Warning: Mature Content Ahead
"I... the officers, they... I was trying to explain Spain and then the woman—" I started stammering, my Outer District toughness failing me because his proximity was doing things to my brain.
He didn't wait for the rest. The atmosphere in the station shifted from tense to murderous. Kaeren turned on his heel and moved with a speed that shouldn't be possible.
The guard by the door was the first. One punch, and the man was crumpled on the floor like a discarded rag. Then, it was like watching a hurricane in a suit. Kaeren tore through the station.
The three officers from before were now standing in the hallway, pale-faced, their weapons drawn but shaking. They looked like children playing with sticks in the face of a forest fire.
"Prince Kaeren!" the tall one stammered. "The Alpha signed the order! We were just... we were just following protocol!"
Thud. Crack. Groan.
He cracked his fingers, teeth dangerously biting his bottom lip as he advanced towards the others. "Protocol? Protocol dictates that a mate of the bloodline is to be held in the High Sanctuary, not a common pit. Protocol dictates that she is not to be touched."
His eyes landed on the female officer—the one who had dragged me by my dress. She was trembling so hard her teeth were chattering.
"You touched her," Kaeren stated. It wasn't a question.
"She resisted!" the woman cried.
In a move so fast I didn't even see it, Kaeren's hand was around her throat. He lifted her off the ground with one hand, his face inches from hers.
"She is my mate. Everything she is, belongs to me. Her resistance, her rage, her skin. You didn't just touch a prisoner. You touched me."
He tossed her aside like a rag doll. She hit the wall and slumped to the floor, unconscious. The two male officers were already flat on their faces, eyes pressed to the concrete in a desperate plea for mercy.
"Go on, Prince! Bite their ears off!" Pia cheered, completely unbothered by the carnage.
"Pia, stop it!" I hissed internally, though my heart was racing for a different reason. "The pack won't support this. He's destroying his reputation for me. He's going to look like a madman!"
But Kaeren didn't look like he cared about politics. He looked like a man who had found someone touching his most prized possession and decided the only logical response was scorched earth.
When the last officer was down, the station fell into a haunting silence, broken only by Kaeren's heavy, jagged breathing. He walked back toward my cell, his charcoal suit jacket gone, his white shirt splattered with crimson. He looked crazed, furious, and terrifyingly beautiful.
He stepped into the cell, the scent of mint, rain, and blood filling the small space. He reached out, cupping my face with hands that were still stained red.
"Waverly," he whispered, his eyes glowing like embers.
And then, he kissed me.
This wasn't the staged, "look-at-us" kiss from the palace. This was raw. It was desperate. It was the taste of a full moon and a thousand unspoken secrets. His tongue swept against mine, claiming me in a way that made my toes curl into the filth of the cell floor.
"Oh, we are definitely staying in this pack," Pia sighed contentedly.
I melted into him, my hands tangling in his hair, forgetting the bars, the blood, and the dead bodies waiting for us at the estate.
His kiss deepened, his body pressing me back against the cold iron bars of the cell. The metal bit into my skin through my ragged clothes, but I didn't care. All I could feel was him—Kaeren, the prince, his strong hands sliding down my sides, gripping my hips like he owned them. And gods, in that moment, he did.
This can't be real, I thought, my mind reeling even as my body arched into his touch. A prince like him, with his golden eyes and royal blood, touching a filthy shack girl like me? I'm nothing but scraps from the outskirts, covered in grime and bruises. But the pull... that mate bond humming between us like a live wire. It's fate, isn't it? Twisting everything upside down. Maybe it's okay. Maybe this is how it's supposed to be.
He pulled back just enough to look at me, eyes dark with hunger. "Waverly," he murmured, voice rough, like gravel under boots. "I want to touch you. Everywhere. Tell me it's alright, my fierce little mate."
My heart pounded like a wild drum in my chest. "Yes," I whispered, barely audible over the distant howls outside. "Please."
A growl rumbled from his throat, satisfied, as his fingers hooked under the hem of my torn shirt. He tugged it up slowly, exposing my stomach, then higher, until my breasts spilled free into the cool air. His gaze raked over me, possessive, making heat flood my core.
He leaned in, lips brushing my ear. "So beautiful. Can I taste these?" His hand cupped one breast, thumb circling the hardening nipple.
I nodded, gasping as he lowered his mouth, sucking the peak between his lips. His tongue flicked and swirled, teeth grazing just enough to send sparks down my spine. I threaded my fingers through his hair, holding him there as my back scraped against the bars.
He's devouring me like I'm a feast fit for kings, I thought, dizzy with it all. Me, who scavenges for scraps. But his mouth... it's claiming me, marking me as his equal in this madness.
He lavished attention on both breasts, sucking and nipping until I was writhing, my thighs clenching with need. Then his hands moved lower, unfastening the rough ties of my pants.
"I need these off,' he said, voice husky and eyes locking on mine. "I want to feel your skin against mine. Is that what you want, Waverly? To bare yourself to me?"
"Yes," I breathed without thinking, lifting my hips to help him shove the fabric down.
They pooled at my ankles, and I kicked them away, standing naked before him in the dim cell light. Vulnerable, exposed, but the mate bond was strongly electrifying, erasing the shame. A prince seeing me like this—stripped and raw. It's obscene. It's perfect.
Kaeren's hands roamed my bare thighs, parting them gently but firmly. He dropped to his knees, the prince of the realm on the filthy floor for me.