"Wow. Good morning to you, too."
"Luna. What went wrong?"
Damien tilted his head. "You storm into my house and assu I did sothing wrong?"
Kyllian advanced, nostrils flaring, jaw tight. "She ca ho broken."
"And you assud I broke her?" Damien raised a very condescending eyebrow.
"Well then," Kyllian snapped, "tell why I see resignation in her eyes. Why does she look like soone who’s made peace with her own destruction? Why does it feel like she’s already said goodbye to everything?"
Damien ran a hand down his face, the usual calm detachnt gone, replaced with guilt. "I..." He hesitated. Not because he didn’t have an answer, but because he had too many, and none would make sense to soone who didn’t live inside his cursed bones. "We didn’t speak before she left," he said finally. "It’s complicated. And I cannot explain it to you."
"Try ," Kyllian growled. "Because I chose to work with you. Work, Damien... That ans I tolerate you. Barely. But make no mistake...if I ever get even a hint that you’ve hurt her, I will knock your royal, blood-sucking ass out."
There was a beat of silence. Then Damien was gone.
Or rather, he moved. In less than a breath, he blurred through the room, a gust of supernatural wind trailing behind him. Suddenly, he was there, right in Kyllian’s space, chest to chest, eye to eye, no distance left for air.
His fangs peeked out, not fully extended, but enough to make a point.
"I called you," Damien hissed, every syllable dipped in the venom of ancient pride. "I invited you into my land, into my plans, into her life. I am the one who decided, against every instinct, to share this fight with a mutt. So don’t get it twisted, I’m the one tolerating you. You don’t co into my territory, my ho, my stronghold, and issue threats like you’ve got the crown. I’ll rip your head off so fast, before your entire pack can even catch a blink."
They stood nose to nose, testosterone practically vibrating in the air. Kyllian’s fists clenched at his sides, his wolf rising to the surface, itching to snap. "Stay. Away. From. Her."
Damien’s eyes flickered, he leaned in with a mocking smirk. "Or what?" he whispered. "You’ll glower at harder?"
Kyllian shoved him back, but Damien barely moved. "You have no idea what she’s going through," Kyllian snapped. "You act like she’s so complicated riddle you have to outwit. But she’s a person. A woman. A hurting one. And if you’d spent less ti trying to prove how immortal and tragic you are, and more ti listening to her, maybe she wouldn’t be slipping away from us right now."
"Oh, please," Damien scoffed. "You werewolves and your endless chest-thumping. Do you actually think flexing in front of her makes you look strong? Do you think any of this territorial nonsense is helping her? Newsflash...she doesn’t need a savior. She needs soone to believe in her. Not rescue her. Luna is the most capable woman I have ever t and we should both be glad we get to help her in the tiniest way possible."
Kyllian’s hands curled into tight fists, the bones cracking in protest. The weight of the truth pressed down on him. Damien had him by the balls and worse, they both knew it. They needed each other. Desperately.
"She’s given up," Kyllian said through clenched teeth. "You did sothing to her, Damien. Don’t lie to . That woman I saw today wasn’t Luna. She wasn’t our firecracker princess. The woman I saw today was... she was waiting...For death."
Damien flinched, and that alone shocked Kyllian more than any words could have. The vampire prince actually winced.
With a heavy sigh, Damien stepped back. "The next full moon is in three days," he said. "I’ll bring Sage Veyron to the castle then. Make sure we have a smooth passage. No soldiers. No sudden howls. I don’t want the sage spooked."
Kyllian narrowed his eyes. "I’m not your personal assistant, Damien."
"Please," he murmured. A single word. But it held the weight of centuries of pride cracked in half.
"Fine," Kyllian muttered. He hated this. Hated being trapped in a situation that didn’t involve battle strategy or brute strength. But most of all, he hated the look in Luna’s eyes. That faraway flicker of surrender. "The real problem now is getting her to do anything. It’s like she’s rehearsing her last breath."
"She’ll listen to you," Damien said simply, as if that truth had always existed in the silence between their bickering.
Kyllian looked at him sharply, a storm brewing behind his eyes. "She cannot die, Prince Damien. She must not. You know what’s at stake here. If she dies, there’s no backup. No contingency plan. We don’t have another heir. Without a ruler, werewolves will turn on each other. The balance collapses. The kingdom falls."
Damien was quiet for a mont, studying Kyllian. "Is that the only reason you’re so passionate about her?" he asked. His lips curled into that infuriating smirk that made Kyllian want to punch him. "Co on, wolf boy. Be a man for once. Admit it to yourself. What are you so afraid of?"
Kyllian bristled. "I’m not afraid."
"Liar," Damien shot back, grinning now. "You’re terrified. Because fate already gave us the middle finger, and you’re clinging to the hope that ignoring your feelings will sohow unfuck the situation. Newsflash...it won’t."
Kyllian barked a short, humorless laugh. "This coming from the vampire who hasn’t admitted he’s in love with her either?"
Damien waved a hand. "Of course I’m in love with her. She’s my mate. But I don’t pretend it’s noble to pretend otherwise. You’re the one with the complex. Stop hiding behind duty. She’s the one we’re trying to save, not the kingdom. The kingdom is just... a side effect...Dig the hole deeper, Kyllian."
"I don’t feel the mate bond like you do, Damien," Kyllian said, his eyes not quite eting Damien’s. There was a rawness to his words that stripped away all bravado, all posturing. Just a man speaking from the tender, cracked center of his chest. "But I love her. I always have. Even when I didn’t know what to do with it. Even when I found she was mated to another." He gave a faint, crooked smile.
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