demon inside me clawed against my chest, snarling mine mine mine mine—

She broke eye contact.

Turned.

Started to slip into the crowd.

Not happening.

“Sir,” someone muttered beside me. I didn’t look. Didn’t need to. I caught Xanden’s presence the second she did. Felt the shift in his aura.

Of course he felt her too.

Of course.

The weight of his gaze turned toward me. Even without looking, I knew.

He saw her. He wanted her.

But I saw her first.

Xanden’s POV

I felt her before I saw her.

Not like a ripple. Not like a whisper.

It was a pull. A sudden ache behind my ribs, sharp and warm—like the earth shifting under my feet. I turned my head and the crowd fell away.

There she was.

Althea.

I didn’t know her name. But my soul did.

She stood at the edge of the ballroom, frozen in place like she’d just walked into the lion’s den and realized she wasn’t wearing armor. Red hair. Curves that could start a war. Magic like moonlight and danger coiled around her like a living thing.

Cassian saw her too.

Of course he did. We were bound in business, in war, in trust forged through blood. But this? This wasn’t something we could share without fire.

I watched him move toward her, gaze fixed, muscles tight like he was holding back the demon clawing at his chest. I knew that look.

He’d found a mate.

So had I.

My breath caught in my throat as she turned—just slightly—and those eyes landed on me.

And gods help me, I felt everything.

My control slipped.

The centuries I’d spent mastering restraint, silence, patience—gone in a heartbeat.

She was a siren. Her magic sang in my bones, a melody only I could hear.

But it wasn’t her power that undid me.

It was her fear.

She looked like a woman used to hiding. Used to surviving. And now, for the first time, she was being seen.

Not as a prize. Not as a threat.

As mine.

Cassian took a step forward.

So did I.

And suddenly, everything was about to burn.

Althea’s POV

I needed to leave.

I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. The bond—bonds—were buzzing beneath my skin like electric wires about to snap. My body knew before my mind could catch up: they were both mine.

Cassian.

Xanden.

Fated mates.

I’d heard the stories. I’d read the myths. One mate was already rare. Two? That was the kind of thing you whispered about in temples. That power didn’t come without a price.

I backed into the shadows, hoping the sea of bodies would swallow me. But then he moved.

Cassian cut through the room like a blade—fluid, lethal, magnetic. There was nothing casual about him. He didn’t flirt. He didn’t charm. He hunted. His jacket stretched across wide shoulders, obsidian eyes fixed on me like he already knew the way I tasted.

And gods help me, my thighs clenched at the thought.

He wanted to claim me. You could see it in every stride, every tightening muscle. And he would—with teeth and fire and hands that left bruises in the shape of possession.

But then there was Xanden.

Cool. Controlled. Calculated. He watched me like I was sacred. His energy didn’t roar—it pulled. Deep and low, like gravity made for me. His mouth didn’t curl in threat, but something far more dangerous: quiet promise.

I didn’t know what terrified me more—being devoured by Cassian, or being worshipped by Xanden.

And worse?

I wanted both.

My pulse thudded against my ribs. My siren magic twisted under my skin, stirring like it hadn’t in years. They were too close. I could feel them. Smell them. The way Cassian’s heat threatened to set me on fire. The way Xanden’s presence whispered to the softest, loneliest part of me.

The bond wasn’t just forming.

It was blooming.

And if I didn’t get out now, I wouldn’t run at all.

I turned sharply toward the hallway—

And stopped.

They were both there. One to my left. One to my right.

I was caught between them.

Cassian’s voice was a velvet growl. “Leaving so soon, little siren?”

Xanden’s was quieter, but it slid right under my skin. “You shouldn’t be alone right now.”

Gods help me, I knew they were right.