They didn't take her back to the grey room.
Instead, they led her deeper into the palace, through passages that grew progressively warmer. The stone walls gave way to dark wood paneling. Torches burned in silver brackets. Everything felt heavier here, older.
Seren's wrist still burned where Kael had touched her.
"Where are we going?" Her voice came out steadier than she felt.
"Somewhere more appropriate," Aeron said.
"Appropriate for what?"
He didn't answer.
They stopped at a door carved with intricate patterns—wolves and moons and something else she couldn't quite make out in the flickering light. Aeron unlocked it and pushed it open.
The room beyond was massive. A bed dominated the center, large enough for four people easily. Dark curtains pooled on the floor. Windows lined one wall, showing the city lights below like scattered stars.
"This is your room," Seren said, recognizing the masculine scent that clung to everything.
"Ours," Theron corrected. "We share."
Of course they did.
Aeron gestured to a chair near the fireplace. "Sit."
She sat. Her legs felt weak anyway.
Kael closed the door and locked it. The sound made her flinch.
"You're afraid again," Theron observed. He'd taken position by the window, arms crossed. "Why?"
"You locked the door."
"To keep others out. Not you in."
"That doesn't make it less locked."
"Fair point." He didn't move to unlock it.
Aeron crouched in front of her chair. It was becoming a habit. "We need to talk about what happens next."
"You're going to make me pack. You said so."
"We're going to try. There's a difference." His eyes searched hers. "It might not work. Humans and wolves—the bond doesn't form easily across species. It requires something more."
"More what?"
"Trust. Acceptance. Willingness." He paused. "Desire."
Heat crawled up her neck. "I don't—"
"Your scent says otherwise."
She wanted to argue but her body betrayed her. Her pulse raced. Her skin felt too warm. And underneath it all, that pull she'd felt when Kael touched her wrist had settled into something constant and aching.
"This isn't fair," she whispered.
"No," Aeron agreed. "It's not."
"I didn't ask for this."
"Neither did we."
"You're not the one locked in a room with three predators."
Something flickered in his expression. "You think we're predators?"
"Aren't you?"
"Yes." He said it simply. "But not to you. Never to you."
Kael moved closer. "She's breaking."
"I can see that."
"We need to decide. Now."
Aeron stood and walked to the window. His brothers watched him, waiting. Seren realized with sudden clarity that despite their arguments, despite their different approaches, they moved as one unit. Whatever decision Aeron made, the others would follow.
"Seren." Aeron's voice was quiet. "If we do this—if we attempt the bond—it will change you. Permanently. You'll be tied to us in ways you can't fully understand yet."
"And if we don't?"
"Then we let you go. Give you money, a new identity, safe passage to another city. You'd never see us again."
"You said letting me go was too dangerous."
"I lied." He turned to face her. "I wanted it to be true. But the reality is simpler. We want you. And that's not a good enough reason to keep you."
The admission hung in the air.
Theron laughed softly. "Well. That's honest."
"She deserves honesty."
"Does she also deserve a choice?"
"She's always had a choice."
Seren stood on shaking legs. "Then I choose to leave."
All three of them went still.
"You do?" Aeron's voice was carefully neutral.
"Yes. I want to go home. I want my life back. I want—" Her voice broke. "I want to stop feeling like this."
"Like what?"
"Like I'm being pulled in three directions at once. Like my body doesn't belong to me anymore. Like..." She pressed her hands to her face. "Like I want to stay."
Silence fell.
When she lowered her hands, Aeron stood directly in front of her. She hadn't heard him move.
"Say that again," he said quietly.
"Which part?"
"The last part."
She couldn't. The words stuck in her throat.
Kael spoke from behind her. "Your heart rate spiked. You meant it."
"That doesn't mean anything."
"It means everything." He moved closer. She could feel him now, a wall of heat at her back. "You want to stay."
"I want to leave."
"Both can be true."
They surrounded her now. Not touching, but close enough that she felt trapped by their presence. Her breath came faster.
"This is too much," she whispered.
"I know." Aeron's hand came up slowly, giving her time to pull away. His fingers brushed her cheek. "Tell us to stop."
She should. She knew she should.
She didn't.
His thumb traced her jaw. "Tell us you don't want this."
"I don't—" The lie died on her lips.
"Truth, Seren. Not what you think you should say. What do you actually want?"
The question broke something in her. "I don't know. I don't know what I want. I just know that when you touch me, everything else stops mattering and that's terrifying."
"Why terrifying?"
"Because you could destroy me. All three of you. And part of me wants to let you."
Theron made a sound low in his throat. "That's the bond talking."
"Is it? Or is it just me being stupid?"
"Does it matter?" Kael asked.
"Yes. It matters. I need to know if this is real or if it's just—just biology."
Aeron's hand stilled on her face. "What if it's both?"
She met his eyes. They were completely black now, inhuman. "Then I don't know how to fight it."
"Don't fight it." His voice dropped lower. "Let it happen."
"And if I regret it?"
"Then we deal with that. Together."
The word settled over her like a blanket. Together. Not alone. Not abandoned. Together.
"This is a mistake," she said.
"Probably." Aeron's hand slid into her hair. "But we're making it anyway."
He kissed her.
It wasn't gentle. Nothing about them was gentle. His mouth claimed hers with the same certainty he brought to everything else—absolute and uncompromising. She made a sound against his lips, caught between panic and something darker.
When he pulled back, her knees were weak.
"Still want to leave?" Theron asked. His voice held amusement and something hungrier.
She couldn't form words.
Kael's hand found her waist from behind, steadying her. "She's overwhelmed."
"She's perfect," Aeron corrected.
"She's human," Theron said. "We need to be careful."
"I'm being careful."
"You kissed her like you wanted to devour her."
"I do want to devour her. I'm just not going to."
They spoke about her like she wasn't there. It should have been infuriating. Instead, it made her feel seen in a way she'd never experienced.
"Seren." Aeron's hand cupped her face, forcing her to focus. "We can stop. Right now. You walk out that door and we let you go. No consequences. No guilt."
"You're lying."
"No. I'm not."
She searched his face. He meant it. Despite everything, despite the bond pulling at her, he would let her leave.
That certainty—that proof that she still had power here—broke the last of her resistance.
"I don't want to leave," she whispered.
"Say it again. Louder."
"I don't want to leave."
"Why?"
"Because—" She faltered. "Because I feel safe here. With you. Even though I shouldn't. Even though it's insane. I feel safe."
Kael's grip on her waist tightened. "That's the bond."
"I don't care." She turned to look at him over her shoulder. "Maybe it is just biology. Maybe tomorrow I'll regret this. But right now, I don't want to fight it anymore."
"You're sure?" Aeron asked.
"No. But I'm choosing it anyway."
Something shifted in the room. The air grew heavier. All three of them moved closer, surrounding her completely now.
"This changes everything," Theron said.
"I know."
"There's no going back."
"I know."
Aeron's hand tightened in her hair, tilting her head back slightly. "Then stop talking."
His mouth crashed against hers again, harder this time, his tongue pushing past her lips to claim the space inside. Seren's hands came up instinctively, gripping his shirt as she kissed him back, her body responding despite the whirlwind in her mind. Kael pressed in from behind, his hands sliding under her shirt to trace the curve of her waist, fingers digging in just enough to make her arch against him. Theron moved to her side, his breath hot against her neck as he leaned in, lips brushing her ear.