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“Do you like it?” Jax asked, watching me as I swallowed.

I nodded, my enjoyment of the flavors lowering my defenses. “Yes, it’s really delicious.”

He smiled a beautiful smile. “I’m glad. It’s an old family recipe, but I haven’t cooked in ages, so I’m relieved it has your approval.”

Then they began eating as well, and we fell into an oddly comfortable silence.

Maybe it was their new demeanors, or the comfort-food feel of the stew, or perhaps the cozy glow of the candles, but a deep sense of contentment settled into my bones. Last night, when I’d made them dinner and we sat together like this, I’d been too full of excited energy to enjoy their presence.

How ironic that I only appreciated their company when I knew they’d soon be gone.

No. I couldn’t begin to question myself. Couldn’t allow doubt to get in. Not now when this was so close to being over. When they were gone, I would stop wanting them so badly. Out of sight, out of mind.

“Aliya,” Tannin said, breaking the peaceful silence. “Jax and I have something to confess to you.”

And just like that, my comfort vanished like the flame of a candle being snuffed out. In its place, a heart-skipping curiosity bloomed in my chest.

I wiped my lips with my napkin, then set my hands in my lap. “Alright,” I said, hiding my intrigue.

The two of them exchanged glances, making my interest spike further.

“Well, first off, we both owe you an apology for the way we’ve behaved toward you,” Jax began, his expression endearingly awkward and vulnerable. “Me, especially. I have been inexcusably cruel and dismissive of you, and I’m truly sorry.”

He reached over and put his hand gently on my arm. The sensuous heat of his touch mingled with the sincerity of his words had my walls crumbling.

“The truth is, Tannin and I have mate bonded to you,” he confessed.

It took me a moment to remember that I wasn’t supposed to know that. I scrunched my brow at him, feigning confusion. “Mate bonded?”

Tannin put his hand on my other arm, making me burn even hotter, and I turned to face him.

“We are both black wolves,” he said like it hurt to speak the words.

I gasped, a sincere reaction to hearing him say it out loud.

“We’re so sorry for keeping it from you,” Tannin added hastily, as if afraid I’d freak out. “Things were so frantic when we first arrived, and Jax was dying, and then you healed him. There just hasn’t been a good chance to tell you the truth. And with you being the princess of a kingdom that has hated us for centuries, we were afraid how you’d take it.”

I didn’t know what to say. I knew all this already, but the fact that they were telling me, even though they feared my reaction and rightly so... I was utterly speechless.

“It’s not a good excuse, by any means,” Jax said, “but the reason we’ve been so strange with you is because of the mate bond. The last thing either of us expected was to be mated to the princess of our ancient hunters. We tried to fight the feeling, to spare all three of us from unwanted complications... but we can’t fight it anymore.”

My heart began to pound, and my core throbbed with a shocked thrill. Did Jax really just say what I thought I’d just heard? Jax? The man who’d made me feel so incredible earlier today, before pulling the rug out from under me.

He leaned closer, and I could feel the heat of his breath on my face. “I’m not strong enough to resist you any longer. And I know you feel it too. That’s why you came to my room today. Tell me I’m wrong.”

Memories of those sultry lips and his skilled fingers flashed inside my mind. I squirmed in my seat.

“No, you’re not wrong,” I confessed breathily. “I feel insatiably drawn to both of you...” I bashfully glanced at Tannin, and the heat in his eyes only intensified the growing need inside me.

“Good,” Jax said, closing his eyes briefly in relief. Then he squeezed his hand on my arm. “Can you forgive us for the way we treated you? For keeping the truth of what we are to you?”

My chest tightened with heavy sadness.

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “Black wolves are the ancient enemies my forefathers died to protect us from. I don’t know how I can overlook that.”

“The same way we can overlook the fact that you’re the heir of the kingdom that slaughtered our ancestors,” Jax said, an edge growing in his voice. “It wasn’t easy, least of all for me. But this bond links us in a way that’s unbreakable. And now that I’ve found you, it doesn’t matter to me who or what you are.”

I swallowed, my insides so tight with desire, I could barely think straight.