I woke to the first golden rays of dawn filtering through the curtains, Lola's warm body curled against mine, her honey-blonde hair spread across my pillow like spilled sunlight. The mate marks on our necks still tingled with fresh magic, the bond between us humming with newfound awareness. I could feel her in my mind—a gentle presence, sleeping but content—could sense her dreams like distant music. Leon stretched inside me, satisfied and possessive in equal measure. ‘Ours now’, he purred. ‘Forever ours’. I traced the curve of her shoulder with reverent fingers, marveling at how thoroughly my carefully ordered world had been upended in the space of two days.
The palace alarm chimed softly—a reminder of obligations that couldn't be postponed, even for the wonder of waking beside my newly m
