The shift clawed at her from the inside, tearing through every wall she had spent eighteen years building. Velia felt her bones crack and reform, her skin ripple, the world tilting and sharpening all at once. She had been standing in the center of the great hall, alone, with every eye in the kingdom’s aristocracy fixed on her. Lord Ambrose had called her forward, claimed she was wolfless, claimed she was worthless, claimed she would crumble when the forced shift potion did nothing.
But the potion did something. It did everything. Her vision fractured. The room spun.
And then the screaming started. She rose on four heavy paws that were not paws. Lion paws, massive and wrong. Behind her, a serpent tail coiled, scaled and muscular, moving with a consciousness of its own.
She could feel the change in the air, the terror radiating from hundreds of bodies pressing back against the walls of the great hall. Guards reached for weapons. Foreign dignitaries went pale. Noblewomen shrieked and scrambled for cover.
Lord Ambrose, the man who had orchestrated this very humiliation, stared at her with a face drained of all color. But Velia did not look at any of them. She looked at Cailen. Her king.
The man she loved. The man she had just told she could not marry. He was still sitting on the dais, frozen, his face bone white. His eyes were wide, unblinking.
She waited for it. For the moment his expression would shift from shock to horror. For the recoil. For the disgust that she had seen on her own mother’s face so many years ago.
She braced herself for it, the way she had braced herself for it every single day since she was eight years old. But his face just stayed wrong. Too pale. His eyes unfocused.
Then he swayed, and his body slid from the throne and hit the marble floor with a sickening crack. The sound cut through the screaming like a blade. She lunged forward, roaring. The sound tore from her chest, inhuman, desperate.
Guards moved to block her path, weapons drawn, faces twisted with fear. She could hear his heartbeat from across the room. Too slow. Irregular.
Wrong. She could smell his scent changing, the warm cedar and leather turning sour, chemical, poisoned. He had been poisoned. The beast inside her, the thing that was not a wolf, the thing she had hidden her entire life, surged forward with one single command: reach him.
Save him. She forced herself to stop. These were palace guards. People she knew.
She could not fight them. But she had to get to him. On the dais, Princess Lena rushed to her brother’s side, dropping to her knees. Someone call a healer!
The king has been injured! Not injured. Poisoned. But the forced shift potion held her in this shape, and she could not force the words out.
A healer arrived, pressing shaking fingers to Cailen’s throat. The king is fading. His pulse is barely there. Dolores Ambrose stepped forward, her voice ringing across the hall.
He’s been poisoned. Velia’s head snapped toward her. How did Dolores know? Lord Ambrose recovered his composure, stepping forward with booming authority.
Yes, poisoned. Obviously by this creature. He pointed at Velia with a trembling hand. This abomination has been manipulating the king and now has poisoned him.
Don’t be ridiculous, Lena snapped, her voice cutting like a blade. They’ve been friends for years. Why would she do this now? Velia felt something crack in her chest.
Lena was defending her. Dolores looked at her father, then at Cailen, pale and dying on the floor. It was us, she said quietly. Me.
I poisoned him. Velia roared. The sound tore through the hall, pure rage and betrayal and grief compressed into one inhuman cry. She lunged forward.
Wait! Lena raised her hand. Stay still. Velia stopped.
She met Lena’s eyes. The princess looked terrified but steady. And somehow, impossibly, believed her. My father wanted me to marry Cailen, Dolores said, the words tumbling out like a confession she could no longer hold.
When Velia broke off the engagement, he put me forward as a candidate. But Cailen wouldn’t hear it. He kept saying he was waiting for her. That she would change her mind.
He claimed they were mates. That he felt a bond with her. Velia felt something twist in her chest. A bond.
He had felt it too. So my father devised a plan, Dolores continued, her voice breaking. I was to drug Cailen with a compliance potion. Make him suggestible enough to sign a wedding contract.
Father would expose Velia as wolfless using a forced shift potion. Remove her from consideration entirely. Once Cailen came to his senses, the contract would be signed. Velia would be gone, and he would have no choice but to accept me.
You poisoned him, Lena said, her voice ice cold. For a marriage contract. But he wouldn’t sign! Dolores was crying openly now.
Even drugged, he wouldn’t sign. He kept asking for Velia. Kept saying he loved her. Velia felt her serpent tail coil tighter.
He had fought it. Even poisoned, even manipulated out of his mind, he had fought for her. We had to give him more of the potion, Dolores sobbed. More and more until—
That potion contains traces of nightshade, the healer interrupted, her voice sharp with horror.
To weaken a shifter’s metabolism, prevent them from healing. In high doses, you essentially gave him poison. I didn’t mean to, Dolores wailed. I love him.
I didn’t mean to kill him. Love? Lena’s voice could have cut stone. You call this love?
Surely there’s an antidote, Lena said, turning back to the healer. There has to be. It’s too late, the healer said, her voice flat with resignation. His body is shutting down.
Even an alpha’s healing cannot—
It’s not too late. The words whispered through Velia’s mind. Not her thoughts. The serpent’s.
We can fix this. Velia moved. The guards raised their weapons immediately, but Lena saw her. Saw the way she moved, slow, deliberate, unthreatening.
Velia stopped a few feet away and lowered herself to the ground. She bowed her head. Showing submission. Lena stared at her for a long, agonizing moment.
Then she nodded. Let her through. Your highness, one of the guards protested. Let her through, Lena repeated, steel in her voice.
The guards parted. Velia moved forward. Every step felt like walking through fire. Every eye in the hall was on her, watching, judging.
Seeing the monster she had spent eighteen years hiding. She did not care. She reached Cailen. He looked so small lying there.
So pale. His breathing was shallow, labored. She could smell death on him, faint but present, growing stronger. No.
She would not let him die. The serpent tail moved without her conscious thought. Instinctive. Like it knew what to do even though she did not.
It curved around, positioned itself over his chest. Then it lowered, the scaled tip pressing against his skin just above his heart. She felt a drawing sensation. The tail was extracting something from his blood, pulling it through his skin, neutralizing it with her own venom system.
A biological antidote. She had not known she could do this. The serpent had known. The process felt like hours.
But when it was done, Cailen’s breathing evened out. Color began returning to his face. His eyes fluttered open. He stared up at her.
At the creature looming over him. Lion body and serpent tail and wrongness made flesh. He opened his mouth, closed it. His hand lifted slightly, trembling.
She felt the pull of the shift. The potion’s effect was finally wearing off. She let it take her. The transformation back was faster.
When it was done, she was human again, kneeling beside him. Cailen’s hand moved from her jaw to the back of her neck. She finally looked up. Hi, she said, uselessly.
The corner of his mouth moved. Then his eyes closed and his weight went sideways. Cailen, she whispered. She caught him, pulled him against her chest.
She felt his heartbeat, strong and steady beneath her palm. He was alive. He was unconscious, and she had no idea what he had thought when he saw her, what he had felt. But he was alive.
She held him and did not let go. —
She had been sitting by his bedside for hours. Lena had allowed it. She saved his life, the princess had said, her voice ringing with authority.
She stays. Lord Ambrose and Dolores had been arrested. They would be judged for their crimes, hopefully by Cailen himself when he recovered. The healer said it would be soon.
His body was just recuperating through sleep. Velia held his hand and waited. When his eyes opened, she nearly jumped out of her skin. Velia, he said.
Just her name, but the way he said it made her throat close. You’re awake, she managed. She reached for the water glass on the bedside table with shaking hands. The healer says you should hydrate.
He raised an eyebrow. The gesture was so familiar, so him, that something in her chest twisted. What happened? She gave him the summary.
The poison. Lord Ambrose’s plan. Dolores. He couldn’t have been expected to remember the chaos that followed his collapse.
Do you remember? she asked when she was done. Cailen frowned slightly. Vaguely.
I was drunk, I think, when she first came to me. He had the grace to look sheepish. I didn’t think to protest when she kept pouring me more drinks. A faint blush colored his cheeks.
Not my proudest moment, I’ll admit. Velia gave him a look. How many times do I have to tell you to be more careful? You can’t just—
Yes, well, he cut her off.
I’m fine now. All healed. He gave her a careful look then. Thank you for checking on me, he said politely.
The words felt formal. Distant. Like she was a visiting dignitary and not his oldest friend. Of course, she said slowly.
You must be tired, he said, avoiding her gaze. Her chest tightened. He wanted her to leave. He remembered what she was, and now he wanted her gone.
Her heart sank. He wasn’t even looking at her. This was the moment she had been dreading for eighteen years. But she could not make herself stand.
Could not make herself walk away without knowing for certain. You saw what I am, she murmured. Do you remember? He met her eyes then.
Yes. The word was simple. Honest. It still tore through her.
I wanted to tell you, she said quickly, desperately. All these years, I did. I just—
So you knew, Cailen interrupted. You knew what you shifted into?
She blinked at him. Of course I knew. I’ve known since I was eight years old. When I shifted and my entire family turned on me.
They saw what I was and they—
Cailen’s expression changed. That’s why they rejected you? His voice was quiet. Not because you were wolfless, but because of what you shifted into?
They didn’t reject me, Cailen. She sighed. They came after me. They tried to kill me.
She watched him take that in. Shock giving way to comprehension, to something darker. Something cold and dangerous that she had only seen a handful of times. You should have told me, he said.
His voice was quiet. Velia’s stomach dropped. I know, she said quickly. I’m sorry.
But you should have seen the way they looked at me. I didn’t want you to—
They need to be brought to justice, he snapped. He was sitting up properly now, his eyes blazing. He was not angry at her, she realized.
He was angry at them. They need to pay for their crimes. Hunting a child. Trying to kill you.
Velia stared at him. Cailen, she said slowly. I don’t know if you remember what I look like properly. Of course I do, he said, sounding almost offended.
Big lion body. Serpent tail. Yes, she said, throwing her hands up. So no wonder they tried to kill me.
So did your guards. His expression went dark again. What? His voice was deadly quiet.
Which ones? It doesn’t matter, Velia nearly shouted. Look, Cailen, the point is— she paused. I’m sorry I never told you, she said quietly.
I should have. I just— I didn’t want to lose you. He frowned. Lose me?
Yes. When you saw what I—
Well, you didn’t seem too worried about losing me when you said we couldn’t get married and shattered my heart into a million pieces, he accused with a pout. Velia stared at him. Will you stop being dramatic?
I’m not being dramatic, he replied, affronted. We share a bond now, you and I. You feel it too, don’t you? She could feel it.
That thin thread connecting them, carrying his emotions like echoes. Yes, she admitted. But Cailen—
So why, Velia? He sounded desperate now.
Why won’t you marry me? Her brain stopped working for a moment. Excuse me? Are you really sincerely asking me why?
He abandoned all pretense of acting proud and looked at her, painfully earnest. What do I need to do to get you to marry me, Velia? Is it because I took too long to ask that you don’t believe I can be a good mate? Or is it because I sometimes, very occasionally, drink too much at parties?
It’s not occasionally, she muttered. Or is it— he looked away. Do you not trust that I love you because I didn’t break off the engagement sooner? He reached out then, took her hand in both of his.
I tried to, he said. Many times. Spoke to my father about it. Tried to find other ways to keep the alliance without offending the princess.
Cailen, Velia tried. He kept going. He wouldn’t hear it, and the princess wouldn’t hear it either. You know she was quite taken with me before she found her mate?
He said it without arrogance, slightly bewildered by the fact. So I thought perhaps if I could gently discourage her, you know, show her I wasn’t suitable at all. Velia’s eyes narrowed. Wait.
Is that what all of your conquests and philandering and general frivolity was about? He had the grace to look sheepish. Yes. Mostly.
I was hoping she’d be fed up with me, he added quietly. But it turns out you’re the one who was fed up with me. Something in Velia’s chest cracked. Well, I didn’t much like seeing you flirt with every other girl, she admitted.
I didn’t want to flirt with you before I knew I could make you my wife right after, Cailen pleaded, utterly sincere. I didn’t want to start something I couldn’t finish properly. Whatever you need me to be, I can be. I can—
Cailen, Velia interrupted.
Are you seriously thinking that I broke off our engagement because of you? He tilted his head slightly. Well, didn’t you? No, she wanted to shake him.
Obviously not. Why would it be because of you? You’re perfect. Everyone adores you.
And why wouldn’t they? He looked confused. Then why? Because— she threw her free hand up.
I’m a giant monster, obviously. People recoil at the sight of me. Or have you forgotten that part? Cailen frowned.
You thought I would mind? He looked genuinely baffled. That’s why you broke it off? She watched, stunned, as his whole expression shifted.
Understanding dawning across his features. And then— then relief. Pure and overwhelming. His whole body relaxed.
He settled back against his pillows, a smile spreading across his face, infuriatingly satisfied. Oh, he said with a chuckle. Well, I’m glad that’s been cleared up. His smile widened.
Now we can get married again. Velia gaped at him. It’s not sorted, she finally managed. I’m still a monster.
The other day I bit you and accidentally poisoned you. Oh, is that what it was? Cailen said. His eyes were closed now.
Well, it was quite nice, he decided peacefully. I liked it. Cailen, she scolded. He cracked one eye open.
What? It was. It felt good. You can do it again.
His smile turned into a pleased smirk. Everything else, too, he added. She rolled her eyes so hard it hurt. How can you not mind?
she asked quietly. He tugged her closer. I think it’s fantastic news that you’re a giant beast, my love, he said happily. Now you can just come with me to all my meetings and people won’t even think to argue with us about anything.
They’ll be too terrified. She hit him on the shoulder and he laughed. Say you’ll marry me, he murmured, pulling her closer, nuzzling into her hair. Cailen, she sighed, melting.
Say it. His arms came around her waist. I almost died. I might die still if you shatter my heart again.
She could feel his heartbeat beneath her palm. Steady and strong. She rolled her eyes, but she kissed his forehead anyway. Soft.
Lingering. Is that a yes? he whispered. Velia sighed.
Fond. Yes. His grin could have lit the entire palace. He pulled her down properly then.
Into the bed. Into his arms. Tucking her against his chest like she belonged there. Like she had always belonged there.
And she supposed she had. She had spent eighteen years hiding from the world. Hiding from what she was. Hiding from the moment when someone she loved would look at her the way her family had, with horror and disgust.
She had built her entire life around staying invisible, around being underestimated, because being underestimated was safer than being feared. Safer than being hunted. But Cailen was looking at her now, and there was no horror in his eyes. No disgust.
No fear. Just warmth, and love, and that infuriating, wonderful certainty that she was exactly what he wanted. He had seen what she was. The lion body.
The serpent tail. The monster that had made her own mother turn on her. And he had asked her to marry him anyway. Velia closed her eyes and let herself be held.
For the first time in eighteen years, she was not hiding.
