Page 6

Kassira

T he moment we step out of Draven’s bedroom, we stop dead.

The hallway is packed. Wall to wall with soldiers — all armed, tense, eyes darting between me and the man at my side like they’re waiting for another explosion. One wrong move, and this corridor turns into a battlefield.

Standing at the front, just a few feet from the door, is a tall, dark-haired man with eerie green eyes and a death grip on the hilt of a massive sword strapped to his hip. His magic buzzes faintly in the air. Dangerous. On edge.

I’ve seen him before. Once in the royal town. And again at that cursed ballroom.

Draven’s Beta.

“Drev,” the man says slowly, voice calm but tight. “You good?” His gaze flicks over me, then settles on Draven again — calculating, alert.

“Take your hand off the sword, Sin,” Draven sighs. “I’m back. Mostly.” His voice carries the edge of a threat — and something bitter. “Good thing you guys managed to protect my mate, huh?”

The sarcasm is a dagger wrapped in velvet.

Sin straightens immediately, spine snapping into perfect posture as outrage flashes across his face. “From an ancient lycan beast with dragon wings and giant talons?” He throws his hands in the air. “We’re lucky you didn’t turn us all into pastrami!”

His eyes sharpen with curiosity. “Seriously, what the hell was that? Since when can you shift? And not just any shift — a goddamn ancient lycan?!”

He doesn’t wait for an answer. Instead, he tilts his head and looks at me with a crooked smile that would probably charm most women.

“Apologies, beautiful.” Draven growls low in warning — I knew it was coming — but Sin ignores him entirely.

“We really couldn’t get to you. Thirty men in the med bay right now thanks to our fearless king here,” he says, thumbing toward Draven.

“And they’ll be out for days. That’s saying something, considering how fast wolves usually heal. ”

“ I like this one, ” Neris purrs inside my head.

“ I do, too, ” I admit.

“It’s fine,” I tell Sin. “No apology needed. I handled it.”

He flashes a grin. “Clearly. So you really are his mate? That wasn’t just a stunt at the party?”

My smile drops.

My eyes narrow. “I don’t like you anymore.”

Neris snorts and flips her metaphorical tail.

Sin raises an eyebrow, grinning wider. “You liked me?”

Another growl from Draven. Lower. Sharper.

“Enough,” he snaps. “Yes, Kassira is my mate—”

“No, I’m not,” I cut in, loud and clear.

The hallway goes still. Sharp gasps echo through the crowd. Murmurs ripple like thunder.

Draven’s jaw clenches so tight I hear the grind of his teeth.

“That,” he growls, “is not up for debate.”

He doesn’t give me a chance to argue. Just starts marching down the hall.

“To my office. We’re finalizing your… conditions.” His tone is pure steel. “Sin, you’re coming too.”

Great. Now we’re making it official.

We’ve been in Draven’s office for a few minutes now.

He’s pacing in front of the desk, updating Sin about the collar wrapped around his lycan — casually — like it’s just another item on the royal agenda.

They keep asking me questions: What did it look like?

What kind of markings did it have? What did the magic feel like?

I answer, but my mind’s already working three steps ahead.

If I can’t leave, then I’m going to do what I do best — research.

It’s my secret power. My only power. I’ll bury myself in scrolls, books, forbidden texts, whatever it takes to uncover what that leash is, how it works, and most importantly, who the hell put it there.

Because that kind of magic isn’t just dangerous — it’s apocalyptic.

Having the King of Alphas — who, by the way, shifts into a winged, indestructible lycan — on a magical leash?

That’s a disaster waiting to happen. And when that leash gets yanked by some hidden puppet master, who is going to pay the price?

Exactly. All shifters. Including me, because I’m one of them and this idiot rules us all.

I can’t build a quiet life anywhere if the king can be unleashed on a murderous rampage on a whim.

Also — minor detail — I need to find a way to sever the bond on his end too.

Because if I don’t, I’ll never be free of Draxis.

That lycan will never let me go. They’re notorious for their possessiveness.

And there has to be something in the royal library.

There’s always a dusty manuscript for every kind of magical problem.

Too bad I can’t blame all this on his perfect little girlfriend.

Wouldn’t that be satisfying? But even if she’s got some power, I know she’s a shifter.

That kind of magic — the old, deep, twisted kind — could only come from a pure-blooded witch.

And yes, I’m bitter about her. So what? I’m bitter about Draven, too!

He can go suck a lemon! Or twelve. Both of them!

And speaking of witches — because the universe has excellent comedic timing — the door swings open.

And there she is.

Amira.

Red hair trailing behind her like silk. Gown perfectly tailored. Face flawless. Why couldn’t she just be ugly?

“Ven, baby,” she coos, voice high and sugary. It makes my molars itch. Makes me stabby.

Draven doesn’t even get a full second to react before she’s across the room and on him, lips crashing to his like he’s the air she’s breathing. Her hands on his chest. His hand automatically curves around her waist. Clearly old muscle memory. Familiar territory.

The bond is gone for me and still, the scene cuts deep. It hurts. Not like the physical pain of the bond, but somewhere in my heart. A hollowing-out kind of ache.

Sin gasps audibly beside me.

“ Asshole, ” Neris mutters inside my head.

“ I know, ” I whisper back to her. “ So disrespectful. I get that I severed the bond, but still. Wait five freaking minutes, you— ”

I don’t get to finish the thought.

Because suddenly, Draven growls. Low. Furious.

And in the next breath, he shoves Amira off him with enough force to make the entire room freeze. She stumbles back hard, heels slipping, and slams into the wall with a startled gasp.

The silence that follows is delicious.

Sin chuckles.

I glance sideways at him, one eyebrow raised.

He grins, unbothered. Shrugs like this is the most entertaining thing he's seen in months.

I think I like him again.

“Baby, what are you doing?” Amira whines, voice pitched so high it scratches at my eardrums. “I was so worried. I don’t understand what happened. And you didn’t even come to me — you came here?”

I roll my eyes so hard I nearly see my past lives.

He’s a king, sweetheart. Not your emotional support puppy. He has more important stuff to deal with than your drama. How the hell is she making this all about herself?

“Why did you push me, Ven?” Her voice shakes now, wobbly and tear-soaked. Oh, she’s dialing it up. Neris huffs inside my head, deeply unimpressed.

Draven doesn’t answer her. He’s too busy trying to breathe through his obvious meltdown. His chest rises in uneven bursts, jaw locked, one hand pressed tightly against his chest.

“Amira. Leave.” His voice finally scrapes out, rough and deadly.

She gasps like he slapped her. “Wh-what?”

His finger lifts — shaking slightly — as he points directly at me.

I blink. Sit up straighter. The whole room shifts to stare. I’m in the spotlight.

“Kassira,” he growls, each syllable jagged and rough. “She is my mate. You don’t get to touch me anymore. Not like that. Not ever again.” His voice trembles with control, thick with a dangerous undertone. “We’ll talk later. You need to leave. Now.”

I turn to Amira, sugar-sweet smile plastered on my face. I give her a little wave, just to twist the knife.

“Hi.” My voice drips honey and sarcasm. “I’m not actually his mate. Well… not anymore. I was. But he’s all yours now. Free as a bird.”

It’s fake as hell. I know it. She knows it. And I don’t care. I may not feel the bond anymore. I may not want him. But stars help me, I can’t stand her.

The air shifts.

And then the room explodes.

Draven roars. The sound hits the walls and cracks them. The chandelier above us swings violently, glass chiming like warning bells.

Sin grabs his sword.

Draven’s wings snap out from behind him, black and wide and massive, tearing through the ceiling. Small pieces of debris rain down around us.

Shit. Too big. Those wings are way too big for this room.

“You are my mate,” he snarls — and his voice is wrong. Twisted. Echoing. More beast than man.

His eyes are molten silver. No pupils. Something black swirling in the blinding silver. His fangs push past his lips, drawing blood at the corners of his mouth. His hands — gods, his hands — are cracking into the desk now, talons slicing clean through the wood. He’s going to have to replace that.

My breath catches.

Neris stirs, disturbingly delighted. “ What do you think it’d look like if he plunged those talons straight into her chest? ” she muses, voice dreamy.

“ Bloodthirsty minx, ” I mutter back, without looking away from the monster in front of me.

“Whatever you say, big guy,” I whisper carefully. I can’t make him angrier now, he’ll swallow us all in one gulp. My voice is low, soothing. My heart is a drum. “Now take a deep breath. Go back inside. Everything’s fine.”

He doesn’t blink. Just stares. Locked on me.

But finally — slowly — his body begins to shift back.

The wings fold inward, muscle trembling. The fangs disappear. The silver bleeds back into ice blue. The claws retract, leaving deep cracks across the desk.

He inhales once. Deep. Centering.

Then he turns.

Amira is frozen. Jaw slack. Eyes wide.

“Leave,” he says, voice low but final. Still laced with feral echoes.

She doesn’t argue.

She spins around, red hair whipping over her shoulder, and vanishes through the door like she’s been lit on fire.

If only it were that easy for me to get the ‘leave’ command.

"That!" I jab a finger at Draven, heat flaring in my chest. "That was very dramatic! You need to start training that lycan of yours before he tears down the entire palace!"

He exhales and drags a hand down his face, slow and tired. "That would be great... if I could actually feel him. Or talk to him."

Sin leans back in his chair, arms crossed, expression thoughtful now that no one’s growling or sprouting claws.

“Drev, I think he only responds to Kassira. To his mate,” Sin says, motioning toward me with a casual flick of his fingers.

“If she’s the key to coaxing him out without triggering a massacre, then maybe start there.

Controlled environment. Focused exposure.

She clearly has some influence over him. He listens to her. We build from that.”

I cross my arms, pretending I’m not flattered that I can tame a rage-fueled monster with a single word. Whatever.

Draven turns his eyes to me again. There’s guilt spreading in them like fog.

“I’m sorry about Amira,” he says softly. “I don’t know what that was. I didn’t want to kiss her, I swear. It won’t happen again. I’ll talk to her. Make everything clear.”

I hum under my breath. “I doubt it.”

His jaw twitches.

Of course he heard me. Of course they both did. Shifter hearing is just the worst sometimes. I roll my eyes. "Doesn’t matter," I mutter, waving the entire conversation away like smoke.

“I’m not in the mood for your woman drama,” I say and then point toward Sin. “He’s right about the lycan.”

I push up from the chair and pace toward the window, thoughts swirling inside my mind. “You should know your beast isn’t just an ancient lycan — the kind that hasn’t been seen in millennia.” I turn and face them again, lifting a brow.

“Sure, the wings are the obvious weird part. Like, who’s ever heard of a lycan with wings?

Ok, you already had the wings so we could overlook that.

But that’s not all.” I start counting off on my fingers.

“The talons? Full-on dragon. Not shifter claws. Dragon. The fangs are too big — he can’t even close his mouth properly.

And when I was inspecting the collar under his fur…

” I pause. For the drama. “I saw scales. Dragon scales.”

Both men blink at me like I just slapped them with a dead fish.

“So yeah,” I finish, clapping my hands once, loud. “Congratulations. You’ve got yourself a weird-ass hybrid ancient lycan. A flying, fanged, scaled murder machine. Have fun figuring that out.”

They’re still staring at me, so I clap again — louder. “Now! I want to go to my room. A nice one. With a door that locks from the inside. And I expect full access to the palace library, as I was promised.” I narrow my eyes. “Including the restricted section.”

They both nod.

Good. Because I may be stuck here... but I’m going to dig into every scroll and spell this palace owns until I find my way out of this place.