One Mate, Two Kings
The morning sun rose blood-red over the Citadel.
Lyra stood on the balcony, draped in a robe the color of spilled wine, her silver hair loose around her shoulders. The palace stretched beneath her like a gilded cage—beautiful, sharp, and full of ghosts.
Somewhere below, her enemies ruled.
And one of them had once kissed her like she was his moon.
She pressed her fingers to the cold stone railing, steadying her breath.
This was the first time she had stood in these halls without chains.
No collar.
No brand.
No swelling belly to mark her as a vessel.
She was free. And no one knew who she truly was.
At least, not yet.
She was summoned to the throne hall at midday.
Her silk gown clung to every curve—strategically sheer, stitched in court-approved gold and crimson. She wore her magic like perfume, soft and laced with illusion. Just enough to confuse wolves who relied too much on scent and instinct.
As she entered, both kings turned to face her.
Cassian sat to the left, stiff and brooding. A sword rested across his lap, still sharp from war. His amber eyes swept over her with the same cold calculation she remembered from the day he sold her.
Not recognition. Not yet.
Just hunger. And confusion.
Kade lounged on the other throne—legs spread, chin resting on one hand, his crown slightly askew like he couldn't be bothered to wear it properly. But his gaze? That was all steel.
"You clean up well, Liliana," he said.
She bowed slightly. "I aim to please."
Cassian scoffed. "We'll see how long that lasts."
Her spine straightened, her smile never faltering. "I've lasted longer under worse men."
Kade laughed. Cassian did not.
The tension between them was palpable—brothers, yes, but fractured. One had been raised to rule. The other exiled for sins whispered in the shadows.
But neither of them could look at her without something flickering behind their eyes.
Their wolves knew.
The bond was starting to burn.
A formal court gathering was scheduled for that evening.
Until then, Kade gave her free run of the palace.
So she wandered.
Not aimlessly. Never that.
She traced old paths with new purpose. Corridors she once scrubbed with bleeding hands. Gardens where she once knelt while noblewomen whispered about her cursed womb.
Now she walked like she belonged.
And as she passed the Hall of Sigils, a voice stopped her cold.
"She looks like her, doesn't she?"
A woman's voice. Soft. Curious. Dangerous.
Lyra ducked behind the etched stone pillars, heart hammering.
"She's nothing but a hybrid courtesan," another voice whispered. Male. "Still—Cassian's been off since she arrived. Even his wolf's restless."
"Maybe because she's prettier than the last dozen gifts," the woman said.
Or maybe because I'm the ghost he thought he buried, Lyra thought.
"You think the king will keep her?"
"I think he should," the woman said. "Kade needs a queen."
"She's not pure."
"Neither is he."
Later, in her room, Lyra lit a single witchflame candle.
She knelt before the flame and whispered into the wick: a name, a prayer, a blood-drenched promise.
"Let him dream of me."
The flame flared blue.
That night, she entered the court in full regalia.
Gold dust sparkled in her hair. A crescent moon pendant dipped between her breasts, and the red silk of her dress shimmered like blood under candlelight.
Heads turned.
Kade rose first. Cassian stayed seated—hands clenched tight on the throne's arms.
"Walk with me," Kade said.
She did.
They strolled through the outer gardens, where fireflies shimmered like stars.
He didn't touch her. But he watched her like he wanted to.
"You said you've been many things," he said at last. "Tell me something true."
She paused by the water fountain. "I've been betrayed. Burned. Buried."
"And yet you survived."
She looked at him now, fully. "Because survival is the best revenge."
Kade's wolf stirred beneath his skin. She felt it—just a flicker. An answering pull deep in her bones.
"You're not Ravik's gift, are you?"
"No."
"Then who are you really?"
"Would you believe me if I said I was fate's punishment?"
He took a step closer.
"I don't fear fate," he said. "But I do fear a woman who has nothing left to lose."
"Then you're smarter than your brother."
Kade went still. His eyes searched hers.
"What did Cassian do to you?"
"Nothing I can say aloud without choking on it."
Kade's jaw tensed. His voice dropped. "Did he mark you?"
Silence.
She turned away. "Does it matter?"
"Yes," he said. "Because if he did… and I mark you now—"
She spun. "You'd be challenging a bond."
He nodded once.
And the air between them crackled.
Because she was marked.
Fated.
Bound.
But not just to Cassian.
To both.
One soul, two bodies. Twin-born.
One had broken her.
The other might save her.
Or ruin her in a brand-new way.
The silence between them stretched taut.
Kade's eyes never left her face.
"You're bound to him." It wasn't a question anymore.
Lyra's smile was razor-thin. "Once. Briefly. Under duress."
His jaw flexed, the muscle ticking with contained fury. "Bonds don't just break."
"No," she said softly. "But people do."
She stepped back before the bond could stretch further, before her scent shifted enough to betray the truth burning beneath her skin.
Kade let her go. But only with his body.
His gaze followed her all the way back to the palace.
She was nearly at her chamber doors when another scent caught her attention—familiar and foreign all at once. Like an echo of something she'd buried long ago.
She turned sharply.
Cassian stood in the corridor's shadow, one hand braced on the stone wall.
His eyes were locked on her.
Unblinking. Burning.
"I've seen you before," he said, low and rough, like gravel beneath a blade.
She didn't flinch. "You've seen many women. I doubt I'm that memorable."
But his gaze sharpened. "No. Not like this. I remember—something in your eyes."
Her heartbeat quickened.
Not yet. He's not supposed to remember yet.
Cassian stepped closer, and for a moment, the mask of the cold Alpha Prince slipped. His wolf was pushing at the surface, confused, agitated.
"Tell me your name again."
"Liliana," she said smoothly. "Of the Eastern Courts."
He inhaled sharply, as if trying to drag the truth out of the air.
And then he did something she didn't expect.
He stepped closer—just enough for his voice to brush her skin.
"You smell like fire and blood and… moonflowers. I only ever smelled that once. The night I—"
He stopped himself.
The night he sold her.
Her smile was ice. "You must be mistaken, my Lord. I've never been to an auction house."
She turned on her heel and entered her room.
And only once the door was locked behind her did she let her hands tremble.
That night, she dreamt of the past.
Of chains digging into her wrists. Of the flames that consumed her cell. Of the midwife who helped her flee, placing her newborn daughter in her arms and whispering, "Run, little wolf. Run, or she'll be next."
Of the way Cassian's scent had clung to her even as she bled his betrayal into the cold earth.
She woke gasping, a scream trapped behind her teeth.
Moonlight poured through the balcony doors.
She stepped outside, letting the cool air bite her skin, steady her thoughts.
Then she whispered into the night: "I'll make you both bleed for what you stole."
Elsewhere in the palace, Kade paced his war chamber.
He couldn't sleep. Not with her scent still in his lungs.
He had tried to deny it. Tried to ignore the way his wolf surged at the thought of her.
But when she turned away tonight, it felt like a sin.
Not hers—his.
He stared at the sealed letter from the Eastern Courts. The one that claimed Liliana was a gift. A lie. He knew it now.
She wasn't a gift.
She was a weapon.
The question was—
Whose side was she really on?