Kira's POV
I couldn't sleep.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Rowan's face. Heard Vivienne's threats. Felt the weight of tomorrow's ceremony crushing down on me.
Tomorrow. Less than twenty-four hours.
At midnight, I gave up trying to rest. Threw on a sweatshirt over my tank top and crept out of my room into the hallway.
The palace was different at night. Darker. The torches cast dancing shadows that made the stone walls look alive. My footsteps echoed too loud in the silence.
I needed to learn this place. If I was going to survive here even for six months I had to know where I was going. Had to stop feeling so lost.
I turned left. Then right. Climbed a set of stairs. Found myself in a corridor lined with portraits of past Alphas.
Rowan's father stared down at me from one frame. Stern. Powerful. Dead now, along with Rowan's brothers.
All of them gone, leaving Rowan alone.
Because of me? Or just bad timing?
I didn't know. But the guilt sat heavy in my chest anyway.
Lost?
I spun around so fast I almost tripped.
A wolf stood behind me. Tall and broad shouldered, with dark hair and a scar running through his left eyebrow. He wore casual clothes jeans and a t-shirt and held a coffee mug.
Not threatening. But definitely amused.
I'm just walking, I stammered. I couldn't sleep.
Neither could I. He took a sip of coffee. Though in my case, it's because our Alpha King has been pacing his room for three hours. The walls are thick, but not that thick.
Heat flooded my face. You can hear him?
My room is two doors down. The wolf's smile was kind. And yes. He's louder when he's upset.
Is he upset often?
Only for the past seven years.
The words hit like a punch.
This wolf knew. About me. About what I'd done to Rowan.
I'm Rhys, he continued, extending his free hand. Beta to the Alpha King. And his best friend since we were cubs.
I shook his hand cautiously. Kira.
I know who you are. His grip was firm but not crushing. The whole pack knows. You're all anyone's talked about for two days.
Great. I pulled my hand back. What are they saying?
That you're brave. That you're stupid. That you're a gold digger after the king's power. That you're genuinely sorry and trying to make amends. He shrugged. Depends who you ask.
What do you think?
Rhys studied me for a long moment. His eyes were sharp assessing.
I think you're either very brave or very stupid, he said finally. I haven't decided which.
Why does everyone keep saying that?
Because it's true. He gestured down the hallway. Walk with me. I'll show you where you're going before you get completely lost.
I fell into step beside him. He was taller than me by almost a foot, and walked with the easy confidence of someone who belonged here.
Everything I didn't feel.
So, Rhys said conversationally. Tomorrow's the big day.
Don't remind me.
Nervous?
Terrified. The honesty escaped before I could stop it. I don't know what I'm doing. Don't know how to be a Luna Queen. Don't know if I can survive here for six months.
You want the truth?
I don't know. Do I?
Probably not. He turned a corner. I memorized the route third corridor, left turn, another staircase. But I'll tell you anyway. This arrangement? It's not going to work the way you think.
My stomach dropped. What do you mean?
You're calling it fake. A business deal. Six months and done. He stopped walking. Turned to face me. But the bond doesn't care what you call it. It's real. And when Rowan marks you tomorrow? When the bond wakes up after seven years dormant?
What? I whispered.
It's going to hit ten times harder than a normal mating. Rhys's expression turned serious. Dormant bonds don't just wake up gently, Kira. They explode. All the connection you should have been building over seven years? All the intimacy? The trust? It'll hit you at once.
But we don't have intimacy. We don't have trust.
Exactly. He started walking again. Which means you'll feel everything the love, the pain, the need without any of the foundation to handle it. It'll be overwhelming. Consuming.
I struggled to keep up with him, both physically and mentally. Are you saying the bond will force me to love him?
No. Bonds don't force anything. They amplify what's already there. He glanced at me. You never stopped loving him, did you?
The question was too perceptive. Too accurate.
I that's not
You can lie to me, Rhys said gently. You can lie to yourself. But you can't lie to the bond. And once it wakes up? Rowan will feel everything you feel. Just like you'll feel everything he feels.
Oh God.
So he'll know, I breathed. That I still
That you still love him. Yes. Rhys's smile was sad. Just like you'll know that he never stopped loving you.
But he hates me.
Those aren't mutually exclusive. We reached another staircase. He gestured for me to climb. Rowan has spent seven years hating you and loving you in equal measure. The rejection didn't kill what he felt. It just twisted it into something painful.
I climbed the stairs slowly, processing his words.
Why are you telling me this?
Because I'm his best friend. And despite what you might think, I don't want to see him hurt more. Rhys stopped at a landing. But I also don't want to see you destroyed. Which is what's going to happen if you go into tomorrow thinking this is just a political arrangement.
Then what should I think it is?
He looked at me for a long moment. Then sighed.
The truth? This is Rowan's last desperate attempt to have what you took from him seven years ago. He's telling himself it's revenge. That he's punishing you. Making you suffer. Rhys shook his head. But really? He's just trying to keep you close. Because letting you go the first time nearly killed him.
My throat tightened. He told you that?
He didn't have to. I watched him barely survive the rejection sickness. Watched him become someone else when his family died. Watched him build walls so high I wasn't sure he'd ever come back. Rhys's voice softened. Then you showed up in his throne room, and for the first time in seven years, I saw a crack in those walls.
A crack?
Hope. The word hung between us. He's hoping you'll choose him this time. Hoping the bond will be enough. Hoping he can make you stay.
By blackmailing me?
By doing the only thing he knows how using power and control because vulnerability got him destroyed last time. Rhys started walking again. It's not healthy. It's not fair. But it's all he has left.
We walked in silence for a while. He showed me the library, the dining hall, the gardens. Places I'd need to know.
Finally, we ended up back at my door.
One more thing, Rhys said. Tomorrow, when he marks you? It's going to hurt. Physically. The bite itself is painful, and waking a dormant bond is worse.
Worse how?
Imagine seven years of separation, longing, and pain all hitting at once. Through a connection that makes you feel his emotions as strongly as your own. He met my eyes. It's going to be intense, Kira. Overwhelming. And you'll be in front of the entire pack when it happens.
I can handle pain, I said, trying to sound braver than I felt.
Can you handle feeling Rowan's pain? Rhys asked quietly. Because the moment that bond wakes up, you're going to feel everything he's been hiding. All the hurt. All the rage. All the love he's been denying.
The thought terrified me.
What if I stopped. Started again. What if it's too much? What if I can't
Then you'll do what you did before. Run. His expression hardened slightly. But this time, the bond will make running impossible. You'll feel him across any distance. Feel his pain when you leave. And it will hurt you just as much as it hurts him.
You're saying I'm trapped.
I'm saying you trapped yourself the moment you accepted his deal. Rhys's voice wasn't unkind. Just honest. Tomorrow changes everything, Kira. There's no going back from a completed bond. No six-month trial period. Once he marks you, you're his mate for life.
He said we could dissolve it after six months
He lied. Rhys cut me off. Or maybe he's lying to himself. But mate bonds don't dissolve. They can be rejected you know that first-hand. But they can't be undone. The mark will fade if you reject him again, but the bond? The connection? He shook his head. That's forever.
I leaned against the wall, suddenly dizzy.
So everything he said about six months
Was a way to get you to agree. To get you here. To get you to let him mark you. Rhys's expression was sympathetic. He's desperate, Kira. And desperate wolves do desperate things.
I should refuse, I said. Call off the ceremony. Tell him I won't
And lose your sanctuary? Forty-three wolves die because you got cold feet?
The reminder was brutal. Effective.
I closed my eyes. I'm trapped.
Yes.
And he planned it this way.
Yes.
So what do I do?
That's up to you. Rhys pushed off from the wall. But if you want my advice? Stop thinking of this as a punishment or a business deal. Stop trying to keep your distance. Because tomorrow, distance becomes impossible.
What should I think of it as?
His smile was sad. Knowing.
A second chance. For both of you.
He started to walk away.
Wait, I called. One more question.
He turned back.
For him or for me? I asked. You said this won't end well. Did you mean for him or for me?
Rhys was quiet for a long moment. The kind of silence that said the answer was complicated. Painful.
Both, he said finally. This is going to destroy both of you. Because you're going to fall in love with him all over again through the bond, you won't have a choice. And he's going to let himself hope that you mean it this time.
And then?
And then six months will pass. And you'll have to choose stay or go. Love or freedom. Him or yourself. Rhys's expression was grave. And whatever you choose, someone's heart breaks. Maybe both.
He walked away, footsteps echoing down the hall.
I stood outside my door, shaking.
Tomorrow I'd be marked. The bond would wake up. I'd feel everything Rowan felt.
Everything I'd destroyed seven years ago.
And according to Rhys, I'd fall in love with him all over again.
Like I had a choice.
Like I'd ever stopped.
I entered my room. The connecting door to Rowan's chambers was still open. I could see shadows moving in his room. Could hear him pacing, just like Rhys said.
Unable to sleep.
Just like me.
Tomorrow everything changed.
But standing there, watching his shadow through the doorway, I realized something terrifying:
Part of me wanted it to change.
Part of me wanted the bond to wake up. Wanted to feel him again. Wanted the connection we'd had before I destroyed it.
Part of me had been waiting seven years for exactly this.
And that scared me more than anything else.
Because if I wanted this if I wanted him then what did that make the last seven years?
A waste? A mistake? A lie I told myself to justify running?
I didn't know.
All I knew was that in less than twenty-four hours, I'd be Rowan's mate.
And there would be no running this time.
The bond would make sure of that.