SCARLETT
Darius's voice cracked like thunder. "Answer me, Scarlett. Did you let him mark you?"
The room was suffocating-Kael's body pressed against mine, his heat branding me, his teeth hovering at my pulse point… while Darius's storm-gray eyes pinned me like chains.
I licked my lips slowly, letting the silence stretch, savoring the rage that vibrated between them. "Does it matter?" I whispered.
Kael chuckled darkly, dragging his thumb along my jaw. "It matters to him, Scarlett. He hates the idea of you wanting my fire more than his storm."
"Shut. Your. Mouth." Darius's growl rolled through the chamber, rattling the air.
Kael's smirk widened. "Or what? You'll strike me down? In my own walls? Over a woman who doesn't even belong to you?"
"Over my mate." Darius's declaration cracked like lightning, his wolf surfacing, eyes glowing silver.
My heart slammed against my ribs. Mate? My body shivered at the word. Kael's hand tightened on me possessively, as though Darius's claim were a direct threat.
"Scarlett," Kael hissed in my ear, his tone fierce. "Tell him he's wrong. Tell him you're mine."
I tilted my head, caught between their fire and storm, my lips curling into a wicked smile. "Funny… neither of you asked what I wanted."
Darius moved through the first storm exploding, wind rushing in from the broken doorway as he lunged. Kael shoved me aside, meeting him head-on with a snarl.
Their bodies collided like titans, the clash of fire and storm shaking the stone chamber. Fists, claws, teeth, raw fury unleashed. Sparks burned in the air as Kael's heat clashed against the crackle of Darius's lightning-charged strikes.
"Stop it!" I shouted, but my voice was swallowed by their growls.
Kael's punch landed hard against Darius's jaw, snapping his head back. Darius responded with a brutal surge of energy, slamming Kael into the wall where moments ago he had pinned me.
"Pathetic," Darius spat, eyes glowing like lightning storms. "You think you can claim her by force?"
Kael wiped blood from his lip, grinning savagely. "No. I'll claim her because she begs me to."
I pressed my back against the wall, heat and adrenaline flooding me. My body trembled not with fear, but with a dangerous arousal I couldn't control. Watching two Alphas tear each other apart… over me… awakened something wicked deep inside.
Darius's gaze flicked toward me for a fraction of a second, softening in a way Kael's never had. "Scarlett. You don't have to endure him. Come to me. I'll protect you."
"Protect?" Kael barked a laugh, spitting blood. "She doesn't want protection, brother. She wants power. She wants fire in her veins until she burns from the inside out."
Their wolves pushed closer to the surface, forms rippling beneath their skin. If they shifted, the chamber wouldn't survive the fight neither would I.
"Enough!" I screamed, my voice cracking like the moon itself. Both Alphas froze, eyes snapping toward me, feral and wild.
I stepped forward, my breath heavy, my body trembling with a mix of lust and fury. "You think this is about which of you is stronger? Which of you can own me?" I smirked, letting my voice drip with venom and allure. "You're both wrong. Because the truth is… maybe I want both of you."
Silence fell like a blade. Kael's chest heaved. Darius's hands curled into fists.
And then a slow clap echoed from the shadows of the doorway.
Lucien.
His black eyes gleamed with amusement, his voice low and poisonous. "Finally… the little temptress speaks the truth."
The chamber went deathly still.
The slow clap echoed, sharp against the crackling air, slicing through the silence.
Kael spun, fire erupting from his hands, the flames curling toward the doorway. Darius's storm howled, sparks dancing off his skin, ready to strike.
But Lucien didn't flinch.
The Alpha of shadows strolled into the chamber as though he owned it, his black cloak trailing like smoke, his gaze fixed squarely on me.
"Scarlett," he drawled, his lips curling in a mocking smile. "You wear chaos so beautifully. Two Alphas tearing at each other, the bond stretching so thin it might snap… and you, glowing brighter every second. Do you feel it yet? The power waking inside you?"
My mark burned, silver heat spiraling across my skin like molten veins. I gasped, clutching my shoulder, but Lucien's words slid into me like honey sweet and poisonous.
Kael stepped in front of me, his body a wall of fire. "Get the hell out of my packlands."
Lucien tilted his head, his eyes glinting like onyx in the torchlight. "Oh, Kael. Always so territorial. So afraid of losing what you think belongs to you."
"She does belong to me," Kael snarled, his voice laced with fire.
"Wrong," Darius snapped, stepping closer, electricity crackling off his fists. "She's not yours. She's not mine. She's Moonbane, and she chooses."
Lucien's gaze lingered on Darius, then slid back to me. "And she hasn't chosen either of you."
The words hung heavy in the chamber, striking deeper than any blow.
I straightened slowly, ignoring Kael's protective stance. My lips parted in a smirk as I met Lucien's gaze. "What makes you so sure I'd ever choose you?"
Lucien's grin widened, sharp as a knife. "Because, darling, shadows don't beg. They consume."
The torches flickered. Then one by one, they died, plunging the chamber into darkness.
Kael roared, fire igniting from his hands, casting wild, furious light. Darius answered with lightning, bolts sparking across the stone. For a heartbeat, fire and storm carved back the dark.
But Lucien's shadows swallowed it whole.
The room dissolved into blackness, oppressive and suffocating. I felt him move before I saw him an icy brush against my cheek, fingers ghosting down my arm.
I gasped, my body betraying me as heat pooled low in my belly. My wolf surged, torn between lust and terror.
"Don't touch her!" Kael's roar tore through the dark, followed by the heat of flames colliding against something unseen.
Darius shouted my name, lightning splitting the air, but Lucien's voice was in my ear, velvet and venom.
"You crave what they can't give you. Their fire scorches. Their storm shatters. But me… my shadow will cradle you. Hide you. Worship you. Until the world fears to even whisper your name."
His lips brushed my ear close enough to make my breath stutter.
Kael's fire seared across the room, forcing the shadows back for a fleeting instant. I saw Lucien's face pale, beautiful, monstrous before the dark swallowed him again.
"You're lying!" Kael roared, his fire blazing brighter.
"Am I?" Lucien's whisper slithered over my skin. "Tell me, Scarlett… which one of them do you truly trust? The Alpha who would cage you? Or the Alpha who would chain you with protection? Neither see you for what you are."
My heart pounded, every beat echoing like a war drum. My body trembled, caught between three forces: Kael's fire, Darius's storm, and Lucien's endless shadow.
And gods help me… I wanted them all.
The mark on my shoulder blazed, white-hot agony and ecstasy ripping through me. I cried out, dropping to my knees as the room shook. The shadows recoiled, the fire flickered, the storm faltered.
For one terrifying, intoxicating moment I was brighter than them all.
And then darkness slammed back into the chamber.
When I opened my eyes, Kael and Darius were on the ground, their power drained, their bodies trembling.
And Lucien… was gone.
But his voice lingered in the silence.
You will come to me, Scarlett. Whether they let you or not.
The shadows slipped away, leaving only ruin.
I knelt in the wreckage, chest heaving, sweat dripping down my skin, the mark still glowing faintly like a brand of destiny.
Both Alphas crawled toward me, their voices raw, desperate, broken.
"Scarlett—" Kael rasped, reaching for my hand.
"Scarlett—" Darius's voice cracked, lightning still faintly sparking at his fingertips.
I looked between them, trembling, consumed, my lips curving into a dangerous smile.
"I think…" I whispered, letting the words cut them both to the bone. "…I like being wanted by all three."
The chamber fell into silence again, thick, suffocating, electric.
And outside, in the distant woods, Lucien's wolf howled.