The training lasted three more brutal hours before Avalon finally called it.

"Enough," he said, and I collapsed against the padded wall, sweat dripping down my spine. My muscles screamed, but underneath the exhaustion, something fierce and alive hummed through my veins.

"She's stronger already," Osilus observed, tossing me a towel. "Her wolf is responding fast."

"The Phoenix fire is feeding her," Zane added, circling me like he always did. "Give her a week and she'll be able to shift fully."

"A week isn't enough," Avalon said, his gaze fixed on me with an intensity that made my skin prickle. "The Council meets in ten days. If they get wind of what she is..."

"Then we make sure they don't," I cut in, pushing off the wall. My legs wobbled but I forced them steady. "I'm not hiding like some fragile thing."

"No one said you were fragile," Avalon stepped closer, and the air between us thickened. "But you're also not invincible. Not yet."

"Then make me invincible," I challenged, meeting his ice-blue eyes. "That's what you promised, isn't it? To help me?"

His jaw tightened. "Go clean up. We'll discuss strategy over dinner."

"Is that an order, husband?" The word dripped with venom.

Something dangerous flickered in his expression. "It's a suggestion but if you want me to make it an order, I can."

The mate bond flared between us-his frost against my fire-and for a moment, neither of us moved. Then Zane laughed, breaking the tension.

"God, the sexual tension between you two could burn down the estate," he said. "Just fuck already and get it over with."

"Zane," Osilus warned, but there was amusement in his tone.

I felt heat crawl up my neck. "I'm going to shower." I pushed past Avalon, deliberately brushing his shoulder. The contact sent electricity skating across my skin, and I heard his sharp intake of breath.

"Zephyr," he called after me.

I didn't turn around. "What?"

"Use the master suite. Your room... the window's still broken from when Zane crashed through it."

"Fine." I kept walking, feeling all three of their gazes burning into my back.

The master suite was quite large. The wood was dark and it gave a cosy vibe with large windows overlooking the forest. The bed was massive, draped in black Egyptian silk.

His bed, I thought, remembering the first time I'd seen this room. In my previous life, I'd never been allowed inside. Valta had occupied it instead, and I'd been relegated to the guest wing like an unwanted burden.

Now, I stood in the center of it as sweat dripped down my breasts.

"Fuck him," I muttered, heading for the adjoining bathroom.

I stripped off my training clothes and stepped under the spray, letting the hot water pound against my sore muscles.

I closed my eyes and tried not to think about the mate bonds thrumming beneath my skin. Tried not to think about how Avalon's touch had felt when he'd grabbed my throat during training.

Tried not to think about the way all three of them had looked at me like I was something precious and breakable and worth protecting.

I don't need protection, I reminded myself. I need revenge.

But even as I thought it, doubt crept in. Because the bonds were getting stronger, and every time one of them touched me, it became harder to remember why I hated them.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't hear the bathroom door open.

"Zephyr."

I gasped, spinning around to find Avalon standing in the doorway. His dark hair was still damp, and he wore only a pair of low-slung black pants that left his scarred chest on full display.

"What the hell are you doing?" I demanded, grabbing for a towel. But he moved faster, crossing the space between us in two strides and caging me against the shower wall.

"We need to talk," he said, his voice low and rough.

"So talk," I shot back, very aware of my nakedness and the heat radiating from his body. "From over there."

"No." His hand came up to cup my jaw, thumb tracing my cheekbone. "Because every time I get close to you, you run. And we're done running from this."

"This?" My heart hammered against my ribs. "There is no 'this.' There's a mate bond neither of us wanted and..."

"I want it," he interrupted, and the conviction in his voice made me freeze. "I want you."

"Liar," I breathed. "You wanted Valta. You made that very clear."

Pain flashed across his face. "I was an idiot. I thought... I thought mates were about duty and obligation. That the bond was a cage." His other hand pressed against the tile beside my head, trapping me completely. "But feeling you, Zephyr-feeling this bond-it's not a cage. It's the first time I've ever felt free."

"Pretty words," I swallowed. "They don't change what you did to me."

"I know." His forehead dropped to mine, and I felt his breath against my lips. "I know I hurt you. Humiliated you. Made you feel worthless when you were anything but it. And I can't take that back." His hand slid from my jaw to my throat. "But I can show you what you mean to me now. Let me, Zephyr. Let me worship you the way I should have from the beginning."

The water continued to pour down around us, steam filling the air between us. My hands came up to push him away, but instead, they flattened against his chest. I could feel his heartbeat racing as fast as mine.

"This is a mistake," I whispered.

"Probably," he agreed. Then his mouth crashed against mine.

His tongue swept against mine as his hand tightened on my throat, and I gasped into his mouth. The mate bond exploded between us, ice and fire colliding in a rush of sensation that made my knees weak.

Avalon caught me, one arm wrapped around my waist as he lifted me effortlessly. My legs wrapped around his hips on instinct, and I felt the hard length of him pressed against my core through his pants.

"Fuck," he groaned against my lips. "You feel perfect."

"Shut up," I panted, nails digging into his shoulders. "Just-shut up and-"

He bit my lower lip hard enough to sting, then soothed it with his tongue. "And what? Tell me what you want, Zephyr."

"I want..." The words stuck in my throat. Because what I wanted was complicated and messy and went against every ounce of self-preservation I had left.

"Say it," he commanded, his Alpha voice rolling through me like thunder. And God help me, my body responded-heat flooding between my thighs as the bond pulsed with need.

"I want you to make me forget," I finally admitted, the truth ripping out of me. "Make me forget how much you hurt me. Make me forget everything except this."

Something fierce and possessive blazed in his eyes. "Done."

He carried me out of the shower, water dripping everywhere as he backed me toward the bed. When my legs hit the mattress, he laid me down with surprising gentleness-a stark contrast to the barely leashed violence in his movements.

"You're so fucking beautiful," he said, his gaze raking over my naked body. "I was blind not to see it before."

"Stop talking," I demanded, reaching for him. "Just..."

But he caught my wrists, pinning them above my head with one hand. "No. You're going to lie there and let me apologize properly." His free hand traced down my body, over my collarbone, between my breasts, across my stomach. "And you're going to feel every second of it."

His mouth followed the path his hand had traced, and I arched off the bed as his tongue circled my nipple. He sucked hard enough to make me gasp, then moved to the other breast, lavishing it with the same attention.

"Avalon," I moaned, trying to free my hands. But his grip was iron, and the dominance in it made something dark and needy rise in my core.

"Say my name again," he commanded, teeth grazing down my ribs.

"Ava...lon," I repeated, and he rewarded me by releasing my wrists and spreading my thighs wide.

He stared at my pussy like a man starving, and the hunger in his expression made me clench with anticipation.

"So wet already," he murmured, one finger sliding through my folds. "Is this for me, Zephyr? Or for the bond?"

"Does it matter?" I managed to gasp.

"Yes." He pushed that finger inside me, and I cried out at the intrusion. "Because I need to know you want me. Not just the mate bond. Me."

"You're the same thing," I argued weakly as he added a second finger, stretching me.

"Wrong answer." He withdrew his fingers, and I whimpered at the loss. Then his mouth was on me-tongue licking a broad stripe up my center and my mind went blank.

He ate me like he was trying to devour me whole. His tongue circling my clit, fingers pumping in and out, occasionally scraping his teeth against my sensitive flesh in a way that made me see stars. The mate bond amplified every sensation, feeding his pleasure back into mine in a loop that had me spiraling toward the edge embarrassingly fast.

"Avalon," I gasped, hands fisting in his hair. "I'm going to-"

"Come," he ordered against my clit, and the Alpha command combined with the suction of his mouth sent me hurtling over the edge.

I came with a scream, back arching as pleasure crashed through me in waves. He didn't stop, he kept licking and sucking until I was trembling and oversensitive and pushing at his head.

"Too much," I panted.

"Not nearly enough," he countered, rising to his knees between my thighs. He shoved his pants down, and I held my breath caught at the sight of his cock-thick and long and already leaking at the tip.

"That's not going to fit," I said, eyeing him with a mixture of apprehension and arousal.

"It will." He gripped himself, stroking slowly as he held my gaze. "And you're going to take every inch like the good mate you are."

The dirty talk should have offended me. Instead, it made me clench with need.

He positioned himself at my entrance, the head of his cock pushing against my opening. "Last chance to stop this," he said, and I could see the effort it took him to hold back. "Say the word, and I'll walk away."

I looked up at him-this man who had destroyed me in my past life, who was offering me a different future in this one. And I made my choice.

"Don't you dare walk away," I said, wrapping my legs around his hips. "Fuck me, Avalon. Make me yours."

He slammed into me in one brutal thrust, and I screamed-from pleasure and pain and the overwhelming fullness of him inside me. He was huge, stretching me past what I thought possible, and for a moment, I couldn't breathe.

"Fuck," he groaned, dropping his forehead to mine. "You're so tight. So perfect."

"Please," I demanded, nails raking down his back. "Avalon, please-"

He withdrew almost completely, then thrust back in hard enough to make the headboard slam against the wall. He set a punishing pace-deep, brutal strokes that had me clinging to him and chanting his name like a prayer.

The mate bond sang between us, our pleasure intertwining until I couldn't tell where I ended and he began. I felt his desperation, his need, his overwhelming desire to claim and possess and never let go.

"Zephyr," he growled, one hand fisting in my hair to tilt my head back. "Look at me."

I forced my eyes open, meeting his gaze as he pounded into me. His eyes had gone full wolf-glowing gold-and I knew mine had done the same.

"Mine," he snarled, and the Alpha command in it made me come again, clenching around him.

"Yes," I gasped out, too far gone to fight it. "I am all Yours."

He roared his release, hips jerking as he spilled inside me. The sensation of his cum filling me triggered another orgasm, and I shattered around him, pleasure whiting out my vision.

When I came back to myself, Avalon had collapsed on top of me, both of us breathing hard. His cock was still inside me, twitching with aftershocks, and I could feel the mate bond glowing bright and satisfied in my chest.

"That was..." I started, then trailed off because I didn't have words.

"Yeah," he agreed, pressing a kiss to my shoulder. "It was."

We lay there for a long moment, tangled together, before reality started to creep back in. I shifted uncomfortably, suddenly aware of the mess between my thighs and the fact that I'd just fucked the man I'd sworn to hate.

"Zephyr," Avalon said softly, propping himself up on his elbows to look at me. "This changes things."

"It doesn't change anything," I lied, even as the bond pulsed with warmth. "It was just sex."

"It was never just sex," he countered. "Not with a mate bond this strong."

"Fine." I pushed at his chest until he withdrew from me-both of us hissing at the sensation. "It was mate bond sex. An itch I needed to scratch. Nothing more."

Hurt flashed across his face before he masked it. "If that's what you need to believe."

"It is." I sat up, ignoring the way my body protested the movement. "Now get out. I need to clean up and figure out how to explain this to Osilus and Zane."

"You don't owe them an explanation," Avalon said, but he was already pulling his pants back on. "You're allowed to choose who you bond with and when."

"I didn't choose anything," I snapped. "The bond chose for me."

"Keep telling yourself that," he said, heading for the door. But he paused at the threshold, looking back at me with an expression I couldn't read. "For what it's worth, Zephyr-I'm sorry. For everything I did to you before. And I'll spend the rest of my life proving I'm different now. Whether you believe me or not."

Then he was gone, and I was left alone in his bed, aching and confused and more terrified than I'd been since I'd woken up in this second life.

Because the scariest part wasn't that I'd just fucked Avalon Cary.

It was that some small, traitorous part of me had enjoyed it.

I found Osilus in the library an hour later, after I'd showered again and changed into clean clothes. He looked up from his book as I entered, and his expression shifted from curious to knowing in an instant.

"You smell like him," he observed quietly.

"I don't want to talk about it," I said, collapsing into the chair across from him.

"Okay." He set his book aside. "Do you want to talk about what happens now?"

"Now?" I laughed bitterly. "Now I figure out how to survive having three mates when I can barely handle one."

"You're handling it better than you think," Osilus said. "Most newly awakened Phoenixes go feral from the bond overload. You're still coherent and planning revenge. I'd say that's impressive."

"Or I'm just too angry to go feral," I muttered.

"Anger is a type of strength," he said with a slight smile. "And you'll need it for what's coming."

"What's coming?" I straightened in my chair.

His expression turned grim. "Avalon got word while you were... occupied. Your stepfather and brother are coming to the estate tomorrow. They want to 'check on the new bride' and make sure the alliance is secure."

Ice flooded my veins. "Bron is coming here?"

"And your father," Osilus confirmed. "Which means your revenge is about to start whether you're ready or not."

I thought about that-about facing the men who had killed me, who thought I was still the weak, powerless girl they could manipulate and discard.

Then I smiled, slow and sharp and full of dark promise.

"Good," I said. "Let them come. It's time they learned what a Phoenix can do."

I didn't sleep that night.

I mean how could I, knowing that the men who murdered me would be walking through these doors in a matter of hours? I stood at the window of the master suite, watching the pre-dawn mist curl through the forest, and felt the Phoenix fire simmer beneath my skin.

Behind me, the bed was empty. Avalon had stayed away after our encounter, giving me space I both craved and resented. The mate bond hummed with his presence somewhere in the estate-awake, alert, probably planning how to keep me from doing something stupid.

Too late for that.

"You're up early."

I turned to find Zane leaning against the doorframe, shirtless as usual, his scarred torso a map of violence he had survived.

"I couldn't sleep," I said.

"Because of him?" Zane nodded toward the bed. "Or because of them?"

"Them," I admitted. "Bron and my father arrive at noon. I need to be ready."

"Ready to kill them?" He pushed off the frame and crossed to me. "Or ready to pretend you're still the broken girl they think you are?"

"Both." I met his burning gaze. "I need them to underestimate me. To think I'm still weak and powerless. Then, when they least expect it-"

"You tear out their throats," Zane finished with a wicked grin. "I like the way you think, little Phoenix."

"Don't call me that," I said, but there was no heat in it.

"Why not? It's what you are." He reached out, fingers trailing down my arm. The mate bond sparked between us-fire recognizing fire. "You're magnificent. Deadly. Everything they tried to destroy but couldn't."

"They did destroy me," I corrected. "They killed me, Zane. Cut my brakes and sent me off a cliff like I was nothing."

His expression darkened. "And you came back. That makes you more dangerous than they could ever imagine."

"I hope so." I turned back to the window. "Because if I fail-if they see through the act-"

"They won't," Avalon's voice cut through the room. I hadn't heard him enter, but suddenly he was there, filling the space with his cold authority. "You're stronger than you think, Zephyr. And you're not doing this alone."

"I have to face them alone," I argued. "If they see you hovering, they'll know something's changed."

"Then we won't hover," Osilus said, appearing behind Avalon. "We'll be close enough to intervene if needed, but far enough to let you handle it."

I looked at the three of them-my mates, my anchors, my unwanted salvation. "And what if I lose control? What if the Phoenix takes over and I burn them alive before I'm ready?"

"Then we pull you back," Avalon said simply. "That's what mates do."

"I don't need you to save me," I snapped.

"No," he agreed, stepping closer. "But you need us to trust you. And we do, Zephyr. So let us be there."

I wanted to argue, to insist I could do this alone. But the truth was, I was terrified. Not of Bron or my father, but of myself. Of what I might do when I saw them again.

"Fine," I said finally. "But stay out of sight unless I call for you."

"Agreed," all three said in unison.

They arrived exactly at noon. I watched from the window as the car pulled up, my heart was racing.

"Breathe," Osilus murmured from somewhere behind me. I couldn't see him, but I felt him through the bond.

The car door opened, and my father stepped out first.

Bruin Chance looked exactly as I remembered-tall, silver-haired, with a sharp jaw that hid a rotten core. He surveyed the Cary estate with calculating eyes, already assessing its worth.

Then Bron emerged, and rage flooded my veins so hot I nearly staggered.

He was smiling. That same smug, self-satisfied smile he'd worn when he'd told me Father needed my inheritance. When he'd sent me to my death without a second thought.

"Control it," Avalon's voice whispered through the bond. "Don't let them see."

I forced my face to remain calm as the front doors opened and they entered.

"Zephyr," my father said. "You look... different."

"I am enjoying my marriage father," I said while descending the stairs. I'd dressed for this. I wore a deep red dress that hugged my curves, my hair loose, and my makeup flawless. I looked nothing like the broken girl they'd known.

Bron's eyes raked over me, and something ugly flickered in his expression. "Sister. I'm surprised you're still here. I thought surely Alpha Cary would have tired of you by now."

"Why would he tire of his mate?" I asked, letting confusion color my tone. "We're bonded."

My father's eyes sharpened. "Bonded? But you're human. Humans don't bond with-"

"Apparently I'm not as human as we thought," I interrupted, watching their faces carefully. "It seems Mother's bloodline held some surprises."

Bron went very still. "What kind of surprises?"

"The kind that makes me valuable," I said, letting a small, cruel smile curve my lips. "The kind that means you can't touch me anymore."

"Is that a threat?" My father stepped forward, and I felt the mate bonds flare in warning. Somewhere in the estate, my three mates were poised to intervene.

But I held up a hand, a subtle signal to wait.

"It's a fact," I said calmly. "I'm under Alpha Cary's protection now. And his Beta's. And Alpha Zane's. Touch me, and you'll answer to all three of them."

The color drained from Bron's face. "Zane? As in Severus Zane? What does he..."

"He's my mate too," I said, and watched them both process that impossible information. "Surprised? So was I but apparently, that's what happens when you're a Lunar Phoenix."

The words hung in the air like a bomb.

My father recovered first, his expression shifting from shock to calculating greed. "A Lunar Phoenix. Do you have any idea what that means? The alliances we could forge, the power-"

"The power is mine," I cut him off. "Not yours. Never yours again."

"You ungrateful little..." Bron started forward, hand raised.

I didn't move ot flinch. I just let the Phoenix fire flare to life beneath my skin until my eyes glowed gold.

"Hit me," I said softly. "I dare you."

He froze, hand trembling in the air between us. For the first time in my life, I saw fear in my brother's eyes.

"That's what I thought," I said, and the fire slowly went out. "Now, shall we discuss why you're really here? Because we both know it's not to check on my wellbeing."

My father composed himself, smoothing his jacket. "We're here to discuss the inheritance. Your mother's estate should have transferred to you on your wedding day, but there are... complications."

"Complications," I repeated flatly. "You mean the offshore accounts Bron's been skimming from? The ones he thought I didn't know about?"

Bron's face went white. "How dare you..."

"I know everything," I lied, but the conviction in my voice sold it. "Every account, every transaction, every dirty deal you've made using Mother's money. Did you really think I wouldn't find out?"

"Zephyr," my father said, his tone rising. "You're playing a very dangerous game."

"No, Father." I stepped closer, letting him see the predator I'd become. "You played a dangerous game when you let Bron kill me. This? This is just me returning the favor."

The silence was deafening.

"What are you talking about?" My father asked. He was trying to figure out how much I knew, how much I could prove.

They stared at me like I'd grown a second head.

"She's lost her mind," my father said to no one in particular. "The bonding must have..."

"I'm not crazy," I said. "I'm going to make sure you both pay for what you did to me."

"Zephyr," Avalon's voice cut through the room as he emerged from the shadows. "That's enough."

But I was beyond stopping. The Phoenix fire roared through my veins, demanding justice, demanding blood.

"You used me," I hissed at my father. "Sold me to secure an alliance, never caring that Avalon would reject me, that his pack would treat me like dirt. You let me suffer for five years because my pain was worth less than your political power."

"All marriages are political," my father said coldly. "You were always too soft, too emotional. You should be grateful I found you any husband at all."

The fire exploded out of me before I could stop it.

Golden flames erupted from my hands, scorching the marble floor between us. My father and Bron stumbled back, terror stark on their faces as the temperature in the room spiked.

"Zephyr!" Osilus's called out.

But I couldn't stop. The rage, the grief, the years of humiliation, it all poured out in a torrent of Phoenix fire.

"You killed me," I screamed. "You threw me away like I was nothing!"

Arms banded around me from behind and I felt Avalon's ice crashing into my fire. The shock of it broke through my rage, and I gasped as the flames went out.

"Breathe," he commanded against my ear. "Zephyr, breathe."

I sucked in air, my whole body shaking. When I looked up, Bron and my father were pressed against the wall.

"Get out," Avalon said, his Alpha voice making the walls vibrate. "Now."

"This isn't over," my father said, but he was already backing toward the door. "You can't threaten us..."

"That wasn't a threat," I said, my voice hoarse. "That was a promise. You have until the end of the week to transfer Mother's full inheritance to me. Every account, every property, every cent. If you don't, I'll make sure the entire pack knows what you did. And then I'll let my mates tear you apart."

"You have no proof-"

"Try me!!!" I said.