Chapter 5

Chapter 5

By the time the second knot went down, Kai’s body felt like it no longer belonged to him.

He lay on his side in the ruined furs, thighs sticky, hole sore and still leaking slow pulses of come every time he shifted. The claim mark on his neck throbbed in time with his heartbeat. Through the bond he could feel Riven’s steady, dark satisfaction—like the Alpha was already certain he had won.

Riven left the bed only long enough to bring water and a damp cloth. He didn’t ask permission. He simply sat on the edge of the mattress, pulled Kai between his spread thighs, and began cleaning him with slow, thorough strokes. The cloth dragged over sensitive skin, over the swollen rim of his hole, over the soft curve of his stomach where come had dried. Kai flinched every time, but he didn’t have the strength to pull away.

“You’re quiet,” Riven said.

Kai kept his eyes on the far wall. “What do you want me to say?”

“That you understand what this is.” Riven’s hand stilled on his thigh. “You’re mine now. Not for the heat. Not until the pack calms down. Permanently.”

Before Kai could answer, a sharp knock sounded at the den door.

Riven’s entire body went still. The temperature in the room seemed to drop. He set the cloth aside, stood, and pulled on a pair of loose black pants that did nothing to hide the heavy shape of him. Then he looked down at Kai, still naked and marked and messy on the bed.

“Stay there. Do not cover yourself.”

Kai’s face burned. “Riven—”

“I want whoever is on the other side of that door to smell exactly what I’ve done to you.”

He crossed the den and pulled the door open only wide enough to fill the frame with his body. On the other side stood one of the senior betas, eyes carefully lowered, posture rigid.

“Alpha. The elders request an audience. The rejected Omega’s family is… not accepting the decision. There is talk of challenging the claim.”

Riven’s voice came out soft and lethal.

“There is nothing to challenge. The claim is complete. The mark is set. He carries my scent and my come. Anyone who wants to question it can do so to my face.”

The beta hesitated. “They are asking to see the Omega. To confirm he was not forced.”

Riven laughed once, low and humorless. He stepped aside just enough for the beta to catch a clear view of the bed—of Kai naked in the furs, thighs still shiny, claim mark dark against his throat, the unmistakable evidence of multiple knotting still leaking out of him.

The beta’s eyes widened. He looked away at once.

Riven’s tone dropped even lower. “Does that look forced to you?”

“No, Alpha.”

“Good. Tell the elders the next person who comes to my door during my mate’s heat will not walk away from it. The claim stands. If the rejected family wants a fight, I will give them one after I finish breeding my Omega.”

He shut the door in the beta’s face without another word.

When he turned back, the heat in his eyes had changed. It was sharper now. Hungrier. The interruption had not cooled him. It had only reminded him that the pack still thought they had a say.

Riven stripped the pants off again and climbed back onto the bed. Kai tried to sit up. Riven simply pushed him down with a hand on his soft chest and settled between his thighs.

“They wanted to see if you were forced,” Riven murmured, already lining up. “So I’ll make sure the entire den smells like you came on my cock again.”

He pushed in with one long, relentless thrust.

Kai’s head fell back against the furs, a broken moan tearing from his throat. He was still sensitive from the last two knots, and the stretch made his eyes water. Riven didn’t ease him into it. He fucked him with deep, punishing strokes, one hand locked around Kai’s jaw so he couldn’t turn away.

“You’re going to come for me,” Riven growled against his mouth. “Loud enough that if anyone is still outside, they’ll hear it. Then I’m going to knot you and keep you locked while the bond settles further. Clear?”

Kai’s only answer was a shattered sound as Riven’s cock dragged over the swollen place inside him.

The Alpha’s rhythm turned brutal. The wet slap of skin on skin filled the den. Every thrust forced more of the earlier mess out of Kai’s hole, making the filthy sounds even louder. Riven’s hand slid down between them and wrapped around Kai’s cock, stroking him in time with his hips.

“Come,” he ordered. “Now.”

Kai broke with a cry that was half sob. His body clamped down hard, and Riven snarled, driving his swelling knot past the tight rim with one final, forceful shove. The lock caught. Hot come flooded into Kai in thick pulses while the Alpha held him down and bit the claim mark again, not hard enough to reopen it, just enough to remind him who he belonged to.

They stayed locked, breathing hard.

Riven’s mouth brushed Kai’s temple, almost gentle now that the knot was seated.

“Let them talk,” he said quietly. “By the time I walk you out of this den, every wolf in the pack will know exactly who you belong to. And if anyone still wants to challenge it…” His arm tightened around Kai’s soft middle. “I’ll remind them why no one touches what is mine.”

Outside the den, the forest was quiet again.

Inside, the Alpha’s knot pulsed deep, and Kai—claimed, filled, and already feeling the next wave of heat stirring—could only close his eyes and try to remember how to breathe.