Heartbound to the Dragon King

Aster is a false saint bound for sacrifice—until the Black Dragon King Rhydan awakens and takes the blade for him. Bound by the Heartbound Pact, their lives are tethered: what wounds one, wounds the other. Inside Aster’s chest beats half a dragon heart, planted there twenty-four years ago by Rhydan himself. The Church wants it back. His mother wants him to use it as a weapon. The dragon elders want him dead. But Rhydan, who has spent centuries as a monster in human stories, refuses to take what isn’t freely given. As the pact is broken and the crown shatters, both men lose their magic—and gain something far rarer: a choice. On the ruins of the altar where they first met, Aster takes Rhydan’s hand and says, “This time, I choose you.” No contract. No sacrifice. Just two ordinary men, learning to stay.