Updated Dec 21, 2025 • ~10 min read
I woke to find Sable sitting in the chair by my window, her silver hair catching the moonlight like spider silk.
“You kiss the vampire lord and don’t tell me?” She clicked her tongue in mock disapproval. “I’m wounded, truly.”
I sat up, clutching the sheets to my chest. “How did you—”
“The entire fortress knows, darling. Kaian’s been insufferable all evening, actually smiling at people. It’s deeply disturbing.” She leaned forward, her expression turning serious. “We need to talk. Before you do something stupid like complete the mate bond without understanding the consequences.”
My face heated. “We just kissed. Once.”
“Mhmm. And that kiss made your eyes glow silver bright enough to see from three floors down. The bond is accelerating, Lira. Which means you have decisions to make. Soon.”
I threw off the covers and padded to the window, needing the cold air on my face. Below, Nocturne spread out like a jewel box, all glittering lights and shadow. “What kind of decisions?”
“The kind that change everything.” Sable rose and joined me at the window. “Completing a vampire mate bond isn’t like wolf bonding. It’s not a mark on the neck and a ceremony. It’s a blood exchange that ties your very souls together. You’ll share power, share lifespans, share everything.”
“Kaian explained—”
“Did he explain that you’ll become partially vampire? That you’ll crave blood, need to avoid sunlight, live for centuries while everyone you’ve ever known grows old and dies?” Her voice gentled. “Did he explain that there’s no undoing it once it’s done? That you’ll be bound to him for eternity whether you love him or hate him?”
I hadn’t thought that far ahead. The kiss had felt right, the bond warm and certain. But forever was a long time.
“There’s more,” Sable continued. “Your sister—Lyla. Right now, you’re still connected to her through the twin bond, parasitic as it is. But if you complete the mate bond with Kaian, it’ll sever that connection. Violently.”
My stomach dropped. “What do you mean, violently?”
“Twin bonds are sacred to the Moon Mother. They’re not meant to be broken. When yours severs, the backlash will be—” She paused, choosing words carefully. “Catastrophic. For both of you. Lyla will feel every ounce of pain she’s caused you reflected back. And you’ll lose whatever connection to your pack you have left.”
“Good.” The word came out harsh. “She deserves to hurt. After what she did—”
“Does she?” Sable’s eyes were too knowing. “Or did she do what any desperate person would do to survive?”
I spun to face her. “She stole my mate. Poisoned me. Drained my power for years—”
“Because her wolf was dying.” Sable held up a hand before I could interrupt. “I’m not excusing her actions, Lira. I’m giving you the full picture. Twin bonds are supposed to be equal—power shared freely between both parties. But sometimes, when one twin is weaker, the bond becomes parasitic to compensate. It’s not malicious. It’s survival.”
“So what, I’m supposed to forgive her? Let her keep Drake and my old life while I—what, play house with a vampire?”
“I’m saying you should understand why before you destroy her.” Sable’s voice turned sharp. “Right now, Lyla is living on borrowed time and borrowed power. The moment your bond severs, her wolf will shut down completely. She’ll be a human in a pack of wolves. Vulnerable. Weak. Everything she feared becoming.”
The image should have brought satisfaction. Instead, I felt sick. “She made her choice.”
“So did you, the moment you kissed Kaian.” Sable moved closer, her expression intent. “I like you, Lira. You’re clever and stronger than you know. But you’re also hurt and angry, and those emotions make for poor decision-making. So I’m asking you to think—really think—about what you want before you take steps you can’t undo.”
“I want my power back. I want to be whole.”
“Those are things you want from the past. What do you want for your future?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it. What did I want? A week ago, I’d wanted Drake to choose me at the marking ceremony. Three days ago, I’d wanted to disappear into Nocturne and never be found. Yesterday, I’d wanted revenge on Lyla for everything she’d stolen.
But now?
Now I thought of Kaian’s arms around me, steady and certain. The way he looked at me like I was worth three hundred years of searching. The warrior I’d been in the vision—fierce and brave and unbreakable.
“I want to know who I am,” I said finally. “Not who Lyla made me. Not who the pack expected me to be. Me.”
Sable’s smile was approving. “Better answer. And discovering that might mean completing the bond with Kaian. Or it might mean something else entirely. But Lira—” Her voice dropped. “It should be your choice. Not because the bond is pulling you. Not because you’re angry at your sister. Your choice.”
“Kaian said he’d wait.”
“Kaian has been waiting for three centuries. He’ll say whatever he thinks you need to hear.” She tilted her head. “I’ve known him a long time. He’s honorable and he’ll keep his word. But he’s also desperate, and desperate men make strategic choices. Like training you to fight so you feel powerful. Like showing you visions of who you used to be. Like kissing you just when you’re most vulnerable.”
“He’s not manipulating me—”
“Isn’t he?” Sable raised an eyebrow. “You’ve known him for four days, Lira. Four days and you’re already considering binding yourself to him for eternity. Does that sound like a rational decision?”
It didn’t. I knew it didn’t. But the bond humming in my chest felt more real than anything else in my life. “What would you do?”
“Me?” Sable laughed. “I’d probably do something reckless and regret it later. But I’ve had two hundred years to make mistakes. You’re twenty years old and you’ve already had enough stolen from you. Don’t let anyone—not Lyla, not Kaian, not me—steal your choice too.”
She moved toward the door, then paused with her hand on the frame. “For what it’s worth, I think you and Kaian could be good together. The bond clearly wants you together. But good relationships are built on more than destiny. They’re built on trust and honesty and choosing each other every day, not just because fate says you should.”
“How do I know the difference between choosing him and being chosen by the bond?”
“You ask yourself: If the mate bond disappeared tomorrow, would I still want him? Would he still want me? If the answer is yes, then maybe it’s real.” She opened the door. “If the answer is no, or even ‘I’m not sure’—then you need more time.”
After she left, I stood at the window for a long time, watching moonlight paint silver across the city. My wolf stirred in my chest—not fully awake, but present enough that I could feel her.
What do you want? I asked her silently.
The answer came not in words but in feeling: To run. To hunt. To be strong again.
And Kaian? Do you want him?
Another feeling: Recognition. The same one I’d felt when he’d kissed me, when he’d found me at the border. Like coming home after a long journey.
But was that enough to bind myself to him forever?
A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts.
“It’s me,” Kaian’s voice. “May I come in?”
I should have said no. Should have taken Sable’s advice and put distance between us until I could think clearly. But I was tired of doing what I should do.
“Yes.”
He entered quietly, and I saw he carried a tray with food—bread, cheese, something that smelled like honey. “You didn’t eat dinner. I thought you might be hungry.”
Such a simple gesture. Such normal care. And yet it made my chest ache.
“Sable came to see me,” I said as he set the tray on the table.
“I know. She told me she was going to warn you off me.” He didn’t sound angry, just resigned. “Was she successful?”
“She told me to make sure I was choosing you, not just following the bond.”
Kaian nodded slowly. “She’s right. The bond will push us together, but that’s not the same as choosing each other.”
“Do you choose me?” The question came out smaller than I intended. “Or just the bond?”
He crossed to me, but stopped a careful distance away. “I’ve spent three hundred years looking for you, Lira. The bond is what started the search, yes. But I’ve met a thousand women in those years. Beautiful, powerful, interesting women. The bond never formed with any of them because you weren’t just a face or a body to me. You were—are—a soul that matches mine.”
“You don’t know my soul. Not this version of it.”
“Then let me learn it.” He offered his hand, but didn’t reach for mine. “No bond completion. No blood exchange. Just time. Let me court you properly, the way I should have before I got desperate and strategic.”
I thought of Sable’s words: Desperate men make strategic choices.
“What if I decide the bond isn’t enough?” I asked. “What if I choose to walk away?”
Pain flickered across his face. “Then I’ll let you go. And I’ll spend the next three hundred years respecting your choice.”
“You’re lying. The bond won’t let you—”
“The bond doesn’t control me. It pulls, it aches, it demands. But I control my actions.” His crimson eyes met mine, unflinching. “I won’t become the kind of man who takes what isn’t freely given. Even if it costs me everything.”
I stared at him, searching for deception. But all I saw was exhaustion and honesty and three hundred years of longing held on a tight leash.
“Okay,” I said finally.
“Okay?”
“Court me. Teach me. Help me become whole again.” I stepped forward and took his offered hand. “But no bond completion until I’m sure. Until I choose you for you, not because destiny says I should.”
His hand closed around mine, cool and solid. “Deal.”
“And Kaian? If I do choose you—when I choose you—it’ll be because I want to. Not because I’m angry at Lyla or lost or vulnerable. Because I want you.”
His smile was soft and devastating. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted, Lira. To be chosen. To be wanted. Not for what I can give you or what the bond says we should be. Just—wanted.”
As he raised my hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to my knuckles, as the bond hummed approval but didn’t demand more, I thought maybe Sable was right about one thing:
This could be good. We could be good.
If I was brave enough to choose it.
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