Lucian's mouth was hot and demanding as he kissed me, his teeth scraping against my bottom lip. Kael's hands never left my skin, mapping every curve as if memorizing me. Riven's clever fingers brought me to the edge again and again, only to pull away at the last moment.
And Mira was forced to watch it all.
By the time Jax finally entered the cell to drag her away, her face was streaked with tears, her voice hoarse from screaming. The look she gave me before disappearing down the dark corridor shattered what was left of my resistance.
Betrayal. Disgust.
And worst of all pity.
Kael lifted me from the chair, my body limp and pliant in his arms. "Now you understand," he murmured against my sweat-damp hair. "You're ours. In every way."
As he carried me from the dungeons, I buried my face in his chest and let the tears fall.
Not from fear.
Not from pain.
But from the terrifying realization that part of me no longer wanted to escape.
The aftermath of Mira's punishment clung to me like a second skin.
I lay curled in the furs of the alphas' bedchamber, the scent of sweat and sex still heavy in the air. My body ached in ways that should have repulsed me—the sting of teeth marks on my thighs, the bruises shaped like fingerprints around my wrists, the dull throb between my legs that pulsed with every shift of my hips.
But worse than the physical reminders was the shame curling hot in my belly.
Because when Riven had finally allowed me release, when Lucian's mouth had dragged a scream from my throat, when Kael had held me down and made me look at Mira's shattered expression
I had liked it.
Mira's face haunted me.
The way her eyes had widened when I moaned. The way her lips had trembled when I arched into Riven's touch. The way she had whispered my name like a curse as Jax dragged her away.
Traitor.
Whore.
The words echoed in my skull, twisting like knives. She had risked everything to save me, and I had…..
A shuddering breath escaped me.
The morning after Mira's imprisonment, I woke to an empty bed and the scent of cedar smoke. Weak winter light filtered through the furs draped over the windows, painting the stone chamber in muted gold. My body ached—not with the sharp pain of punishment, but with the lingering throb of use.
A steaming cup sat on the bedside table.
I stared at it, suspicious. Chamomile. Honey. My favorite.
"Drink."
Riven's voice startled me. He leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, his pale hair tied back. The ever-present dagger gleamed at his belt.
"Since when do you care if I'm rested?" My voice came out hoarse.
He didn't answer. Just pushed off the wall and left.
But the cup remained.
Kael found me in the library later, curled in the window seat with a stolen book. He loomed over me, his shadow swallowing the parchment.
"You didn't eat."
I flinched, expecting punishment. Instead, he dropped a linen-wrapped bundle in my lap.
Warm bread. Blackberry jam. The kind Mira and I used to steal from the market.
"Eat," he growled. "You're too thin."
When I didn't move, his hand the same hand that had pinned me to the dungeon chair .brushed a loose strand of hair behind my ear.
Then he was gone.
Lucian cornered me in the baths.
"Hold still," he ordered, tipping my chin up. I braced for cruelty but his touch was feather-light as he dabbed salve on the cut Jax's ring had left on my cheekbone yesterday.
"Why?" I whispered.
His smirk didn't reach his eyes. "Can't have your pretty face ruined before the claiming feast, can we?"
But his thumb lingered too long on my pulse.
Jax was the worst.
He stormed into my chamber that night, smelling of ale and violence. I scrambled back, but he just threw a bundle of fabric at me.
Mira's cloak.