Sebastian’s POV
2 hours before entering portal
Braden stood in front of me, posture perfect, expression polished into that smooth, unreadable calm he wore like a second skin. I’d seen men try and fail to read him. They left the encounters feeling as if they’d shaken hands with a smile that had teeth.
“You intend to leave,” he said. Not a question. He already knows the answer to that. “To walk into vampire territory and abandon your kingdom because of some wolf you hardly know.”
I leaned back into my throne. The one sitting right next to her smaller, empty throne. The crown’s weight burned like frost against my skull. “She’s not just some wolf. She’s your queen. My queen. My goddess given mate. I don’t abandon what’s mine.”
Braden’s lip curved. “Your kingdom is yours. Your throne is yo
