Chapter 5: On Your Knees

The courtyard below fell into a deathly, suffocating silence.

Alpha Brandon stood frozen beneath the balcony, his jaw slack, his eyes wide with utter disbelief as he stared up at me. The sight of me, draped in King Salvatore’s personal black velvet cloak, leaning flush against the Lycan King’s massive frame, with the glowing royal crest burning brightly on my collarbone, seemed to break his mind.

Clara, beside him, let out a choked, hysterical gasp. Her face turned as pale as chalk, her hands trembling violently as she clutched Brandon’s arm. "B-Brandon... her neck... that's the royal mark! How is that possible?!"

Brandon swallowed hard, his throat bobbing as he tried to reconcile the woman he had publicly humiliated last night with the female standing beside the realm’s deadliest monarch.

"Jennifer?" Brandon stammered, his voice lacking every drop of the arrogant authority he had flexed just moments ago. "What... what are you doing up there? Why are you wearing that?"

I didn't answer. I simply stood taller, supported by Salvatore’s heavy arm wrapped securely around my waist, and stared down at him with icy disdain.

Brandon took a half-step forward, panic flushing his neck red. "Your Majesty! You don't understand! This female is Jennifer Sinclair! She was my mate and betrothed to me until last night, when she committed high treason against the Silver Moon Pack and fled! She belongs to my pack. By territorial law, she is my property to punish!"

The air in the courtyard instantly plummeted below freezing.

A dark, lethal pressure erupted from Salvatore. It wasn't just an aura; it was a physical force that hit the courtyard like an invisible sledgehammer. The stone battlements beneath our feet vibrated. The remaining guards standing near Brandon collapsed onto their knees, gasping for air as the sky above us seemed to darken.

Brandon gasped, his knees buckling violently under the crushing weight of Salvatore’s royal bloodline. He slammed both knees onto the cold cobblestones, his claws digging into the dirt as he fought desperately just to keep his head up.

"Property?" Salvatore’s voice dropped to a low, chest-rumbling growl that made the glass in the high palace windows rattle.

He didn't raise his voice, but every single word dripped with ruthless, absolute dominance.

"You stand before my gates, Alpha of a microscopic pack, and dare to address my female as property?" Salvatore sneered, stepping closer to the balcony railing, pulling me along with him so my side was pinned flush against his side.

"Y-Your Majesty-" Brandon choked out, blood dripping from his lip as he struggled against the invisible weight pressing down on his spine. "She is... she was... soft, weak, unfit to be a Luna! She is playing you!"

A dark, cruel chuckle escaped Salvatore’s lips. He didn't care about Brandon's accusations. He didn't care about pack law. His silver eyes gleamed with a wild, possessive hunger as his hand slid down, his broad palm squeezing my curvy waist right in front of them, asserting total ownership.

"Unfit?" Salvatore purred darkly, his rough voice carrying clearly across the silent grounds. "This soft, delicious body was forged by the Goddess specifically to take a Lycan King's weight. She took every drop of my feral heat like a good girl while your pathetic pack couldn't even keep her interest."

Clara dropped to her knees beside Brandon, weeping in terror, unable to withstand the suffocating aura radiating from the balcony.

"She will never set foot on your weak territory again," Salvatore declared, his voice booming over the kneeling wolves like thunder. "She belongs to the Obsidian Reach now. Touch her, speak her name, or look at her curves again, and I will personally rip your spine from your back."

Brandon’s head bowed all the way to the dirt. The utter humiliation in his eyes was glorious. The man who had mocked my body, called me flabby, and tried to destroy me was now begging for breath at my feet.

"Vance," Salvatore ordered coldly.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" the guard commander answered instantly from behind us.

"Throw these dogs out. If any of them raise their eyes before they cross the river, slaughter them."

"At once, my King."

Salvatore didn't wait to watch them crawl away. He turned, wrapping his massive arm around my waist, and effortlessly scooped me up against his chest, carrying me back into the warmth of the palace as the heavy iron gates slammed shut behind us.

He carried me straight down the grand marble hallway, ignoring the bowing guards and stunned servants, until we reached the royal master suite. And all the way, I was in awe of the palace. We had directly climbed the stairs to the balcony earlier when needed to address Brandon, so I couldn't see the palace, but right now I was awestruck by the beauty of the palace.

He kicked the heavy oak doors shut with his boot and carried me over to the massive, velvet-draped bed, setting me down on the edge. The moment my feet touched the floor, my sore legs gave out slightly from the intense night we had shared, but Salvatore caught me by the waist.

He didn't bow to me. He didn't offer sweet, gentle submission. Instead, he crowded into my space, dropping one heavy knee onto the mattress between my thighs, boxing me in completely.

His dark eyes were wild, stormy, and completely consumed by a dark, dangerous fixation. His large, hot hand reached up, gripping my chin firmly, his thumb pressing into my jaw as he tilted my face up.

"That weak little bastard touched you," Salvatore growled, his voice thick with a possessive rage that made my chest tighten. "He had you first."

"He never had me as you did," I breathed out, my heart hammering against my ribs under his intense, suffocating gaze. "He never even marked me."

Salvatore’s eyes flared a striking silver. His hand slid down my neck, his broad fingers resting right over the glowing Lycan mark on my collarbone, digging in just enough to remind me of who owned it now.

"Good," he growled, leaning down until his lips were brushing against mine, his breath scorching my skin. "Because if he had, I would have burned his whole pack to ash today. You're mine now, Jennifer. Every soft inch of your body... every breath you take... it all belongs to me."

He didn't ask what I wanted. He was bound by a wild, feral obsession that made him look at me like an addict staring at his drug.

"You're not going anywhere," Salvatore murmured dangerously, his lips trailing down my jaw to sink his teeth gently into the flesh of my neck, making a quiet gasp escape my throat. "I'm going to lock you in this palace, wrap you in silk, and mark you until everyone in this realm knows who you belong to."

As his teeth grazed my skin, a pulse of dark, icy energy stirred deep within my blood. Beneath the warmth of his mark, my pulse thrummed, a silent voice echoing in the depths of my mind: Let his obsession bind him... until the blood moon crowns you.

I looked up into his dark, crazed eyes, feeling the sheer force of his obsession thrumming through the mark on my chest. I didn't feel weak or trapped. For the first time in two lives, I felt desired by a monster who would burn the world down just to keep me.