X4

The pack moved in the second the ink dried. Ryder and Mason claimed the first floor, while Logan has the entire third floor to himself. My suite has its own private bathroom, but what’s actually useful is the double-entry door—it opens to the hallway so guests don't have to track through my personal space if I’m not in the mood for company. Not that anyone needs my facilities; this stone fortress has about twelve of them.

Stepping into the steam, I snag a towel and hook it, then strip out of my shirt and shorts. I leave my underwear in a heap and crank the handle, letting the spray hiss. While the water climbs toward scalding, I scrub my teeth at the double vanity, trying to scour away that thick, lingering film of Northbridge leaf.

I don’t even partake anymore. Not since the academy. I just hope the Alpha realized it was his own stash I used to light the fuse. I’d found it buried in his closet weeks ago while he was at the rink with his father. I knew it would be the perfect catalyst eventually.

Rinsing my mouth, I slide the glass door open and step into the heat. I let the water punish my skin. Closing my eyes, I lean my head back into the stream, soaking my dark hair and letting the tension bleed out.

Flashes of the video strobe behind my eyelids. I imagine dragging Kai into the estate’s heated pool and holding him under until the bubbles stop. How dare he film that. How dare he distribute it to the pack. What was the endgame? Why pull the trigger tonight?

I despise him for it, but my body betrays me, coiling with a familiar, sharp ache just at the memory of that night.

EIGHT WEEKS PRIOR

"Prince?"

I moan as my heavy eyelids flutter open. Kai is looming over me, a shadow in the dim light. I’m wrecked. My frame is still vibrating with an unquenchable need. He wouldn't let me break. I was on the precipice a dozen times downstairs in the Obsidian Shrine, but just as the wave crested, Mason would pull away, leaving me stranded and aching.

Orgasm denial is a psychological torture I have a toxic obsession with.

"Please," I rasped, reaching up to snag his neck, but my limbs hit a hard stop. I tilted my head back, realizing he’d already cinched my wrists to the headboard. I must have lost time—blacked out from the sensory overload. My lips parted in a whimper, and I pulled against the leather, making the heavy frame groan.

"Just where I want you. Bound to my bed and begging." He traced my bottom lip with his thumb, and I didn't hesitate—I sucked it into my mouth, seeking any friction.

"Oh, no." He jerked it free. "You’ll have plenty to work on later."

I let out a frustrated sound, trying to grind my thighs together to soothe the pulse between them. He had every light in the master suite burning, and it stung my exhausted eyes. We were both slick, fresh from the steam. He’d personally scrubbed the scent of the other men off me because I’d been too weak to stand.

He dropped his head to my chest, his teeth grazing my nipple.

I arched off the mattress. This wasn't the first time I’d been taken by the Alpha’s son. This has been our secret war for years. I’d gone out with Sienna that night, and we’d both ended up trashed. An Uber dumped me at the gates, and I’d stumbled through the estate only to find him and the pack in the shrine. I can’t even recall the exact words exchanged or how the shift happened, but I ended up on my knees, wrists bound by his weighted belt. I stopped asking how years ago.

If Kai demands it, he takes it. If I crave it, he ensures I pay the price for it. It’s the rhythm of our lives.

"Kai, please. I need to break."

He released my skin and crawled down my body. Seizing my thighs, he hooked them over his broad shoulders.

"Fuck—yes." I surged upward, the tears finally blurring my vision.

He cracked a hand across my thigh, the sound echoing. "You’re so goddamn greedy," he growled before his tongue replaced the sting.

I was ready to shatter. My pulse was a frantic rhythm, I was soaked, and I would have traded my soul for release at that moment.

"I’ll let you go, Prince." He bit into my inner thigh, and I tried to buck my hips, trying to force his mouth where I needed it.

He sank his fangs into the sensitive skin, making me roar against the restraints. Releasing me, he licked the burning mark with agonizing slowness. "And after you break all over my face, you’re going to clean me up. Do you understand?"

I nodded, squirming against the leather. "Yes."

Another bite, this one on my hip bone, and I snarled at him like a cornered animal. "And you’re going to thank me for the privilege."

Another frantic yes. Or maybe I just thought it. The world was dissolving into white static.

"Then I’m going to use your mouth until I’m finished. You’ll thank me for that, too."

"Anything." My hips bucked as he drove a finger inside me.

"We’re going to loop this, Prince." He added a second finger, and my breath hitched, stuck in my throat. My body was pulled tauter than a bowstring. "Until you literally can't stay awake."

That night was the most exquisite form of ruin. He kept his word. I passed out in his silk sheets at some point and woke up in my own bed the next morning. I didn't move for twenty-four hours. My limbs were lead, my mind a fog of dopamine. I knew I’d never touch that peak again.

Keeping my eyes shut in the shower, I slide my hand down between my legs. I start to work on myself, the memory of that night fueling the fire. Ethan didn't even come close to touching the sides earlier, so I have to finish the job myself.

A sudden shift in the air makes my eyes snap open. I go to scream, but a heavy, damp hand claps over my mouth, pinning me against the tile.

KAI

"HEY, PRINCE," I murmur, watching his eyes narrow into lethal slits.

His palms strike my bare chest, and I take a deliberate step back, dropping my hand from his mouth now that the shock has passed. The steam swirls between us.

"What the hell, Kai?" He shoves me, trying to shoulder his way out of the stall. I snag his upper arm, my grip like iron, keeping him pinned inside the glass.

"Get out!" he snaps, spinning to glare at me, his soaked hair clinging to his face.

"No."

He lets out a sharp, angry breath. "Coming to punish me for the car? Is that the play?"

I let out a low chuckle. I’ve had a few hours to simmer down since his little pyrotechnic display. The whiskey and the hit Logan gave me helped dull the edge of my rage. Now, the only thing left is the hunger, and Lila was a hollow substitute. The second I saw Cain standing at my door earlier, I knew who I actually wanted. I didn't even finish with her. Once she got hers, I sent her packing. Cain has ruined me for anyone else. They’re predictable. They’re boring.

"Not yet," I answer, my voice dropping an octave as I look him over. "The punishment comes later."