1. Kitsuki

Chapter 1

Kitsuki

K itsuki had once promised his beloved Vanra he would wait a thousand years for his return. But after six hundred years of solitude, the king of Valzerna's heart had shattered into a million little pieces. Kitsuki feared that even if Vanra someday reappeared in his life, he might not be able to rebuild himself into someone the human mage could love again.

High in a tree on the edge of the forest at the foot of the temple, Kitsuki stared at the ancient monument known as Fate's Gate. It had brought him his greatest joy of Vanra traveling to the past to fall in love with him. Yet it had cruelly ripped him away to some distant, unknown time.

The owl sorceress, Satsuma, told him Vanra would never leave Kitsuki, but other than the ghost of his memory that haunted him, the shifter monarch had been alone every day since. Her cryptic promises they would reunite were small consolation in the face of so many centuries of solitary suffering.

Kitsuki's sole source of comfort was the small bond between himself and Vanra that existed through his claiming mark. It had lain dormant over the centuries but hadn't disappeared completely. It gave Kitsuki hope maybe he would meet with his beloved again in the future.

He warned himself not to get his hopes up after six hundred years of disappointment, but Kitsuki always observed the gate on the anniversary of his Coming of Heir ceremony when Vanra had disappeared. Tonight was no exception.

As Kitsuki offered a silent prayer to the Fate Power to reunite him with his beloved, the person he least wanted to see interrupted him.

His half brother, Kio, stood at the base of the tree with a quarrelsome expression. "Hey, asshole! Are you pretending to be a bird shifter for some reason?"

"Leave," Kitsuki ordered, wishing that, for once, his contrarian sibling would actually obey. "I am in no mood for your nonsense tonight."

"Come down here and make me!" Kio drew his sword, then slid into a defensive stance.

Kitsuki's jaw tightened. "Unless you are prepared to die, put away your sword. Leave me in peace."

"Ha, if you could kill me, I'd already be dead," Kio sneered. "Now, fucking fight me, coward!"

As much as Kitsuki wanted to be above such brutish fights, a battle was just the thing to distract him from the fact that, yet again, Vanra had failed to appear. "With pleasure," Kitsuki growled before dropping to the ground. He immediately launched into a harsh attack that forced Kio to be on the defensive.

In his own way, Kitsuki's fights with his half brother were an attempt to teach him how to battle. But Kitsuki wasn't in the mood to play the role of teacher. Not when his heart was a raw, open wound after another year of disappointment. He was brutal, not giving Kio a single moment to regroup. The temptation to kill the embarrassing stain upon his family name was strong. But the thought of Kio's former companion, Auslin, stayed Kitsuki's hand. Auslin was as kindhearted as Vanra, and Kitsuki couldn't bear disappointing him, although it had been almost two years since he saw the human mage who so resembled his beloved Vanra.

"Why are you even here?" Kitsuki demanded as their swords clashed. There was no reason for Kio to be in his kingdom now that he was no longer with Auslin. The human's younger brother had told Kitsuki that Auslin had separated from Kio and gone off to travel on his own. While it made Kitsuki happy to know Auslin had freed himself from his toxic relationship, it still troubled him that the mage traveled alone. Because of his striking resemblance to Vanra, Kitsuki had a compulsive need to protect Auslin. Not knowing where Auslin was now made his dragon uneasy.

"Because I'm in a charitable mood tonight." Kio attempted to go on the offensive, but Kitsuki could easily fend off his pathetic excuse for an attack. "If Auslin were to beg for my forgiveness for abandoning me, I'd be willing to take him back."

While Kitsuki had no claim on Auslin, he couldn't bear the thought of someone so kind being back in such an abusive relationship. "Leave him alone!" Kitsuki made a deep cut on Kio's arm, earning a shouted swear for his efforts.

"Why the fuck do you care so much?" Kio narrowed his eyes as he studied his older brother with suspicion. Blood seeped through his jacket sleeve. "What's he to you?"

"He deserves better than you."

Kio snorted. "What, like you? Please. He would never settle for an icicle-dick virgin."

Kitsuki ignored the insult. "If you're sniffing around here again, it must mean Maseo finally decided he is done with you." He went back on the attack, slicing into Kio's shoulder. "Good for him. A mongrel like you deserves to be alone."

"Says the asshole who has never been loved by anyone." Kio tried to retaliate, but the deep wounds on his arm made his blows ineffective. "Damn it!"

"Pathetic." Kitsuki had grown tired of the encounter. It was time to end things between them once and for all. Even if it made Auslin hate him, at least Kitsuki could draw comfort from knowing Kio could never harm the sweet human ever again.