Chapter Four: The Alpha's Touch
POV: Aria (Selene Reborn)
I didn't walk to his chambers.
I was dragged.
Cain's grip around my arm was iron. The crowd parted as he pulled me through the torch-lit hallways beneath the Pit, past the stone murals of wolf gods mating and devouring their own, past bloodstains that hadn't yet dried.
My legs were weak. Not from pain.
From his bite.
The fire still pulsed beneath my skin. It radiated from the place where Lucian had sunk his fangs just below my collarbone, just above the crescent moon birthmark.
I was claimed… but not mated.
And that meant I was his property.
For now.
Cain threw open the door at the end of the corridor and shoved me in. I stumbled and caught myself against the cold stone wall.
Lucian stood in the center of the chamber.
Shirtless.
His chest was bare rippled muscle wrapped in scars and moonlight. A deep V sloped from his hips beneath dark trousers that hung low, exposing enough to make my stomach knot with heat.
He watched me like a starved beast patient, lethal.
Cain bowed. "She's yours, Alpha."
Lucian didn't even look at him. Just nodded.
Cain left.
The door shut behind me with a thunderous thud.
Silence.
Then his voice.
"I expected you to cry."
I laughed bitterly. "You'll be waiting a long time."
Lucian tilted his head. "You fought well. You impressed the pack."
I didn't answer. I was watching his eyes crimson and molten. Eyes that saw too much.
"You're afraid," he said.
"I'm furious," I corrected.
"Fury is just fear in armor."
I stepped closer, baring my teeth. "I'm not like your whores, Lucian."
"I know," he murmured.
He moved so fast I barely had time to blink. One moment he was across the room the next, he had me pinned to the wall again, his hand gripping my wrists above my head.
The bite mark between my breasts throbbed.
He leaned in, nose grazing my neck, inhaling.
"You're burning."
"You did that."
"I can put it out."
His mouth brushed mine just brushed.
I turned my head. "Do it, then."
His body pressed against mine hot, hard, overpowering. I could feel every inch of him. Every rigid inch.
"You don't get to tempt the Alpha without consequence," he growled.
"Then take what you want."
His grip loosened and his hand slid down my arms, down my sides, until it found the hem of my torn tunic. In one smooth motion, he ripped it away. The fabric fell in tatters.
I stood naked before him.
No shame. No fear.
Only power. Only heat.
His breath hitched but just for a second.
Then he dropped to his knees.
Lucian Salvator. Alpha. Killer. Monster.
Kneeling.
He pressed his lips to the mark he'd left on me, tongue flicking over the wound. My knees buckled. His hands held my hips firm as he kissed lower slow, deliberate. Reverent.
Between my breasts.
Over my ribs.
Down my stomach.
He spread my legs with brutal grace and pressed his mouth to my sex like it was sacred.
I gasped. The world spun.
His tongue was fire and velvet. He didn't rush. He tasted me like I was a meal earned in war. He growled against my skin, the vibrations sending tremors through my thighs.
"You're mine," he whispered against me.
He slid two fingers into me, curling them just right, and I screamed.
My back arched. My hands clawed the stone behind me. Heat spread from my core to every limb, until I thought I'd dissolve in light.
Then
He stopped.
Pulled back.
I whimpered, feral.
Lucian stood, licking his lips, eyes glowing.
"Beg."
"No."
"Then you'll wait."
I slapped him.
Hard.
His head snapped to the side. He froze.
Then he smiled.
And kissed me.
Our mouths crashed together in a storm of tongue and teeth. He lifted me, pinned me to the wall again, and entered me in one savage thrust.
I cried out half pain, half pleasure.
He didn't move.
Just held me there, deep inside me, trembling with restraint.
"Say it," he growled. "Say who you belong to."
I bit his lip until it bled. "No one."
He drove into me again.
And again.
Every thrust a punishment. A promise.
I wrapped my legs tighter around him, nails raking his back. My body met his, wild and shameless. Moans filled the chamber. His name. My name. Prayers to gods long dead.
The mark on my chest glowed faintly.
And I felt it.
A flicker of power.
My magic.
Selene's magic.
It pulsed inside me like starlight, like blood.
Lucian froze mid-thrust, eyes widening.
"You what the fuck are you"
The magic flared. Silver light burst from my skin, knocking him back. He staggered, panting, eyes wild.
I dropped to the floor, breathless, glowing faintly in the dark.
Lucian stared at me like I was reborn.
Like he'd just fucked a goddess.
"Who the hell are you?" he whispered.
I smiled, rising slowly.
"I'm your ruin."