LOGINChapter 6
The third knot lasted longer than the others. Kai lay trapped against Riven’s chest, every slow breath making the thick lock inside him tug. The den was quiet except for the sound of their breathing and the occasional drip of water from the cloth Riven had discarded earlier. Outside, morning had fully arrived. Light leaked under the heavy door. Kai’s mind felt clearer than it had in hours. The worst of the heat had finally loosened its grip, leaving behind a deep, aching soreness and the heavy awareness of exactly how thoroughly he had been used. He shifted. Riven’s arm tightened instantly around his waist. “Don’t,” the Alpha said against the back of his neck. His voice was still rough. “Knot’s still locked.” “I know.” Kai stared at the far wall. “I can feel it.” Silence stretched. Through the bond he could sense Riven’s contentment—low, steady, almost smug. It made something sharp twist in Kai’s chest. “This doesn’t change anything,” Kai said quietly. “When the heat ends, I’m leaving the den.” Riven’s body went still behind him. “No.” “You can’t keep me here forever.” “I can.” Riven’s hand slid up and covered the claim mark on Kai’s throat, pressing lightly over the bruised skin. “This says I can. The pack already knows it. Your body knows it. The only one still arguing is you.” Kai’s fingers curled into the furs. “I never asked for this. You dragged me in front of everyone, bit me, and decided I belonged to you because my scent got under your skin. That isn’t a reason. That’s instinct.” Riven’s hips rolled in a small, deliberate circle. The movement dragged the knot against sensitive walls and forced a broken sound out of Kai’s throat before he could stop it. “Instinct is the only reason that matters to an Alpha,” Riven murmured. “You can hate it. You can fight it. But every time I push inside you, your hole opens for me like it was waiting. Every time I knot you, you come so hard you shake. That isn’t nothing, Kai.” “It’s biology,” Kai shot back, voice tight. “It doesn’t mean I want you.” Riven was quiet for a long moment. Then he spoke, low and final. “Then learn to want what you already have. Because I’m not releasing the claim. I’m not sending you back to that empty little room you used to hide in. And the next time you tell me you’re leaving, I’ll bend you over and remind you exactly who you belong to until the words stop coming out of your mouth.” The knot finally began to soften. Riven eased out of him with a wet sound. A thick rush of come followed, spilling down Kai’s thighs. The sudden emptiness made his stomach clench. He tried to roll away, but Riven caught his hip and flipped him onto his back in one smooth motion. The Alpha braced himself over Kai, eyes dark and unreadable. “Heat’s breaking,” Riven said. “But you’re still producing slick. One more wave at least.” His gaze dropped to the mess between Kai’s legs—swollen rim, shiny thighs, the soft curve of his stomach still marked by Riven’s handprints. “I’m going to take it. And when it’s over, you’re going to walk out of this den at my side so the entire pack can see what a claimed Omega looks like.” Kai’s throat worked. “And if I refuse?” Riven’s mouth curved, slow and dangerous. “Then I’ll carry you.” He leaned down and kissed the claim mark, teeth grazing the sensitive skin. Kai’s body betrayed him again—another slow pulse of slick, another unwanted shiver. Riven noticed. Of course he did. “There it is,” he said against Kai’s throat. “Still fighting. Still wet for me anyway.” He reached down, guided himself back to Kai’s entrance, and pushed in with one long, unhurried thrust. Kai’s back arched, a helpless sound tearing from his chest. The stretch was familiar now, almost worse because of it—his body already softening, already accepting. Riven set a deep, steady rhythm, eyes locked on Kai’s face the entire time. “Hate me if you need to,” he said, voice rough. “Curse me. Fight me. But this—” he drove in harder, making Kai gasp, “—this is yours now. And I’m not giving it back.” Outside the den, the pack waited. Inside, Kai closed his eyes and tried—again—not to give the Alpha the satisfaction of another broken moan.Chapter 12The attack came at dusk.I was in the Alpha’s den when the first howl cut through the air—high, sharp, and wrong. Not a pack call. Not a warning between Blackthorn wolves. This one carried the ragged edge of aggression, and it was close.Riven was already moving before the second howl sounded. He crossed the den in three strides, grabbed the knife belt he kept near the door, and looked at me once.“Stay inside. Bar the door. Do not open it for anyone but me.”“What’s happening?”“Border breach.” His voice was flat, already shifting into the cold focus he used when something needed killing. “Rival scouts, maybe more. They’ve been testing us since the claim. Looks like they finally decided to push.”The bond between us surged with his tension. I felt the spike of protective fury as clearly as if it were my own. Before I could say anything else, he was gone—out the door and into the gathering dark, already calling orders in a voice that carried across the grounds.I barred the
Chapter 11The first thing I noticed was the silence.It wasn’t complete—wolves still moved, still spoke in low voices—but the second Riven and I stepped fully into the open, conversations dipped. Heads turned. Scents shifted. I felt the weight of their attention like hands on my skin.Riven’s palm stayed firm on the back of my neck, thumb resting over the claim mark. He walked like nothing in the world could touch him. I walked like every step might crack me open.I kept my eyes forward.It didn’t help.I could still feel yesterday’s choice sitting in my chest like a stone. The words I had said in front of everyone. The way I had stepped toward him instead of away. The memory made my stomach tight. Worse was the bond—warm, steady, and constantly feeding me pieces of Riven’s mood. Right now it carried calm certainty. Possession. A quiet, dangerous satisfaction that he had me out here beside him.I hated that part of me responded to it.We passed the training grounds first. A group of
Chapter 10The heat was gone.I knew it the second I opened my eyes. The constant, low-grade fire under my skin had finally burned out, leaving only soreness and the heavy, undeniable evidence of everything Riven had done to me. My body felt used. Stretched. Marked. The claim on my neck pulsed with a dull ache, and when I shifted under the furs, a slow trickle of his come slipped out of me.I was alone in the bed.For a moment I just lay there, staring at the ceiling of the Alpha’s den, and tried to decide whether the quiet was a mercy or a threat. The bond was still there—steady, warm, possessive—but Riven’s actual presence was missing. I could feel him somewhere nearby, not far, but not watching me for once.I sat up slowly.Every muscle protested. My thighs were bruised. My hole felt swollen and sensitive. The oversized shirt he had put on me yesterday was gone; I was completely bare under the furs. His scent clung to my skin like a second claim.I hated how natural it already felt
Chapter 9I could still feel the shape of him inside me.Even after the knot had gone down and Riven had finally pulled out, my body refused to forget. Every time I shifted on the furs, a dull, deep ache reminded me exactly how long he had kept me locked against that door. His come was still leaking out of me in slow, humiliating trickles. The claim mark on my neck throbbed in time with my pulse, hot and tender.I stared at the ceiling of the Alpha’s den and tried to remember how to hate him properly.It shouldn’t have been this hard.I had spent years carefully existing on the edges of the pack—quiet, forgettable, safe. I had taken suppressants until my hands shook. I had planned for a life where no one ever looked at me too long. And then Riven Blackthorn scented me, dragged me into the firelight, and rewrote everything with his teeth and his cock like my plans had never mattered.The worst part was the choice.I had stood in front of the entire pack and stepped toward him. I had sa
Chapter 8Riven did not raise his voice.He didn’t need to.The moment the words left Kai’s mouth—I didn’t choose this—the air in the clearing changed. Conversations died. Even the rejected Omega’s family went still. Every wolf present felt the shift in their Alpha’s energy: the sudden, lethal quiet that always came before Riven decided someone had pushed too far.His hand stayed on the back of Kai’s neck, thumb resting over the claim mark like a warning.“Say that again,” Riven said, soft enough that it should not have carried. It did.Kai’s pulse slammed against Riven’s fingers. He could feel the pack’s attention pressing in from every side. The oversized shirt clung to his skin. Come and slick had dried sticky between his thighs. He was sore, marked, and still carrying the unmistakable scent of three days locked on the Alpha’s knot. And still, the stubborn, furious part of him refused to look down.“I didn’t choose this,” Kai repeated, louder this time. “You decided. You bit me. Yo
Chapter 7Kai could still feel him.Even after Riven had finally pulled out and cleaned the worst of the mess from his thighs, the ghost of the Alpha’s knot lingered inside him—an ache that pulsed every time he took a step. The claim mark on his neck throbbed in time with his heartbeat. Through the bond, Riven’s presence sat heavy and constant, like a hand wrapped around the back of his ribs.He hated it.He hated how his body still felt open. He hated that his skin carried Riven’s scent so thoroughly that even he could smell it. Most of all, he hated the small, traitorous part of him that had gone quiet the moment Riven’s arm settled around his waist.“Walk,” Riven said.The den door opened.Morning light hit Kai’s face. The clearing in front of the Alpha’s den was not empty. Word had spread. Wolves stood in loose clusters—elders, betas, a few younger pack members who hadn’t bothered to hide their curiosity. At the front stood the Omega Riven had rejected, chin high, eyes cold. His f







