NIKOLAI HE WANTED TO to leave.The thought circled in my head over and fucking over until it sank into my bones, twisting through me like a sickness, a goddamn obsession. All I could think about was tying him down, chaining him to the fucking bedpost if thatâs what it took to keep him here.I yanked at my tie, pulling the damn thing loose until it slipped from my fingers, landing somewhere on the floor.He wasnât leaving. I wouldnât fucking let him. Not when I had finally acceptedâfinally fucking acceptedâthat I wanted him.My hand twitched at my cheek, my jaw tight, my chest aching with the need to own him, to make him mine, to fucking possess him. The thought had me exhaling sharply, shaking my head, because for the first time, I wasnât sure who the real animal was between us.âPakhan?âAndreiâs voice pulled me from my thoughts, and I hadnât even noticed when he walked in.I lifted my gaze to him, my expression sharp. âWhat the fuck happened to your face?âHis hand twitched, like h
NIKOLAIMY FINGERS CURLED around the gun before I was even fully awake, instincts kicking in before reason as I forced myself through the last haze of sleep. Something was off. Someone was too close. Watching.I sat up fast, muscles tight, gun already aimed, my finger poised over the triggerâready to put a bullet between their eyesâuntil I saw who it was.Boris. My grip tightened, jaw locking as I breathed through the sharp rush of adrenaline. I didnât lower the gun. I could still pull the trigger. I wanted to. âNow, now, Nikolai.â His voice was too smooth, too fucking amused for someone who had just walked into my bedroom uninvited. âDonât tell me you plan on shooting your own Batya.âThe light flicked on, too bright, too harsh, and I swore under my breath, dragging a hand over my face as I adjusted to it. He was smiling. That slow, knowing smirk that made my skin crawl.I reached for the sheets without looking, pulling them up over Claudeâs back, covering him before he could wake
CLAUDEâYOU CAN LEAVE.âThe words didnât make sense.I blinked at Nikolai from where I sat on the bed, my head still hazy, heavy, like Iâd been drowning in a dream for too long. My body felt sluggish, my limbs heavy by sleep that shouldnât have lasted this long. Even when I looked out the window, the sky was dark. A full dayâIâd slept for a full day.But that wasnât what made my chest go tight.It wasnât the exhaustion, the disorientation.It was him.Standing there, hands shoved into his pockets, looking around his own bedroom like he was seeing it for the first time. Like he didnât recognize it. Like he didnât recognize me.âNikolaiâĶâ My voice was hoarse, my throat tight. âWhy?âI shouldnât have asked. I should have just taken my chance, grabbed my things, and gone. Iâd been telling him that I needed to leave. That I had to leave. Go back to my pack, to my family.But I never thought heâd let me go.Not like this.Not when just last night, he had held me so tight, his breath warm ag
CLAUDE I COULD TELL something was wrong the moment they told me to step out of the car. The way they moved, the way they avoided my gazeâit was all wrong.Youâre being detained. Shit.So here I was, pacing in a small, dimly lit room, waiting for something to happen, and I knew exactly what that something would beâmy father.My jaw clenched as I turned to the two men standing guard. "Why are you holding me here when I should be on my way back to my pack?" My voice came out sharp, a growl filled with frustration.They exchanged a glance before one of them finally spoke. "Youâve been reported missingâ"My heart dropped."By the Alpha of Rising Moon Pack."Of course.I dragged a hand over my face, trying to keep calm. With what had happened the last time, of course he would be worried, but I didnât think he would actually report me missing. Not when he was the kind of man who preferred handling things alone.I didnât know how long I sat there, pacing, waiting, feeling the minutes stretc
CLAUDEI PRESSED MY palm flat against my tie, smoothing out invisible wrinkles as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. My own eyes looked foreignâempty, like Iâd already been hollowed out.A sigh slipped from my lips. Too quiet. Too weak. I clenched my jaw, forcing my expression into something passable before turning away to my nightstand. My fingers curled around the drawer handle pulling open the drawer.Lupenol. The small, familiar bottle sat at the top, right where Iâd left it. I picked it up, rolling it between my fingers before twisting the cap off.It wasnât real medicineânot even registered. Just something my father forced on me, a chemical solution to my problem. The first time Iâd asked where they came from, I was nine. Heâd ignored me. By the time I was twelve, Iâd stopped asking altogether.Now, I just swallowed.The pills hit the back of my throat, bitter as always. I didnât bother chasing them with water, just shoved the bottle back into the drawer and slammed it sh
NIKOLAITHE BASTARD WASNâT even shaking.His hands were tied behind his back, knees pressed into the cold concrete, a gun to his skullâand he still had the audacity to look me in the eye.I shouldâve killed him already. The second they dropped him in front of meâblindfolded, gaggedâI shouldâve pulled the trigger. But I didnât. Not yet. Because I wanted him to see me. I wanted him to know exactly who was taking his last breath.âYouâre quiet,â he rasped, his voice barely recognizable after the screaming. âExpected more from you.âI crouched in front of him, tilting my head. âLike what?ââA speech.â His mouth twisted into something that mightâve been a smirk if his face werenât so fucked up. âSomething poetic. Revenge always brings out the theatrics in men like us.âI let the silence hang between us for a moment, just staring at him. Then I smiledâbarely, but enough to show him I wasnât fazed.âHe was weak,â he spat. âWouldâve never made it in this world, and you know it.âThe word hit
CLAUDEIT WAS TIME.My stomach churned, tightened, and I had to swallow the bile rising from the pit of my stomach.A week. Thatâs all it took for them to prepare for this damned mating ceremony. Held right under the full moon, at the heart of the pack, like some kind of joke.The whole pack was buzzing, full of excitement, but for me? This felt like my funeral.âI can smell your nervousness, Claude,â my fatherâs voice broke through the fog of my thoughts and I flinched, but I didnât bother to glance at him. I just kept watching the world blur past me.The car screeched to a stop in front of the packhouse. I didnât waste a second, throwing open the door and stepping into the cool night air, my feet hit the earth with a soft thud.Around us, I could hear everythingâthe chattering voices, the sizzling meat somewhere in the distance, the heavy buzz of excitement.My father stood beside me as we both stared at the double doors of the packhouse. He sighed, like he had something wise to say
CLAUDEHOW LONG HAD it been since I mated my mate? Three months? Four? Fuck, I wasnât even sure anymore. Time blurred when every day felt like this, a cycle I couldnât break no matter how much I wanted to.On the surface, everything was going well. The pack was thriving, stronger than ever. Since my mating with Ava, our lands had merged, resources had doubled, and we had secured our place among the top ten most powerful packs in the world. The borders that once separated us had been brought down, our people moving freely between both territories, the unity strengthening us in ways I couldnât deny.But none of it meant anything to me.Being mated to Ava was hell. Every chance she got, she tried to pull me into bed, her hands wandering even when I made it clear I didnât want her touch. She tried to mark me, tried to get me to mark her, her heat rolling off her in waves like it was some kind of weapon meant to force me into submission. It was suffocating, and no matter how many times I
CLAUDE MY WHOLE BODY ached, and a grunt left my lips as I forced my eyes open. A shaky breath slipped out as I stared at the beige wall.I blinked. My vision blurred at the edges, my throat raw as I sucked in a slow breath, tasting clean airâwarm, stale, nothing like the damp rot Iâd been drowning in forâĶ gods, how long?I turned my head slowly, but the space beside me was empty.Nikolai.He hadâheâdâMy heart slammed once, twice. I pushed myself up, muscles screaming, my body heavy and my arm ached. I looked down, saw the needle hooked into my vein. The sight made my stomach lurch. The sharp pull of skin. The cold press of metal. Hands that had grabbed, torn, held me downâA sharp breath burned its way through my lungs.I yanked the IV out. Blood welled at the puncture site, beading, slipping over my skin, but I barely felt it. It was nothing. Nothing compared toâI swallowed hard.The sheets smelled clean. Too clean. No sweat, no filth, no blood soaked into the fibers. My pack didn
NIKOLAI EVERYTHING FUCKING HURT.My stomach felt like it had been torn openâbecause it hadâthe bandages wrapped tight around my torso doing nothing to ease the burning throb beneath. My left wrist was useless, broken and swollen, fingers stiff and unmovable. Every breath dragged through my ribs like a knife.Pain didnât matter. Not when Claude was lying there, still as fucking death.I hadnât moved from this chair in hours. Maybe longer. Time had blurred into the steady drip of the IV flushing the drugs from his veins, the too-shallow rise and fall of his chest, the quiet, pained sounds that barely even reached my ears. Sounds that never should have left his fucking lips. Not Claude. Not mine.I wanted to touch him. To brush my fingers over his skin, to feel the warmth of him and remind myself he was still here. Still breathing. But he looked so fucking fragile. A man who could bring me to my knees, reduced to this. Bruises painted across his body, silver burns marking his wrists whe
NIKOLAITHE GUN WAS empty. I already fucking knew that. He knew that. But I still held it like it meant something. Like I could shove it down his throat and pull the trigger just to hear the useless, hollow click. Viktor stood there, fucking smirking, like he hadnât earned the slowest death I could give him. I wanted to carve that smirk off his face. I wanted him on his knees, choking on his own fucking teeth. His nostrils flared. He was scenting meâlike an animal, like he had any right. I dragged in a sharp, deep, breath trying to steady the anger clawing at my ribs. And then he grinned. âThis must be him,â he said, voice low, amused. His eyes slid past meâto Claude. Hanging there. Bound in chains. âThe man I could smell all over you.â A pause. Just a second. Just long enough for me to hear itâClaudeâs breath catching. Viktor chuckled. âThe one whoâs been fucking you.â His head tilted, his smirk stretching. âI mustâve taught you well.â Taught. The word felt like b
NIKOLAIHE WAS EASY to track.The chip was still in his ear.That meant he was still alive. That meantâI gripped my phone so tight my fingers ached, my jaw locking as I forced myself to breathe. It rang once. Twice. ThenââNikolai.âI closed my eyes, exhaling sharply through my nose. âEnzo.âA pause. Then that goddamn smirk in his voice, like he didnât realize I was this close to losing it. Or maybe he did and just didnât give a fuck.âDidnât expect you to call me this quickly.âI didnât have time for this. Not when I finally knew where he was. Not when I didnât know what theyâd done to him. My Claude.My chest felt too tight. My pulse was a hammer against bone.âWhat kills a wolf?â My voice came out low, steadyâtoo steadyâbut my fingers curled tighter around the phone, white-knuckled and my breath short.Enzo took a sharp breath. Then chuckled. âWhy? You planning to get rid of me? Didnât think youâd be so eager.âI bent down, yanked the zipper open on my bag, my hands moving fast, p
NIKOLAITHE DOOR SLAMMED open. I turned my head sharply, muscles tensing as a man walked in, and ChristâI didnât need to be told he was Claudeâs father. The resemblance was enough. The weight he carried in his steps was enough.Then the door opened again, and sheâAvaâwas rushed inside. Unconscious, clothes filthy, body limp in someoneâs arms. I shot to my feet, my pulse hammering as I waited for the door to open once more. For him to walk through it.But he didnât.âWhere the fuck is he?â My voice was sharp, my steps quick as I closed the distance between me and Claudeâs father. He stopped, his face twisted in something close to pain before he turned and took the stairs two at a time.A pit opened up in my stomach. Something was wrong. Something was very fucking wrong.I ran my hand through my hair and only when I dropped it did I realizeâI was shaking.I turned and bolted out the door, my breath coming fast, my heart slamming against my ribs as I scanned the vast driveway. He wasnât
!Content Warning!This chapter contains themes of sexual assault, non-consensual drugging, and past trauma. While the assault itself is not depicted on the page, the emotional and physical aftermath are explored in detail. This scene is intense, raw, and may be distressing for some readers.CLAUDEI JERKEDâHARD. Hard enough that the skin of my wrists burned raw against the silver, but I didnât care. I couldnât care. The only thing that mattered was getting him off me. Getting away. But Viktor was right there.His breath fanned across my face, hot and cloying, the same way it always did, the way it had when I was nineteen and begging for it to stop. My stomach lurched, bile burning its way up my throat, but I swallowed it down. I couldnât be weak. Not now.Viktor clicked his tongue, a sound of amusement, of mockery. âLook at you,â he murmured, his grip tightening on my chin as he tilted my head up. âAll grown up. Youâve been getting fucked, havenât you?âHis words were a blade, cuttin
CLAUDEFUCK. MY HEAD HURTS. I tried to force my eyes open, but no matter how hard I blinked, everything stayed dark, and thatâs when it hit me. I was blindfolded.No. No. No.How did this happen? How did I end up here?A snarl clawed up my throat as I jerked forward, but the pull of metalâbiting, burningâstopped me cold. My arms were stretched above me, bound tightly with silver. I could smell it, taste its acrid sting in the back of my throat.No.I yanked harder, muscles straining, breath heaving. The scent of damp stone and rust filled my lungs. The sound of water dripping from somewhere above was too familiar. The chains rattling over my head, too familiar. And the sound of bootsâheavy, slow on concreteâhitting the ground, too fucking familiar.No. No. No.My body jerked violently, panic clawing through me, my muscles screaming as I yanked against the chains. I couldnâtâI couldnât be here again. This canât be happening. Not again.I felt him stop in front of me, his breath warm a
NIKOLAIâWHO THE HELL are you?âI set the bottle down, shoving my hands into my pockets, letting the silence stretch between us. I tilted my head, letting my eyes stay on her, watching every flicker of emotion cross her face.I didnât answer right away and she Just stood there, jaw clenched so tight I thought it might crack. Her eyes roamed over meâcalculatingâlike she was trying to piece me into some world I didnât belong in.I smirked.She could smell him on me. That much I knew. I could see it in the way her gaze flickered, the tightness in her jaw. Her mate. Her fucking husband. The thought almost made me laugh.âYouâre human,â she finally said, her voice tight, clipped.âAnd youâre his wife.â I let the words hang in the air, watching her reaction like I was savoring a slow burn.A breath left her, but she didnât speak. She just stood there, staring at me with those cold eyes, anger rolling off her in waves. Then, she took a step forward, her heels clicking on the floor, challengin
CLAUDE I RAN A palm over my face as I slammed the car door shut and made my way toward my fatherâs house.âGet over here. Now.â Thatâs all he had said. No explanation. No warning. Just an order thrown through the pack link while I was with him. Nikolai. My fingers drifted to the tiny bump behind my left ear. Iâd never given it much thought before. Never cared enough to. But now, as I walked, my touch stayed.The maids bowed as I passed, but their eyes stayed locked on me, their whispers curling through the air and into my ears. My scent was thick, thereâlike an omega bred past the heat season, claimed beyond reason. I reeked of him. Of what he had done to me. Hell, I was still leaking him.I turned left, inhaled sharply, and shoved the door openâthen froze.It wasnât just my father in the room.Alpha Monroe stood beside him.Fuck.I swallowed, shutting the door behind me, my gaze flicking from my fatherâhis glare so sharp it could sliceâto Monroe, who was staring at me like I was so