VERA’S POV

He stood in front of me, his voice shaky, his eyes filled with something I couldn’t yet name.

Then I charged.

I didn’t think as I just moved.

My hands gripped his collar and shoved him back a step. “Did you manipulate my father?” I demanded, my voice tight with fury.

Lucien didn’t resist. His arms stayed limp at his sides, like he knew he deserved it.

He shook his head slowly. “No. I swear, I was just as shocked as you.”

Before I could decide whether or not to believe him, a low chuckle echoed from behind me.

The King. My father.

Still seated on his obsidian throne, watching us with something dangerously close to amusement.

“Look at you two,” he said, motioning toward us with his ringed hand. “Still at each other’s throats. Still charged with unresolved desire. You turned my daughter into this firestorm, Lucien, and she still loves you. I can see it in her eyes.”

I let go of Lucien and took a sharp step back.

“I would never be with him again,” I snapped. “Not after everything he did. Not after what he let his mother and sister do to me.”

The King raised a hand. “Sit.”

I hesitated, jaw clenched, still breathing hard.

“Please,” he added, softer now.

I sat.

So did Lucien, though his body looked rigid, like he didn’t know what to do with his hands, his eyes, or himself.

There was a stretch of quiet before I finally asked, “You said something about a test?”

Lucien turned toward him too, clearly trying to piece together the same puzzle.

“What test?” Lucien asked.

The King leaned back, folding his hands. “Celene.”

We both blinked.

“Celene?” we echoed.

He nodded. “She was the test. I sent her to Shadowmere for two reasons. First, because I needed Vera to leave that coven on her own. If I’d taken her by force, her rage would’ve been pointed at me.”

I stiffened, eyes narrowing. “You manipulated me.”

“I guided you,” he said coolly. “And the second reason… was to test him.”

Lucien blinked. “What?”

“Celene reported back to me regularly,” the King continued. “She told me how distracted you were. How you lost focus after Vera left. How… obsessed you seemed.”

He tilted his head at Lucien. “She also told me something else. That you never touched her.”

Lucien’s jaw twitched, but he said nothing.

The King went on. “Even when she made herself available deliberately, I might add, you refused her. Left the room without a second glance.”

“What?” I whispered, staring at Lucien.

He turned to me, face suddenly raw, stripped of all ego. “It’s true.”

I blinked, taken aback.

“You never touched her?”

He shook his head, his voice quiet. “Not once.”

“Why?”

He let out a breath. “Because I couldn’t get you out of my head. The moment you walked out of Shadowmere, everything cracked. I overheard my mother and sister laughing, saying they were glad you were gone. That they’d finally won.”

He paused, swallowing hard.

“I was furious. I sent guards out to find you, but they came back empty-handed. You were already gone.”

I stared at him, my pulse thudding in my ears.

He lowered his gaze, voice breaking slightly. “I’ve been incomplete without you.”

A thick, tense, and heavy silence stretched between us, and our eyes locked.

Neither of us moved. Neither of us blinked. And for the first time in what felt like forever, I saw him.

Not as the Lord who betrayed me. Not as the man who let his coven crush my spirit. But as the broken part of myself I tried to bury.

My heart clenched.

The King cleared his throat. “So what’s your decision, Vera?”

I turned, startled by the sound.

He stood now, looking down at me with an expression I couldn’t quite read.

“You must choose. Will you bond with Lucien… or someone else?” he asked.

Lucien bolted upright. “She can’t choose someone else.”

I turned sharply to him. “Why not?”

His voice cracked. “Because I can’t watch you with someone else. I can’t stand the idea of it.”

My chest tightened. “But you were fine watching me stand beside Celene?”

“No,” he said quickly. “I wasn’t. I hated it. Every second of it.”

I stared at him.

He took a step forward. “I’m sorry.”

I swallowed. My voice came out quiet. “It’s fine.”

He shook his head. “It’s not. But… do you forgive me?”

I hesitated.

The words caught in my throat. Could I forgive him? After everything?

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “I want to. But I don’t know if I can.”

“That’s enough for now,” he said softly. “That’s more than I deserve.”

Something inside him broke. He closed the gap between us and pulled me into a hug.

I didn’t push him away. For a heartbeat, the world stopped.

His arms were warm, familiar, and I remembered what it felt like to be held by someone who knew every part of me.

Then came the King’s voice again. “The next surprise…”

We pulled apart. The King gestured toward the side chamber. The doors opened, and a figure stepped inside.

Both Lucien and I turned to look, and we gasped.

“Celene?” I whispered.

She stepped forward, her expression unreadable. She looked different somehow, not the manipulative woman I remembered, but something else. Something almost… apologetic.

“Hello, Vera,” she said softly.

The King looked at me. “She’s your fifth cousin, Vera.”

My blood ran cold. “What?” I breathed.