The night before his engagement party, I gripped my uncle’s silk tie, tugging until he was forced to meet my gaze.

My eyes burned with unshed tears as I practically snarled, "You can't get engaged to her. Do you hear me?

You can't!" Uncle Jude sighed with that maddening, polished patience of his. "It's just a corporate merger, Cora.

Stop throwing a childish tantrum." The next evening, at his lavish highsociety engagement gala, my true nature—my succubus bloodline—awakened fully.

The hunger hit me like a violent fever, demanding an immediate feed.

Desperate, I dragged my childhood best friend into an empty suite, gazing up at him with tearglazed eyes. "Please," I whimpered. "Kiss me... just kiss me." Before our lips could meet, the door was violently kicked open.

Jude stood in the doorway, his face dark with fury. "Take your hands off her," he growled. "I dare you." My friend merely arched a brow, leaned down, and planted a brazen, lingering kiss right on my lips.

Then, turning to the man in the doorway, he smirked. "Done. What's next?" 1 It was past midnight.

I paced the marble expanse of the living room, my anxiety mounting with every passing minute as I checked the entryway over and over. Finally, the click of the lock sounded.

Jude pushed the door open. His tailored coat was draped over one forearm, his silhouette tall and imposing, broadshouldered and leanwaisted.

I rushed forward instantly, practically nuzzling his chest like an eager puppy, inhaling deeply. Only the faint, crisp scent of bourbon.

No trace of cheap floral perfume or foreign powder. He hadn't lied; it had really just been a business dinner. He hadn't slipped away to see that woman.

A heavy breath of relief escaped my lungs. Seeing my frantic little routine, a hint of amusement touched Jude’s lips.

He reached out and lightly tapped my forehead with his knuckles. "Told you it was just work.

If you're that suspicious, I'll bring you along next time." I caught his hand in both of mine, swaying it gently in a coaxing gesture. "Jude... you promised my parents on their deathbeds that you'd take care of me forever.

Please, just call off the alliance with the Ashfords. Cancel the merger." I looked up at him, my heart in my eyes, praying for a sign of softness.

The slight upward curve of his mouth vanished instantly.

He withdrew his hand from my grasp, hung his coat on the rack, and walked past me into the lounge, undoing his cufflinks with brisk, measured movements. Not a single word.

His brow was furrowed, his features shadowed with cold restraint. He was furious. This wasn't the first time I'd begged him to call off the wedding.

At first, he’d offer calm, patronizing explanations, but lately, the mere mention of it made his face harden into stone. Yet tomorrow night was the official gala.

This was my last chance. I hurried after him, my words tumbling out in a rush. "Jude, listen to me. If all you need is leverage and capital, my family’s trust has more than enough.

I can give you everything. I can be the one who—" "Cora." Jude’s voice cut through the air like a whip.

He didn't even turn around, but the edge of warning in his tone was razorsharp. "Watch your words. Remember who we are.

You are my niece." My bottom lip trembled, a surge of bitter hurt rising in my chest. "We aren't even bloodrelated." Jude sank into the leather armchair, angling his head just enough for his sharp, unyielding gaze to catch mine from the corner of his eye. "It makes no difference." "You can be as willful and unreasonable as you like on any other day," he stated flatly. "But this alliance is nonnegotiable.

Do not cross the line." I marched right up to him, standing between his knees. "Why? Why her? What does the Ashford family have that mine doesn't?

My parents may be gone, but the board of directors answers only to me.

If you marry me, my family's empire will back you unconditionally!" Jude’s eyes remained completely still—a deep, unbothered pool of indifference.

Nothing I said even rippled the surface. Frustration ignited into pure rage.

Without thinking, I climbed onto his lap, straddling his thighs, and grabbed the knot of his silk tie, pulling him forward until our noses almost touched. "I said you cannot get engaged to her!

Do you hear me?!" Hot tears spilled over my lashes, betraying my desperation. "You know what I am..." My voice cracked, choking on the truth. I wasn't entirely human.

I was a succubus.

A creature sustained solely by intense emotional and physical devotion. "If you bind yourself to someone else, what happens to me?" I cried, my fingers trembling against his collar. "My comingofage is tomorrow.

You know what that means. You promised you would take care of it! You promised you'd bind yourself to me!

Why didn't you care about being my 'uncle' back when you made that promise?" Once a succubus comes of age, an exclusive soultether is required.

From that moment on, their very life force depends on the devotion and intimacy of their bound partner.

Without that sustenance, a succubus withers and dies in agonizingly short order. Jude had promised he would be my anchor. How could he turn his back on me now?

Panicked and heartbroken, I pounded my fists weakly against his broad chest, tears streaming down my cheeks like crushed pearls. Jude let out a weary, resigned sigh.

He caught my flailing wrists in a firm grip, his voice softening into that soothing, placating tone he always used when handling a crisis. "It's just a strategic business arrangement, Cora.

It changes nothing between us. Stop making a scene, please." "How could it change nothing?!" I screamed through my tears. "Once you announce that engagement, you belong to her!

You’ll be her fiancé, her husband, the father of her children! If you keep me on the side, what does that make me? A mistress?

A dirty secret?" Jude pressed his thumb gently against my lips, hushing me. "Hush.

Don't talk nonsense." Seeing that I was entirely inconsolable, he wrapped his strong arms around my waist, pulling me firmly against his chest, refusing to let me squirm away. "The union with the Ashford family is a temporary necessity.

In less than a year, we will execute an amicable divorce. I give you my word: I will not touch her. All right?" "No! Not all right!

It's horrible!" I twisted violently, breaking free from his embrace. "I can't wait a year! My awakening is tomorrow! I need the bond tomorrow!

If it's just a temporary business deal, why couldn't you just marry me instead?

Or is it because..." My voice dropped, a cold realization washing over me. "...because you look down on what I am?

You're disgusted by me." Jude stared at me, his parted lips suddenly failing to produce a single word of denial. That silence was a death sentence. He was repulsed.

He had only taken me in out of an obligation to my late parents, and deep down, he had been waiting for the first opportunity to rid himself of the burden. "I hate you, Jude," I sobbed, stumbling backward toward the door. "I hate you!

You liar! You hypocrite!" I turned on my heel and bolted into the night. I wasn't going to spend another second under his roof.

I was going home. 2 I grabbed my keys from the garage and sped through the empty city streets, the engine roaring until I pulled up in front of the old family estate.

The moment the heavy front doors swung open, the familiar, intoxicatingly sweet scent of my kin wrapped around me like a warm blanket. "Oh heavens, is that our little mistress?" "Why are you crying, darling?" In seconds, the butler and our elderly board members swarmed the foyer, their expressions shifting from surprise to fierce concern.

I collapsed onto the velvet settee, wailing into my hands. "My awakening is tomorrow, and I don't have a tethered partner!

I'm going to die, I'm going to wither away, oh God..." The room erupted into absolute chaos. "I knew that Jude fellow was bad news!

Announcing a highsociety engagement right before our girl's comingofage? What was wrong with binding himself to our mistress?!" "Don't cry, sweetheart, don't cry!

It's just a man.

Men are the easiest resource on the planet to acquire." "The trouble isn't finding a man; it's finding one who is toptier, purehearted, completely loyal, and uncorrupted.

After all, the mistress will depend on his exclusive devotion for the rest of her life." "Then start screening candidates immediately!

If we have to kidnap an Ivy League heir, we'll do it tonight!" While the butler patted my back, the board members frantically whipped out their tablets, swiping through curated profiles of the city's most eligible bachelors and thrusting them into my face. "Look at this one, darling: sixfoottwo, Harvard Law, clean background." "Or this one!

A medical researcher, introverted, never been in a scandal." "Here's the sole heir to a shipping conglomerate—naive, wholesome, easily molded!" Right in the middle of their pitch, a smooth, slightly outofbreath voice broke through the noise from the doorway. "What on earth is going on in here...?" Everyone froze and turned.

There stood Felix, my lifelong best friend.

He was wearing rumpled silk pajama pants, completely barefoot on the cold hardwood, his dark hair a messy tangle, clutching a pair of car keys in his whiteknuckled grip.

He blinked at the chaotic scene, looking utterly bewildered, like a man who had been jolted out of a dead sleep and raced across town without even pausing to put on shoes.

Felix had been by my side since we were children. There were virtually no secrets between us—except the supernatural ones.

I sniffled, wiping the dampness from my cheeks, about to ask what he was doing here, when the elderly butler suddenly gasped. "Now "that" is prime quality!" The board members' eyes simultaneously lit up like predatory spotlights, fixating on Felix.

Felix visibly shivered, a chill running down his spine, and quickly scrambled across the room to hide behind my chair. "Cora... why are your company executives looking at me like I'm a Thanksgiving turkey?" I shot a stern glare at the room full of elders. "All of you, go to bed.

Right now." They exchanged frantic, knowing winks with each other before reluctantly retreating down the hallway, muttering amongst themselves about 'compatibility' and 'pedigree.' Felix stared after them, thoroughly perplexed. "Aren't those the senior directors of your family's conglomerate?

Why do they live in your house like a commune?" I looked at him, rubbing my tired eyes. "Where else would they live?

More importantly, what are you doing here at two in the morning, barefoot?" Felix stepped out from behind the chair, immediately scanning me from head to toe with frantic precision.

When he saw I wasn't bleeding or broken, he let out a massive exhale. "Thank God.

You're intact." "What?" "Your uncle called me in a panic," Felix explained softly, running a hand through his messy hair. "He said you had a massive meltdown and took off in your car.

He was terrified you'd get into a wreck and asked me to check on you." The mere mention of Jude's name made my blood boil all over again. "Oh, so when he barks, you just jump?

Whose best friend are you, mine or his?" "I was worried about "you"," Felix said, his tone entirely sincere, his dark eyes softening as he looked at me. "Obviously." "..." My defensive wall crumbled just a bit. "Fine.

Thank you." Felix gently pulled me down to sit beside him on the sofa. "Do you want to tell me what happened? Why the sudden blowup?

Is this still about his engagement tomorrow?" There was a subtle, probing hesitation in his voice.

My mind was a tangled mess of hurt and panic, so I just let everything spill out—venting about Jude's hypocrisy, his coldness, his broken promises.

Naturally, I left out the part about being a mythical, parasitic succubus. "I am never calling him my uncle again," I finished with a bitter huff. "He's a twofaced, lying, manipulative jerk!" Felix listened intently, looking puzzled, yet clearly hesitant to ask his next question.

He fidgeted with his car keys, his cheeks flushing slightly. "Look, I...

I might not totally understand, and maybe this is just a guyversusgirl perspective thing, but... don't be mad, okay?

I just have to ask." "Ask what?" "Why... why do you "have" to find a man to, you know, sleep with and bind yourself to the second you turn twentyone?" "It's my comingofage ritual," I answered matteroffactly. "It's survival." Felix choked on his own saliva, coughing so hard his face turned bright crimson. "Right.

Okay. Got it. A ritual." His eyes darted around the room, his mind visibly racing through a thousand unspoken thoughts. "Ahem.

Well... let's get some sleep first," he stammered, clearing his throat. "We have that blasted engagement party to attend tomorrow afternoon." "I'm not going!" I snapped. "You have to, Cora.

You're the sole surviving representative of your family's name.

If you boycott, the press will tear your family's stock to pieces." Felix calmly laid out the public relations nightmare that would follow my absence. He was right.

As much as I loathed the idea, duty demanded my presence. "Don't worry," Felix added gently, his eyes crinkling into a soft smile as he reached out to ruffle my hair. "I'll be right beside you the whole time." "...Fine." 3 The next morning, the city's social feeds and financial columns were completely dominated by the upcoming union between Jude and Miss Ashford.

Felix drove me to the estate where the gala was being hosted, spending the entire ride giving me gentle pep talks and subtly reminding me not to throw a drink in the groom's face, no matter how much he deserved it.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not an idiot, Felix. Stop treating me like a toddler throwing a tantrum." "I'm just afraid your heart is in too deep," he murmured under his breath.

The second half of his sentence was barely a whisper. "What did you say?" "I said stay close to me today so no one tries to corner you," he replied smoothly. "As if anyone could," I scoffed.

I was an awakening succubus; I was powerful. Once the night was over, I'd be even stronger... "Except I still don't have an anchor," my subconscious reminded me bitterly.

I glanced sideways at Felix. At that exact moment, he turned his head, and our eyes met. He froze for a fraction of a second, then offered me a warm, devastatingly handsome smile.

The afternoon sunlight caught the sharp lines of his jaw, softening the intensity of his gaze.

My mind involuntarily replayed the board members' frantic whispers from the night before: "Prime quality. Loyal.

Devoted." Felix really was... exceptional. "Why are you staring at me like that?" Felix asked, the tips of his ears turning a faint, adorable shade of pink as he looked back at the road. "Nothing..." I quickly turned toward the window, scolding myself internally. "He's your best friend, Cora!

You can't just drag him into your dark supernatural web!" The rest of the drive lapsed into heavy, charged silence.

When we arrived at the grand ballroom, the room was already packed with titans of industry, politicians, and socialites.

But the moment I stepped across the threshold, a faint, intoxicatingly sweet scent brushed against my senses, sending a violent shiver down my spine.

It was the signature pheromonal scent of a succubus. More terrifyingly, it was the first time an external scent had ever made my own latent power destabilize so violently.

Every known member of my clan lived under my family's roof. Who on earth was this? Before I could track the source, the classical music swelled, signaling the start of the ceremony.

Jude stepped onto the elevated platform, looking impossibly aristocratic in a bespoke tuxedo, with Miss Ashford on his arm. A polite, practiced smile rested on his lips.

As Miss Ashford walked past my table, that sweet scent flared with suffocating intensity.

It was coming directly from her. "Is she one of us?" I wondered, stunned. "No... she doesn't carry the aura of a demon." Suddenly, she turned her head.

Her gaze locked dead onto mine. Her smile widened, her eyes crinkling—not with smug triumph, but with an unmistakable, almost tender warmth.

Like an affectionate aunt looking at a beloved child. My eyes widened in shock. "What is her problem?" I hissed under my breath. Was she mocking me?

Did she already consider herself my superior, patronizing me from her high horse? Felix immediately placed a firm, calming hand over mine. "Easy, Cora.

Deep breaths." "Look, the dinner service is starting," he whispered, steering my attention away. "Let's just eat and ignore them." I shot Miss Ashford one last fiery glare before picking up my fork and aggressively attacking my plate.

From across the room, she let out an amused, muffled chuckle and shook her head with fond exasperation. Felix quickly clamped both hands over my ears. "Don't look, don't listen.

She's not worth your energy." Once the courses were finished, my initial rage had mostly burned itself out.

But in its place came a profound, heavy fog of exhaustion. "I need to lie down for a minute," I murmured, my eyelids suddenly weighing a hundred pounds.

Felix stood up immediately. "I'll walk you to the guest suites." I didn't object. Yet what should have been a brief walk down the corridor felt like wading through deep water.

The air grew thicker with that maddeningly sweet fragrance.

My head spun, a dangerous heat pooling low in my stomach. "Something is wrong." "Felix..." I turned to lean on him, but as my eyes met his, the scent suddenly shifted—radiating from "him".

He looked so soft, so undeniably delicious. His warm hands caught my waist. "Cora?

What's happening?" The moment his bare palms touched my skin through the fabric of my dress, my control shattered into dust. "Oh God.

My awakening is here." "It wasn't supposed to happen until midnight!" "We have to go. Now!" I grabbed Felix by the lapels of his suit jacket and dragged him toward the elevator.

Neither of us noticed that from across the mezzanine, Jude had been watching us the entire time.

The moment the elevator doors closed, Jude abandoned his guests and sprinted toward the stairs, his face pale with dread.

Beside him, Miss Ashford merely swirled the champagne in her crystal flute, watching his frantic pursuit with an unreadable, tranquil smile. 4 Inside the elevator, the heavy, sweet scent wrapped around my throat like a velvet collar, turning the blood in my veins to liquid fire.

It hurt. It felt like burning from the inside out.

The second the doors chimed open on the private suite level, I shoved Felix into the nearest unlocked room, slammed the heavy mahogany door shut, and threw the deadbolt. "Cora, talk to me, what's wrong with you?!" Felix asked, his voice laced with pure panic as he tried to steady me.

I collapsed softly against his chest, clutching his dress shirt, my chin tilted up as I looked at him with feverish, dilated eyes. "Kiss me... please, Felix.

Just kiss me." "You're out of your mind—" I reached up, cupping his jaw with trembling hands, rising onto my tiptoes. "I need you to kiss me.

Right now." Instinctively, Felix’s hands gripped my waist to keep me from tumbling to the floor.

The movement pulled my body flush against his, letting me feel the scorching heat radiating through his frame. The air in the room instantly turned suffocatingly thick.

Felix's breathing hitched, turning ragged and uneven.

His fingers slowly drifted up from my waist, brushing the stray strands of hair away from my ear, before his palm cupped the back of my head, holding me in place. "BAM!" The suite door was violently kicked inward, rattling on its hinges.

Jude’s voice cut through the haze, glacial and lethal. "Take your hands off her. I dare you." Felix and I were mere millimeters apart, our breaths mingling in the heavy air.

The sudden intrusion made my spine stiffen. I started to pull back to look at the door, but Felix didn't let me go.

His grip on the back of my neck tightened gently, and he tilted his head down, pressing his warm, soft lips firmly against mine.

A gentle, possessive press of his mouth right against my lips.

Then, slowly breaking the contact, Felix looked over his shoulder, his dark eyes meeting Jude's murderous gaze with brazen defiance. "Done.

What's next?" "You insolent little bastard!" The composed, untouchable facade Jude wore so carefully shattered in an instant.

He crossed the suite in two furious strides, reaching out to rip me from Felix’s arms.

Felix spun on his heel, shielding my body with his own and easily dodging Jude’s reaching hand. "Mr.

Langley," Felix said coldly, his voice dripping with venom. "I call you 'Uncle' out of respect for Cora, but that doesn't give you the right to dictate my life.

Today is your engagement day. If a brawl breaks out, it's the Langley and Ashford families who will be humiliated in the press. Go back to your fiancée.

I'll take care of Cora." Trapped in the sanctuary of Felix's embrace, the unnatural heat in my blood surged again.

I whimpered, burying my face into his neck, inhaling his clean scent. "Get him out of here... make him leave..." I was losing the battle against my own instincts.

Hearing my plea, Jude’s voice rose to a desperate, commanding shout. "Cora, come here! I'll do it. I'll accept your terms.

Just come to me right now!" His jaw was clenched so hard the tendons in his neck were bulging.

I buried my head deeper into Felix's chest, shaking my head violently. "I don't want you." He had already stood on that stage and exchanged vows of intent with another woman.

His grand promises were nothing but hollow, insulting garbage. I wrapped my arms tighter around Felix’s waist. Jude looked as if he had been struck across the face.

His eyes flared with a mix of fury and betrayal. "You told me it had to be me! Is your love really that fickle?

That cheap?!" He choked on his next words, catching himself just before the slur escaped his mouth: "Just like a filthy demon..." He didn't say it aloud, but the venom in his eyes said it clearly enough.

A cold, mocking laugh bubbled up from my chest.

I turned my head just enough to look at him through halflidded eyes. "Who ever said I loved you?" Succubi don't give away their love cheaply.

We trade in desire, not sentimentality. Jude froze entirely, the color draining from his face. I blinked up at him with deliberate innocence. "You misunderstood, Jude.

Before today, I simply thought you were prime quality—a powerful, clean vessel suitable for my needs. That's why I tried so hard to claim you.

But you were never irreplaceable." I looked down my nose at him with unvarnished disgust. "And I'm a very picky eater.

I don't touch tainted goods." Jude stared at me, pure disbelief paralyzing him before it morphed into a terrifying, silent rage.

Before he could speak, a soft, melodious voice drifted in from the open doorway. "Jude, darling?" It was Miss Ashford.

She strolled into the room with effortless grace, her silk gown rustling softly.

At the sight of her, the murderous tension in Jude’s shoulders noticeably softened. "What are you doing up here?" he asked, his voice strained. "Looking for you, of course," she purred, stepping to his side before letting her amused gaze drift over to Felix and me. "My, what do we have here...?" The fire in my blood was boiling past the point of endurance.

I tugged weakly on Felix’s shirt, my voice trembling with desperate need. "If he won't leave... take me away." Without a second thought, Felix scooped me up into his arms, carrying me bridalstyle as he strode past Jude without breaking stride.

This time, Jude didn't reach out to stop us, though his dark, burning eyes tracked our every movement until we turned the corner.

Behind us, I caught the faint trace of Miss Ashford's soothing voice. "The little niece is all grown up, Jude.

You shouldn't hold her on such a tight leash." "You don't understand," Jude ground out, his voice dead and cold. "Fine, fine, I don't understand.

Come along, let's head back down to our guests." I pressed my forehead hard against Felix’s collarbone, my nose grazing the hot skin of his neck, silently pleading for release.

Whatever game Jude and his new fiancée were playing didn't matter anymore. All I knew was the hunger consuming me alive.

A sheen of sweat broke out across Felix’s forehead as he carried me down the service elevator, his long strides quickening with every passing second.

Once we reached his car, he settled me gently into the passenger seat.

While leaning over to click my seatbelt into place, he began rambling frantically. "Listen to me, Cora, this looks like you've been drugged.

I am not going to take advantage of you, do you hear me? You're safe.

What I did back there was just to put your uncle in his place—he had no right treating you like some disposable backup plan. But I'm taking you to a hospital.

I kissed you, and I intend to take full responsibility for that, but not while you're out of your mind. We're going to the ER—" Felix’s frantic lecture was cut short.

I reached out, grabbed his silk tie, and pulled his mouth crashing down onto mine. He was talking too much. "Take me to your place," I gasped against his lips, my breath ragged.

There was an entire board of ancient succubus elders currently camped out in my living room, waiting for updates. Going back to my estate was out of the question.

I was not about to let an audience listen at the door.

Felix swallowed hard, his voice trembling on a single, breathless note. "Ookay." He slammed his foot on the gas pedal, the car rocketing into the night.

The very second we crossed the threshold into his penthouse and the front door clicked shut, my control completely vanished.

A long, sleek spadetipped tail burst from beneath my skirt, and two curved, obsidian horns pierced through my hair.