CLAIMED IN FRONT OF EVERYONE

The drums hammered louder, matching the fear pounding in my skull.

I stayed on my knees, my ribs throbbing from the kick Ben had landed when I twisted away from his hands. The silver chain around my throat pulled tighter with every breath. Brian stood on the dais like a king, arms raised to silence the crowd.

“Tonight we celebrate new bonds,” he shouted. “My son Ben will claim his prize. The wolfless daughter of a dead alpha. Watch closely. This is how Crescent Pack handles the weak.”

Cheers exploded around me. My stomach twisted so hard I tasted bile.

Ben grabbed my hair and yanked me up. “Get up, bitch. Time to show everyone what you were born for.”

Dozens of eyes stripped me bare before he even touched me. Whispers and laughs slithered through the air like knives.

“Strip her down a little,” someone yelled. “Let us see the goods before you ruin her.”

Ben laughed and spun me to face the crowd. His hands roamed over my breasts, squeezing hard enough to bruise. “Patience. You’ll see everything soon enough.”

I twisted in his grip. “Get your filthy hands off me.”

He slapped me across the face and blood filled my mouth. “You don’t get to say no anymore. You’re mine.”

He shoved me onto my back on the rough wooden platform. The crowd pressed closer, their eyes gleaming with hunger.

Brian leaned down, his voice low so only I could hear. “Be a good girl and scream pretty for us. If you fight too much, I’ll let every male here take a turn after Ben finishes.”

I glared straight into his eyes. “I hope you choke on your own dick one day.”

His face twisted with fury and lust. He straightened and nodded at Ben. “Do it, son. Mark her completely. Claim what’s yours.”

Ben climbed on top of me, pinning my wrists above my head with one hand. His other hand yanked the front of my gown down, exposing my neck completely to the cold night and hundreds of watching eyes.

“Finally,” he growled, fangs already dropping. “Six months I’ve waited for this. I’m going to sink my teeth so deep the whole pack will feel it.”

I bucked hard, trying to throw him off. “I’d rather die than wear your mark.”

He laughed darkly and forced my head to the side with his knee. “Keep fighting. It makes the mark sweeter.”

His free hand gripped my jaw, with nails digging in. “Look at me while I claim you. I want to see the exact moment your worthless blood knows it belongs to me.”

I turned my head to the side, searching the flames for the dark-haired stranger.

But he was gone.

Ben grabbed my chin and forced my face back to his. “Eyes on me while I own you forever.”

And then he struck.

His fangs tore into the side of my neck like hot iron. Pain ripped through me worse than any beating they had ever given. It wasn’t just teeth in skin. It was fire pouring straight into my veins. Invisible claws were ripping my soul open from the inside.

I cried out, in pain. My back arched off the platform. The mark burned deeper, it felt like my body was rejecting the false bond and lost.

The crowd roared their approval.

Ben kept his mouth locked on my neck, sucking hard, making sure the mark took. “Feel that, wolfless? That’s me carving my name into your blood. Scream louder, Catherine.”

Tears burned behind my eyes but I refused to let them fall. “You’re nothing,” I gasped between the waves of pain that made my vision white out. “A weak boy hiding behind your father’s name. This mark will never hold.”

He snarled against my skin and bit deeper, grinding his fangs until fresh blood poured down my collarbone. “It holds now. I own every inch of you. Say it. Say you belong to me.”

The pain twisted sharper, like my suppressed wolf was clawing to get out and dying in the attempt. My chest heaved. Every heartbeat sent fresh fire through the bite. “I belong to no one.”

He laughed into the wound, the sound vibrating through bone. “Wrong. You’re Crescent property now. Your body is already learning who its master is.”

The platform creaked under us. Some cheered. Some shouted crude encouragement.

“Harder!”

“Make her feel it!”

“Break the wolfless whore!”

I whispered to myself, “You will all pay for this.”

Ben finally pulled back, lips smeared with my blood. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked down at me like I was already ruined. “Marked and claimed,” he announced loudly, voice carrying over the drums. “She’s officially Crescent property now.”