The station emptied in seconds.
People ran.
People tripped.
People screamed into phones that had no service.
Nora stood in the center of it like the eye of a storm—her hand still on the beast's head, her pulse roaring louder than the train.
Kaelen hovered at her shoulder, vibrating with restrained violence.
Somewhere behind the column, Zane spoke without raising his voice.
"Rule one," he reminded, almost gently. "No fighting in her home."
Kaelen didn't look at him.
"This isn't her home," he said through his teeth.
Nora didn't move her hand from the beast's head.
"It's my *life*," she said. "And you don't break it."
Nora could feel Zane's presence nearby—thin as a knife edge—watching, waiting for the moment Kaelen snapped.
The beast—Rix, the name flashed in Nora's mind as if it had always been there—kept breathing her in.
Slow.
Greedy.
Like her scent was a map.
Nora swallowed.
"Back," she said to Kaelen without looking at him.
Kaelen's breath hitched.
"You're touching it," he said, voice raw.
"I'm controlling it," Nora corrected.
The beast's ears twitched.
Rix's voice came rough, half-growl, half-laugh.
"She's brave," he said. "Or stupid."
Nora's fingers sank into fur again—deliberate.
"Neither," she said softly. "I'm deciding."
Rix's golden eyes narrowed.
He leaned into her palm like a too-large cat pretending it wasn't dangerous.
Kaelen's teeth flashed.
"Get off her," he snarled.
Rix's lips pulled back, showing teeth.
"She touched me first," he rumbled. "That means something."
Nora's stomach flipped at the primitive certainty in it.
She didn't have time to unpack it.
She had a problem on the platform.
A girl lay still by the pillar.
Nora forced herself to look.
Tessa's chest moved.
Barely.
Alive.
Nora exhaled, shaky.
Rix had swatted her like a fly, not torn her apart.
A warning, not a kill.
That mattered.
Nora looked back at Rix.
"You didn't finish her," she said.
Rix's gaze slid to the unconscious body, indifferent.
"She's not yours," he said. "She touched you. I removed the annoyance."
Kaelen made a sound that might have been laughter if it hadn't tasted like murder.
"You think you have the right," he growled.
Rix's tail—or what would have been a tail if he was fully in one shape—flicked.
"I'm the right," he said. "I'm hunger."
Nora's head throbbed.
She needed to move.
She needed to get out before whatever had pushed Rix into the subway pushed something worse.
"Rix," she said.
The beast's ears tipped forward.
He liked his name in her mouth.
"Can you walk?" she asked.
Rix blinked.
Then, like the world remembered how to behave, his shape shifted.
Fur smoothed.
Bones realigned.
In a breath, the beast became a man—tall, broad, wild-eyed, hair too long, skin marked with faint patterns like claw scars.
He was bare-foot.
Bare-armed.
Barely civilized.
And he looked at Nora like she was dinner and destiny at the same time.
Kaelen's hand twitched toward his blade.
Nora didn't let him.
She lifted her chin at Rix.
"Put something on," she said.
Rix's mouth curved.
"Why?" he asked. "You don't want to see me?"
Nora's cheeks warmed—angry at her own body.
She refused to look away.
"I want you to not get us arrested," she said. "And I want you to stop sniffing my neck like I'm a steak."
Rix leaned closer.
Kaelen stepped forward.
Nora's voice cut through both of them.
"Enough."
Both men froze.
Rix's eyes widened—surprise, then something like delight.
Kaelen's stare turned fierce.
"You used it on him," he said, like a wound.
Nora didn't apologize.
"I'll use it on anyone," she said. "Including me, if I need to."
Zane's voice slid out of the shadows behind them.
"She's serious," he said mildly.
Rix's gaze snapped toward the sound.
For a second, his pupils narrowed to slits.
Then he smiled—slow, dangerous.
"Ah," he murmured. "Another male."
Kaelen's laugh was low.
"That one doesn't count," he said. "He's a ghost."
Zane's smile didn't move.
"Still here," he said.
Rix's gaze returned to Nora.
"Where do you sleep?" he asked, as if it was a normal question.
Nora's pulse jumped.
"That's not your business," she said.
Rix's head tilted.
"It will be," he said simply.
Something in Nora's ribs pulled tight.
A thread.
Not heat.
Not cold.
This was… animal.
A bond that wanted to wrap itself around her throat like a collar.
Nora inhaled sharply.
Images flashed behind her eyes.
Not memories.
Not dreams.
Seven silhouettes in a dark sky.
One burned like fire—Kaelen.
One tasted like rain on cut grass—Zane.
One reeked of musk and wet earth—Rix.
And four others—distant, terrifying, waiting.
One of them was gold.
So gold it hurt.
Nora swayed.
Kaelen caught her elbow—asked with his eyes.
Nora nodded once.
Yes.
He steadied her.
Rix watched the touch with open hunger.
Zane watched it with narrowed calculation.
Nora realized, with a sick clarity:
Her touch didn't just heal.
It marked.
It chose.
It lit them up like a menu.
And the universe was learning her taste.
Nora forced herself upright.
"We're leaving," she said.
Rix smiled.
"Where you go," he said, "I follow."
Kaelen snarled.
"No."
Rix's gaze didn't leave Nora.
"Yes," he corrected.
Nora lifted her chin.
She looked at Rix.
Then at Kaelen.
Then at the empty air where Zane stood and wasn't.
"This," she said, voice steady, "is not a hunt."
She pointed at herself.
"I'm not prey."
Her gaze moved across all of them.
"I'm the rule."
Rix's mouth curved wider, teeth flashing.
"Good," he murmured. "I like queens."
Kaelen made a low sound.
"Try liking breathing," he said. "It's useful."
Zane's laugh was soft, almost polite.
And somewhere far above the city, the sky brightened—just for a second—
as if something gold had turned its head.
Nora's vision stuttered.
Not a screen.
Not a voice.
Just… a list her body somehow knew.
Seven shapes.
Three already warm under her skin.
The fourth pulsed like a warning light—steady, patient, devout.
A new scent threaded the air: clean linen, incense, and something that felt like judgment.
Then the station intercom hissed.
Not an announcement.
A hymn, half-swallowed by static.
A choir with no mouths.
Blessed are the obedient.
Nora's phone vibrated.
A calendar invite appeared, already opening itself.
CONFESSION REQUESTED.
Location: YOUR ARK.
Time: Tomorrow, 7:00 PM.
RSVP:
YES / REQUEST DENIED (UNAVAILABLE)
Her thumb hovered.
Kaelen's hand covered hers—tight, shaking, but not pressing.
He could have forced the tap.
He didn't.
Nora turned her hand under his and lifted it to her mouth.
A knuckle-kiss.
A promise for restraint.
Kaelen went still, eyes burning.
Zane leaned in, voice low.
"He doesn't ask twice."
Rix smiled, delighted.
"He thinks you'll say yes."
Zane murmured, almost amused, "Oh. That one."