THE STEP THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

The moment my foot touched the ground closer to Darius, the air around me shifted.

A pulse of energy rippled through the clearing, unseen but felt.

Something deep inside me snapped into place.

Like a key finally turning in its lock.

Like I had been waiting for this moment all along.

Cassian didn’t move.

Didn’t breathe.

His red eyes burned into mine, filled with something far worse than anger.

Far worse than rage.

Loss.

The bond between us was still there, but it was faint now, a fragile thread unraveling, stretched too thin.

His hands were clenched at his sides, his breathing ragged, his entire body vibrating with the force of his restraint.

I had seen Cassian angry before.

But this?

This was different.

Because for the first time since I met him, he wasn’t fighting for me.

He was watching me leave.

I hesitated.

Just for a second.

The fire in my veins roared, demanding I take another step, to close the space between me and Darius.

But Cassian’s voice.

Low, rough, wrecked.

Stopped me.

“Sienna.”

I swallowed hard, my chest aching.

“Don’t do this.”

I closed my eyes.

Because if I looked at him.

If I really looked at him.

I wasn’t sure I’d be able to move at all.

Darius was silent beside me, waiting.

Not forcing me.

Not pulling me toward him.

Because he didn’t need to.

He already knew I would come.

And that realization made everything worse.

Cassian took a slow step forward, his voice a low growl of restraint and desperation.

“Come back.”

It wasn’t an order.

It wasn’t a demand.

It was a plea.

A final chance for me to turn around.

For me to fix the bond before it broke completely.

But I didn’t.

I took another step.

And this time, Cassian moved.

Cassian’s power exploded outward, crashing into me like a storm breaking over the earth.

Not to hurt me.

But to snap me out of it.

To force me to look at him.

I gasped as the energy wrapped around me, crackling against my skin, trying to drag me back.

For a moment, it almost worked.

For a moment, I was back in that moonlit cabin, when his arms were the only place I felt safe.

For a moment, I felt the weight of our bond again, the way it had always been strong enough to hold me together.

Darius moved.

And everything shattered.

Cassian lunged.

Faster than thought, faster than I had ever seen him move.

His claws slashed through the air, aiming straight for Darius’s throat.

But Darius was ready.

With a single flick of his wrist, the energy around me surged outward, lashing through the clearing like wildfire.

Cassian was thrown back, his body hitting the ground with a force that made my chest ache.

He coughed, pushing himself up, his red eyes blazing with fury.

And that’s when I knew.

He wasn’t going to hold back anymore.

Darius turned to me, ignoring Cassian completely, his golden eyes gleaming.

“You see?” he murmured. “You don’t belong in a cage.”

I shook my head, trying to clear the haze in my mind, trying to fight the way my body thrummed with his power.

“This isn’t right,” I whispered. “It’s not supposed to be like this.”

Darius tilted his head.

“Then why does it feel so good?”

A sharp breath hitched in my throat.

Because he was right.

It did feel good.

It felt too good.

And that terrified me.

Cassian was on his feet again, his fangs bared, his stance lethal.

“You think you can take her from me?”

Darius smirked, completely unbothered.

“I don’t need to take her,” he said simply. “She’s already chosen.”

Cassian froze.

And so did I.

Because the moment Darius spoke those words.

I felt it.

The bond between Cassian and me.

It snapped.

Not completely.

Not yet.

But the first thread had finally broken.

And Cassian felt it too.

His entire body stilled, his breath coming fast and uneven, his red eyes flashing with something raw, something close to despair.

“No.” His voice was barely above a whisper.

Darius exhaled, almost bored now.

“You always knew this would happen, didn’t you?”

Cassian’s jaw clenched, his claws still curled into fists, but something in his posture had changed.

Because now, it wasn’t just anger burning in his eyes.

It was something else.

Something worse.

Something that said.

He had just lost me.

And the worst part?

I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to fight it anymore.

The world felt like it was spinning too fast.

Like I was standing at the edge of a cliff, staring into something I couldn’t stop from coming.

Cassian took one last step forward, his chest rising and falling hard, his eyes locked onto mine like he was trying to memorize every piece of me before I was gone.

“Sienna,” he murmured, his voice wrecked.

I opened my mouth.

But no words came.

Because I didn’t know what to say.

Because I didn’t even know who I was anymore.

Darius smiled.

And before Cassian could take another step.

He reached for me.

And I let him.