Chapter 17
Jul 4, 2025
The banquet was a masquerade of opulence—golden light, silk gowns, and wolves pretending they were gods. I stood in the shadows, the only one not dressed for worship. My bond throbbed with unease. Cassian hadn’t spoken to me all day.
Then King Toren raised his goblet. His voice cut through the music like steel.
“Tonight, we honor the union of House Vale and House Duskthorne. The future of the Dire line—secured.”
Applause. Confused laughter. Then stillness.
Cassian stood slowly from his seat at the King’s right. His jaw was stone. His eyes, ice.
“I never agreed to this,” he said.
Toren didn’t blink. “And nobody asked you.”
Cassian turned and walked out. No bow. No explanation. Just gone.
I followed.
The halls were quieter up here—cold, echoing with the weight of secrets carved into every wall. I passed gold-cloaked guards who didn’t meet my gaze. I didn’t care. My heart was pounding too hard, the bond pulsing like wildfire in my blood. Every instinct screamed his name.
I found him in the upper towers, leaning against a marble column, the night wind tearing at his shirt.
He didn’t turn when I approached. His voice was low and sharp, carried on the wind like a vow unspoken.
“I should’ve burned this place to the ground the day I arrived.”
I stepped closer, slow and steady. “You didn’t.”
“I should’ve,” he said again, jaw tight. “Instead, I let them convince me I could rule it. I thought if I played their game, I could keep you safe. That maybe it was enough.”
“It’s not,” I whispered.
“No,” he agreed. “It’s never been.”
The wind caught his hair, shadows curling down his neck. I could see the way his hands shook, just barely, from rage or restraint or both.
“They think they can parade me like a prize hound,” he muttered. “Announce my future like I’m already dead. They think marrying her will wash the curse from my blood.”
“You’re not cursed,” I said. “You’re more alive than any of them.”
He laughed bitterly. “That’s not what they see. To them, I’m still the Dire heir who lost control.”
I stepped closer until our shadows touched. “Do you still want me?” I asked, voice barely audible.
That made him turn.
He looked at me like I was air. “You’re all I’ve ever wanted.”
My breath caught. The space between us vanished. The world slipped quiet.
“I would burn it all for you,” he said, low. “Every crown, every council seat. I would walk into that throne room tomorrow and tear it apart with my teeth if it meant you were free.”
I touched his chest, right over his heartbeat. “Then stop letting them chain you. You’re the Prince, but you’re still letting them choose for you.”
“They’ll never stop coming for you,” he said. “Not while the bond lives.”
“Then let them come,” I whispered. “Let them see what happens when two wolves stop pretending.”
He stared at me like I’d just handed him a blade and dared him to use it.
“You’re mine,” he said softly. “In a world that hates us both, you’re the only thing that makes sense.”
I pressed my forehead to his. “Then stop fighting it.”
His lips hovered over mine, hesitant. “This will change everything.”
“I know,” I breathed.
That night, we stopped pretending.
Cassian closed the door behind us, locked it, then turned around slowly—like he was holding something in. His eyes met mine, and the air changed.
“You sure?” he asked, voice low, already husky.
I nodded, pulse pounding. “I’m sure.”
He stepped in close, slid his hand around my waist and pulled me in. His mouth met mine in a kiss that wasn’t cautious. It was claiming. My fingers fisted in the fabric of his shirt, tugging it up. He broke the kiss just long enough to strip it off.
His bare chest brushed mine, and I gasped at the contact—skin to skin, heat against heat. He kissed down my neck, slow and teasing, and murmured against my collarbone, “If we’re doing this… I want to feel every part of you.”
“Then do it,” I whispered.
He smiled—like I’d just handed him the world.
He unbuttoned my top, one by one, eyes never leaving mine. When he slid it off my shoulders, he let his fingertips graze my skin, slow enough to make me shiver.
“Can I?” he asked, fingers brushing my bra strap.
“Yes,” I said.
It came off in one smooth motion. His gaze dropped to my chest, and he exhaled like he’d been holding it for hours.
“You’re so fucking beautiful.”
Then his mouth was on me—tongue circling my nipple, lips sucking until I arched into him, gasping. He licked, kissed, bit gently, and the friction made my thighs clench.
“Cassian…” My voice was barely a breath.
He knelt in front of me, hands gripping the waistband of my skirt. “I’m taking this off.”
I nodded.
He peeled it down slowly, eyes dark with want. Then he saw I wasn’t wearing anything underneath.
“Fuck,” he breathed. “You’ve been this bare under your clothes all night?”
“Just for you.”
He groaned—low, raw—and leaned in, kissing the inside of my thigh, then higher, teasing me with breath and heat.
“Can I taste you?”
“Please.”
He didn’t hesitate. His mouth slid over me, tongue working slow, firm strokes. I moaned—loud and honest. His hands gripped my hips tighter as he sucked and licked, tongue circling my clit until I was grinding against his face, helpless.
He pulled back only when I was shaking.
“You’re ready.”
I watched him undress. His cock was thick, flushed, already hard. My breath caught. He rolled on a condom, crawled over me on the bed.
“I’ll go slow,” he promised. “You tell me if it hurts.”
I nodded, wrapping my legs around him. He guided himself to my entrance, rubbing the tip through my slick folds. When he pushed in, I gasped—tight, full, stretched in a way that felt so much.
“You okay?” he asked, jaw tight, holding back.
“Don’t stop,” I whispered. “I want all of it.”
He slid in deeper, inch by inch, filling me completely. He was shaking with the effort to stay in control.
“Jesus, Lucy,” he groaned. “You feel like heaven.”
He started to move—slow thrusts, grinding deeper each time. I felt every stroke, every inch, like my body had been waiting for this. My hands gripped his back, his hair, anything I could reach.
“More,” I begged. “Cassian, please.”
He picked up the pace, hips snapping into mine, eyes locked on my face. My moans turned into cries—raw, loud, needy. His fingers found my clit again, rubbed tight, fast circles until I clenched around him.
“Come for me,” he whispered. “I want to feel it.”
My orgasm hit hard—hips lifting, body trembling, breath lost. I squeezed around him and he groaned, buried deep, and came with a rough growl of my name.
He didn’t move at first. Just stayed inside me, forehead resting against mine, breath hot and ragged.
Then he kissed me—slow and deep—and whispered, “You’re mine now.”
Chapter 18
Jul 4, 2025
The morning after was golden and perfect, like the universe was teasing me with false hope.
Cassian looked peaceful for once—no stress lines, no weight-of-the-world shoulders. Just steady breathing and skin that caught the light like he was carved from something divine instead of supernatural drama.
I traced patterns on his chest, thinking maybe—just maybe—we’d figured it out. The bond hummed contentedly between us, and for thirty seconds I actually believed we might get a happily-ever-after.
Then someone knocked on the door like they were trying to break it down.
“Seriously?” I muttered, grabbing a robe. “It’s like the universe has a personal vendetta against good mornings.”
The courier looked like he’d sprinted here from hell itself. Sweaty, breathless, clutching a scroll sealed with bloodred wax.
I didn’t need to see the snarling wolf’s head to know who’d sent it.
“Valen,” I said flatly. “Of course.”
The bond went from warm contentment to arctic freeze in about two seconds. Cassian was awake and moving before I’d even opened the damn thing.
“What does it say?” he asked, already reaching for his sword.
I unrolled the message, scanning the flowery bullshit language that basically boiled down to: “Give me back my property or I’ll burn everything down.”
“He’s marching on the capital,” I said. “Calling you a traitor. Calling me his stolen mate.” I looked up. “Real charming guy, my ex-Alpha.”
The palace exploded into chaos. Bells, running footsteps, the kind of frantic energy that screamed “holy shit, we’re about to have a war.”
Naturally, I wasn’t invited to the emergency council meeting.
“Shocking,” I said to the empty room. “The Omega gets locked in her tower while the big boys discuss strategy.”
But I could hear them through the walls—voices raised, furniture probably getting thrown around.
“We cannot trust the report!” Cassian’s voice carried, sharp enough to cut glass. “Valen has lied before!”
“He is marching on the capital,” came King Toren’s ice-cold response. “That is not a lie.”
“She is not his!” Cassian growled, and I felt the words through the bond like a physical force.
“She was,” some Elder chimed in. “Enough to make the West bleed for her.”
Then the killing blow: “This is war. And it’s her fault.”
The words hit like a slap. Even through stone walls, they found their mark.
“No,” Cassian’s voice was hoarse. “It’s mine.”
But they weren’t listening. They’d already decided who to blame.
By noon, the guards came for me. Polite smiles, firm hands, the kind of escort that said “we’re not arresting you, but you’re definitely not free.”
“Let me guess,” I said as they walked me back to my room. “Protective custody?”
No answer. Shocker.
The door shut with that special sound that meant “you’re fucked and we all know it.”
I tested the window. Sealed tight. The view was gorgeous—roses, stonework, the kind of scenic bullshit that belonged on a postcard.
“Great,” I said to no one. “Back to Hotel Prison. At least the amenities are nice.”
I pressed my palm against the glass until it fogged up, watching soldiers move around below like ants preparing for the apocalypse.
Hours crawled by. The bond flickered between worry and rage, probably picking up whatever emotional shitstorm Cassian was dealing with in his meetings.
Then footsteps in the hall. Sharp, familiar, moving fast.
“Lucy!” His voice cut through everything, raw and desperate.
I ran to the door, heart hammering. “Cassian?”
He was on the other side—I could feel him through the wood. Probably looked like hell if his voice was any indication.
“I’ll fight them all if I have to,” he said, words coming out in a rush. “I’ll rip down the court. I’ll tear through Valen’s army. I’ll make them all see you’re not his.”
“I know,” I said, touching the door like I could reach him through it. “But they don’t care about the truth. They care about politics.”
“I do. I care more than anyone ever has.”
My voice cracked. “Then get me out of here.”
“I’m trying. They won’t listen to me either.”
“Don’t let them use you,” I whispered, because I could hear it in his voice—the desperation that made people do stupid, heroic things.
His forehead hit the door with a soft thud. “I can’t breathe when you’re locked away. I can’t—Lucy—”
Then boots in the hallway. Authority voices. The kind that meant his time was up.
“I have to go,” he said.
“Wait—”
But he was already gone, leaving me with a closed door and the echo of his voice saying my name like a prayer.
I went back to the window, watching the sky shift from blue to gold to something darker.
Thinking about the first time I met Valen—how his smile had seemed charming instead of predatory. How I’d been stupid enough to think being chosen was the same as being loved.
Now he was coming to collect his property.
And I was the prize everyone wanted to fight over.
“Fantastic,” I said to my reflection in the glass. “I’m officially a war trophy.”
The bond pulsed once, sending a wave of determination that definitely wasn’t mine.
Cassian was planning something. Something that probably involved a lot of violence and very little strategy.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” I whispered to the empty room.
But I already knew he would.
Because that’s what people did when they loved someone.
