All Chapters of Marked by the Alpha: Blood Oath: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

RonanEli sleeps like something wrung out and emptied.His breath is shallow, his body slack across the blankets, streaked with sweat and the aftermath of what we just did. What I just did. And gods help me, I didn’t even take him.I could’ve. I wanted to. I still do.But I didn’t.Instead, I made him come so hard he sobbed, then watched him fall apart in my hands like he was made to be held. And through it all, through every cry and tremble and helpless moan, I never once let myself finish.I’ve never done that before. What the hell is he doing to me? I don’t like it.I sit on the edge of the bed, elbows on my knees, still shirtless, still hard, still wound tight with the lingering edges of rut pressure and scent and the bond gnawing at the cage of my ribs.But all I can look at is him.He’s bruised. Exhausted. His legs are still parted slightly where I forced them open. The bite I left on his neck is

EliI can barely breathe.Not because I can’t. Not because he won’t let me. Because I don’t want to. Because every time I draw in a lungful of air, it smells like him. Like sweat and heat and hunger. Like dominance wrapped in pine and smoke. Like the edge of something sharp, dark, and inevitable.My knees are on the floor. My mouth is full. My brain is static.He groans above me, one hand tangled in my hair, the other braced against the log wall behind him. I’m not good at this. I’ve never done this. But he’s teaching me. And gods, I want to learn. I want to be good for him. I want to be better.He smells like lust. Like control. Like approval when I do something right. And right now, his thighs are trembling ever so slightly. His cock is heavy on my tongue, his hips still except when I bob too shallow and he guides me deeper.“That’s it,” he mutters, voice hoarse. “Keep going. Let me feel that throat tighten around me, little pet.”The praise burns hotter than the bathwater he held

EliJace throws a staff at my head."Catch."I do. Barely. My fingers close around the polished wood just before it smacks me in the nose."Great reflexes," he mutters sarcastically, already pacing back to the line of stacked weapons and picking one out for himself."Next time," I grit out, "I’ll let it hit me."He grins over his shoulder. "No, you won’t. Ronan would lose his shit and haul you out of here."Ronan. Who's looming just outside the training ring, arms crossed and jaw clenched tight enough to crack walnuts on.I haven’t seen him blink once. Every time someone so much as brushes past me, his eyes narrow like he’s deciding whether to kill them now or wait until nightfall. He’s not helping my concentration.I twirl the staff in my hands, trying not to look like the complete amateur I am. I will admit, only to myself, and even then in a whisper, that I was kind of hoping Ronan would train me personally.There are several other trainees, all of them already holding staves and

EliI hate sparring.Or more accurately, I hate getting my ass handed to me in front of half the pack while Jace shouts 'helpful' advice like, 'Use your agility!' and 'Come on, Eli, you're not dead yet!'"Hazel just slammed me into the dirt hard enough to make me see stars, and I’m ninety percent sure there’s a bruise blooming across my ribs in the shape of her elbow.I almost don’t mind, because she didn’t even hesitate. Didn’t flinch. Didn’t treat me like I was fragile or off-limits just because I’m the Alpha’s pet project. It makes for a refreshing change.Or maybe she just hates me. Who could blame her? At least my glowering mate is out of sight.I push myself upright, dirt clinging to my skin, lungs heaving. Jace offers a hand and I glare at it. "Don’t say something motivational.""Wasn’t going to," he says. "Just keeping you from getting buried under all that pride."He’s hilarious.Hazel offers me a nod of respect, which is way more than I deserve, and moves to the edge of the

EliHazel throws her head back and laughs.Not a polite titter or a snide smirk, a real laugh. Bright and shameless, echoing across the training field like she isn’t even remotely afraid of what people think.I like her.She’s the first person here who talks to me like I’m not a ticking time bomb. Or worse, some fragile creature they have to tiptoe around because their Alpha might tear their head off if they look at me too long. Hazel doesn’t care. She’s a Delta with the spine of an Alpha and the mouth of a sailor. It’s refreshing.I grin as I stretch out my sore limbs beside her on the grass. “Tell me again how you knocked me on my ass with one leg?”She shrugs. “Balance, baby. Center of gravity. And your ego is taller than you are.”“Rude.”She winks. “Doesn’t make it not true.”I snort, dragging a hand through my hair. I’m covered in dirt and bruises and blood. I don’t care. For once, I don’t feel like a complete outsider. My body aches, but it’s a good ache.Hazel lies back besid