Morning light spilled into the cottage like honey, warm and golden, brushing against Kai's cheeks as he stirred in bed. The world felt quieter now—less dangerous. The firestorm of the past days had passed, and for once, there was no imminent threat, no whispered prophecy, no cursed book breathing down their necks.
Just sunlight. The smell of pine and fresh bread. The sound of birdsong outside.
And the steady, possessive weight of an arm slung across his waist.
Kai blinked.
Lucien.
Of course.
Curled behind him, chest to Kai's back, heat rising from his skin like a hearthfire. His breathing was deep and even, completely unbothered by the way his legs tangled around Kai's like some kind of clingy jungle cat. Kai sighed, nudging him. "Lucien. Get up. You're crushing me." "Mmph," came the sleepy growl. "You like it." Kai turned his face into the pillow, trying not to smile. "Not when I can't breathe." Lucien loosened his grip slightly, nuzzling into the curve of Kai's neck instead. "Then breathe slower."
"Lucien!"
Footsteps thudded past the door. And then a voice—far too smug for this early in the day—called out from the hallway. "You two decent? Because I'm making breakfast, and I'd rather not find someone naked on the kitchen table again." Lucien groaned. "Rhydian's awake. That's the real tragedy."
Kai smacked his shoulder with a pillow. "Get up. I want to try that binding spell we found yesterday." Lucien raised a brow, half-lidded eyes sharpening. "The one that needs direct magical contact?" Kai flushed. "It's not what it sounds like." Lucien's grin was slow and wolfish. "Shame."
By the time they entered the kitchen, Rhydian was already there—shirtless, because of course he was—frying something over the stove while a floating spoon stirred honey into a teacup beside him. Kai's eyes did not drift to the carved lines of his back. Or his shoulders. Or that tattoo curling along his left arm like ivy soaked in golden ink.
Lucien made a noise behind him. Displeased. Possessive. Kai stepped between them. "Morning." Rhydian glanced back, eyes sweeping over Kai quickly before landing on Lucien with narrowed focus. "Morning, sunshine." Lucien bared his teeth. "Making food or marking territory?" Rhydian smirked. "Why not both?" Kai grabbed a cup, loudly setting it on the counter. "You're both ridiculous."
"We're alphas," they said at the same time.
Kai rubbed his temples. This was going to be a long day.
**********
After breakfast—where Lucien and Rhydian passive-aggressively fought over who could make better eggs—Kai escaped to the clearing behind the house with his spellbook. The binding spell he'd chosen wasn't dangerous. Just something small, something to tether a charm or message between two people using their shared energy. It was supposed to help with connection. Trust.
He settled in the grass, flipping pages. His hands still trembled a little from everything—the dreams, the Watchers, Rhydian's return—but the morning felt different. Like the world was holding its breath for something softer. He'd only just begun tracing the first glyph in the air when a voice called out behind him. "Need a hand?" Rhydian.
Kai turned, startled. "I'm okay." But Rhydian was already walking toward him, shirt back on this time, though it didn't help much. The man looked like he was carved from sun and stormlight. "I've done this one before," Rhydian said, crouching beside him. "It's trickier than it looks. The lines get slippery if your intent's not clear."
Kai frowned. "Slippery?"
Before he could ask more, Rhydian reached for his hand, guiding his fingers with his own. His touch was warm, grounding. Their magic sparked faintly at the edges—like ripples meeting. Kai tried to focus on the spell.
He did.
Until a shadow fell over both of them.
Lucien.
He crossed his arms, red cloak billowing slightly in the wind like a dramatic painting. "Interesting that the two of you suddenly need to hold hands to cast basic binding." Kai pulled back quickly. "It's part of the glyph tracing!" Lucien tilted his head. "Is it?" Rhydian didn't move. "You're welcome to join if you'd like." Lucien gave him a tight smile. "Oh, I intend to."
Before Kai could protest, Lucien settled on his other side, one hand reaching to rest against Kai's lower back. Kai nearly squeaked. "What are you doing?" "Magical grounding," Lucien said innocently. "You don't want your power to flare and burn your eyebrows off, right?" Rhydian snorted.
"I hate both of you," Kai muttered.
But when he returned to the spell, with Rhydian guiding one hand and Lucien steadying his back with quiet magic, something strange happened. The glyph pulsed.
Once.
Then burst in a harmless puff of glittering pink smoke. Kai coughed. "That is not what it was supposed to do." Lucien blinked. "Did it just… sparkle?" Rhydian looked at his palm, now dusted in faint magical shimmer. "I think he reversed the connection. It's not a binding glyph anymore."
"What is it then?" Kai asked.
Lucien raised a brow. "A matchmaking rune, apparently." Rhydian looked delighted.
Kai covered his face with both hands. "I'm never doing magic with you two again."
Back inside, things didn't improve. Lucien decided to show Kai how he would've handled the spell. This resulted in a gust of wind that knocked over a bookshelf, and a summoned phoenix illusion that wouldn't stop chirping. Rhydian countered by offering Kai a "calming charm"—which exploded into a cloud of lavender smoke that made everyone sneeze uncontrollably for ten minutes.
At one point, Lucien nearly set Rhydian's cloak on fire "by accident."
Rhydian "accidentally" froze Lucien's bathwater later.
Kai, caught in the middle, could only scream into a cushion while the house slowly descended into magical war.
*****
By evening, they were all exhausted.
Kai sat on the porch steps, sipping tea with both hands, cheeks still pink from laughing too hard earlier. Lucien sat beside him, shirt rumpled, hair damp from where Rhydian had dumped a bucket of enchanted water on him. Rhydian lounged a few feet away, idly tossing a glowing orb into the air and catching it.
The sunset painted everything in gold and rose. Kai looked at them. Lucien's quiet steadiness. Rhydian's wild spark. Two sides of the same spell. He didn't know what the future held.
But for now, at least, he felt loved.
And maybe—just maybe—that was enough.
********
Night came softly.
The magical storm of the day had passed—along with the floating eggs, enchanted brooms that wouldn't stop sweeping each other, and the brief, terrifying moment when Kai accidentally summoned a singing chair.
The house was quiet now, lit only by the warm flicker of fireplace embers and the silver wash of moonlight through the window. Kai sat curled up on the couch, blanket over his legs, fingers toying with the hem. His tea had long gone cold, but he hadn't noticed. Lucien was in the next room, clearing up the last of the magical mess.
And Rhydian?
He hadn't come back inside after dinner. Kai's thoughts stirred like ash in his chest. He didn't know what was harder—when both alphas were near, tension sparking in the air like a live wire... or when they weren't, leaving silence too big for his thoughts to fill alone. The door creaked softly.
Lucien stepped in, sleeves rolled, dark hair slightly damp from the water he'd used to douse the flames earlier. There was a scratch under his jaw, probably from the animated broom battle. He looked tired—but when he saw Kai on the couch, his face softened. "You okay?" he asked quietly.
Kai nodded. "Yeah. Just... breathing." Lucien came closer, crouched in front of him, resting a hand gently on Kai's knee beneath the blanket. Kai didn't move. He didn't need to.
Lucien's hand was warm. Solid. "Today was... a mess," Kai whispered. Lucien chuckled. "A magical disaster." "But fun," Kai admitted, glancing down at him. "In a weird, kind of... chaotic way." Lucien smiled. "That's our life now, isn't it?" Kai blinked, surprised by the warmth in those words. "Our?" Lucien didn't look away. "You think I'm not in this with you?"
Kai's throat tightened.
He didn't answer.
Lucien exhaled, thumb brushing over the edge of the blanket. "I know Rhydian being here complicates things." "It's not his fault," Kai murmured. "No. It's no one's fault." Lucien looked up at him. "But I need you to know something."
Kai met his gaze.
Lucien's voice dropped. "You're not something I want to fight over. You're not a prize, or a prophecy, or a problem to solve." "Then what am I?" Lucien leaned in, slowly, resting his forehead against Kai's. "You're the bond I chose," he whispered. "The one I keep choosing."
Kai's heart fluttered. Then the back door opened. Rhydian walked in.
Kai froze.
Lucien tensed, but didn't move away. Rhydian glanced between them—eyes lingering on their closeness—and for once, didn't say anything. Just walked past. Kai reached out. "Wait."
Rhydian paused.
Kai stood up, blanket falling away. "You okay?" Rhydian gave a short, dry laugh. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Kai stepped forward. "I'm serious." "So am I," Rhydian said, more quietly. "You're in the middle of something you didn't ask for." Lucien stood, jaw tight. "None of us did."
Rhydian's eyes flashed. "And yet here we are." The air was thick again. Not with magic this time—but something older. Heavier. Want and history and what-ifs. Kai stepped between them, pressing a hand to both their chests.His magic flickered—responding to the contact, their energy. "You both keep trying to fight for me," he whispered. "But no one's listening to me."
Silence.
Then Rhydian asked, quietly, "What do you want, Kai?" Kai's breath caught. He looked at Lucien. At Rhydian. The two alphas who, in such different ways, had tangled themselves into his life and heart. "I want peace," he said finally. "And time." Lucien's hand found his.
Rhydian didn't touch him, but didn't walk away either.
Instead, he looked at the fire, then back at Kai. "Then we'll wait."
Later that night, long after Lucien had gone to bed—and after Rhydian disappeared again into the woods behind the house—Kai stood outside alone. The sky above was velvet dark, stars sharp and cold like diamonds scattered by hand. The wind tugged at his robe, soft and playful. And then—suddenly—he felt it. A flicker in the bond.
Not Lucien's fire.
Not Rhydian's storm.
Something older. Wilder.
The forest around him stirred. A whisper. A pulse. A Watcher. His magic flared before his fear did, rushing like a wave to his fingertips. But the trees only rustled, and the shadows slipped back like curtains drawn. He stood still, heart pounding. Then, behind him—arms.
Lucien.
Pulling him close, silently, tightly. Kai didn't even ask how he'd known. He just leaned back into him, eyes still on the trees. "They're watching again," he whispered. Lucien's arms tightened.
"Then let them watch," he said, voice low.
"They won't take you."