SCARLETT
The cavern glowed blood-red, silver sparks chasing every heartbeat.
Three streaks of light fire, storm, shadow hovered in the air before me like living doors.
Each pulsed in time with a different rhythm:
Kael’s heat. Darius’s thunder. Lucien’s dark breath.
The ancient creature waited, its smoke-and-bone frame motionless.
Choose, the voice rumbled again, each word a tremor. One bond seals the blood moon. The others wither.
My wolf prowled beneath my skin, frantic. All of them. I want all of them.
But the mark seared hotter, the three lines writhing as if they’d tear me apart if I refused.
Kael’s fingers brushed mine, fire warm and steady.
“Scarlett,” he said, his voice rough with fear. “You know what we are. You know what we can build. Choose life with me.”
Darius
