Mag-log inChapter 7
Kai 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 family flanked him like a wall. Kai’s stomach twisted. Riven’s hand stayed firm on the small of his back, steering him forward. The Alpha had dressed him in one of his own shirts—too big, soft, and still carrying Riven’s scent—and nothing underneath. Every step reminded Kai of the come still slowly leaking out of him. He kept his gaze fixed ahead, jaw locked, refusing to look at anyone directly. Whispers started the second they fully stepped into view. Riven didn’t slow down. He walked them straight into the center of the gathered wolves and stopped. His voice carried without effort. “The heat is over. The claim stands.” One of the elders stepped forward, expression carefully neutral. “Alpha. There are concerns regarding the… manner of the claiming. And the Omega’s willingness.” Riven’s fingers flexed against Kai’s back. “He carries my mark. He spent three days locked on my knot. If anyone still questions willingness, they can step forward and smell him.” A low murmur moved through the crowd. The rejected Omega’s father spoke next, voice sharp. “A proper claim is made with agreement. What happened in this clearing was force. The pack has a right to—” “The pack has a right to obey its Alpha,” Riven cut in. His tone remained calm, but the air around him had gone heavy. “Kai is mine. The bond is set. Anyone who wants to challenge that can do it the old way—with teeth and blood. Until then, the discussion is finished.” Silence fell. Kai felt every eye on him. The oversized shirt brushed the tops of his bare thighs. He knew what they were all scenting: sex, claim, and the lingering heat-slick that still hadn’t completely stopped. Shame burned hot under his skin. He wanted to disappear. He wanted to run. He wanted— Riven’s thumb stroked once, slow, over the base of his spine. Through the bond came a pulse of dark, steady possession. Mine. Stay. Kai’s hands curled into fists at his sides. The rejected Omega finally spoke, voice tight with barely controlled anger. “Does he even get a choice? Or did you decide for him the way you decide everything else?” Riven turned his head slightly. His gaze was flat. “He had a choice the moment he tried to walk away from me in the trees. He didn’t make it far.” His hand slid up Kai’s back and settled possessively around the nape of his neck, thumb resting over the claim mark. “He won’t make it far now either.” Kai’s pulse kicked hard against Riven’s fingers. For a second, the clearing felt too small. Too many eyes. Too much scent. The bond between them hummed like a live wire. Kai could feel Riven waiting—not just for the pack’s submission, but for his. He lifted his chin. His voice came out quieter than he wanted, but steady. “I didn’t choose this.” A ripple went through the wolves. Riven’s hand didn’t move from his neck. When he spoke, the words were soft enough that only Kai—and anyone standing very close—could hear the edge beneath them. “Then choose it now.” The entire pack waited. And Kai, sore, marked, and still aching with the memory of every knot, realized the real fight had only just begun.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







