Chapter Fourteen: Bound by Two Hearts

The weight of the night pressed down on Seraphine, its silence thick with the realization that her heart had never truly been her own. She stood at the balcony of the high tower, the moon hanging low in the sky, casting long shadows over the city below. It was a peaceful view - too peaceful for what was stirring inside her. She had made her choice. She had chosen Azrael.

Or so she had told herself.

But the pull toward Kairos was undeniable. The more time passed, the more she realized that despite everything she had with Azrael, a part of her was still tethered to him - the wolf shifter who had been her first love, her anchor. The one who had always understood her in ways that Azrael never could. And now, as the days went on, the bond between them was not weakening - it was growing stronger.

It wasn't just a memory of the past. It wasn't just lingering feelings. It was a bond, real and raw, and now she couldn't ignore it any longer. Kairos had come back into the city, and his presence was like a spark to a flame that had never really gone out.

"You're still thinking about him."

The voice broke through the fog in her mind. Azrael stood behind her, his presence a constant, familiar shadow. She didn't need to turn to know it was him. His words were always heavy with the weight of their shared future.

She closed her eyes, fighting the sting of guilt. Azrael had given her everything. Power, security, a path forward. But with him, she felt a gnawing emptiness that she couldn't ignore. The timing of everything had always been off. She had never been ready when Kairos needed her, and now that Azrael was here, her heart felt like it was being pulled in two directions.

"I'm sorry," Seraphine said, her voice barely a whisper, barely able to break through the tension between them. She didn't turn to face him, afraid of what she might see in his eyes - afraid of the finality in them. "I don't know what I'm supposed to feel."

Azrael's voice softened, but there was an undercurrent of frustration. "I've given you everything. I don't understand why you're still holding on to him. I thought you had chosen me."

The words hit like a blow, but she didn't let herself flinch. He had chosen her, yes. He had always chosen her. But in that choice, there had been sacrifices - ones that now felt impossible to ignore.

"You don't understand," she said quietly, finally turning to face him. His eyes searched hers, expectant, but she couldn't find the words to explain the depth of what she felt. The connection she had with Kairos was a steady beat in her chest, a pulse that had always been there. The bond with Azrael, powerful as it was, didn't fill that gap. It couldn't.

"Tell me what to do, Azrael," she whispered, her voice breaking. "Tell me what to feel."

Azrael stepped closer, his presence overwhelming. "I don't want you torn between us," he said, his voice low but unwavering. "You don't need to choose between us, Seraphine. I will give you the future you want. The future you deserve. He can't offer you that."

Seraphine felt a flicker of anger rise in her chest. "You don't get to make that decision for me," she replied, her voice shaking with the weight of everything unsaid between them. "I can't just choose, Azrael. Not like this. I've never been able to choose."

Azrael's gaze turned colder, his features hardening. He stepped back, as if her words had physically distanced him from her. "You don't want to make a choice because you're scared. You're scared of what you might lose. But you don't have to lose me, Seraphine."

A deep silence fell between them. Seraphine wanted to respond, wanted to tell him that she wasn't scared, that this wasn't about fear. But how could she explain to him that Kairos was a part of her - her other mate, the one who grounded her in ways Azrael couldn't? That this pull wasn't something she had chosen, but something she had always been tied to?

But she couldn't. The words wouldn't come.

Instead, the silence was broken by the sound of footsteps behind her.

"Seraphine."

Her heart skipped a beat. She didn't have to look to know who it was. Kairos was standing just beyond the threshold of the tower, his presence a solid, familiar weight that made her chest tighten. She had thought about him constantly over the last few days, wondering when he would show up, when the moment would come for them to speak again.

And now he was here.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Kairos' voice was calm, steady, as always, but there was an edge to it, a rawness that Seraphine knew too well.

Azrael turned sharply, his eyes narrowing as they locked onto Kairos. The tension in the room thickened, a silent battle of wills between the two men. But it was Seraphine who felt the weight of it all - the two forces in her life pulling her apart.

"You," Azrael said, his voice laced with coldness, "shouldn't be here."

Kairos didn't flinch. His gaze remained fixed on Seraphine, the quiet understanding between them undeniable. "I'm not here to argue with you, Azrael. I'm here to speak with her."

Seraphine's heart pounded in her chest as both men turned their gaze toward her. She was caught between them - two parts of her life, two halves of her soul, both waiting for her to make a decision she didn't know how to make.

"I never wanted to hurt you, Azrael," Seraphine said, her voice trembling. "But I can't pretend anymore. Kairos is my mate. He always has been."

Azrael's expression hardened, and for a moment, there was a flicker of something deep in his eyes - something that almost resembled regret. "And what about us?" he asked quietly. "What do we have if you turn away from me?"

Seraphine's chest ached at the question, but she couldn't answer. She couldn't lie to him, not when the truth felt like it was suffocating her. She had two mates. Not one. And no matter how much she tried to deny it, the truth was undeniable.

"I don't know," she whispered, her heart breaking. "But I can't lose either of you."