Luna Meadows practiced her name three times before the carriage stopped, and she still could not say it out loud. She wanted one thing tonight: to be seen by the shapeshifter prince. He was the only man who could love her secret bunny form. But shy words died in her throat every time a stranger looked her way. If she stayed silent, she would leave this ball as invisible as she came. The burgundy carriage rolled to a halt outside the palace gates. Gold trim caught the torchlight. Deep blue drapes framed the window where Luna sat, gripping her hands. Her long curls were pinned high in a jeweled bun, dark ringlets falling past her shoulders. Small burgundy gems winked among the coils. Her petal-tiered gown bloomed around her like layered flame. She looked like someone worth noticing. She did not feel like her. Inside, the ballroom roared with laughter and music. Guests filled every corner. Luna pressed to the wall and watched. A woman brushed past and asked her name. Luna opened her mouth. Nothing came. The woman waited, shrugged, and turned away. Luna's face went hot. She had planned careful sentences. All of them vanished. Then the crowd shifted. A prince crossed the floor, dark hair streaked with red, gold thread bright on his coat. Draeven Crimsonscale, the dragon shapeshifter. He moved like he owned the air. People bent toward him. His smile was easy and warm. Luna's heart slammed. This was her chance. She stepped forward and froze. Words failed her again. Someone jostled her. Her heel caught the hem of her gown. She stumbled hard toward the marble floor. Panic seized her. Her body did the only thing it trusted. In a blink of soft fur and floaty fabric, Luna shrank into a small brown rabbit, tumbling free of the falling dress. The music stopped. A hundred guests turned. A rabbit sat trembling in a pile of burgundy chiffon, gems scattered across the floor. Luna wanted to disappear into the ground. She had wanted to be noticed. Not like this. Boots crossed the silence. Draeven crouched down beside her. He did not laugh. He did not call for guards. He looked at the small rabbit with calm, golden eyes. "There you are," he said softly, as if he had been waiting all night. "I wondered who was hiding by the wall." He held out one open hand, patient. Luna's rabbit heart pounded. The whole court stared. Whispers spread fast. A shifter had exposed her secret form before everyone. The prince knew. And now, so did they all. Luna hopped onto his palm. He rose, cradling her, and faced the murmuring crowd with a grin that dared them to speak. She was no longer invisible. She was the most talked-about creature in the room. That was exactly the problem she now had to survive.

The morning after the ball, Luna sat in a guest room of the palace. She had shifted back to human at dawn, wrapped in a borrowed sheet. Her long curls hung loose down her back. She kept replaying one moment. The prince had crouched beside a trembling rabbit and smiled. He had not flinched. A dragon shapeshifter, born to burn, had chosen to shield a bunny. She could not understand why. Until she knew his reason, she could not believe his kindness was real. A knock came. A servant entered, arms full of blue chiffon. She laid the gown across a chair. Deep blue fabric, sapphire jewels, matching heels. "The prince chose it himself," the servant said, then left. Luna's face went hot. He had picked her a dress. She did not know if it meant care or pity. She pulled it on. The chiffon floated around her legs. She let her rabbit ears rise from her hair, soft and warm, to steady her pounding heart. Then she went to find him. Draeven stood in a courtyard garden. A great gray wolf paced beside him, its edges smoking like shadow. He rested one hand on its fur, calm as stone. When he saw Luna, he smiled the same easy smile from the ball. "The dress suits you," he said. Luna's ears trembled. She made herself speak. "Why did you help me? You could have laughed. Everyone else would have." Her voice shook. "You're a dragon. I'm a rabbit. Why protect me?" Draeven's smile faded into something quieter. The wolf stopped pacing and watched him. "When I was young, I shifted in front of the court," he said. "A dragon, all wings and fire. I broke two columns. They screamed. My own father called it a disgrace." He looked at his hand. "No one crouched down for me. No one said, there you are." Luna stared. Her ears went still. "I saw you fall," he went on. "I saw the fear in your eyes before the fur. I knew that fear. So I did for you what I wished someone had done for me." He met her gaze. "My interest is not pity, Luna. It is recognition." Her throat tightened. It was the truth. She could feel it. He had not saved a rabbit for sport. He had saved someone who reminded him of himself. "Then you understand me," she whispered. "Better than anyone at that ball." He stepped closer. The wolf let him pass. "Which is why I want you to stay. At court. As my guest." Luna's heart leapt, then dropped. Stay at court. In the palace where she had shifted before a hundred cruel eyes. The people who mocked her lived inside these walls. To win the prince, she would have to face every one of them again. She let her ears sink back into her curls. "I'll stay," she said. And her new problem began.

A week passed, and Luna barely spoke to the prince at all. Draeven belonged to the court from dawn to dusk. Advisors trailed him down every hall. Nobles filled his study. Luna watched from doorways, wanting one quiet moment with him, but she never found the nerve to break through the crowd. Each night she went back to her room alone. On the seventh morning, a servant told her the prince would ride out at noon. Luna decided to catch him before he left. She wore the blue chiffon dress he had chosen, its skirt floating around her heels. She let her rabbit ears rise from her curls to steady herself, then hid them again. The courtyard was worse than she feared. A burgundy carriage stood ready, its blue drapery pulled back, gold trim shining. Nobles clustered near the wheels. They pressed papers at Draeven and asked question after question. Luna stood at the edge, mouth dry. Two courtiers near her whispered and laughed behind their hands. She knew that laugh. It was the same one from the ball. Her courage sank. She turned to slip away. Then she saw the wolf. Draeven's gray wolf lay beside a flowering vine bush, its edges smoking like shadow. It lifted its head and looked straight at her. Then it rose, walked through the crowd, and pushed its nose into Luna's hand. The nobles went quiet. They stepped back from the strange beast. Draeven followed the wolf with his eyes. He found Luna at the end of its path. He smiled, and this time he did not wait. "Leave the papers," he told the advisors. "They can wait until I return." He crossed the courtyard, ignoring the nobles who reached for him. He stopped in front of Luna. "You came to find me," he said. "You've been trying all week. I saw you in the doorways." Luna's face went hot. "I didn't want to interrupt." "Interrupt," he said. "Always." He opened the carriage door. "Ride with me. Just us." Luna's heart pounded. The whispering courtiers watched, waiting for her to stumble. She let her ears rise once more, small and warm, and this time she left them up. She took his hand and climbed inside. The carriage rolled out. The drapery swayed. For the first time, Luna sat alone with the prince, no crowd between them. He looked at her ears and smiled. "You kept them up," he said. "In front of all of them." "I wanted to," Luna said. Her voice did not shake. Draeven leaned closer. "Good. Because I mean to spend far more time alone with you." He paused. "Which means the court will start asking what you are to me. And they won't ask kindly." Luna's smile faltered. She had won her quiet moment. But now the whole palace would want to know her place beside him.