Page 155 of Lord of the Lone Wolf
Kitsuki’s mind turned to the weapon hidden in his private armory. “I did not have the chance to discuss it with you yet, but when I encountered Father on the battlefield, he gave me a Beyond sword with strict instructions that only you could touch it. He claimed you would know when to use it, so it seems likely this is what he meant. I will give it to you when we stand before Fate’s Gate. It is too dangerous to leave such a powerful artifact unprotected until then.”
“He must also mean my mother’s wish pendant,” Maseo said, his gaze moving to the chain around Kitsuki’s neck.
“Liros wanted you to wear it and not Maseo?” Kitsuki asked.
“If Maseo was supposed to, I’m sure Liros would have told me. While he talked in riddles, most of what he said was direct.”
Kitsuki removed the pendant to place around Auslin’s neck. He felt strange without it after wearing it for so long. “This contains Maseo’s mother’s final wish for her son. Whatever power she bound to this is yours to wield now.”
The enormity of what lay ahead settled over them like a shroud, but there was something almost sacred about transferring artifacts that would either save them all or see them destroyed in the attempt.
“Let’s go to Fate’s Gate tomorrow,” Maseo suggested. “After we defeat my father, we’ll return to the Living Realm to claim our happily ever after.”
Auslin captured Maseo’s lips in a kiss that was both desperate and tender, sealing their promise with the passion that burned between them. When they parted, Auslin promised, “I swear to you, no matter what hell I need to endure, I’ll do anything to save you.”
Kitsuki’s heart swelled with love and pride for both his mates. When Auslin pulled back, Kitsuki claimed Maseo’s mouth with his own in a kiss that spoke of possession, protection, and promises that transcended death itself.
The rightness of it settled deep in his bones, his dragon purring with satisfaction at the taste and feel of their second fated mate. The three of them together, bound by love, fate, and the unbreakable ties that connected their souls, was how things were meant to be.
“And I promise you both,” Kitsuki said as he drew back, his voice carrying the weight of a royal oath, “I will bring you home safely. No matter how long I must wait, no matter what anchoring requires of me, I will be here awaiting you with open arms when you return victorious.”
As they settled together in bed, Maseo cradled between his two mates, Kitsuki allowed himself a moment of peace despite the trials ahead. Tomorrow would bring pain, separation, and battles that would test them all to their limits. But they were bound by love and united in purpose, ready to face whatever the Beyond Realm could throw at them.
Because some things were worth dying for. Some people were worth crossing realms to save. And Maseo, with his quiet strength and unwavering courage, with a heart that had endured so much yet remained capable of such profound love, was worth everything they had to give.
Chapter 52
Maseo
Achill seeped through Maseo’s clothes as he stood before Fate’s Gate the next morning. The stone archway, rumored to be as old as time itself, rose before him as a monument to impossible choices. The massive doorway dwarfed the multistoried temple beside it. The surface was covered in moss so ancient it seemed woven into the stone. Ornate carvings of dragon spirits adorned the weathered blocks, their eyes appearing to watch with eternal vigilance, while runes spiraled around the frame in patterns that spoke of magic older than memory.
The oldest tales claimed that passing through its threshold could rewrite one’s fate. It had done so for Auslin twice before, leading him to fall in love with Kitsuki. Maseo could only hope it would be kind to him. His pulse thundered in his ears as he stared at the gateway that would either save him or damn him forever.
The irony that he had to die to live would have drawn a bitter laugh if he had any air to spare. The path to love and freedom led through the one realm where his father’s corrupted soul awaited, filled with centuries of patience and malice.
Nasume. The name alone sent revulsion crawling through him. Maseo had believed himself free when he drove his blade through his father’s gut in Norello, thinking his long nightmare was over. But death wasn’t strong enough to defeat a monster like Nasume.
The necrotic wounds beneath Maseo’s bandages throbbed with dark energy, each pulse a reminder that his father’s influence poisoned his blood. Black tendrils of necromancy had spread further overnight, creeping toward his heart with insatiable hunger. He tasted decay on his tongue, bitter and metallic. It was an unwelcome preview of what awaited if they failed.
“I’m terrified,” Maseo admitted, the words slipping out before he could stop them. “Not of dying, but of seeing my father again and having to deal with all those years of torment while he tries to break me in ways I can’t even imagine.”
Kitsuki stepped forward, his presence commanding in the face of such uncertainty. “I told you before that you are no longer the broken boy he once tormented. Unlike him, you are capable of love. That strength will be your strongest weapon. It is why you will be victorious a second time.”
Maseo’s gaze moved between his two companions, men who had seen worth in him when he saw none in himself. The knowledge that they loved him enough to risk everything for his salvation felt too large to process. He brushed his thumb over the protective ring Kitsuki had returned to him. “I still cannot believe this is real. That you both want me. That someone like me could be worthy of this.”
“You’re everything we’ve been missing without knowing it,” Auslin replied.
For so long, Maseo thought of himself as damaged beyond repair, worthy only of scraps of affection from those who pitied him. But looking into their eyes and seeing the genuine love and desire there, he understood that he’d been wrong about his own value.
“The chance to form a trinity bond with you is worth fighting for,” Maseo said with conviction. He would not run from his father’s shadow anymore. He would burn it to ash.
“It is time.” Kitsuki stepped closer, his hands framing Maseo’s face with infinite tenderness. “You will defeat Nasume, not only because you must, but because he no longer defines who you are.”
Maseo leaned into the touch, drawing strength from Kitsuki’s unwavering confidence.
“You will reclaim every fragment of your soul that he has stolen,” Kitsuki continued. “You will forge yourself whole again and return to us. I will use every ounce of my strength and will to anchor you to this realm and bring you home. You are ours, as the trinity bond demands.”
The fierce possessiveness in those words, the absolute refusal to accept any outcome other than Maseo’s success, sent warmth flooding through him. For the first time, he understood what it meant to be truly wanted.
