Every room in this temple had tried to kill them in a different way.

But this room would be the one that he would think about for the rest of his life.

Serena examined the wall with a dragon carved into the stone. It had a medallion-sized dip in its mouth.

"Use your brain, Frostborne."

"Maybe I am overthinking this."

"Place it in the hole. That’s where it goes."

"If we die here, Gav, this one is on you."

Gav let out a low breath, about to say something entirely too funny back, but stopped short because he just now noticed her silk pajamas were very see-through. He yanked his gaze away from her.

Serena placed the medallion in the dragon’s mouth, where it fit perfectly.

Immediately, the wall twisted. Stone shifted with a deep mechanical groan, turning the medallion as if the dragon itself were biting down.

The wall lowered, and on the other side was a massive cavern.

She was already moving to the crystal altar at the center.

"Coming?"

Gav followed, hands in his pockets, looking at her face and only her face and not at anything else.

Inside the basin, a small sapphire fire burned.

She fabricated a gold dagger and dragged it across her palm.

Gold blood welled instantly, and she let it fall into the flame.

Whispers stirred from the stone walls as soon as she did.

All who stand within the chamber must bleed.

Before she could turn, Gav was beside her. No hesitation. He took the dagger from her hand, sliced his own palm, and let his blood fall into the flame beside hers.

"Don’t look so surprised. I’ve now seen you do this multiple times," he said flatly.

The fire responded immediately, stretching upward like it had been waiting for him.

Submit your hands to the flame for judgment.

Serena reached out first, pressing her bleeding palm straight into the flame. Gav followed, placing his beside hers, their blood mixing again.

It roared, changing from sapphire to pink. The crystal altar rumbled. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

A Fae princess and her protector reborn. Souls intertwined in this life as their first.

Before the first wolf king howled, and she was his, they grew up together. A friendship that evolved into true love.

When he learned his fate was tied with another, she honored the Fae-bond the Moon Goddess chose, and let him go. He could not, so she made the decision, and swallowed the wreckage whole.

He swore to protect her then, and has in every life since. The flame sees him there still honoring an oath.

Worthiness is confirmed. The Moonthread Amulet may pass to your hands.

Within the fire, now no more than a dim glow, a golden amulet took shape. It was thicker than the medallion Serena had used a moment ago. A gold chain curled beneath it.

Serena reached in without hesitation and closed her fingers around it. The moment the gold touched her skin, the flame returned to its original dim blue.

She moved back from the basin, turning away from Gav, shoulders tight, spine rigid, trying to hide the fracture in her composure.

"Serena, wait."

Gav moved before the last syllable left his mouth. He was already in front of her, cutting off her retreat, instinct faster than thought. He caught her by the arms and pulled her into him.

She didn’t fight. Silent tears streaked her cheeks without a sound, and she didn’t know why they were there. She didn’t push him away.

His arms wrapped around her with a grip that was both steady and breaking.

"Serena. I’ve never had a fated mate or felt a pull towards anyone in my life."

She could feel the tremor where his fingers gripped her arms, the vibration of a man holding himself together by the thinnest margin.

"But when you walked into Drakenfell, something inside me shifted, and it never shifted back."

She inhaled sharply, every muscle going rigid.

"I buried it. Because you were Dex’s. He’s a brother to me and I would rather cut my own chest open than betray him." His voice cracked, and he let it. "But I can’t stop it. Gods, Serena, I’ve tried. I love you."

Her lips parted, trembling. A tear spilled freely down her cheek.

Gav wiped it away with his thumb.

"Gav... I..." Serena whispered, voice breaking. "We can’t—"

Gav didn’t let her finish.

He pulled her into a kiss, sudden and fierce and desperate in the way only truth finally unleashed can be. He cupped her face, his mouth claiming hers.

The moment their lips met, an electric current shot between them.

It hit her sternum first. Then her spine. Then every nerve ending in her body fired at once in a direction she had not authorized and could not override. The kiss was a detonation, and the fuse had been lit months ago, and she had been pretending she couldn’t smell the smoke.

She’d been starving for something she didn’t know she needed. His touch. His honesty. The genuine connection from someone who saw her. Understood her.

Her fingers were in his hair before her brain registered that her hand had moved. Her mouth opened against his, and the sound that came out of her was quiet and desperate and belonged to a version of herself she had not met until this second.

Then she stiffened, eyes widening, and shoved him back.

"Gav!"

Her hand flew to her mouth.

He stood dazed for a second, his body throbbing in protest and his breathing ragged.

The taste of her was still on his mouth and his wolf was clawing at his chest and Gav was holding it back with everything he had left. It wanted her since the moment Gav saw her, and he’d been forcing it down for months. Something that had cost him more than anyone in his life knew.

"Oh gods..." she whispered, trembling, horror tightening every breath. Guilt twisted in her gut like a knife. Her eyes welled. "What am I going to tell Dex?"

The question was not rhetorical. It was the sound of a woman standing in the wreckage of something she had just broken and realizing she didn’t know if she could fix it.

"Serena—"

Soaked and shaking, she lifted her hand. Gold magic flooded out of her palm, forming a portal.

She bolted through it without looking back.

If she turned around, she would see his face. And if she saw his face, she would see the look of a man who had just handed her his entire heart and watched her sprint away from it. And if she saw that, she would stop. And if she stopped, she would go back.

"Serena, wait!" Gav shouted, leaping in after her.

But the moment he stepped through, he stopped cold.