POV Odette
The lamplight carved Nathaniel's face into sharp angles as I studied him. The absurdity of it crashed over me like ice water—I had orchestrated my own capture. The stranger whose hands had traced my skin, whose body had pressed mine against hotel sheets, had been hunting me all along.
King Magnus cleared his throat, cutting through the tension. "Nathaniel, your discipline is usually exemplary. Yet here you are, barging into my office without summons or ceremony."
"My apologies, Your Majesty." Nathaniel bowed his head, but his eyes never left mine. "I've waited twenty-six years for a ghost. Patience abandoned me the moment I learned she was real."
"Twenty-six years." I stood, the chair scraping against marble. "You've been hunting me since childhood?"
"Not hunting. Believing." He moved around the desk, each step deliberate. "When your father announced your death, every royal family accepted it. The Nightfalls held funeral rites. My parents tried to arrange other matches."
"But not you."
"No." He stopped just out of reach, close enough that I caught his scent—pine and something darker. "I've known about our betrothal since I was three years old. My mother showed me your portrait, told me about the princess who would unite our bloodlines. When news came of your death, something in me refused to accept it."
"That's insane."
"Is it?" His voice dropped, intimate despite my father's presence. "I felt you out there. Like a phantom limb, an ache where something should be. Call it instinct, call it delusion—I never stopped searching."
The weight of his conviction pressed against my skin. "Father, I need air."
"The gardens are secure," Magnus said, studying us both. "The guards will maintain visual contact but give you privacy."
Nathaniel offered his arm. I ignored it, striding past him toward the French doors. He followed, matching my pace without crowding.
The night garden sprawled before us—topiary mazes, fountains singing in darkness, paths lit by subtle ground lights. Nathaniel moved beside me, steering us toward illuminated walkways without seeming to guide.
"You deceived me." The accusation burst from my throat once we were beyond the windows' glow. "That night at the bar, in the hotel—you took advantage of me!"
"I took nothing you didn't freely give." His voice remained maddeningly calm.
"You knew I was vulnerable! You saw me drowning my sorrows, running from my husband's betrayal, and you—" I spun to face him, rage burning through my veins. "You seduced me knowing exactly who I was, then reported me like some fugitive!"
"I didn't know who you were at the bar." He stepped closer, and I backed away. "Not until the hotel room."
"Liar! You targeted me—"
"I approached a beautiful woman drinking who looked like she needed rescuing from a drunk." His eyes flashed. "I had no idea you were Princess Odette until I saw your birthmark."
"And the moment you did, you betrayed me!" My hands clenched into fists. "You finished fucking me, then ran to report your discovery!"
"Is that what you think happened?" Nathaniel's control finally cracked, his voice rising. "You think I was celebrating my conquest while calling in your location?"
"What else should I think? One night you're inside me, the next I'm being drugged and dragged from my territory!"
"I shadowed your pack for three days!" The confession exploded from him. "In three days I watched you return to that pathetic Alpha who can't see your worth. Three days of seeing you pretend everything was fine while he paraded his new wives through your halls!"
"You had no right—"
"I had every right!" He advanced, backing me against an ornamental pillar. "You're my betrothed. Have been since birth. That gives me the right to ensure you're safe, valued, treasured as you deserve!"
"I'm married!"
"To a weak Alpha who rules a weaker pack." The assessment came cold, brutal. "Your patrols are stretched thin. Three rival packs press your boundaries. Your Alpha has no heir, no clear succession, and now no credibility since he broke sacred vows."
The memory of that night flooded back unbidden—his hands gripping my hips, how desperately I'd needed to feel wanted. My body betrayed me now, heating at the thought of him possessing me again, even as my mind screamed betrayal.
"You used me," I said, but my voice came out breathless.
"We used each other." He pressed closer, not quite touching. "Don't pretend you didn't want it as much as I did. Don't pretend you don't remember how you begged—"
"Stop." The word came out as a whisper.
"You came apart in my hands, Princess. Three times." His breath ghosted across my neck. "And when you left that hotel room, you were already mine. The birthmark just confirmed what my wolf already knew."
"Your wolf knew nothing. We're not fated mates—"
"No, we're something better." His hand rose to my face, thumb tracing my cheekbone. "We're chosen mates. Our families chose this union, and now I choose it too. The question is whether you'll fight it or accept it."
I shoved him back, needing distance from his heat, his scent, the traitorous response of my body. "I choose neither. I choose to return to my husband."
"The husband who took three wives? Who's probably in bed with one of them right now?"
The image sliced through me—Devon with Mira, touching her the way he used to touch me. My wolf snarled at the thought, then purred at the memory of Nathaniel's hands.
"That's none of your concern."
"Everything about you is my concern." He stalked forward again. "Your safety, your happiness, your pleasure—all mine to ensure."
"You're insane if you think—"
"I think you're terrified." His voice gentled unexpectedly. "Not of me, but of what I represent. A chance to be more than a discarded Luna. A chance to be the princess you were born to be."
"I never asked for this!"
"No, but it's yours regardless." He gestured to the opulent gardens around us. "This is your birthright, Odette. Royal blood, ancient power, and if you'll let me—a mate who would burn the world for you."
"Don't call me that. My name is Syrena."
"Your name is whatever you choose it to be." His intensity softened. "But to the world, you're Princess Odette of the Royal Lycan bloodline. That won't change."
"And you expect me to just accept this? Accept you?"
"I expect nothing." He stepped back, giving me space. "Our families may have arranged this union, but I won't force you into anything. The contracts exist, yes. The political necessity remains. But I want more than a political marriage."
Those words pierced me to the core. I wanted to hear something like that from Devon. Hearing them from Nathaniel should have lit anger; instead a quiet warmth spread through me, and the restless wolf inside went still. But my own tension was still with me.