Three days after my heat breaks, Celeste tries to poison me.
Not even subtle about it. Just walks right up during breakfast in the main hall and offers me wine with a smile that doesn't reach her eyes.
"A peace offering," she says. Sets the glass in front of me. "I was rude at the bonding ceremony. I apologize."
I stare at the wine. Something about it looks wrong. Too dark. Too thick.
"I don't drink wine."
"Everyone drinks wine." She's still smiling. "It's tradition. Refusing would be an insult."
Half the hall is watching now. Waiting to see what I'll do.
"Then insult me." I push the glass back. "I'm not drinking it."
Her smile gets tighter. "Are you accusing me of something?"
"Should I be?"
"You're paranoid."
"I'm careful. There's a difference."
Damon appears beside me. Takes the glass. Sniffs it. His expression goes cold.
"Wolfsbane." He looks at Celeste. "You tried to poison my mate."
The hall goes silent.
Celeste's face drains of color. "I didn't. That's not..."
"Guards." Damon doesn't raise his voice. Doesn't have to. "Take her."
"You can't prove anything," Celeste says as guards grab her arms. "It's my word against yours."
"It's my word as Crown Prince against yours as a guest who just tried to murder the King's chosen mate." Damon sets the glass down. "Which do you think carries more weight?"
They drag her out. She's screaming the whole way about injustice and false accusations.
I'm shaking.
"You okay?" Kieran asks. He's on my other side now. When did he get there?
"Yeah."
"That was close." He's looking at where Celeste disappeared. "If you'd drunk that, you'd be dead in minutes."
"How did you know?" Damon asks me. "What made you refuse?"
"I don't know. Something felt wrong." I stand. Can't sit still. "I need air."
"I'll come with you," Caius says.
We walk. Through the palace, out to the gardens. Nobody follows. The guards know better.
"That's the third attempt," Caius says once we're alone.
"Third?"
"The servant who attacked you in the hallway. The food that made you sick last week. Now this." He stops walking. "Someone wants you dead."
"You think it's all connected?"
"I know it is." He turns to face me. "Celeste is working for someone. She's not smart enough to orchestrate this alone."
"Who?"
"I don't know yet. But I'm going to find out." His eyes are cold. Silver. "Nobody tries to kill my mate three times without consequences."
My mate. He's never said it like that before. Like he actually means it.
"I'm scared," I admit.
"Good. Fear keeps you alive." He steps closer. "But so do we. You're not alone in this."
"Feels like I am sometimes."
"I know." He reaches out. Stops himself. "Can I touch you?"
The question surprises me. He's never asked before.
"Yes."
His hand cups my face. Gentle. The bond flares between us, warm and steady.
"You're stronger than you think," he says. "You survived five years alone. You survived your pack being destroyed. You survived heat without breaking." His thumb brushes my cheek. "You'll survive this too."
"What if I don't want to just survive anymore?"
"What do you want?"
"I don't know." My voice comes out small. "Maybe I want to actually live. Be happy. Have a choice in something."
"You have a choice in everything."
"Do I? Because from where I'm standing, I'm trapped in a bond I didn't ask for, living in a palace where everyone wants me dead, and I have four months to choose which Prince becomes King." I pull away from his touch. "Where's the choice in any of that?"
"You chose to stay. You could have run."
"And died from bond sickness."
"You chose to confront my father about your pack. You could have stayed silent."
"What good did that do?"
"It gave you power." He's watching me closely. "You know the truth now. You know what he did. That means you can use it."
"Use it how?"
"To get what you want." He steps closer again. "You're not powerless, Sage. You're the most powerful person in this kingdom right now. You just haven't figured out how to use it yet."
Before I can answer, someone screams.
We run. Back toward the palace. The screaming is coming from the throne room.
The doors are open. Inside, chaos.
The King is on the ground. Not moving.
Damon's beside him. "Get the healer! Now!"
Kieran sees us. "He collapsed. Just fell over mid sentence."
I push through the crowd. Get close enough to see.
The King's eyes are open but unfocused. His breathing is shallow. Wrong.
"Father." Damon's voice cracks. "Stay with me."
The healer arrives. Checks the King. His face goes grim.
"How long?" Damon asks.
"Days. Maybe a week."
"You said months."
"I was wrong." The healer won't meet his eyes. "The poison is moving faster than expected."
"Poison?"
"Someone's been poisoning him. Slowly. For years probably." The healer stands. "I'm sorry, Your Highness. There's nothing I can do."
The room spins.
Someone's been poisoning the King. For years.
Which means his dying isn't natural.
Someone planned this.
"Get him to his chambers," Caius orders. "And double the guard. Nobody in or out without my approval."
They carry the King away. He still hasn't spoken.
"This changes everything," Kieran says quietly.
"How?" I ask.
"Because if Father dies now, Sage has to choose immediately." Damon's looking at me. "There's no more time. The kingdom needs a King."
My stomach drops. "What?"
"You heard the healer. Days, maybe a week." Caius's face is carved from stone. "The moment Father dies, you have to name one of us King. Or the kingdom descends into chaos."
"I'm not ready."
"Doesn't matter. Time's up." Damon starts pacing. "We need to find out who's poisoning him. Who's orchestrating the attacks on Sage. They're connected, they have to be."
"Agreed." Caius looks at me. "But until we know who, you're not safe. Someone wants you dead and Father incapacitated. Which means they're planning something."
"A coup," Kieran says. "They're planning to take the throne while we're distracted."
"Then we stop them." Damon's eyes flash gold. "Sage, you're staying in the royal wing. No exceptions. One of us with you at all times."
"I'm not a prisoner."
"You're a target. There's a difference." He moves closer. "Please. Just until we figure this out."
I want to argue. But he's right. Three attempts in two weeks. The King dying faster than expected. Something big is happening and I'm in the middle of it.
"Fine. But I want to help figure out who's behind this."
"Absolutely not," all three of them say at once.
"It's too dangerous," Caius adds.
"I'm already in danger. Might as well be useful." I cross my arms. "I'm not sitting around waiting to be rescued."
Damon looks like he wants to argue. Then: "Fine. But you stay with one of us. Always."
"Deal."
We spend the next three days investigating.
Kieran goes through the King's records. Looking for patterns. Who had access. Who benefits from his death.
Caius interrogates Celeste. She breaks on day two. Admits she was working for someone but swears she doesn't know who. Just that they promised her Damon if she eliminated me.
I help Damon question servants. Staff. Anyone who might have seen something.
And slowly, pieces start falling into place.
"It's someone close to Father," Damon says on the third night. We're in his study. Papers everywhere. "Someone with constant access. Someone he trusts."
"The council?" I suggest.
"Maybe. But which one?" He rubs his face. Exhausted. "There are twelve of them. Could be any."
"Or all of them," Kieran says from the doorway. "I found something."
He spreads documents on the desk. Financial records. Payments. Coded messages.
"They've been planning this for years," Kieran explains. "Slowly poisoning Father. Destabilizing the kingdom. And when he dies, they're going to claim the throne is contested because of the triple bond."
"They'll say Sage can't choose," Caius realizes. "That the bond makes her unreliable."
"And in the chaos, they take power." Damon slams his fist on the desk. "We have to stop them."
"How?" I ask. "If Father dies and I don't choose immediately, they win."
"Then you choose." Caius looks at me. "Tonight. Before Father dies. Make your choice and we crown the new King immediately."
My heart stops. "I'm not ready."
"You don't have a choice." He's not being cruel. Just honest. "Pick one of us. Any of us. But pick now before they can act."
"That's not fair."
"None of this is fair," Damon says. "But it's reality."
I look between the three of them. Damon, tense and desperate. Kieran, trying to hide his fear. Caius, cold and calculating as always.
How am I supposed to choose?
"I need time to think," I say.
"You have until morning," Caius says. "Father won't last longer than that. When he dies, you name the next King. Be ready."
I go back to my room and sit in the dark trying to figure out what to do.
Damon is strong. Ruthless. He'd be a good King. But he's also angry and impulsive.
Kieran is smart. Diplomatic. He could unite people. But he's used to avoiding responsibility.
Caius is strategic. Controlled. He'd rule efficiently. But he's cold and distant.
None of them are perfect.
But one of them has to be King.
There's a knock. All three doors open at once.
They stand there. Waiting.
"I can't choose," I say.
"You have to," Damon says.
"What if I choose wrong? What if I pick someone who destroys the kingdom?"
"Then we fix it." Kieran steps into the room. "Together."
"You won't be together. Two of you will be exiled."
"Maybe not." Caius follows Kieran in. "I've been researching. The law says the mate's choice determines who becomes King. It doesn't say the others have to leave."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying maybe we've been looking at this wrong." He glances at his brothers. "What if you choose all three of us?"
The room goes silent.
"That's not possible," Damon says.
"Why not? The bond connects her to all of us equally. Who says she has to break it?" Caius looks at me. "You choose me as King. But Damon and Kieran stay as princes. We rule together. Like we were supposed to before the bond."
"Father would never allow it," Kieran says.
"Father is dying. And the law doesn't explicitly forbid it." Caius's eyes are intense. "It's a loophole. But it works."
"The council won't accept it," Damon argues.
"The council is staging a coup. We arrest them and install new members who will." Caius turns to me. "It's your choice. Pick one and lose two. Or pick all three and change the law."
My heart is racing. "You'd really share power? All three of you?"
"We've been sharing you," Kieran points out. "How different can it be?"
"Very different. You'll fight."
"We already fight." Damon moves closer. "But we also work together when it matters. And this matters."
"So you want me to choose you as King," I say to Caius. "But keep the bond with all three."
"Yes."
"Why you? Why not Damon or Kieran?"
"Because I'm the oldest. The most prepared. And because I don't want the job." He almost smiles. "Which makes me the best choice. I won't let power corrupt me because I never wanted it."
It makes sense. In a weird, twisted way, it actually makes sense.
"What do you two think?" I ask Damon and Kieran.
"I think it's insane," Damon says. "But it might work."
"I think it's brilliant," Kieran grins. "And way more interesting than exile."
I take a breath. "Okay. We try it. Caius is King. You two stay as princes. We rule together."
"Together," Caius agrees.
The bond pulses between all four of us. Warm. Certain.
This might be the craziest decision I've ever made.
But it feels right.
The King dies at dawn.
We're all there. Watching as he takes his last breath.
"I'm sorry," he says to me at the end. "For your pack. For everything."
Then he's gone.
The guards look at me. Waiting.
"I choose Caius Thorne as King," I say clearly. "And I claim Damon and Kieran as my bonded princes. All three stay. All three rule."
There's shocked silence.
Then Caius speaks. "By the power of the mate bond and the laws of this kingdom, I accept the crown. And I declare my brothers equal partners in rule. Anyone who objects can leave now."
Nobody moves.
The council tries. They argue. They threaten.
But Caius has them all arrested before midday. Turns out half of them were part of the coup. The other half fall in line quick once they realize the alternative is execution.
New council members are appointed. Laws are updated.
And just like that, everything changes.
I'm queen to three kings.
It's messy. Complicated. Probably going to cause problems down the line.
But we're together.
All four of us.
And maybe that's enough.