Chapter 44 When the Board Shatters
Rhea POV
I woke fully this time.
Not half dreaming. Not drifting. Fully awake in my bones, in my blood, and in the strange, constant thrum beneath my skin that had become my new normal.
Four heartbeats. Steady. Awake with me.
The tent was dim, and lit by silver lanterns and the faint glow of moonlight bleeding through the canvas. Outside, the camp hummed with tension. Voices mumbled low. Drums sounded closer now. The night felt charged, like the air right before lightning splits the sky.
I sat up and swung my legs over the edge of the furs.
Today was the day.
The robes were laid out neatly on a carved chest. Lunar silk, woven with threads that caught the light like liquid moonshine. Pale silver and soft white, fitted through the waist and hips, and draping open at the neckline in a way that was absolutely intentional.
Cleavage for the Moon Mother. Bold choice.
I snorted quietly and stood, pulling on my under things before slipping into the ceremonial robes. The fabric clung to me in all the right places, flowing when I moved, and felt cool and warm at the same time. Magic hummed through it, gentle and watchful.
I crossed to the mirror. For a second, I barely recognized myself. My red and black hair had been brushed and braided with thin silver chains I did not remember putting there. My skin glowed faintly, like there was fire beneath it just waiting for permission. My eyes looked sharper. I looked older, and downright dangerous.
Beautiful. I looked beautiful. I leaned closer, touching my face, and smoothing a smudge beneath my eye. I quickly washed my hands, then splashed water on my neck. I fixed the braids, and fluffed the loose waves until they framed my face instead of fighting it.
Then I stepped back.
“Well,” I murmured to my reflection. “Fuck it.”
The tent flap rustled. Rhett stepped inside. He stopped dead. For a heartbeat, neither of us moved. Then he exhaled slowly, like he had been punched in the lungs.
“Damn,” he said. His voice was rougher than usual. Controlled, but like barely. “You look… fucking amazing.”
Heat rushed straight to my face. I grinned, unable to help it. “Thank you. I feel beautiful. That’s rare.”
I did a small, impulsive twirl, and the skirts of the robe flared around my legs. Rhett’s fists clenched at his sides.
“Woman,” he said quietly, stepping toward me, “you tempt me unlike any female I have ever met.”
Before I could tease him for that phrasing, he reached up, slid his hand behind my head, and threaded his fingers into my hair. He guided my face to his and kissed me. Not gentle. Not slow.
It was firm, and claiming. The kind of kiss that stole your breath and thoughts and left only heat and want. My hands fisted in his shirt. My knees went weak. I made a sound I would absolutely deny later.
He pulled back just enough to breathe, with his forehead resting against mine. Then chaos exploded outside.
“ALPHA!”
Shouting. Screaming. Wolves losing their damn minds.
“DRAGONS!”
The ground trembled.
“There are fucking dragons on their way here!”
Rhett went still. Then he swore violently. “These fuckers.”
I pulled back, and something deep in my chest tightened. The hum beneath my skin surged, hot and urgent. “Rhett,” I said quietly. “I think this is supposed to happen.”
He turned to me sharply. “No.”
“I can feel them,” I said. My voice shook despite myself. “It’s not just him. The vampire is here too.”
Rhett dragged a hand through his hair and swore again. “Why did I have a feeling mating a Phoenix would be impossible.”
That word hit wrong. Bother. Problem. Impossible. Anger flared hot and fast, licking up my spine. “Well if I’m such a damn bother,” I snapped, “then you can get fucked!”
I spun and bolted.
“Rhea, fuck,” Rhett shouted behind me. “That’s not what I meant!”
I did not slow down. I burst through the camp, ignoring the stares, the gasps, and the startled guards scrambling out of my way. My heart hammered. All four of them. Loud and furious. All of them pulling me forward.
I hit the tree line and kept running. Branches scratched at my arms. Snow crunched beneath my boots. I had no idea where I was going. Only that I had to get there. Now. I skidded to a stop when a massive shape stepped out of the shadows.
He was huge.
Taller than Rhett. Broader. Built like war given flesh. Like damn. He was fine. Golden auburn hair fell to his shoulders, catching firelight like molten metal. His eyes were bronze, feral and ancient.
He was beautiful in a terrifying way, and he was mine. The realization slammed into me, and stole.my damn breath. He looked at me like he had been searching for centuries.
“MINE,” he growled.
I planted my feet and narrowed my eyes. “You scratched me and I literally died,” I snapped. “Fucking asshole.”
His lips curved slowly. “It didn’t stick, obviously.”
Then his gaze heated, and darkened. “And now you’re mine, Phoenix. I know you feel it.”
I tilted my head, studying him, with fire simmering beneath my skin. “Bold of you to assume I’m even impressed.”
His answering glare made my thighs clench tightly and he smirked. Arrogant prick. Behind me, I heard footsteps crash through the trees. Rhett. The air crackled between the three of us. It was thick with power and fury and fate snapping tight like a drawn bowstring.
I smiled. Whatever the gods had planned, whatever game they thought they were playing, they were about to learn one thing very clearly.
I was done being dragged across the board.
Silence stretched between us like a live wire.
Two hot ass men. Two kings. Two forces that had killed me, marked me, or both. And my heart.
All four of them.
I exhaled slowly, feeling the heat roll through my chest, not painful, not burning me alive this time, just… awake. Listening, and apparently choosing.
“I’m done letting anyone fucking decide for me,” I said, and my voice was steady even though my pulse was doing gymnastics. “I’m letting my heart choose.”
Rhett stiffened behind me. Korr’s eyes narrowed.
“And my heart,” I continued, lifting my chin, “wants them all.”
The words landed like a thrown blade.
The forest reacted before they did. Wind surged. Leaves rattled. Somewhere, a wolf howled like it had just seen the end of the world and liked it.
I turned my head slightly, and my senses flared, locking onto the third presence I’d been feeling since the camp.
“Come out, vampire,” I called calmly. “I know you’re here too. I can feel you.”
For a breath, nothing happened. Then the shadows shifted. He stepped out of the dark like night itself had decided to take human form.
Tall. Lithe. Deadly elegance wrapped in silk and shadows. His hair was black with a blue sheen, catching the moonlight like polished obsidian. His eyes were black-silver, reflective, ancient, and fucking watching me like I was both a puzzle and a sin.
Pale skin. Perfect mouth. Absolutely, devastatingly gorgeous. Oh. Fuck me. My heart did something traitorous. All three of them, here in front of me. Hells.
I had the completely unhelpful urge to step forward, and kiss his lips, to see if he tasted like night and danger and regret. My gaze flicked unwillingly to Korr’s chest and I had to swallow hard because apparently dragon kings came with washboard 8 pack abs carved by angry gods.
What the hell was wrong with me.
Nox smiled slowly, like he knew exactly what I was thinking. “You call, Phoenix,” he said smoothly, “and expect me not to answer?”
Rhett growled, deep and territorial. “You’re not welcome here.”
Korr’s heat flared. “You overstep, blood king.”
Nox’s eyes flicked to him, amused. “Careful, dragon. You don’t own her.”
“Oh?” Korr stepped forward half a pace. “She bears my mark.”
“And mine,” Rhett snapped.
Nox’s smile sharpened. “And my blood.”
Oh gods. Here we go. I planted my hands on my hips. “Are you three seriously about to start measuring dicks in the middle of the woods while the literal apocalypse hums in my chest?”
They all spoke at once.
“He threatened her.” “He burned her.” “He fed on her.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I died. Multiple times. We are well past assigning blame.”
Rhett turned to me, with his jaw locked tight. “This isn’t a damn joke, Rhea.”
“I know,” I shot back. “That’s why I’m fucking talking and not screaming.”
Korr studied me intently, with his head tilted. “You stand between three predators without fear.”
“Oh, I’m hella terrified,” I said. “I’m just also super pissed.”
Nox chuckled softly. “She’s magnificent.”
Rhett bristled. “Don’t look at her like that.”
“Like what?” I demanded, spinning on him. “Like I’m standing right here?”
Korr’s gaze burned. “You feel it,” he said quietly. “The pull.”
I nodded. “Yeah. And it’s not ownership. It’s connection.”
The word seemed to hit all of them differently.
Rhett’s expression fractured, and something raw and unguarded flashed through. “Wolves don’t share.”
“Good thing I’m not a wolf,” I said flatly.
Nox stepped closer, stopping just short of invading my space. The air cooled around him, and shadows curled at his feet. “And if I refuse to share?”
I smiled sweetly. “Then you don’t get me.”
His brows lifted, surprised. Then slowly, something like respect slid into his gaze.
Korr crossed his arms, and those damned muscles flexed. “You think you can command kings.”
“I think,” I said carefully, “that the gods made a mess and dumped it in my lap. And if you want me alive, sane, and not burning the world down, you’re going to stop posturing and start listening.”
Silence fell again. This time, it held.
Rhett exhaled sharply through his nose. “You’re impossible.”
I grinned. “You married me.”
“I did not,” he growled.
Korr smirked. “Yet.”
Nox’s laughter was low and dark. “This will be entertaining.”
I rolled my eyes. “I am not a spectator sport.”
But standing there, with fire humming under my skin, and night and flame and fur circling me, I knew one thing with absolute certainty.
My heart had chosen. And none of them were walking away unchanged.
Rhett moved first. Too fast, and too damn territorial. His hand closed around my arm, not hard enough to hurt, but hard enough to claim, to pull me back like I was something that could be handled.
Korr snapped. Fire flared around him in a violent rush, and heat slammed into Rhett like a wall. “Do not touch her like she is yours alone.”
Rhett shoved back, with his fangs flashing, and wolf fury boiling over. “She is my fucking mate.”
Nox vanished. One heartbeat he was there, the next he was shadow and speed, striking from the side, and knocking Korr back with a blur of motion and a hiss of rage. “None of you own her,” he snarled.
The forest exploded into chaos. Claws, fire, and shadow. And something in me broke.
“Ok fuck no.”
The words ripped out of my chest as I burst into flame. Not wild fire. Not burning. Commanding Phoenix flame.
Light tore through the clearing, white-gold and blinding. My scream wasn’t sound, it was force, ancient and absolute. Power slammed outward in a shockwave that crushed the ground flat.
All three of them hit the earth. Hard. Forced down, with their bellies to the soil. Kings brought low in a single breath. The flames curled around me like wings as I stood there shaking and glaring at them.
“That will be enough of that shit,” I said, and my voice was layered, wrong, and dominant.
Silence answered me. They learned a valuable lesson right then. I wasn’t the damn prize.
I was the fucking apex.