Maximus stepped forward. He was all vamped out – wait, what were the other Compasses and Grace doing here? My eyes flicked down to Mischa … Grace was here and she could save her.

Jonathon must have had the same idea. He sprinted forward, his four legs faster than any of us on two, bit down on Mischa’s jacket, dragging his daughter back to safety. No one stopped him. The bad guys did not care for that particular twin anymore, she had no further use. Me, on the other hand, well, I was the king’s freaking mate or something.

Not in this fucking lifetime

The king loosened his hold again. “I am not your mate, I already have a mate,” I repeated as soon as I had enough breath. I couldn’t take my eyes off Braxton. He looked like he was about to tear apart the entire place. He was ten feet from us, I think afraid the king would hurt me if he moved closer.

“You mean the shifter?” Larkspur eyes turned the color of a stormy night sky, dark with flickers of starlight dotted around. “If you forsake that mateship and stay with me, I will spare their lives. As the only dual shifter in existence, you have to make a choice. You have two mates, but there can only be one.”

How did he know I was a dual shifter? Was my ability something to do with the king?

“I choose Braxton,” I spat at him. “Always and forever.”

I locked in on my Compass, his blue eyes were hard and so bright I almost couldn’t look at them.

The dragon king laughed. “It’s not as simple as that. The fates expect you to give us equal time to determine true mates. You have had twenty-two years with Braxton, so I deserve the same chance.”

Lie. He was lying about that, and I was astonished he didn’t have the power to mask the fluctuation of hormones.

Louis strode forward, spells gathered in his hands. Tyson was right by his side and I knew they were combining their power to create a bigger spell. I didn’t even care if they killed me to get to the king, the supernatural community needed to be protected.

I locked eyes with my best friends – I included Louis in that group now. “Do it. Take him out.”

Larkspur chortled again. The sound was going to feature heavily in my nightmares from now on. “Not today, my fellow magic users. I’m going to take my mate and leave. Play nice with my daughters.”

“Father!” Orange screamed. “They will kill us.”

He threw them both a hard look. “If you’re weak enough to be killed at the hand of these pathetic youngsters, then I have no need for you.”