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“It’s perfect,” I agreed, unable to suppress the smile tugging at my lips. He’d said our people. That one word filled me with a sense of belonging, wrapping around the hollow spaces inside me.

Tonight was a reprieve. A sacred night of laughter, music, and revelry. A festival of defiance. A celebration of the simple fact that we still lived, still breathed, still fought.

“You didn’t happen to have anything to do with the unusually good mood everyone is in tonight, did you?” I teased.

“It’s not from me. I promise. Completely natural. I haven’t used my gift.”

“Go talk to Lucius and you’ll realize not everyone is in a good mood,” Luca said, appearing behind me with a cup of mead. “You look absolutely stunning tonight. That dress... mmm.” He growled softly, his eyes taking me in with a feral glint.

The dress was rather modest—a simple sweetheart neckline with capped sleeves—but the cream silk and the embroidered crimson petals cascading down made it truly breathtaking.

“Thank you for the drink, and the compliment,” I said, pulling the fur mantle tighter around my shoulders. I felt self-conscious under their praise. “You’ll have to thank your sister for the dress. Apparently, I’d look like a “filthy house gnome” if not for her intervention.”

“Even on your worst day, you’re the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen,” Lucius added as he joined us.

I gave him an exasperated look. “The three of you flatter me too much.”

“The three of us have to make up for the one asshole who can’t be bothered to show his face tonight,” Lu scoffed.

“Where is Jase?” I asked, hesitating as I scanned the sea of unfamiliar faces.

A cold touch brushed my shoulder moments before a voice answered.

“This asshole is on guard duty tonight.”

I spun and found Jase emerging from the shadows. His silhouette stretched in the firelight. He was clad in black leather armor and a sleek fur mantle draped over his broad shoulders. One hand rested on the pommel of a broadsword strapped to his hip.

He was dangerously handsome. My cheeks flushed at the sight of him, my body betraying me once again. He sauntered towards us, with his jaw tight and eyes narrowed—the only signs of the storm brewing beneath his calm exterior.

“You’re the last person any of us want on guard duty,” Lucius snarked, not even trying to hide the disdain.

Lucius didn’t trust him. I didn’t know if it had anything to do with the fact that Jase and I had... been intimate, or whatever you wanted to call what happened that night. I hadn’t told anyone. Not even Fallon. But there was no hiding the fact that Jase had left his scent all over me.

“That was my call,” Nico admitted.

“You can’t be serious,” Lucius snapped. “You’ve invited a slew of unvetted shifters into our camp, and now he’s the one guarding our backs?”

“There are laws against battles on Lunavale.”

“Because Johan’s never broken our laws before,” Lucius said, rolling his eyes. “This whole thing is reckless.”

“I’ve set up sentries around the entire camp. But I needed one of us out there as a matter of principle. Since Jase isn’t running the Villrenna tonight, and his shadows cover more ground than any of us. He was the best choice. Unless you’d like to trade places with him?” Nico raised an eyebrow.

Lucius clenched his jaw, but said nothing.

“That’s what I thought,” Nico said before turning to Jase, “If you’re supposed to be on sentry duty, you’re doing a piss-poor job of it.”

“I need a word with Michaela.”

Before I could respond, his shadows wrapped around my wrist. A cold caress that solidified into steel, yanking me forward. I stumbled to keep up, dragged in Jase’s wake as he strode away from the others.

“What are you doing? You could have asked to talk to me, and I would’ve said yes!” I pulled against the dark form holding me in an iron grip. He didn’t answer, just kept walking, only stopping to face me once we reached the edge of the encampment.

“Stay away from the river tonight. Head east on your run,” he barked, his shadow slipping from my wrist.

“What? Why?”

“Don’t ask questions. Just be a good girl and do what I say.”

I stood there, wringing my hands. Was this it? Was this all our bond would ever be? A few curt words and the aching memory of how he’d taken my body in ways that now left me starving for his touch. His steely gaze softened slightly as I stayed silent, unmoving.

“There are males out there who wouldn’t think twice about snagging a little thing like you. Tonight, you’re fair game. And I don’t want to have to clean up after my brothers if they kill someone over it.”

I clung to the seemingly small gesture, the like it meant more than it should.

A small spark of hope flared in my chest. I knew it was foolish to pine after someone who didn’t want you in return, at least not in the way I wanted him to.

Not when I had three others openly vying for my affection.

But I couldn’t help it. And I cursed the damn fated bond that tethered me to him.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said quietly. “Why aren’t you running in tonight’s chase?”

“Trust me—you wouldn’t want me out there,” he grumbled, turning away from me and stalking off into the forest without another word.

Fallon was unusually quiet. She pulled me aside when it came time to prepare for the run, deftly securing the ties on the wrapped skirt that barely covered my ass without so much as a word or sass remark.

“What’s wrong? Is it the outfit?” I asked, glancing down at the small swath of suede stretched across my breasts.

“No, the outfit’s perfect,” she said.

“I think if I run too fast, it might fall off. Is this really what everyone else is wearing?”

“It’s not that. I just… have a bad feeling.”

“Really? Have you told Nico?”

“No.” She sighed. “I think I’m just getting more sensitive in my older years.

We’re in a fight for the realm, Mic. The idea that any of us are safe is merely a comforting fantasy to get us through another day.

” She gave me a half-hearted smile, her fingers adjusting the beaded straps over my shoulders.

“This is just the beginning. The worst of it is yet to come. So enjoy the night. Who knows how many we have left before the fantasy ends?”

Fallon led me outside. The frigid night air hit my exposed skin, sending a violent shiver through my bones.

The adrenaline in my veins was the only thing keeping me upright.

The males stood blindfolded before the central fire, bare chests rising with slow, deliberate breaths.

Runes were painted across their skin in bold strokes.

They waited without a word, every muscle coiled in anticipation for the chase to start.

The soft percussion of drum beats began to rise. A slow, steady rhythm that buzzed through the ground beneath my feet. With Fallon’s urging, I joined the line of females forming before the males.

“What exactly are we doing?” I whispered to the female behind me.

“So they can scent us,” she whispered back, offering no further explanation.

Nico, Luca, and Lucius stood together at the end of the line. Their faces were stoic, arms crossed over their bare chests—unmoving—until I passed by. Their nostrils flared. Luca grinned, elbowing Nico as he shifted from one foot to the next.

“Don’t make it easy on us,” Luca said. “You better run when the horn sounds.”

Amos ambled into the clearing, staff in one hand and his usual flask in the other.

He stretched his broad shoulders like a man preparing for a fight as everyone around him fell silent.

Raising his drink in salute, he took a long swig, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and smiled like the deviant he was.

“Ah, my fine, wild creatures! Here we stand, ready to remind the realm that life is a chase, a feast, and a fine excuse to run half-naked through the woods!” he said with a hearty chuckle as he gestured toward the sky, his eyes gleaming with mischief.

“Some of you will run. Some of you will chase. Some of you will trip over a root and fall flat on your face, and let me tell you, the Divine is watching… nay, laughing. And it’d be a damn shame to disappoint.”

The crowd erupted in laughter, myself included. He had a way of easing a bit of the tension that had settled in my spine.

“Let no chain hold you. Let no fear bind you. The Divine does not favor the meek nor the slow of foot! Run! And if you’re caught, yield as all prey must—revel in the joy of the hunt. May we feast beneath the moon, drunk on victory and flesh!”

With that, he slammed his staff into the ground.“Run, you mad bastards, RUN!”

I balked like a startled deer at the shrill horns. The females bolted, clumping together in a pack. I followed until I saw where they were headed—north. Toward the river.

The one place Jase had told me to avoid.

Against my better judgment, I broke off from the group, picking up speed as I barreled through the trees.

At first, all I could hear were my bare feet hitting the ground and the frantic beat of my heart. The moon bathed the forest in silver, casting shadows that played tricks on my mind. Was the darkness moving? I could’ve sworn I saw something curl around a tree trunk.

My legs ached, but the fear had taken over. Excitement was gone—only survival remained.

A branch snapped behind me and my steps faltered. I stumbled over a root—only to be caught. The darkness rising to meet me, steadying me before I could hit the ground. I froze, my breath ragged and curling into the cold night air in thick, ghostly plumes.

“Jase?” I called. “Is that you?”

No answer.

A fluttering of wings from the bushes broke the silence. I turned, backing away slowly. I was too exposed. How far should I go? What happened if someone other than my princes found me out here?