Everyone said Princess Seraphina Blackwell was blessed by the gods—beautiful, graceful, meant to unite two kingdoms through marriage to the fearsome Dragon King of the North. But the princess who took the carriage to the demon-infested wastelands wasn't Seraphina at all.
Elara Ashton, the illegitimate daughter hidden in the palace shadows, woke up drugged and dressed in royal silks, her world wrecked by a single command: "Pretend to be the princess, or your mother dies."
Now she's trapped in Thornegate—a country of nightmares made flesh, where demons prowl crystal forests and monsters bow to their king. Her husband, Dragon King Cadmus Vael, is everything the stories promised: cold as winter frost, deadly as dragonfire, with obsidian eyes that see through every lie. Almost every lie.
He knows she's hiding something. She knows he could incinerate her with a breath. But the marriage contract is clear—she must make him fall in love within one year, or the alliance crumbles and war consumes both countries.
As Elara learns that magic courses through her "common" blood and Cadmus finds that his bride's terrified heartbeat makes his dragon purr with possessive need, their forced proximity ignites into something neither expected. But in the North, secrets have teeth, and when the real princess comes to retake her throne, Elara must choose: run back to her human world, or fight for the monster who taught her she was never ordinary at all.
Because the Dragon King doesn't share. And he's already decided—fake princess or not, she's his to keep.

I watch my fake bride's face turn white as snow.


The runner is smiling like a cat that caught a mouse. The entire court leans forward, hungry for her failure. They want to see the human princess break. They want blood.


My dragon stirs inside my chest. Angry. Protective.


"The letters," the messenger repeats. "Surely you remember what your mother told you, Princess Seraphina?"


She opens her mouth. Nothing comes out.


This is it. She's going to crack. She's going to admit right here, in front of everyone, and this whole mess will explode in my face.


Part of me should want that. Should want the truth revealed so I can end this farce.


But another part—the part linked to my dragon—wants to shield her. Wants to burn anyone who threatens her.


Chapter 10 - The Impossible Challenge