KAEL POV
Blood spilled across the golden throne.
I wiped my mouth with a silk cloth that was already soaked red. The fourth time today. The curse was getting worse.
"Your Majesty, please." Elder Thorne rushed forward, his old bear face creased with worry. "You need to lie down. You're pushing yourself too hard."
"I'm fine." My voice came out as a growl. I wasn't good. We both knew it.
Inside my chest, my animal was dying. I could feel him fading, getting weaker every day. A lion beastman without his lion is just... nothing. Empty. Dead.
"You have maybe three months left," Thorne said softly. "Two if you keep refusing the cure."
I laughed, and it hurt. Everything hurt these days. "You mean if I keep refusing to kill innocent humans and drain their blood? Yes, Elder. I'll keep denying that."
"It doesn't have to be murder. Just... a little blood. Enough to break the curse. The person would survive."
"And spend the rest of their life knowing I stole part of their soul? No." I stood up from the chair, ignoring how my legs shook. "I'd rather die than become the monster my father was."
Thorne's eyes went sad. He'd known my father—the old Lion King who'd been cruel and nasty. Who'd treated people like toys to break. When my father was murdered twelve years ago, I'd sworn to be different.
Now that promise was killing me.
"There has to be another way," I said, walking to the window. Outside, the main city of Valtor spread below me—thousands of beastmen and humans living together. Well, not exactly together. The humans served. The beastmen ruled. That was the way things had been for three hundred years.
I hated it. But changing centuries of custom wasn't easy, especially when you were dying.
My lion stirred weakly inside me. He was so quiet now. Once, he'd been fierce and strong, screaming at the smallest challenge. Now he barely had the energy to lift his head.
Sorry, old friend, I thought. I failed you.
"Actually," Thorne said slowly, "there might be another way."
I turned. "What?"
"I received a report this morning. From the northern regions. There was a raid on a small human town three days ago."
My jaw clenched. I hated the raids. They were legal—humans were considered property under beastmen law—but that didn't make them right. "And?"
"One of the wolves reported something... odd. A girl who started sparkling when she got angry. A girl with silver hair and violet eyes."
My heart stopped. My lion, who'd been barely breathing, suddenly raised his head.
"That's impossible," I whispered. "The Forgotten Ones are dead. The purge killed them all."
"That's what we thought." Thorne pulled out a paper and gave it to me. "But Lord Draevon is very interested in this girl. He's offered a massive prize for her capture. He wants to... question her personally."
Ice filled my blood. Draevon. The Wolf Alpha who hated people more than anyone. Who'd been carefully hunting down rumors of Forgotten Ones for years.
If he got his hands on a real Forgotten One...
"Where is she now?" I asked.
"In a cage, going to the Grand Auction House. She'll be sold in five days."
Five days. My lion roared inside me, suddenly alert and desperate. He'd been sleeping for so long, but now he was awake and yelling one word over and over: MATE. MATE. MATE.
"No," I said out loud. "That's crazy. I've never even met this girl."
But my animal didn't care. He knew. Somehow, he knew.
Forgotten Ones were special. Not just because of their magic, but because they were the only humans who could be true mates to beastmen. Before the Great Subjugation, Forgotten Ones and beastmen had bonded, forming powerful partnerships that made both stronger.
That's why they'd been killed to extinction. The other beastmen had been jealous. Afraid.
"If she really is a Forgotten One," Thorne said slowly, "her blood could cure you. Willingly given, it would break the curse without hurting her."
"If she's my mate," I added quietly.
"Yes. If she's your mate." Thorne studied me. "Your lion seems to think she is."
My lion was going crazy, pacing and growling and demanding I go find her right now. After months of silence, he was suddenly living again, burning with need and purpose.
But I forced myself to think clearly. "Even if she is... I can't just buy her like property. That's everything I'm fighting against."
"You can buy her and then free her."
"And if she refuses to help me? If she hates all beastmen after what we've done to her?" I coughed again, more blood. "I won't force her, Thorne. I won't become my father."
Thorne sighed. "Then you'll die, and Draevon will probably take the throne. And you know what he'll do to the people then."
I did know. Draevon wants to go back to the old ways. To make slavery even harder. To crush any human who showed the smallest spark of resistance.
If I died, everything I'd worked for would die with me.
"The auction is in five days?" I asked.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Then I'm going." I straightened up, ignoring the pain. "I'll attend the sale. I'll see this girl for myself. And if she really is Forgotten... if she really is my mate..."
"Yes?"
I looked at Thorne. "Then I'll buy her. But I'll give her a chance. Help me freely, or go free. Even if it kills me."
Thorne nodded slowly. "You're a better king than your father ever was."
"I hope so." I coughed again. "Because if I'm wrong about this, I'll be a dead king in three months."
My lion roared agreement. He didn't care about the danger. He only cared about one thing: finding our mate.
Hold on, I thought, sending the message out into the world, hoping somehow she could hear it. Hold on, little one. I'm coming.
A servant rushed into the throne room, panting and pale. "Your Majesty! Emergency report from the northern regions!"
"What now?" Thorne demanded.
"It's Lord Draevon, sir. He's... he's left his area. He's going to the capital." The servant swallowed hard. "And he's bringing a prisoner with him. A special prisoner he's planning to give to the king as a gift."
My blood ran cold. "What kind of prisoner?"
"A girl, Your Majesty. A normal girl with silver hair."
My lion exploded inside me, roaring with anger and fear.
Draevon had her. The wolf who killed Forgotten Ones had found my mate before I could.
And he was bringing her straight to me... as a gift he could take back at any time.
"How long until he arrives?" I asked, my voice deadly calm.
"Two days, Your Majesty."
Two days. Draevon would be here in two days. With my friend. My dying, desperate mate bond was yelling at me to go to her now, to rip her away from Draevon and never let her go.
But I was the king. I couldn't just attack another Alpha without proof of crime.
I was trapped by my own rules.
"Prepare the palace for Lord Draevon's arrival," I ordered. "And double the guard. I want eyes on him every second he's here."
The helper bowed and left.
Thorne looked at me. "What are you planning?"
"I'm planning to meet this girl." I smiled, and it probably looked frightening. "And then I'm planning to make sure Draevon never touches her again."
"Even if it means war with the wolves?"
I thought about my mate—scared, alone, in Draevon's evil hands. My lion growled with protective rage.
"Even if it means war," I said.
Because some things were worth fighting for.
Some people were worth dying for.
And I had a feeling this silver-haired girl was both.