Claim My Blood, Love My Ruin

The first gunshot cracked through the compound like a bone snapping.

Kael's hips slammed forward and buried every thick inch of him inside me in one brutal stroke. The stretch burned. My body was not ready. He did not care. A broken sound tore out of my throat as he bottomed out and held there, pulsing deep, the swollen base of him already starting to catch against my entrance.

Outside the steel shutters more shots exploded. Rapid fire. Shouts. The heavy thud of bodies hitting dirt.

Kael's golden eyes locked on mine. He did not pull out. He did not soften. One hand stayed locked around both my wrists above my head. The other gripped my hip hard enough to leave bruises shaped like his fingers.

Stay open for me, he growled. Whatever is happening out there can wait until I finish what I started.

He dragged his hips back and thrust in again. Harder. Deeper. The force shoved me up the black sheets. The metal rings on the headboard rattled. My body clenched around him on pure instinct. He snarled in approval and set a punishing rhythm, each stroke claiming, punishing, owning.

Another burst of gunfire ripped through the night. Closer this time. Someone screamed. The sound cut off wetly.

Kael's pace never faltered. He fucked me through the noise like the world outside his room did not exist. Sweat slicked his chest. His jaw was tight. Every muscle in his arms stood out as he held me down and took what he wanted. The partial knot at the base of his cock dragged against my entrance with every thrust, swelling thicker, promising to lock us together whether I was ready or not.

My son is out there, I gasped.

Kael's free hand moved from my hip to my throat again. Not choking. Just holding. Reminding.

My men have him. His voice was pure gravel between thrusts. No one touches what is mine. Not the boy. Not you.

He drove in harder. The swollen knot pressed insistently, stretching me wider. My thighs shook. Pleasure and pain twisted together until I could not tell them apart. Kael watched my face the entire time, golden eyes burning, cataloguing every broken sound I made.

You feel that? He rolled his hips and forced the knot tighter against me. That is five years of rage. Five years of hunting. Five years of knowing you were alive somewhere and choosing to stay gone.

I tried to speak. The words broke apart when he shoved forward and the knot finally punched inside. My back arched off the bed. A raw cry ripped from my throat as the thick swelling locked behind my pubic bone and began to expand further. Kael's entire body shuddered. He dropped his forehead to mine, breathing hard, still grinding deep even though he could not pull out anymore.

There, he rasped. Take it. Take every drop I am about to pump into you. The bond needs it. The boy needs it. My wolf needs it.

Hot pulses started deep inside me. Thick. Heavy. Endless. Kael's knot throbbed with every spurt, sealing his seed in place. The mate bond flared between us like a live wire. Pain and heat and something darker flooded my veins. My incomplete mark burned on my chest as if he had just bitten it open again.

Outside the gunfire reached a peak and then cut off in a ragged volley. Silence slammed down over the compound. Only the sound of Kael's rough breathing and the wet slick of his cock still twitching inside me filled the room.

Boots pounded down the hallway. A heavy fist slammed against the locked door.

Alpha. A male voice. Rough. Urgent. We have a problem.

Kael did not look away from me. His knot was still fully swollen. He was still coming in slow thick waves. He rolled his hips once, grinding the knot deeper, and watched my face when the pressure forced another broken moan out of me.

Report, he ordered without raising his voice.

Three rogues breached the west fence. The voice on the other side of the door stayed professional even though he had to know exactly what was happening in this room. Two are dead. One is alive but not for long. He asked for the human woman by name.

Kael's entire body went still. The hand on my throat tightened a fraction.

What name.

Wren Vale. The man outside hesitated. He said he has a message from the people who kept her alive these past five years. He said if you finish claiming her tonight the boy will not live to see morning.

The bond between us pulsed hard. Kael's golden eyes flashed pure lethal gold. His knot throbbed inside me again, forcing another rush of seed deep. He leaned down until his mouth brushed my ear.

You brought enemies to my door, little runaway.

I did not bring them, I whispered. They followed the scent of a dying hybrid. Same as you.

Kael's hips snapped forward even though the knot gave him almost no room. The pressure tore a sharp cry from my throat. He swallowed the sound with his mouth, kissing me for the first time. It was not soft. It was teeth and dominance and pure possession.

The man outside cleared his throat. Alpha. Orders.

Kael pulled back just enough to speak. Put the rogue in the basement. Double the guard on the boy. No one enters this wing. No one leaves. If the pup so much as coughs I want to know before he finishes the sound.

Yes, Alpha.

Boots retreated down the hall. Silence returned.

Kael looked down at where we were joined. His knot was still locked tight. Seed leaked around the seal in slow white rivulets. He pressed his thumb against the mess and pushed it back inside me.

You are going to tell me everything, he said quietly. Every name. Every favor. Every killer and thief and black market healer who touched your life while you were gone. And you are going to do it while my knot is still inside you so I can feel every lie the second it leaves your mouth.

My pulse slammed against the hand still resting on my throat. Outside, somewhere in the compound, a new sound rose. Not gunfire. Not shouting.

A child crying.

My son.

Kael's head tilted. He heard it too. The crying grew louder, edged with pain. The incomplete bond between us flared in warning. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

Kael's golden eyes cut back to mine. His knot pulsed one more time, still feeding seed into me, still locking us together with no way to separate for long minutes yet.

Listen carefully, Wren. His voice dropped to pure threat. If that boy is hurt because of the enemies you dragged here, I will finish what the elders started five years ago. But first I will make sure you feel every second of it.

The crying turned into a scream.

Kael's head snapped toward the door. His knot was still fully swollen inside me. We were locked. Trapped. Helpless for the next several minutes while whatever was happening to our son unfolded beyond the steel and concrete.

Another scream ripped through the compound. Higher. Sharper.

Kael bared his teeth, golden eyes blazing, and started to force his still locked knot deeper anyway, as if sheer will could make his body release us faster.

The bedroom door handle began to turn from the outside.

Someone had ignored the Alpha's order.

Someone was coming in.