Between Two Monster Husbands by Tessa Kelwyn
Between Two Monster Husbands
Description
Kaela has never been anyone's first choice. Not her father's, who barely looks at her. Not her sister's, who reminds her she's the fat, forgettable one. The only person who ever wanted her, truly wanted her, she was forced to leave behind when her father gave her one job on her wedding day: marry the cursed dragon prince, then kill him. Naeve and his brother are cursed to die unless someone truly loves them but Naeve doesn't believe that's possible. He doesn't want a bride. He doesn't want hope. He wants to be left alone to die on his own terms. Azriel, the charming one, the vampire, the one who married Kaela's sister, is the opposite. He keeps showing up when Naeve won't, says the right things, touches her the right way. He makes her feel like the woman no one back home ever saw. And Kaela doesn't realize that the monster who scares her might be the only one telling the truth while the one who makes her feel safe is the most dangerous thing in the castle.
Chapter 1
Jul 31, 2026
Kaela's POV
"You're marrying them, and that's final."
My father dropped it on us like he was announcing dinner plans — casual, done deal.
Meanwhile, my sister Giselle and I were standing in front of the ceremony doors in dresses we'd been laced into an hour ago.
The two grooms waiting beside him were not — absolutely, definitely not — the human lords we'd been promised.
One had crimson skin, black veins running under his skin, that ended on his cheeks and started again on his forehead.
And fangs. Actual fangs, just casually poking past his lip. Red eyes, arms crossed, leaning against the wall with this lazy smirk that said he found all of us hilarious.
The other one, the terribly tall, had wings. Black, scaled wings folded behind his back, claws, and a face full of scars — one cutting through his brow, another splitting his lip.
His gold eyes seemed to look straight through you and found nothing interesting. He looked almost bored.
And which of us will get which one?
My little sister got there first.
"You told us we were marrying Lord Casten's sons!" She grabbed Father's sleeve so hard I thought she'd rip it. He wouldn't mind even if she did. "Humans, Father! From the eastern province! You said there'd be an engagement period, you said…"
"I know what I said."
"Look at them!" Giselle jabbed a finger toward the crimson one. "That one looks like he sleeps in a coffin and the other has a tail! Tell them it's off, Daddy, please!"
I just stood there. My brain was still buffering.
The winged one, the dragon, didn't even glance our way.
"We'll step out," he said. Flat voice, zero interest. He turned and walked off down the corridor. The vampire pushed off the wall, winked at Giselle, and followed.
The second they were gone, Father's whole face changed.
"Listen carefully," he said, dropping his voice. "I didn't tell you anything because they needed to see real reactions. If you'd known, you would've blown it. Especially you, Giselle. You can't keep a secret for five minutes."
She opened her mouth, but Father kept talking.
"They're princes of the underworld. Both cursed. If the curse isn't broken, they die, and we lose the most powerful alliance this family has ever been offered. We're talking power in both worlds. Titles. Land. The kind of leverage people kill for. Even kings will envy such power, because we will become rulers of the universe."
Giselle narrowed her eyes. "And how does one break this curse, exactly?"
"True love. Or a good enough imitation."
"Oh, you're out of your mind…" Giselle dramatically clutched her heart.
"Giselle. My darling, I know it's scary."
He softened instantly. Took her hands and looked at her the way he never looked at me, like she was worth more than his precious jewels.
"But you're marrying Azriel, the vampire," he said. "All you need to do is charm him, make him fall for you and give him an heir. And then you become untouchable in both realms. No one will ever tell you what to do again."
"Picture it," he said, drawing fantasies in the air with his hand. "Your own court. Your own power. People falling over themselves just to speak to you."
"But he has fangs," Giselle whispered, though I saw excitement flash in her eyes.
"And you're the most beautiful girl in this kingdom." He kissed her forehead. "He won't stand a chance."
She pressed her face into his chest and he held her. Eventually, she nodded.
"Of course, Father," she said. "If it is my duty as a princess, I will make this sacrifice. For you and the kingdom."
Or you did it because you just smelled another chance to be the center of attention.
"Here's my brave, smart princess." Father smiled at her, and then looked at me. All the softness, the warmth, the gentle voice were gone before I even blinked. "Kaela, you're marrying the dragon."
Then it was my turn. For a moment I felt my chest tighten with something close to hope.
Father had just held Giselle, kissed her forehead, painted her future in gold. Maybe now he would do the same for me.
Maybe he would put his hand on my shoulder and tell me I was brave too. Maybe this was the moment he finally saw me as someone worth encouraging.
I straightened up and tried to sound steady. "Of course, Father, whatever you need. I'll make it work. I can give him multiple children, I'll do anything, even…"
"Stop talking, Kaela." He looked at me like I'd smeared something on his shoe. "Have you looked in a mirror lately? You're fat. And every time you open your mouth something stupid falls out. You think anyone would want children from you?"
The corridor went quiet. Giselle picked at her nail. And I just stood there, taking it.
You'd think after twenty years I'd stop caring. But every single time his words hit the same raw spot. My bruises never got a chance to heal before the next one landed.
I gave up Fenris for him. The one person who actually wanted me, who deeply loved me despite all the flaws, despite my looks.
Father told me to cut it off because it didn't serve his plans, so I did.
I ended things with Fenris because I hoped my father would see that I was loyal, that he'd finally look at me and think 'that's my girl'.
Father never even mentioned it, not once.
"Your job is to kill him," Father finally said.
The words didn't land right away.
He wants me to… what?
"Kill... him?" My voice came out too high and too thin.
I looked at Giselle, waiting for her to react but she was still examining her nails. No gasp, no frown, nothing that would confirm our Father had lost his mind.
He wanted me to kill someone. An actual living, breathing… person.
I'd never even been in a real fight. The closest I came to violence was dropping a kitchen knife once and crying about it for ten minutes.
"Kill Naeve," Father said again. "Before the curse does it on its own." He gave me a once-over you'd give a tool you weren't sure would hold up. "Can you manage that?"
I'm not a killer. I'd never hurt a bug in my life.
But I looked at his face, the same face that had never once gone soft for me, and said, "Yes, Father."
He turned back to Giselle to fix her hair.
My mother would have hugged me. She would've said something kind, touched my cheek, told me I was brave. But she died having Giselle.
The wedding was fifteen minutes of nothing. A room split down the middle, monsters on one side, human nobles on the other.
Then carriages, a dark estate swallowed by fog, and my sister led one way while I was led another. She didn't look back. I couldn't stop looking, because the creature walking ahead of me was nearly two meters of wings, claws, and silence.
Naeve didn't speak the entire way. Not in the carriage, not through the endless hallways, not when he pushed open a heavy wooden door and stepped aside to let me in.
I made it three steps into the room before his arm caught my waist. He lifted me off the ground like I weighed nothing, carried me to the bed, and dropped me onto the mattress.
I scrambled back until my spine hit the headboard. "Don't touch me! I swear I'll fight, I'll scream, don't even think about it!"
Naeve tilted his head. "You'll fight me?"
"Yes."
"You." He looked me over slowly, from my bare feet to my clenched fists to my face, and his expression shifted to… interest. "With what exactly?"
"With whatever I have."
Naeve didn't move. His gold eyes dropped to my fists, then to the pillow I was clutching against my chest. One corner of his mouth twitched.
"You have a pillow and a bad attitude."
My fingers dug into the fabric. My heart was slamming so hard I was sure he could hear it. Probably could, with whatever monstrous senses came with the wings and the claws and the rest of it.
"Then I'll beat you to death with both!"
He moved so fast the air shifted. One second he was at the foot of the bed. The next his hands were planted on either side of my head, his body over mine, wings spread wide and cutting out the light.
Heat poured off him. His face was inches from mine, and up close the scars looked deeper, the gold in his eyes brighter.
My breath caught and I hated that it wasn't only from fear.
"Still want to fight?" His voice was low and it vibrated through the mattress, through my chest, through places I refused to acknowledge.
Gods, this can't be the wedding night I'm having.
Between Two Monster Husbands
14 Chapters
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