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We reached my suite—or rather, what had once been my guest room and was now an elaborate set of chambers that Maria insisted were “befitting my station.” The simple bed had been replaced with a massive four-poster monstrosity. Ancient tapestries depicting dragons now adorned the walls. Someone—I suspected the White Tiger Clan—had even installed a meditation fountain in the corner.

“I’ll let you rest before the dinner circus begins,” Luke said, giving me a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. “Try not to set anything on fire this time.”

“That was one time,” I protested. “And the curtains were ugly anyway.”

Luke grinned and headed off to continue whatever marketing work Marcus had assigned him, leaving me alone in my ridiculous dragon prince quarters. Well, not entirely alone—Shadow was sprawled across the foot of my bed.

“At least you don’t expect me to rule anything,” I told the dog, who thumped his tail in agreement.

I collapsed onto the bed beside him, staring up at the canopy. Five days of this new reality, and I still felt like I was waiting to wake up from a particularly elaborate dream. The only constants were the Stone brothers, who had been my anchors through all of it.

Marcus had been handling the diplomatic side of things, meeting with pack representatives and fielding the endless requests for audiences with me. Derek had thrown himself into security, expanding his team and implementing new protocols to protect the manor and its increasingly important occupants. Caleb had taken on the role of my personal buffer, running interference when the attention became too overwhelming and making sure I had moments of normalcy amid the chaos.

And at night, when the visitors had gone and the manor quieted, all three would join me in my room. Nothing intimate had happened yet—I was still recovering, and they were being uncharacteristically patient—but they would stay with me, their presence keeping the nightmares at bay. Most nights I would fall asleep surrounded by them, safe and protected as memories of my past and glimpses of my heritage filtered through my dreams.

Shadow’s ears perked up suddenly, and a moment later, a soft knock sounded at my door.

“Come in, Caleb,” I called, not bothering to sit up. Only one person knocked like they were afraid of breaking the door. Derek just barged in like a SWAT team, and Marcus had that commanding “I own everything” knock.

The door opened, and Caleb slipped inside, looking unfairly gorgeous as always. “Hiding from your adoring public?”

“If by ‘adoring public’ you mean the small army of supernatural beings trying to turn me into their prophecy puppet, then yes. Absolutely.” I shifted to make room for him on the bed. “Did you know Elder Standing Bear tried to give me a crown this morning? An actual crown. Made of wolf teeth. Which is both terrifying and extremely unhygienic.”

Caleb laughed, stretching out beside me. His hand found mine automatically, and I tried to ignore how natural it felt. “At least it wasn’t another throne. Derek’s running out of places to ‘accidentally’ break them.”

“God, don’t remind me. The Knox Pack brought another one yesterday. With actual gold inlay. Who even does that?” I turned to face him, trying not to get distracted by how good he smelled. “I’m starting to think my mom had the right idea, hiding me in the human world. At least there, the biggest drama was whether pineapple belongs on pizza.”

“It doesn’t,” Caleb said firmly, then his expression grew more serious. “You know you don’t have to deal with any of this if you don’t want to. We meant what we said about choices.”

I snorted. “Right. Because I have so many choices when my body temperature could heat a small house and I accidentally set things on fire when I sneeze.” I poked his chest. “Face it, you’re stuck with your disaster dragon-wolf hybrid mate.”

His eyes darkened at the word ‘mate,’ and suddenly the air felt thick with something that had nothing to do with my newfound fire abilities. “Is that what you want?” he asked softly. “To be stuck with us?”

“Well, lucky for you, everything else in my life is a complete dumpster fire right now. The one thing I’m actually sure about is you three. Which probably means I need serious therapy, but…” I reached up to touch his face. “What if I’m tired of waiting?”

His breath caught, pupils dilating. “Kai…”

“I’m serious,” I said, surprising myself with how much I meant it. “Between the Coven trying to eat me, the Knox Pack wanting to worship me, and the White Tiger Clan turning my bathroom into a shrine, I could use something normal. Well, supernatural-normal. You know what I mean.”

“Are you sure?” Caleb asked, his voice rough. “Because once we claim you fully, there’s no going back. No refunds, no exchanges.”

“Like I could return three slightly used alpha wolves anyway,” I quipped, then nodded. “I’m sure. I want this—want you. All of you.”

The smile that spread across Caleb’s face was breathtaking. “I should get the others.”

“You should,” I agreed, neither of us moving an inch.

We stared at each other for a long moment, and I could practically feel the temperature in the room rising. Then we both movedat once, lips colliding in a kiss that started as a spark and quickly blazed into an inferno.

I’d expected gentleness—they’d been treating me like I might shatter for days—but Caleb kissed me like a man starving, and I was only too happy to be the meal. His tongue swept into my mouth, claiming and possessive in a way that had heat pooling low in my belly.

“God, I’ve wanted to do this for days,” he murmured against my lips, his hands sliding up to cradle my face. “You have no idea how hard it’s been to keep my distance.”

“Then don’t,” I whispered, nipping at his lower lip because I could never resist pushing buttons, even sexy ones.

Bad idea. Or excellent idea. Caleb growled—actually growled—and suddenly I was pinned beneath him, his weight deliciously heavy as he deepened the kiss to something that had me seeing stars.

“You’re playing with fire, baby,” he warned, his eyes flashing that electric blue that meant his wolf was close to the surface.