The kiss that had started in the porch moonlight still burned on Cersei’s lips three days later, but Lionus had built a wall of polite distance between them. He called her “Your Highness” now, as if the taste of her mouth had never happened, as if he hadn’t whispered that she was beautiful while his fingers tangled in her hair. She had left her husband, the Alpha King Oruron, twenty-two days ago after discovering he had taken a mistress to bear him the heir she supposedly couldn’t give him. She had fled into the forest, shifted into her wolf form for the first time in her life, been wounded by a rogue, and been rescued by a peasant boy named Bronn who fed her scraps and talked to her like she was his only friend.
Now she stood in the cottage yard, the axe heavy in her blistered hands, splitting log after log while the bond to her mate blazed back to life. Oruron’s voice slithered through her mind, telling her to come home, that she didn’t belong here, that whatever that man had done to hurt her didn’t matter. She chopped harder. “Cersei!
”
Lionus was striding through the underbrush toward her, his face tight with alarm. “You’re bleeding,” he said. “I’m fine. Go back to the cottage.
”
“Like hell. ”
He stepped forward and caught the axe mid-swing, his hands closing over hers on the handle. She tried to twist away, but his grip was iron. “What’s wrong?
” he demanded. “Cersei, what’s wrong? ”
The words burst out of her like blood from a wound. “You kissed me.
You called me beautiful. You wanted me—I could smell it. And then you pretended it never happened. Do you even remember?
”
He stared at her for a long moment. “I remember,” he said quietly. “Then you regret it. ”
“Of course I do.
How could I not? You’re a queen, Cersei. I’m not presumptuous enough to fancy myself worthy of a queen. ”
He stepped closer, until they were almost chest to chest.
“Especially,” he murmured, his voice dropping to a whisper, “if that queen is you. ”
She gaped at him, trying to process what she was hearing. “I’m not a queen anymore,” she managed. “I’m just a woman.
A woman you kissed. ”
His hands came up to frame her face with a gentleness that made her heart stutter. “Forgive me,” he whispered, “for kissing you when I had no right, and for leaving you. For pretending it never happened when it’s all I’ve been thinking about ever since.
When it’s all I can do not to do it again. ”
“Do it again,” she breathed. But before either of them could close the final distance, a branch cracked somewhere beyond the trees. Footsteps approached in disciplined rhythm.
Gold armor flashed through the forest, one guard after another, until a dozen soldiers in royal livery emerged from the undergrowth. At their head walked King Oruron. The bond between them surged with force enough to make her gasp. He smiled with radiant relief and strode toward her like a man coming home.
“There you are, my love. I found you at last. ”
He pulled her into his arms, and the mate bond sang with satisfaction. She felt his genuine concern, his profound relief radiating through the connection.
“What came over you? How could you leave me? Do you have any idea how worried I was? ”
She stepped back, out of his reach.
“What are you doing here, Oruron? ”
He looked at her as if she’d asked why water was wet. “Looking for you, obviously. ” His gaze flicked dismissively over the cottage.
“Now we can finally go home. ”
Lionus made a sound somewhere between a scoff and a laugh. Both royals looked at him sharply. “Yes, peasant,” Oruron said.
“Anything you’d like to say? ”
“It’s not my place to say anything, Your Majesty. ”
“No. It isn’t.
”
“But if I were the queen,” Lionus continued, his tone perfectly neutral, “I would say it’s bold of you to assume she wants to go anywhere with you. ”
The temperature in the clearing seemed to drop ten degrees. “Leave us,” Oruron commanded, the words carrying all the weight of royal authority and alpha dominance. Lionus didn’t flinch.
“I don’t think so. ”
Before the situation could escalate, Cersei stepped between them. “Lionus. Leave us.
This is a private matter. ”
She saw the hurt flicker across his face, quickly suppressed. “Please,” she said more gently. He studied her for a long moment, then nodded once, sharp and decisive.
“I’ll be at home if you need anything. ”
When his footsteps faded into the trees, Oruron’s mask slipped. “I can’t believe you just left. Without a word, without explanation.
You closed our bond so completely I couldn’t even tell if you were alive. ”
“I hurt you. ”
He looked genuinely shocked. “How did I?
”
“Your mistress. Your child. Flinching them both in front of me and expecting me to be grateful for the privilege. ”
Understanding dawned in his golden eyes, followed by relief.
“Right. Well, that’s in the past now, Cersei. All of that is behind us. ”
The casual dismissal made her jaw clench.
“I felt it through the bond when it reopened,” he continued. “Your transformation. You managed to shift, didn’t you, darling? ”
“Yes.
”
His joy was immediate and overwhelming. He stepped close and kissed her, a quick press of lips that tasted of triumph. “Oh, darling, how relieved I am! This means we can conceive properly now.
There’s a chance our children won’t be defective. ”
She went very still in his arms. “Defective? Like you think I was?
”
“Well, were,” he said with a casual wave. Then, seeing her expression, his face softened. “Oh, don’t look at me like that, my love. You know your lack of wolf doesn’t change how I feel about you.
”
“Especially now that I can shift,” she said slowly. “Yes, quite. Everything will be perfect now. ”
A cold knot formed in her stomach.
“I’m not defective, Oruron. ”
“I know that. You’ve proven it now. ”
“No.
I didn’t need to prove anything. I was never defective to begin with. ”
He chuckled, fond and indulgent. “Well, my love, one would say a shifter who cannot shift is—”
“And what of the humans in your kingdom?
Are they defective? ”
Oruron paused, clearly confused. “Not defective. Just human.
”
But through the bond, she felt what that word meant to him. Lesser. “Oh, I see what this is,” he sighed. “It’s about that peasant of yours, isn’t it?
Yes, I felt your desire for him through the bond. Pretty crass of you not to shield that from me better. ”
“Like how you shielded your many nights of passion with Lady Reva? ”
“I was doing my duty.
”
“And enjoying it a whole lot. ”
His composure cracked, then reshaped itself. His expression softened, and he reached for her hands. “You’re right.
I hurt you, and I’m sorry for that. Truly sorry. Consider Reva gone. I’ll dismiss her from court immediately.
” He paused. “You get rid of your human pet, and we’ll never speak of this again. We don’t need them, Cersei. We’re the king and queen.
Our children will be perfect. I love you. Let me prove it to you. Let me fix this.
”
For a moment, she almost reached for him. The bond hummed with his sincerity, his desperate need to make things right. This was the man she had married, offering her everything she had once thought she wanted. But the words echoed in her mind.
Your human pet. The same casual dismissal he’d used when telling her to be grateful to Reva. “Will you come home with me? ” he asked.
She stared at his outstretched hand and saw everything it represented. Safety. Love of a sort. A return to the life she had known.
All she had to do was take it, and she could be queen again. The silence stretched between them, heavy with possibility. —
The cottage had never felt smaller than it did in that moment, two small bodies pressed against Cersei’s sides and the weight of her decision crushing down on all three of them. “Don’t go, Mama!
” Roslin sobbed against her shoulder. “Please don’t go. ”
She wrapped her arms tighter around both children. “It’s not forever.
I promise, little love. We’ll see each other again. ”
Bronn pulled back to look at her. “When?
”
Her throat closed around the honest answer. She didn’t know. “As soon as possible,” she said, and meant it with every fiber of her being. The sound of horses outside broke the moment.
Through the window, she could see Oruron waiting with royal patience, another horse saddled and ready beside him. The children walked with her to the door. Lionus waited by the horses, his face carefully neutral, but his scent carried undercurrents of unease that made her wolf whine. When she had announced her decision to return with Oruron, Lionus had simply nodded.
No protests, no questions, no indication that her leaving mattered to him. He hadn’t asked her to stay. “Your Highness,” he said with a brief nod, stepping forward to help her mount. “Have a safe trip.
” He didn’t quite meet her eyes. Before she could respond, Roslin’s voice cut through the morning air. “Don’t go, Mama! ”
The little girl tried to run toward the horse, but Bronn caught her around the waist.
“Thank you, Lionus,” Cersei managed. “Thank you for the hospitality you’ve shown me. ”
“Yes, peasant,” Oruron said, pulling at his reins. “Thank you for your services to your queen.
”
Anger flickered in Lionus’s eyes. “Oh, it was my pleasure, Your Majesty. ”
“Was it? ” she challenged.
He met her gaze directly for the first time since she’d announced her departure, and her heart stumbled. “Absolutely,” he breathed, and it sounded like a confession. His chest rose and fell with careful breaths, but she caught the slight tremor in his hands. “Well,” Oruron muttered, “one does have to go home at some point.
I’m still her mate, after all. Not that a human would understand what that means. ”
Lionus turned to face the king. “Perhaps not.
In fact, one would have to wonder, with how little he understands of mating bonds, how one could decide to go behind his mate’s back to conceive a child with another, and then flaunt it as an accomplishment in his mate’s face. ”
The silence that followed was deafening. “This really isn’t any of your business,” Cersei snapped at Lionus, though the words came out more wounded than angry. “No, I suppose not.
You’re the queen, after all. You’re free to do as you please. ”
They stared at each other across a gulf that suddenly felt wider than kingdoms. “But one just has to wonder, Your Highness,” Lionus said, his voice dropping, “how someone as extraordinary, loving, and brave as you could choose to return to a man who never understood the privilege he’s had to be loved by you.
”
“Th-thank you,” she squeaked. “Yes, well,” Oruron interrupted, thoroughly fed up. “She’s not coming back out of love, peasant. She’s coming back to finalize our divorce and the severance of our bond before the great council.
”
Lionus blinked, his gaze snapping from Oruron to Cersei and back. “Sorry, what? ”
“Yes,” Cersei confirmed, her heart racing. “I’m the queen.
I can’t just run off without legally ending our union. A mating bond between royals must be severed before competent witnesses. So even though I already rejected our bond, it’s my royal duty to present my case to the court before I can be free to… ” She trailed off, suddenly shy under the intensity of Lionus’s gaze.
“Go back and live with your peasant? ” Oruron finished, sounding exhausted. Cersei ignored him, waiting for Lionus to say something. “You’re coming back?
” he asked finally, his voice low and careful. “Well, of course I’m coming back,” she said, trying to sound casual even as her heart hammered. “I wouldn’t just abandon the children. I plan to visit them.
”
Relief spread across Lionus’s carefully composed features, so profound it was almost painful to witness. “The children would love to have you. Visit as often as you want, for as long as you want. ”
“Stay forever,” Bronn added.
Cersei smiled despite the tears threatening to spill over. “Well, I wouldn’t want to be an impediment. ”
Before she could finish, Lionus was there, reaching up to help her down from the horse. His hands closed around her waist with certainty that spoke of barely contained emotion, and suddenly she was sliding down into his arms.
“I thought you regretted what happened between us,” she murmured. Lionus looked genuinely shocked. “Only because I thought I’d overstepped. That you didn’t want—”
“Shut up, Papa.
You’ll ruin it,” Bronn’s voice cut across. “Yes, kiss her, Papa. Kiss her,” Roslin added. Both Cersei and Lionus laughed, the sound breaking some of the tension between them.
But when the laughter faded, they were still standing there in each other’s arms. Slowly, giving her every chance to pull away, he cupped her face in his work-roughened hands. “Cersei,” he whispered. And then they were kissing, soft and sweet and full of all the words they hadn’t been able to say.
When they finally broke apart, both breathing hard, she could hear Bronn cheering in the background and Roslin clapping with delight. “I’ll come back,” she promised, her forehead pressed against his. “I’ll come back to you. ”
“I’ll wait,” he said simply.
“We’ll all be here, waiting for you to come home. ”
Home. The word settled in her chest like a blessing. She kissed him again, quick and fierce, trying to memorize the taste of him to carry with her on her journey.
At the end of it all, she would be free to come back to this place, to this family who loved her for exactly who she was.
