Selene's POV
He was looking at me.
And not the way a predator watches its prey—
but like a man who, for the first time, isn’t sure he’s winning.
The weight of his body still hung in the space between us,
in that narrow breath where flame and blade meet.
I could feel it.
The tension, the desire… the need for control.
But something in him was starting to bend—
and I was seeing it with my own eyes.
The Lycan King.
Aedrian.
Submitting to the game I had set.
And if there was ever a moment to ask for what truly mattered…
this was it.
I stood up straight, no fear, no pleading.
Only strategy.
“I want something in return,” I said.
My voice didn’t tremble.
Aedrian narrowed his eyes.
His lips curved in that tempered superiority that seemed etched into his skin.
“Ask.”
“The tw
