Eris had never believed in fate. He believed in power, in control, in taking what was his before someone else could steal it away. But as he rounded the corner and saw you—your fingers laced with Lucien’s, your lips curved in a soft smile—fate took him. Seized him in a way nothing ever had before.

The bond snapped into place like a wildfire catching dry leaves, a force so visceral, so absolute, that he nearly staggered. His breath hitched. His vision tunneled, narrowing to you. To the way your own body stiffened, your head jerking up, eyes locking onto his with a sharp, startled intensity.

A slow, creeping dread coiled in Eris’ chest, twining with something far more dangerous—possession. Rage. This was not a game, not some courtly trick. The Cauldron had chosen, had branded you as his, and yet—there you stood, willingly bound to another.

His hands curled into fists at his sides, nails biting into flesh. Fate had finally played its cruelest hand. And for the first time in his life, Eris Vanserra did not know whether he wanted to burn the world down in fury—

Or set it ablaze just to claim you.