Cruel, Eris sometimes thought, was far too gentle a word for the sort of fate the Cauldron had chosen for him. The bond had not arrived like a blessing. Not the elegant flame he commanded with a thought. Not the clean, controlled burn of Autumn magic. The ugly kind.

A mate who looked at him with more fight in a single glance than most warriors carried into battle. A mate whose words were edged with bitterness sharp enough to draw blood. Peace had never lived between them. Not once since the bond had locked its claws into both their souls.

Where neither of them could seem to get enough, even while every instinct screamed to tear the other apart—to claw beneath skin, beneath muscle, beneath bone just to understand what the bond had done to them. It was a vicious, dangerous thing. Their bond. Not gentle. Not sweet. But necessary all the same.

Tonight had been no different. The study doors still hung open to the balcony, letting in the sharp bite of autumn air that crept through the room like a cooling hand after a storm. Eris stood behind it now, both hands gripping the edge hard enough the wood groaned beneath his fingers.

His breathing had long since steadied.

But his mind— His mind was a nest of thorns. The wind drifted through the balcony doors, stirring the papers in a soft rustling whisper. The estate beyond lay cloaked in the quiet of night, the forests surrounding it dark and still.

Too still. Even the leaves seemed reluctant to move as they fell from the branches. A wrong kind of silence. The kind that made instincts sharpen.

Then— A crash. Loud. Violent. From somewhere down the corridor. The bond shifted. Not gently. It yanked. Glass shattered.

Furniture scraped violently across stone.

And beneath it all—

Struggle.

The kind of struggle that was meant to be quiet and had failed miserably. Not the clean efficiency of a planned kill, but something desperate. Sloppy. Agonizing.

Eris was already moving.

There was no hesitation.

His magic ignited before he even reached the door.

Flame curled along his fingers as he strode into the corridor, movements swift but precise—predatory in the way only someone raised in a court of monsters could be.

Another crash echoed from the far end of the hall.

By the time he reached it, the scene inside the chamber looked like a wild animal had been cornered there. Shattered glass glittering across the floor. And in the center— His mate. Struggling against an assassin trying to drag them away. A blade flashed in the attacker’s hand, already slick with use. For a single heartbeat, Eris took in the scene. Then he erupted. Fire roared to life, violent and furious, far hotter than the careful flames he normally wielded. It devoured the space between them in a blink.

The attacker barely had time to react.

There was no warning. Eris simply killed. The flames struck like a predator’s jaws. The assassin’s scream cut short as fire consumed him, heat exploding through the chamber before collapsing just as quickly. The moment the body dropped, Eris’s attention snapped back.

To his mate. Red. That was the first thing he saw.

Blood streaked across the floor, mixed with broken glass. His hands were still burning with magic, flames curling around his fingers—but he didn’t even notice. Boots thundered down the corridor as guards finally responded to the crash and flare of magic. Alert. “Seal the estate gates!” one shouted. But Eris barely heard them.

One arm slid around your waist, pulling you firmly against him as if ensuring the bond itself remained intact. His other hand steadied your shoulder, holding you upright while his head dipped slightly, pressing into your hair.

You were breathing. Then, without looking away, he said to the guards—

“Send for a healer.”

A beat passed.

Then his voice lowered, softer but no less commanding.

“And find out how someone managed to enter my estate.”

A flicker of fire sparked again along his fingers.

“This quietly.”