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“ S pit it out, Elara,” Azrael snapped impatiently, his gaze boring into me. His usual impatience had taken on an edge of anxiety I’d rarely seen. “Our treaty meetings aren’t meant to drag on, and little Kaelen here has a curfew.”

“Don’t test me, demon,” Kaelen’s fangs flash in irritation, a warning growl rumbling low in his throat, his voice cold as the snow beneath our feet.

I sigh, feeling the weight of their gazes pressing down on me. Twisting the tassel on my belt, a habit I couldn’t seem to break when I was nervous, I forced my voice to steady. “Gentlemen,” I began, “the fate of the realms hangs in the balance.”

I could feel the forest hold its breath as I paused. A chill filled wind swept over the barren plains, and for a fleeting moment, I wished it would carry me far away from this cursed gathering. Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to continue.

“There’s something I’ve hidden from both of you,” I admit, my voice trembling despite my best efforts. “A truth that could change everything… one that could tear apart the fragile peace we’ve spent centuries trying to keep intact.”

Kaelen’s eyes meet mine, curiosity and suspicion flickering in his crimson eyes. Azrael, ever the predator, studied me with a mix of intrigue and cruel amusement, as though he found my turmoil entertaining.

“For generations, I have carried a secret that could destroy us all. I am not what you think I am.”

Kaelen’s eyes narrowed, his head tilting slightly in disbelief. Azrael’s lips curve into that infuriating smirk he always does, the one that makes me want to both throttle and kiss him at the same time. But this was no time for hesitation. I steeled myself for what was to come.

“I am not a true Fae,” finally expressing those words, makes my mouth dry and taste like ash. “I am… a vampire.”

The silence that followed was deafening, broken only by the faint rustling of the forest behind me. Kaelen took a sharp breath, his crimson eyes widening with shock. Azrael, on the other hand, chuckled darkly, the sound grating against my frayed nerves.

“A vampire?” He echoed, disbelief and something else, hurt? Clouding his expression.

“Not just any vampire, though, I am of royal blood, Kaelen. Like you. Which means…” I trembled, my voice bitter.

“You’re bound by the treaty,” he says quietly, his voice flat as he pieces it together. “We are to marry.”

Azrael scoffs, his posture radiating heat as hot as a volcano. “This is what you’ve been hiding?” He sneered. “All this secrecy, this drama, for that? Elara, spare me your theatrics. You’ve wasted my time.”

My hands ball into fists, my voice snapping like a whip. “You have no idea what this means, Azrael! The treaty was meant to prevent an imbalance of power, to stabilise the realms. If I don’t fulfil its terms, the consequences will ripple through every corner of our world.”

“And what’s stopping you?” Kaelen asked, his voice uncharacteristically soft. “Why not marry me, Elara? We can preserve the balance…”

“Because I don’t love you!” I blurted out, my voice breaking as my emotions surged to the surface. My hands tremble as I stare at him, tears prickling the corners of my eyes. “I can’t marry someone I don’t love.”

The vulnerability in my voice cut through the icy tension, leaving an unbearable silence in its wake. Kaelen looked stricken, a flicker of hurt crossing his face before he composed himself.

“Then who?” Azrael demanded, his voice sharp with disbelief. “Who could you possibly…”

“I don’t even know if I should say,” I whisper, the words feeling heavy on my tongue. But there was no turning back now. “I’m in love with someone… someone I shouldn’t be.”

Kaelen froze, his expression unreadable. Azrael’s fiery eyes bore into me, his smirk replaced by something more dangerous, silent rage?

“Enough of this!” Azrael snarls, his voice sharp and trembling with fury.

His ember-like eyes ignite, and in an instant, flames erupt around him, a tempest of blazing rage consuming his form.

The heat is overwhelming, the air crackling with his fury, then, just as suddenly, he’s gone.

Leaving nothing but scorched earth in his wake.

Only Kaelen and I remain, the vast plain stretching endlessly around us, eerily silent in Azrael’s absence.

“Elara,” Kaelen began, his voice faltering. “You can’t mean…”

“I need time to think,” I interrupt him, my voice tight with panic. Without waiting for a reply, I spread my wings and launched myself into the air, my heart pounding as I fled the scene.

Back in the safety of Lunairis, I land clumsily on the Grand Oak Tree near my palace, tears streaming freely down my face.

The weight of my confession, the looks on their faces, and the truth of my heart were too much to bear.

My mother had always told me I felt things too deeply, and tonight, I knew she was right.

Kaelen loves me. I could see it now, in the way his eyes softened, in quiet pain behind his words. And Azrael… oh, Azrael. I wanted him more than I could bear, his fire, his passion, his defiance of everything I should want in a mate.

Hours passed before I returned to the palace, my emotions numbed, but my thoughts racing. Withers, ever faithful, called out to me as I ascended the grand staircase. I brushed him off with a brief goodnight, too exhausted to face his concern.

In the solitude of my chambers, I throw myself onto the bed, my thoughts a storm of conflicting desires and impossible choices. Kaelen, bound to me by duty and treaty, offered a life of stability and safety. But my heart… my heart aches for Azrael, his fiery soul calling to the shadows within me.

The treaty demanded sacrifice. But love? Love demanded everything.

Lying on my back, I stared at the intricate patterns carved into the wooden beams of my bedroom ceiling.

The familiar sight should soothe me, but my mind refuses to let me settle.

The night’s revelations replayed in my mind, each moment pressing heavier on my chest. Kaelen loves me.

The words echo relentlessly. I saw it in his eyes, heard it in the quiet desperation of his voice.

He wants to marry me, to fulfil the treaty’s demands and preserve the balance of our realms.

But I cannot do it. I can’t marry Kaelen. Not because he isn’t noble or worthy, he is all of those things. But because my heart pulls me in another direction, towards someone I can’t have.

Azrael.

My breath hitched as his face filled my thoughts: his fiery eyes that always seemed to pierce through my defences, the dangerous smirk that ignites something wild inside me. He is everything I shouldn’t want: arrogant, impatient, infuriating, but also everything I crave.

The memory of him tonight, his sharp tongue and blazing intensity, lingers.

I can still feel the heat of his gaze on my skin, the challenge in his words.

My pulse quickens as I imagine sinking my teeth into his neck, tasting the fiery essence that courses through his veins, claiming him in a way no treaty could dictate.

The thought sent a thrill through my veins, followed swiftly by despair. Does he think of me this way?

I tossed and turned, tangling myself in the silken sheets. The treaty demanded I married Kaelen, but every fibre of my being rebelled against the idea. Azrael was the one who set my blood alight, who stirred the darkness within me, who made me feel alive in ways I don’t fully understand.

Could Azrael ever see me as more than a pawn in his precarious game of alliances?

I closed my eyes, trying to quiet the storm inside me. But sleep wouldn’t come. Azrael’s smirk, his eyes, and his very presence haunts me. Somewhere deep in my heart, I already knew the truth: I didn’t just want him.

I needed him.