The air was thick with smoke and the faint coppery tang of blood when I came to. My head throbbed like it had been split open, and my wrists burned where the silver cuffs had been.
For a moment, I didn't know where I was.
Stone walls surrounded me, slick with moisture, and the dim light of a single torch painted the room in flickering gold. It was cold here—so cold that my breath came out in soft white clouds.
Then I heard him.
A deep, steady breathing in the shadows beyond the torchlight.
I forced my eyes to focus, and he stepped forward—the figure I'd glimpsed in my nightmares. The Shadow Alpha.
Tall, broad-shouldered, his hair as black as the void between stars. His eyes glowed silver, an unnatural brightness that made my wolf stiffen and whimper in my mind.
"You came to me," he said, his voice low and rich. "Even if you don't want to admit it."
I pushed back until my shoulders hit the cold wall. "I didn't come to you. You had me taken."
One corner of his mouth lifted. "Your body was already seeking me. I just… made it easier."
He moved closer, and I could feel it—the same invisible pull I'd felt in my dreams. It was like gravity, dragging me forward even as I fought to stay still. My heart betrayed me, thudding harder with each step he took.
When he stopped in front of me, the torchlight caught the edge of his jaw, sharp and perfect like carved stone. His scent hit me—cool night air and the metallic bite of rain before a storm. So different from Kael's warmth, yet equally intoxicating.
"Why?" I asked, my voice trembling despite myself. "Why me?"
His gaze swept over my face, lingering just a little too long. "Because the bond chose you. Not him."
My stomach tightened. "That's not true."
"You feel it," he said simply. "Even now. Even when you fight it. I'm not asking for your confession, Selene. I will take what's mine."
Before I could move, his hand was at the side of my neck—not squeezing, but holding me still. His thumb brushed the place where Kael's mark rested, and my wolf growled in defiance.
"You wear his mark," he murmured, "but that will not last."
Silver light gathered at his fingertips, searing into my skin. I gasped as the burning spread from my neck through my chest, threading into my veins like wildfire.
My vision blurred, and I saw flashes—snow-covered forests, silver-eyed wolves howling under a blood moon, the dark silhouette of a throne made of black stone. His memories.
Then it was over.
When I blinked, his mark glowed faintly on the other side of my neck, opposite Kael's.
Two bonds. Two claims.
"You're mine now," he said, his voice a mixture of triumph and possession. "And no king can take you from me."
The cell door creaked open, and a guard appeared. "Alpha, the scouts report Kael's forces approaching."
His silver gaze slid back to me. "We'll finish this later."
The guard pulled me to my feet, but the Shadow Alpha didn't look away until I was gone from the room—his stare seared into my skin, as permanent as the mark he had left there.