Claim My Blood, Love My Ruin

The door handle turned.

Kael's knot was still swollen thick inside me, locking us together with no way to separate. My son's scream ripped through the compound again, higher this time, edged with real pain. Boots scraped outside the bedroom. The heavy bolt Kael had thrown rattled once under pressure.

Kael bared his teeth and shoved his hips forward anyway. The locked knot dragged against every sensitive place inside me and forced a broken sound from my throat. Seed leaked around the seal in hot pulses. He did not stop grinding. His golden eyes stayed fixed on the door like he could kill whoever stood on the other side through pure will.

One more second, he snarled under his breath. Give me one more second and I will rip whoever that is apart with my bare hands.

The bolt held. Barely. Someone on the other side slammed a shoulder into the wood. The entire frame shook. My son screamed again. The sound cut straight through the mate bond and made my stomach twist.

Kael's free hand left my throat and slammed down on the mattress beside my head. His claws had started to push through. Black tips split the sheets. He was losing control of the shift while still buried to the knot inside me.

Hold still, he ordered. Do not move. Do not speak. If you distract me I will not be gentle when I finally pull free.

I could not have moved if I wanted to. The pressure of his knot kept me pinned and open. Every small shift of his hips sent fresh sparks of forced pleasure through my body. The incomplete bond flared hot and raw between us. I felt his rage. I felt his panic for the boy. I felt the way his wolf was clawing at the inside of his skin because something was hurting their pup.

Another heavy hit landed on the door. Wood cracked. The bolt bent.

Kael dropped his forehead to mine and exhaled hard through his teeth. His knot throbbed once more, still pumping the last of his release deep. Then the swelling finally began to ease. Slow. Too slow. He gritted his jaw and started to ease back by force. The drag of the half deflated knot pulled a sharp cry from my throat. Seed flooded out of me in thick rivulets the second the seal broke.

Kael pulled free with a wet sound and was off the bed in the same motion. He did not bother with clothes. He strode naked to the door, claws fully out now, golden eyes burning pure murder. He ripped the bolt aside and yanked the door open so hard the hinges screamed.

A young pack male stood in the hallway, face pale, blood on his shirt. Not his blood. He took one look at Kael's naked body and the state of the bed and dropped his eyes instantly.

Alpha. The boy. He shifted. Partially. We could not stop it. He is seizing in the main hall. There is blood.

Kael's entire body went rigid. For one fractured second I saw pure terror flash across his face. Then it vanished under lethal focus.

Move, he barked.

The younger wolf scrambled backward. Kael turned his head just enough to look at me still sprawled on the ruined sheets, thighs slick with his seed, the old mating mark burning on my chest.

Get dressed. Now. If that pup dies because you waited five years to come back I will chain you to this bed and make sure you feel every second of the bond snapping.

He did not wait for an answer. He strode naked into the hallway, claws dripping, already shifting further as he ran. I forced my shaking legs under me. My body ached deep from the forced knot. Seed ran down my thighs as I grabbed the first shirt I found, one of his, and yanked it over my head. It hung to my knees. I did not care. I ran after him barefoot.

The main hall of the clubhouse was chaos. Pack members formed a rough circle around the center of the room. My son lay on the concrete floor, small body arched and convulsing. Storm gray eyes were wide open and glowing. Claws had split the tips of his fingers. Patches of dark fur pushed through the skin of his arms. Blood leaked from his nose in a thin bright stream.

Kael shoved through his own men like they were paper. He dropped to his knees beside the boy and gathered him up against his bare chest. The second their skin touched the seizing slowed. Barely. My son's glowing eyes locked on Kael's face. A broken little whimper left him.

Dad?

The word hit the room like a gunshot. Every wolf went silent.

Kael's throat worked. His claws retracted so he would not hurt the small body in his arms. He pressed his forehead to the boy's and exhaled a sound that was almost a growl and almost a sob.

I have you. His voice was wrecked. I have you. Stay with me.

I pushed through the circle and dropped to my knees on the other side. The mate bond between me and Kael was wide open now, raw and bleeding. I felt the way his wolf was howling inside his chest. I felt the incomplete bond still rotting through our son's small body. The forced claiming had helped. It had not been enough.

Kael's head snapped up. His golden eyes found mine over the boy's head.

Touch him, he ordered. Now. Both of us. The bond needs both sides or it will keep tearing him apart.

I reached out with shaking hands and pressed my palms to my son's cheeks. The second I made contact the glowing in his eyes flared brighter. The seizures stopped completely. He went limp between us, breathing hard, blood still dripping from his nose onto Kael's bare chest.

The pack stared. No one spoke. No one dared.

Kael looked at me like he wanted to kill me and fuck me and chain me down all at the same time.

This is only temporary, he said under his breath so only I could hear. The knot bought us hours. Maybe a day. If I do not fully claim you under the full moon tomorrow night the curse will finish what it started. He will die. I will die. And you will get to watch.

My son's small hand lifted and curled into the front of Kael's throat like he was trying to hold on.

The metal door to the basement suddenly burst open at the far end of the hall. Two enforcers dragged a bloodied rogue wolf into the room by the chains around his wrists. The rogue's face was swollen and smiling through broken teeth. His eyes locked on me instantly.

There she is, the rogue rasped. The little human who made a deal with the wrong people. Tell your Alpha the truth, Wren Vale. Tell him what you promised us in exchange for keeping his bastard pup alive all these years.

Kael's head turned with lethal slowness. His arms tightened around our son. The temperature in the room dropped.

What deal, he asked quietly.

The rogue's bloody smile widened. He looked straight at me while he spoke.

She promised us the Iron Fang's territory. And the Alpha's head.