I woke up sore.
More than sore.
Wrecked.
Between my thighs, I could still feel him. The stretch, the heat, the sticky warmth that hadn't stopped dripping. My wrists ached from leather straps. My legs trembled from exhaustion.
And the knot was still inside me.
Kael was behind me, body heavy and overwhelming, his arm slung over my waist like a chain. I felt every inch of him—still thick, still swollen—plugged deep inside my body like a brand.
I whimpered.
His fingers twitched against my belly, tightening slightly.
"You're awake."
His voice was low, rough from sleep—or sex.
I tried to move. I barely could.
We were still outside, under the heavy canopy of the forest. Lanterns flickered in the distance. I could feel eyes—watching. The pack hadn't left.
"You—you didn't even untie me," I croaked, voice raw.
"I didn't need to," he said simply. "You weren't going anywhere."
Shame burned in my chest. "You had no right—"
Kael lifted himself slightly and shifted his hips.
The knot ground inside me.
I gasped, back arching, pain and pleasure striking like lightning.
"No right?" he echoed darkly. "Your body begged for me. Don't pretend otherwise."
I turned my face away, tears stinging my eyes.
"Look at them," he murmured.
I resisted. He grabbed my chin and forced it.
The pack stood in a wide circle. Silent. Unmoving. Their eyes glowing faintly under the moonlight.
"They witnessed your submission," Kael said, his tone low and dangerous. "You are now mine, Seren. Not just marked. Knotted. Bred."
"You're disgusting," I spat.
"Maybe," he murmured near my ear. "But your cunt doesn't seem to care."
He finally pulled free.
I cried out as the knot slipped out of me with a wet, messy noise. I immediately clenched—empty, twitching, slick.
Kael stood and stretched. His body, glistening and bare, radiated dominance. He didn't look at me. He looked at them.
"Escort her to the cage," he said coldly. "She's not ready for the den."
A few gasps rippled through the crowd.
"Wait—what cage?" I whispered, heart stuttering.
Kael didn't answer.
Two female wolves approached—tall, strong, with blank expressions. They untied my wrists and pulled me up. My knees buckled.
I was naked. My thighs glistened. My hair tangled, skin marked with bruises and bite prints.
They draped a thin blanket over my shoulders. Not for modesty. For show.
As I was dragged past the pack, I kept my eyes on the dirt. I heard whispers. Felt their scent pressing in.
She smells like him.
His seed's still inside her.
The Omega is knotted. Claimed.
I wanted to vanish.
Instead, I was taken to a steel cage, barely large enough to stand in. It sat near the center of Kael's camp, where all could see.
A spectacle.
The blanket was yanked off. I was shoved inside.
The door slammed shut.
Kael appeared, shirtless again, tossing something into the cage. A thin robe and a waterskin.
"You'll stay here until your next heat spike."
I looked up at him, blinking hard.
"You're serious."
"Deadly."
"You said once the heat faded—"
"You'll stay," he cut in. "Until I say otherwise."
Then he knelt.
And he gripped the bars of the cage so tightly his knuckles whitened.
"Because whether you admit it or not, Seren... your womb belongs to me now."
Something in me snapped.
I lunged at the bars, snarling. "I am not your broodmare!"
Kael smiled.
"You're not just a broodmare, little wolf," he said. "You're my trophy."
He stood and walked away.
I collapsed to my knees, shaking.
The night crawled by.
The cold seeped in. My body throbbed between my legs. His scent still clung to my skin.
And the worst part?
I could still feel phantom pressure where the knot had been.
My body missed it.
No. No. No.
I curled into myself, trying to escape the need building again.
But even through shame, rage, and tears...
I knew the truth.
He had broken me open.
And some primal, feral piece of me wanted him to do it again.