7. Casandra
Nikolai is a blur of motion, his fingers curling into claws as he lunges for Lukas’s throat. Lukas doesn’t back down; his own eyes flash a sharp, icy silver as he braces for the impact, his muscles coiling like a spring.
I don’t move. A dark, vengeful part of me wants Nikolai to feel a fraction of the frustration he has sparked in me.
But the collision never happens.
A third figure slams into the space between them with the force of a falling star. Magnus. He throws his entire weight into Nikolai’s chest, shoving him back with a strength that only Nikolai’s Beta could muster. Nikolai skids across the stone, his boots leaving dark streaks on the ground.
“Enough!” Magnus roars.
Nikolai scrambles to his feet, his face a mask of predatory rage. “Get the fuck out of my way, Magnus. He’s touching her. This mutt is touching my mate!”
“Stop!” Magnus snaps back. He doesn’t look at Nikolai; his gaze is darting frantically around the courtyard, his chest heaving as if he’d run miles to get here. He looks ragged. There are dark circles under his eyes, and his hair is a mess.
Magnus turns toward me, his voice cracking with a raw, desperate vulnerability. “Where is she? The girl who was with you? Please... I don’t even know her name.”
He looks completely undone.
“She doesn’t want to see you, Magnus,” I say, my voice softening just a fraction for him.
“Why?” Magnus steps toward me, his eyes wide and searching. “I felt her. I felt the bond snap into place, and then I felt... terror. I don’t understand. She’s a wolf, she’s one of us. Why would she run from her own mate?”
I look at him, seeing the genuine agony in his expression.
“I can’t tell you that, Magnus,” I say firmly. “It’s not my story to tell. If she wants you to know why she’s afraid, she’ll tell you herself. But right now? You’re a stranger and you’re scaring her.”
Magnus flinches as if I’d slapped him. “I would never hurt her. I would burn this world down before I let a hair on her head be touched.”
“Then start by giving her space,” I counter.
Nikolai lets out a harsh, bitter laugh from where he stands. “Space? She’s a wolf, Magnus. She knows the laws. She’s playing games, just like this one.” He gestures vaguely at me, his lip curling.
“I’m not playing anything, Nikolai,” I snap. “You made your feelings very clear in the hall yesterday. You didn’t even bother to ask for my name before you decided I wasn’t worth your time and rejected me.”
Nikolai takes a slow, predatory step toward me. The gold in his eyes flares, hot and molten. He looks at me then, his gaze raking over my features as if trying to memorize them for the first time. “I never said the words, Casandra. I never formally rejected you. And until I do... you are mine.”
I freeze. He used my name. He must have overheard Lukas saying it earlier. But the arrogance of it takes my breath away. He wants to keep the bond like a leash in his hand, just in case he decides he wants to pull on it later.
Lukas lets out a dry, amused whistle. “A technicality? That’s the best you’ve got? Holding onto a woman whose name you only learned five minutes ago because you’re too proud to let her go?”
Nikolai’s jaw works, his muscles bulging beneath his shirt. He looks like he wants to kill Lukas, then me, then maybe himself too. But he doesn’t have an answer. He doesn’t have the grace to apologize, and he doesn’t have the strength to walk away.
“Stay the fuck away from her, Lukas,” Nikolai warns, his voice vibrating with a final, guttural snarl.
He doesn’t wait for a reply or look at me again. He simply turns on his heel and storms off, leaving a faint smell of bitter cinnamon behind him.
Magnus watches him go, then looks at me one last time, his eyes pleading. “Just... please tell her I just want to know who she is.”
Then he, too, disappears into the mist, leaving me alone with the Swedish Alpha.
Lukas turns to me, his smirk returning, though it is softer now. “Well. It seems you’re technically still a Princess-in-waiting for the werewolf throne. Does that mean our coffee date is canceled?”
I look in the direction Nikolai has vanished, my blood simmering with a cold, focused rage. “No,” I say, my voice steady. “It means I’m definitely going to need that caffeine. Lead the way, Lukas.”