Mag-log inChapter 2
My pulse thundered in my ears. I hadn't even recovered from Magnus's mark, and now Daemon loomed in front of me like a predator circling wounded prey. In a single motion, his arm hooked around my waist, jerking me against him. His grip was cruel, forcing my body flush against the hard planes of his chest. I could feel every inch of him—the coiled strength, the heat, the unmistakable hardness pressing against my stomach. Before I could catch my breath, his lips brushed my neck—right over the tender spot where Magnus had bitten me. Then white-hot pain flared as his fangs sank deeper, reopening the wound. I cried out, the sound halfway between agony and something shameful. My knees buckled as heat pooled between my thighs despite the pain—or maybe because of it. *Just one more, Emerald. Just one more.* Daemon growled against my throat, the vibration sending shivers straight to my core. He savored the bite, his tongue lapping at the blood before tearing away. Then his mouth devoured mine in a bruising, merciless kiss. Our blood mingled, the metallic tang burning into every nerve as his tongue dominated mine. His hand slid lower to grip my hip, fingers digging in hard enough to bruise. I could feel his thick arousal pressed against me. The knowledge that he wanted me—that they all would take me—sent terror and dark anticipation coursing through my veins. When he finally pulled back, I was gasping, lightheaded. Daemon dragged his thumb across his mouth, wiping away blood. His eyes glinted with hunger and cruel amusement, promising he would enjoy breaking me piece by piece. Tonight. And my traitorous body would welcome it. The oracle's voice rose again as the next Alpha stepped forward. Alpha Cassian. Our eyes locked, and I nearly staggered. His sharp brown eyes brimmed with loathing as they dragged over me like I was filth. Yet beneath the disgust lurked something darker—the way his jaw clenched, the tension in his shoulders, how his gaze lingered too long on my lips, my throat, my breasts. He hated me, but he wanted me too. And that made him furious. "Do you, Emerald Ukilah, offer your body and soul, with everything you possess, to Alpha Cassian Ravencourt?" "…I do." "And do you vow to be a submissive wife all the days of your life?" His eyes mocked me, daring me to falter. "I do." "And do you, Alpha Cassian Ravencourt, take Emerald Ukilah as your wife and soulmate?" "I do." A threat, not a vow. "You may now seal the bond with the Soul-Tie Kiss." Cassian closed the distance in one predatory stride. His hand clamped brutally around my jaw, forcing my face up. His grip was iron, painful, possessive. His lips brushed my neck—right over the raw wounds his brothers had left. Before I could brace, his fangs sank in mercilessly deep. A strangled cry tore from my throat. Pain exploded sharper, crueler than before. But underneath was pleasure so intense it terrified me. My vision blurred as blood rushed hot down my skin. I felt myself getting wetter, my body preparing for what was to come, and the shame brought tears to my eyes. When Cassian pulled back, his eyes burned with cold disdain and dark satisfaction. Then his mouth crushed against mine. It wasn't a kiss—it was a conquest. Harsh, suffocating, blood mixing as he forced his will through mine. His hand fisted in my hair, yanking my head back. His other hand gripped my hip, pulling me against the thick, hard length of him. They all wanted me. And tonight, they would all have me. I shuddered, shaking so hard my knees gave way. He held me upright, refusing to let me collapse. When he finally released me, I was gasping, my lips swollen and throbbing, the world spinning. His hot breath ghosted across my neck, trailing goosebumps down to my breasts, my nipples hardening beneath my gown. "Welcome to your new life, Kitten," he murmured, his voice a dark promise. "I hope you're as excited as I am for this ride." I bit my lip to keep it from trembling. But his fingers suddenly closed around my throat. My breath caught as my eyes widened in panic. His gaze never wavered—cold, pitiless. The pressure was carefully controlled, enough to terrify, enough to make me lightheaded. Yet. "Fucking answer me," he murmured, dangerous, vibrating against my skin. "Are you excited, Kitten?" Tears pricked my eyes as I choked out, "Ye… yes, Alpha." His lips curved cruelly. "Good girl." His grip loosened just enough for me to drag in a desperate breath. "Because tonight, you belong to all three of us. And we're going to teach you exactly what it means to be our wife." He released me suddenly, and I stumbled. Only Magnus's steadying hand kept me upright. The ceremony was over. The bonds were sealed. And now, the real ordeal was about to begin. The three Alphas exchanged glances—some silent communication I couldn't decipher. Then Magnus's hand slid possessively around my waist. "Let's take our wife home," he said, his voice a dark rumble that sent heat pooling low in my belly. As they led me from the altar, my family's satisfied faces blurring around me, I felt the weight of three claiming marks burning on my throat and the unmistakable slickness between my thighs. Tonight, I would learn what it truly meant to belong to the Triplet Alphas. And some terrified, awakening part of me couldn't wait."Look at me," he said, echoing his own words from that first night, except this time there was nothing clinical in it at all.I did. His eyes held mine, dark and unguarded, and when he started moving it was with a rhythm that built slow and steady, deep enough to steal my breath, his hand finding mine on the sheets and lacing our fingers together without seeming to think about it."Ezra," I gasped, and this time he didn't tell me not to say it."Say it again.""Ezra—"He kissed me hard, swallowing the sound, his hips picking up speed, and I felt the second orgasm building faster than I expected, driven by the way he kept watching my face like he was memorizing it, like this was something he wanted to remember on purpose instead of something he was trying to forget the moment it ended."I've got you," he said, rough, his thrusts turning deeper, more desperate. "Let go. I've got you."I did. The orgasm broke through me hard, my whole body shaking under him, and he followed almost immedi
"No," I said honestly. "But I don't want you to stop."Something broke behind his eyes at that, some final thread of resistance giving out, and he kissed me the way he had the first night — hard, consuming — except this time there was nowhere else for either of us to look, no brothers to perform for, no audience to prove anything to. It was just the two of us, and the way his hands shook slightly against my skin like he was fighting something even as he gave in to it.He undressed me slow this time, despite what he'd said, his mouth following his hands down my throat, my collarbone, pausing at every mark his brothers had left like he was taking inventory of exactly what this house had already done to me. When he reached my hip, where Roman's grip had bruised dark the night before, he stopped completely, his thumb tracing the edge of it with a tenderness that had nothing to do with the rough words he'd just used to warn me off."Ezra.""Don't," he said, voice rough. "Don't say my name
Nobody stopped me when I got up. Roman and Silas were still tangled in whatever silent argument Ezra's words had started, and I used the confusion to pull my robe back on and slip past all three of them into the hallway.I didn't go back to my room.I went looking for him.I told myself it was about the words he'd said — *she deserves to know* — that I needed to find him before he changed his mind, before his brothers talked him back into silence the way they seemed to talk each other into everything in this house. But some other part of me, quieter and more honest, knew it wasn't only that. It was the way he'd looked at me in that doorway. Like grief. Like a man who'd already decided something was going to cost him and had stopped trying to talk himself out of paying it.I found his room by process of elimination, three doors down from mine, light spilling out from under it. I didn't knock. I just pushed it open.He was standing by the window, same as always, shirt half undone like h
Silas's hand landed on my shoulder, turning me half out of Roman's grip, and for the first time since the auction I felt real friction between them — not brothers sharing something, but two men each trying to prove they wanted it more."You had her first this morning," Silas said to Roman, voice tight. "Move.""She's not a rotation, Silas.""No," Silas said, "she's not," and pulled me the rest of the way toward him, his mouth crashing down on mine with none of the control from our first night, something hungrier and less measured driving him now.I gasped into the kiss, my hands finding his shirt, and behind me I felt Roman's hands at my waist, not stepping back, not conceding anything, his mouth finding the curve of my neck while Silas kissed me like he was trying to erase whatever Damian's visit had stirred up in him."Bedroom," Roman said against my skin, rough. "Now."They didn't wait for an answer. Roman's hands guided me while Silas kept one hand fisted loose in my hair, and som
The dinner guest arrived at seven, and I wasn't told his name until he was already standing in the doorway of the dining room, looking at me like he already knew mine."Ivy," Roman said, one hand at the small of my back, steering me toward the table like I was something he was presenting rather than someone walking in on her own legs. "This is Damian Voss. Old family friend."Damian Voss didn't look like a friend. He looked at me the way Roman had looked at me on that stage — cataloging, assessing — except there was something colder in it, something that made my skin crawl in a way none of the brothers had managed yet."So this is her," he said, not to me, to Roman, like I wasn't standing right there. "I have to say, I'm impressed. I didn't think you'd actually go through with it.""Go through with what?" I asked, before I could stop myself.Silas's eyes cut to me sharply from across the table. A warning. I ignored it.Damian smiled, slow, and it didn't reach his eyes at all. "The bid
Something flashed in his eyes — anger, maybe, or the closest thing to jealousy I'd seen from him. "That's different. They're mine too, in a way. Nobody outside this family gets to have an opinion about you that I haven't given them permission to have."He pulled me flush against him, and I felt exactly how much this conversation had affected him, hard and insistent against me, and despite everything — despite the fear, despite the strange cruelty of his logic..my body responded anyway, arching into him without my permission."Tell me you're mine," he said, voice rough against my ear, his hand sliding down between us. "Say it.""I don't have a choice," I gasped, as his fingers found exactly where I was already aching for him. "You know I don't have a choice.""That's not what I asked." His fingers worked harder, and I felt my resistance crumbling fast, my hips moving against his hand despite every part of me that wanted to hate this. "Say it like you mean it.""I'm yours," I breathed,







