You had always loved the fae.

Even as a little girl, curled up on the rug with storybooks older than your grandmother, you devoured every tale of silver courts, moonlit dances, and immortal kings who ruled with magic woven into their bones. Your father used to shake his head when he caught you reading them.

“They’re dangerous,” he warned. “Beautiful lies with teeth.”

But you never believed that.

Yes, the fae were powerful—ancient, immortal, capable of terrible things—but so were humans. And for centuries, despite taunts, broken treaties, and foolish provocations from your own kind, the fae had not started a war. That told you everything you needed to know.

They weren’t monsters.

They were patient.

Too patient, some said. Tensions were rising now. Borders shimmered with magic. Old pacts frayed. Whispers of war crept into every political conversation like rot beneath silk.

And then there was you.

⸻

The Night Everything Changed

It was your 21st birthday, and you were determined to enjoy at least one night before adulthood—and all its worries—claimed you completely.

The club pulsed with music and heat, lights flashing gold and violet. You wore a deep green dress that hugged your waist and flowed like ivy when you moved, the color chosen deliberately. Your red hair was braided down your back, a habit you’d had since childhood.

And then you saw him.

It was like the world tilted.

Tall. Broad-shouldered. Dressed in black like he owned the shadows. Long, inky hair fell forward, obscuring his ears, and his eyes—gods, his eyes—were an impossible shade of storm-gray, sharp and ancient and locked on you.

Your heart stuttered.

Love at first sight was supposed to be a myth.

But the pull was instant. Violent. Like something ancient inside you had recognized him before your mind could catch up.

Across the room, the man—no, the fae—went still.

King Adler of the High Court had come to the human realm cloaked in glamour, searching for nothing in particular.

And then he found you.

A human woman with fire-bright hair and a soul that rang like magic against his own.

His mate.

The one fate had promised him centuries ago.

⸻

The Truth You Didn’t Know

Fae mated for life.

Not all humans knew that. Fewer still knew what it meant.

A mate was not chosen. Not claimed lightly. Not rejected without consequence.

And a fae king finding his human mate—on the brink of war—was either salvation…

Or catastrophe.

Adler approached you slowly, every instinct screaming protect, claim, kneel. He kept his magic locked tight, his voice smooth when he spoke your name, already tasting it like a vow.

You smiled at him.

Completely unaware that in that moment, peace between two species had just grown a fragile, dangerous heartbeat.

Because soon, the fae court would demand you as their queen. Soon, they would test you. Break you. See if a human could survive among immortals who smiled while sharpening knives.

And Adler?

The deadliest fae to ever sit the throne?

He would burn the world before letting them destroy you.