PHOENIX

4. The Royals' Mate

The journey away from the auction hall was silent, but the air inside the sleek, black car pulsed with unspoken tension.

Experiment 21 sat in the farthest seat, his wrists still shackled in enchanted silver. He made no attempt to struggle, no movement beyond the slow rise and fall of his chest. His blank gaze stared out the window, watching as the neon-lit streets of the underground supernatural city blurred past.

The three kings sat across from him.

Aldric's golden eyes flickered with something unreadable as he leaned back against the leather seat, his massive frame taking up most of the space. His jaw was clenched, his usual air of authority now laced with something almost unsettling.

Darius was the only one who seemed entirely at ease, watching the boy with a lazy, knowing smirk. His long fingers tapped against the rim of his goblet—still filled with thick, crimson liquid. He had been silent for most of the ride, simply observing. Calculating.

Orion, on the other hand, had barely torn his gaze away since they left the auction hall. His sharp sapphire eyes flickered over their new 'prize,' his webbed fingers drumming against his knee. There was something restless about him, something unsettled.

Finally, he broke the silence.

"How is this even possible?" Orion muttered, his voice laced with frustration. "He's human... or at least he was before they experimented on him. How the hell can three of us feel the mate bond to the same person?"

Darius chuckled, swirling the blood in his goblet. "You say that as if the mate bond has ever followed logic." His crimson eyes slid toward the silent boy. "Perhaps his body was reforged into something beyond human. Perhaps fate itself decided he was meant for us."

Aldric exhaled heavily, rubbing a hand over his face. "Fate." He nearly spat the word. "If fate wanted us to have a mate, it could have given us one that wasn't raised in a goddamn lab."

Orion scoffed. "Oh? And what would you prefer? Some delicate royal born into luxury? You do realize that would be a disaster, right? This one at least has survived horrors we can't even imagine."

Silence. None of them could argue with that.

Aldric turned his head slightly, golden eyes locking onto the boy. "But does he even feel it?"

They all turned toward the fragile figure seated across from them.

Experiment 21 hadn't moved. Hadn't spoken. Hadn't reacted to anything they'd said. If he did feel the bond, he gave no indication of it.

Darius hummed, tilting his head. "Strange, isn't it? Usually, the mate bond is an instant pull. Overwhelming. But he doesn't seem affected at all." He took a slow sip from his goblet, eyes glinting. "It makes you wonder if they did something to suppress it."

Orion's expression darkened. "They experimented on him since he was an embryo—who knows what kind of damage they did? What kind of things they took from him?"

Aldric's grip on his knee tightened. "We'll find out soon enough."

Another pause. Then Darius smirked. "Well, regardless of what the boy thinks he feels, the bond is there. And we all know what that means."

Aldric scowled. Orion rolled his eyes.

They didn't have a choice.

He was theirs.

Whether he liked it or not.

And the real question wasn't whether Experiment 21 could feel the bond.

It was what he would do once he realized he belonged to three of the most powerful creatures in existence.

Would he fight it? Or would he submit?

And if he did fight...

Well.

They were more than willing to play dirty.