ng faintly to my skin. I scrubbed until my body was raw, until I felt like I was decent enough. When I stepped from the bath, steam curling around me, , I peered into the room hoping th

beauty, though sharper at the edges. His hair was dark brown, his eyes molten gold with flecks of red that seemed to burn from within. He smiled when he saw me, slow and wolfish. Daemon. He is breathtaking. The scents roared, colliding with the one that already clung to me-Darius's. My heart lurched. My knees trembled. "Mate." The word rumbled from Draven and Daemon in unison, deep and savage, echoing through the hall like thunder. The room fell into stunned silence. Forks clattered against plates. Whispers rose, sharp and fearful. I staggered back, the air stolen from my lungs. My wolf howled inside me, desperate to leap, to answer. Darius moved instantly, a growl tearing from his chest. His arm shot out, pushing me behind him as he bared his teeth at his brothers. "Stay back." Draven's expression barely shifted, though his silver eyes burned hotter. "You dare to command me, little brother? In my home? Tsk tsk tsk" Daemon chuckled low, stepping down from the dais with lethal grace. "Three mates, Darius? How greedy you've been, keeping her all to yourself." "She is mine." Darius's voice was a snarl, raw and guttural, reverberating with pure possession. "Yours?" Draven's lips curved, cold and cruel. "No, brother. She is ours." The words rippled across the hall like a blade drawn from its sheath. Wolves shifted uneasily, soldiers whispered prayers. My head spun, my body shaking, caught between them all. Three voices. Three scents. Three claims. Darius stood like a wall before me, chest heaving, every line of his body promising violence. Draven descended the dais with the weight of a king, Daemon prowling at his side, both closing the distance with eyes locked on me as if I was a breath of fresh air.. And all I could hear was that single word, echoing over and over, sealing my fate. "Mate." The word still rang in my skull, their voices overlapping, vibrating through me until I thought my bones might splinter under the force of it. The hall was silent except for the scrape of chairs as warriors shifted uneasily. Their eyes darted between the three brothers, the infamous Lycans of every nightmare told to wolf pups, and me. The half-breed omega who had no place at this table. My lungs burned. The scents crowded in too thick, too strong, drowning me in heat and hunger and fear. Darius's body blocked most of my view, his growl vibrating against my spine, but it didn't matter. Draven's silver gaze still pierced through him, unyielding. Daemon's golden eyes still pinned me, hungry and unblinking. My knees buckled. "Ra