"Soren. You’re holding my daughter’s neck in my hall in front of my men. I admire the confidence. I question the strategy."

"Strategy implies I’m trying, Lunaris. This is curiosity." Raventhorn tightened his grip, cutting off her windpipe.

Maddox’s voice hit a register she felt in her chest before she heard it in her ears.

"Release her. Now."

Raventhorn’s hand ripped away from her neck like she’d burned him. She coughed, inhaling sharply.

"Dragon command. Haven’t felt that since your father. Thank you." He rolled his shoulders, unbothered. "You know, if I was trying to hurt her, her neck would be snapped."

"Away from her." The command hit different this time. Heavier.

Raventhorn’s boots scraped against stone as his body obeyed without his permission. He held his hands up in surrender. "Fine. I take a woman’s pulse and suddenly it’s a crisis."

"Guinevere." Her father’s voice carried across the hall. "With me."

A surprise. Thank the gods.

She stood, legs steady, which she considered a personal triumph given that her brain had vacated the premises somewhere around the five hundred million mark.

Shadowfell and Maddox both stayed planted until she left the hall.

Their men were already stationed outside the private chamber. All stared as she walked past.

As soon as the door closed behind them, both kings’ nostrils flared in unison. Lovely. Her face turned scarlet. Two men scenting her in front of her father. She’d rather be chained in silver and walk across glass.

King Lunaris sat at the head of the long table and gestured for her to take the chair next to him. A first.

Only after she sat did Nicholas take the first seat on the left side of the table. Maddox leaned against the far wall, arms crossed, and did absolutely nothing to sit down.

Nicholas’s eyes flicked to the empty chair across from him, then to Maddox, then back to Guinevere’s father. The choice not to sit was a statement, and Nicholas had just been told what side of the table he was on.

"Gentlemen," King Lunaris began, folding his hands on the wood. "The bidding in my hall was generous. I trust we can speak plainly here."

"I’ve been speaking plainly all evening," Nicholas said. "She is my fated mate. Her wolf knows it. Fated bonds are sacred and no amount of gold supersedes that."

"Really, Nicholas?" Maddox rolled his eyes. "Her wolf surged because you put your Alpha out on the table. Any unmated wolf in this castle would have that reaction. Bring me a kitchen maid. I’ll prove it."

Guinevere’s face heated even more than it already was.

"Very convenient," Maddox continued. "That your claim coincided perfectly with being outbid."

"I held my claim until it was necessary. I would have preferred to discuss it privately from the start. The auction forced my hand."

"Auction." Her father rolled the word over once. "Is that what we’re calling a father securing his daughter’s future?"

"Her future. Fine." Nicholas’s voice was steady. "Dragons and wolves have been separate for centuries. Our customs, our gods, our laws. She would be isolated on a continent surrounded by shifters who breathe fire. Is that what you want?"

King Lunaris’s expression was unreadable, but Guinevere knew he was calculating. Sentiment wouldn’t be in his math.

"What I want," he said slowly, "is the best arrangement for Lunaris. Lunaris needs a son-in-law whose enemies become my enemies the moment the ink dries. Speak to that, gentlemen. The poetry can wait."

"Then you want me. A Lunaris queen on a Shadowfell throne unites the two most powerful packs in Nyros. Our children would carry both bloodlines. The political stability alone is worth more than gold."

It was a clean argument. Logical. Cold. Guinevere hated how much sense it made.

"Wolves strengthen wolves," he added. "Every benefit he’s offering depends on her producing an heir. If she gives him a wolf instead of a dragon, that child will never sit on a throne. He’ll be forced to take a second wife to secure his dynasty. Her value lowers, as does your leverage. That’s the math, Lunaris. You and I both know it."

Maddox pushed off the wall, the room’s gravity seeming to move with him.

"Compelling speech, Nicholas. The only thing missing was an actual answer to a single question her father asked. You’re applying wolf politics to a dragon crown and it doesn’t translate. Our shift only passes to males, and fewer than half manifest it. Many of my predecessors never shifted themselves."

He pulled out the chair at the other head of the table like he owned the room, directly across from King Lunaris.

"Let me offer a different perspective. You are surrounded. Stonehowl was your biggest threat, and I turned him to ash before you had time to muster a response. That is the speed at which I operate."

"You’re offering protection through fear," Nicholas countered.

Maddox didn’t look at him. "I am offering results. One of us brought fifty chests of gold and an urn full of your enemy. The other brought a speech. Let’s be honest about what is happening in this room. Nicholas wants a treaty. I want her. The difference will matter to her one day, and I would prefer she remember which of us was clear about it from the start."

Nicholas’s eyes flashed molten. His Alpha aura slammed into the room like a physical weight, pinning the breath in her lungs. Her wolf rose in response, her vision flickering gold at the edges. It took her a second to swallow it down.

Five years with her wolf and it had never done that. Not until tonight. Twice. Stunned didn’t cover it.

Maddox’s eyes moved to her for a second, then back to King Lunaris. Nothing on his face changed, which said more than a reaction would have.

"The matebond claim." Her father brought them back. "Both of you have made it."

"Mine isn’t a claim, Lunaris. It’s a biological reality and everyone in this room just saw it. Twice her wolf has done that."

"I saw her wolf rise," Lunaris corrected. "Proximity to a powerful Alpha can trigger that. It is suggestive. Not necessarily proof."

Her wolf didn’t say mate. But that didn’t necessarily mean he was lying. Fated matebonds in she-wolves didn’t always announce themselves until early twenties. Considering she just turned twenty, there was a chance she just didn’t know.

"Suggestive." Nicholas repeated the word like it had cost him something. "There are a dozen other Alphas present that her wolf didn’t respond to."

"That is a fair observation. But none of them released aura or called for her wolf. You did both."

Nicholas exhaled through his nose. The first uncontrolled breath she’d heard from him all night. "You’re dismissing a matebond to negotiate a better price. We both know what her wolf did. Don’t insult us both."

Her father didn’t acknowledge that.

"And your proof, Drakencrest?"

"Fire." The word landed like a closed fist. "My flame didn’t burn her. That is only possible with a fated mate. The fact she channeled it before marking makes it even rarer. Every scholar on Velkaris will confirm it."

Lunaris leaned back in his chair, expression unreadable, letting the tension thicken before he spoke.

"The dragon fleet remains stationed within range of Lunaris for no fewer than five years. Open borders. Trade rights through Velkaris waters. And my daughter will be permitted to return for state visits."

"Annually." Maddox didn’t hesitate.

"Quarterly."

"Twice a year. With a full dragon escort each way. And she comes home if she ever asks to. Not if I permit it. If she asks to."

Lunaris paused. "...That is not standard."

"It is now."

"Drakencrest. The terms are accepted."

Nicholas rose from his chair without a sound, every muscle in his body taut. "You are making a mistake, Lunaris."

"I have made many. This will hardly be the worst."

Nicholas looked at Guinevere for the last time. His eyes held something she couldn’t name and didn’t want to.

"If he hurts you, you have a wolf army across the sea that will burn a continent to retrieve you. Remember the name Shadowfell. Remember that I offered first."

"She will not need to remember either, Nicholas. And burning is a funny thing for a wolf to threaten to a dragon," Maddox said calmly. "But the offer is noted."

Nicholas left without another word.

Maddox’s focus shifted to her. His expression softened, unguarded for exactly one second before the mask came back. It was so fast she wondered if she’d imagined it.

"She leaves with me now."

"Then we are concluded." King Lunaris stood without ceremony. There was no hug or acknowledgement. She honestly wondered why she was even included in this conversation at all.

Maddox extended his hand to her, open palm, and waited.

She swallowed, looking at it. Then at her father, whose expression was more stern than called for.

She stood and took his hand. His fingers closed around hers, and they walked out of the room together. Six men fell in behind them like a wall.

Sold, sealed, and delivered. At least the dress was pretty.

They passed through the great hall. Heads turned. Goblets paused halfway to mouths. Alphas stood. Cassian saw, then shot to his feet. Monkey see.

Tyler caught her eye as she passed, smirk barely contained.

The night air hit her when they stepped through into the forest. It was below freezing, and she was without a cloak.

She tried to pull her hand away, assuming that was for show. His grip on her fingers tightened.

Not for show then. The king who could burn continents wanted to hold hands. Noted.

It wasn’t unpleasant. Just surprising. So she held hands with the man she’d hidden to protect, who could have turned them all to ash. A king who had burned an army before he ever learned her name.

The person who’d essentially bought her at an auction she didn’t sign up for. But her wolf was calm and there was no rope or silver.

She lost track of time at one point. They walked at least a mile into the forest. It was unexpected that there were no horses, but then again, these were dragons.

A rustle in the leaves caught her attention.

Her head snapped in the direction of the sound.