Ezra’s power pulsed around us, thick and suffocating, like the air itself had turned to blood-soaked mist. His eyes glowed a molten red, rage flickering across his sharp features as a beast began to bleed through his human skin. Muscles coiled and bulged beneath his tunic as clawed hands flexed at his sides.
His voice rumbled out, deeper and rougher, laced with something ancient and monstrous.
“She wasmine,” he growled, each word vibrating through the floor. “She was fucking mine, and she left me forhim.”
Thomas chuckled darkly, unfazed by the violent magic curling around Ezra. “That’s right, God of Souls, show us what you really are. No matter how sweet your smiles are, there’s still a beast under your skin.”
Ezra’s snarl was animalistic, his fangs elongating as shadows twisted around his body, distorting his form into something taller, broader, feral. His entire aura became suffused with raw death magic, darker than any I had ever felt.
“Her marriage is about as real as Abram’s godsdamn mate bond,” Thomas sneered. “She’s lying to herself, just like you’re lying to everyone about what you are.”
Ezra lunged forward so fast the air cracked, his beastly face inches from Thomas’ smirking one.
“She can marry a thousand men,” he snarled, voice vibrating with murderous rage, “but her soul already belongs to me. And if I have to rip apart the entire fucking realm to take back what’s mine… I will.”
I’d never seen Ezra like this. His body coiled tight beneath ashen skin, red-black veins of magic pulsing like something alivebeneath the shadows. His eyes glowed a deep, hellish crimson, a faint mist curling from them with every ragged breath. Faint glowing sigils ran along his arms, chest, and neck like cursed tattoos pulsing with each beat of his furious heart.
He was still Ezra, but stripped of his playful grin and gentle aura—he looked like a demonic god, an elegant predator ready to destroy anything that dared take what was his.
“Wait, what did you mean—as real as my mating bond?” I demanded, narrowing my eyes at Thomas.
“I told you it would reveal your heart’s true desire; did it not?” Thomas turned toward me calmly, completely unfazed by Ezra’s looming beast form beside him. “You still chose Elowyn, which is the correct choice, by the way.”
“So… Elowyn is my true mate?” I asked, hope flaring in my chest despite everything.
“No.” He raised a brow before sighing heavily. “Will you call off your little demon-god pet so he’ll stop breathing on me?”
Ezra stepped forward like he was about to rip Thomas’ throat out.
“Ezra, stop,” I ordered sharply.
He froze instantly.
“Good boy,” Thomas mocked, smirking.
Without hesitation, Ezra smacked Thomas across the face. It was barely a tap with his clawed hand, but Thomas flew into the wall, cracking the stone behind him. Ezra smiled darkly when Thomas grunted in pain.
“Ezra…” I sighed.
He turned to me, pointing at his chest, his voice deep and rumbling with that terrifying edge. “Me? He started it.”
Thomas staggered to his feet, brushing debris off his tunic while glaring daggers at Ezra.
“So, Elowyn isn’t my mate,” I said, ignoring their antics, “but she’s the right choice?”
“Correct. She was always a fate tied with yours. But to keep her…,” he paused, eyeing me with that calculating gaze. “You must make a sacrifice.”
“Which is?” I asked, my tone clipped with impatience.
“The bond that was stolen can be returned if a heart untouched by fate chooses her freely. If true love is given without the thread of destiny, the heavens will recognize the injustice done and rewrite her bond.” He stared at me, noting the slight confusion in my eyes.
“You both need to lose your fated mates.” He tilted his head. “Kill them.”
“Done.” I nodded without hesitation. “And here I thought it’d be something hard,” I scoffed.
“You cocky god,” Thomas growled, stepping forward to smack the side of my head. “So eager. Tell me, God of Fate, do you even know what her death would cost you?”
I scowled. “Cost me? Loma’s life means nothing to me.”
