Aria finally reached for the coffee, more for something to do with her hands than actual thirst. The brew was perfect—rich and dark and scalding. She hated that she enjoyed it.
"Tell me about the laboratory," she said.
"West wing, third floor. Fully equipped, though I took the liberty of restricting access to certain... volatile compounds. The ones you might use to create weapons or escape tools."
"How thoughtful."
"I'm not a fool, Dr. Thorne. I'm giving you enough rope to work with, not enough to hang either of us." Kael leaned back in his chair, studying her with that unsettling intensity. "You'll have an assistant. Miss Shadowmoon is trained in bond psychology and biochemistry. She'll help with your research and serve as your liaison to the palace staff."
"She's a spy."
"She's insurance. As is the guard who will be stationed outside the laboratory at all times."
"Prison with better equipment. Wonderful."
"Would you prefer an actual prison?" Kael's voice remained level, but steel underlaid it. "Because that can be arranged. I'm offering you a chance to prove your theories, but don't mistake my tolerance for weakness. You're here because I allow it. Push too far, and that permission is revoked."
Aria met his gaze over the rim of her coffee cup. "You're afraid."
"Excuse me?"
"Of the bond. Of what you felt last night." She watched his expression carefully, cataloguing the minute tells—the slight tension in his jaw, the way his fingers tightened on his cup. "You're afraid I'm right. That everything you've been taught is a lie. That what you're feeling right now isn't destiny but a chemical hijacking of your free will."
Kael was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke, his voice was barely above a murmur. "What I'm afraid of, Dr. Thorne, is that you might be wrong. That you'll destroy something sacred because you're too damaged to recognize love when it's offered."
The words landed like a slap. Aria set down her coffee with deliberate care, afraid she might throw it otherwise.
"My parents loved each other," she said quietly. "Truly loved each other. No bond, no fate, just choice. And your Council executed them for it when I was twelve years old. So forgive me if I'm skeptical about your definition of sacred."
Understanding flickered across Kael's face, followed quickly by something that might have been regret. "I didn't know."
"Why would you? We were nobody. Just two scientists who committed the crime of choosing their own mate." Aria stood, done with breakfast and civility both. "Show me the laboratory. Or is talking about my dead parents part of the bonding process?"
Kael rose as well, smooth and controlled. For a heartbeat, she thought he might apologize. Instead, he simply nodded.
"Follow me."
They walked in silence through corridors that seemed designed to intimidate—soaring ceilings, marble floors, portraits of stern-faced alphas watching from the walls. Staff members they passed immediately lowered their eyes, bowing or curtsying. Showing submission to their king.
Showing submission to her, by extension.
The thought made Aria's skin crawl.
"They're afraid of you," she observed.
"They're showing respect."
"Those aren't the same thing."
"In my experience, they often are." Kael navigated the palace with effortless familiarity, taking turns without hesitation. "Respect without fear is friendship. I'm their king, not their friend."
"Sounds lonely."
"It's practical."
They climbed a sweeping staircase to the third floor. The west wing was quieter, clearly dedicated to administrative functions rather than living quarters. Kael stopped before a set of double doors flanked by two guards who immediately straightened to attention.
"At ease," Kael said. The guards relaxed fractionally. "This is Dr. Aria Thorne, my bonded mate. She has unrestricted access to the laboratory. No one enters without her explicit permission or mine. Understood?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," they chorused.
Kael opened the doors and gestured for Aria to precede him.
She stepped inside and stopped breathing.
The laboratory was... perfect. Better than perfect. State-of-the-art equipment lined the walls—mass spectrometers, centrifuges, chemical analyzers she'd only dreamed of using. Computers with processing power that would have made her underground operation look like a child's science kit. Storage cabinets full of supplies, a quarantine chamber for dangerous experiments, even a small office space with a desk and reference library.
"The chemicals you requested are in the secure cabinet," Kael said from behind her. "Locked, as I mentioned. You'll need to submit requests in writing for anything restricted. Everything else is at your disposal."
Aria walked slowly through the space, running her fingers along the equipment, afraid it might vanish if she looked away. This was a real laboratory. A place where she could actually work, actually make progress on research that might—
She stopped herself. This was still a cage. A gilded, well-equipped cage, but a cage nonetheless.
"Why?" she asked without turning around. "Why give me this? You could just lock me up and destroy my work."
"I could," Kael agreed. "But you said you could prove the bond is parasitic. I want to see you try."
"Because you hope I'll fail."
"Because I need to know the truth." His voice shifted, losing some of its formal edge. "My father killed my mother because of the bond. Bond-rage, they called it. The sacred connection driving him mad until he couldn't tell love from violence. And when I executed him for it, the Council told me it was tragic but unavoidable. That the bond's intensity sometimes overcomes reason."
Aria turned to face him. Kael stood in the doorway, backlit by corridor light, his expression carefully neutral. But she heard the fracture in his voice.
"Does that sound like love to you, Dr. Thorne? A force that turns a wolf into a murderer?"
"No," Aria said quietly. "It doesn't."
"Then prove it." Kael pushed off from the doorframe, all business again. "You have thirty days before the Marking Ceremony. Use them wisely."
He turned to leave.
"Wait." The word came out before Aria could stop it. Kael paused, looking back over his shoulder. "Last night, when the bond hit you. What did it feel like?"
For a moment, she thought he wouldn't answer. Then: "Like drowning and breathing for the first time simultaneously. Like every decision I'd ever made had been wrong until the moment I touched you. Like—" He stopped, jaw tightening. "Like I would burn the world down to keep you safe, and I'd just met you. That's not love, Dr. Thorne. That's insanity."