"He touched you." My voice cracked on the words.
"He grabbed my wrist. It scared me, but he didn't hurt me. Not really." Her fingers continued their gentle stroking along my cheekbones, and I could feel the rage slowly—slowly—beginning to recede.
"He left marks." I caught her wrist—gently, so gently, my claws carefully retracted—and turned it to show the red fingerprints on her skin. "These are marks. These arehismarks. Onmyomega."
Something flickered in her eyes. Not fear. Something else. Something that made my heart stutter in my chest.
"Then maybe," she said softly, her chin lifting with that defiance I loved so much, "you should replace them with yours."
I went still. Completely, utterly still. Like a predator who has just spotted prey and doesn't dare move for fear of scaring it away.
"What did you say?" My voice came out rough. Desperate.
"You heard me." Her eyes sparked with challenge, with want, with something that looked almost like hunger. "He put his marks on me. I don't want his marks. I wantyours."
Something inside mebroke. I surged forward, and this time no one tried to stop me. My hands found her waist, her hips, pulling her flush against me. My face buried in her neck, and Ibreathed—dragging her scent deep into my lungs, letting it wash away everything else. I could still smell him. Faint, underneath her natural sweetness. The oily, aggressive scent of a human alpha who thought he had the right to touch what wasmine.
A snarl built in my chest.
"I'm going to scent you." The words came out as a growl, pressed against the skin of her throat. "I'm going to put my scent all over you. In your hair, on your skin, everywhere he touched and everywhere he didn't. When you go back to that ship, every alpha with working instincts will know you'reclaimed."
"Yes." The word was barely a whisper. Breathless. Her fingers curled into my shoulders, holding on.
"They won't know what it is. Something in their hindbrain will recognize it. Will make them hesitate. Will make themafraid." I pulled back just enough to meet her eyes, my golden gaze burning into hers. "Is that what you want?"
"Yes." Stronger this time. Certain. Her pupils were dilated, her lips parted.
"Good omega." The praise fell from my lips without thought, and I watched her shiver. Watched her pupils dilate further, her lips part wider, her whole body go soft and pliant in my arms. "Such a good omega. Asking for what you need. Letting us take care of you."
I pressed my wrist to her throat. The effect was immediate. Her eyes fluttered closed. A sound escaped her, that purr we'd heard for the first time yesterday, rumbling up from her chest like she couldn't control it. Her head tilted back, baring more of her throat, offering herself up like a sacrifice.
Mine, something ancient and primal roared inside me.Mine, mine, MINE.
I rubbed my scent gland against her pulse point. Slow circles, pressing firmly, making sure the scent sank deep into her skin. She whimpered—actually whimpered—and her hands fisted in my hair like she needed something to hold onto.
"That's it." I moved to the other side of her throat, repeating the process. Marking her. Claiming her. "That's my good girl. Taking my scent so sweetly."
"Riven—" Her voice was wrecked. Broken. Her whole body was trembling against mine, and I could feel her pulse racing under my wrist—rabbit-fast, desperate.
"I know." I pressed my lips to her pulse, felt it flutter against my mouth. "I know what you need. I'm going to give it to you." I moved lower, pressing my wrist to her collarbone, rubbing the scent into the delicate skin there. She made a sound—half moan, half sob—and her body sag against me. I caught her easily, one arm around her waist, holding her up while I continued to mark her.
"So responsive." The words came out rough, admiring, as I watched the flush spread down her throat. "Such a perfect omega. Letting me scent you. Letting me claim you."
"More." The word was barely audible, a plea on her trembling lips. "Please. More." Something in mehowledwith satisfaction.
"More?" I pulled back just enough to look at her face. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes glazed, her lips parted. She looked ruined. Wrecked. And I had barely started. "You want more of my scent on you?"
"Yes." No hesitation. Her fingers tightened in my hair. "I want—I want to smell like you. I want everyone to know I'm yours."
Fuck.The word echoed through my mind, human and crude but the only thing that fit.
"Then you'll have it." I pressed my wrist to her shoulder, rubbing firmly, watching her shudder at the contact. "Every inch of you. Every part of you that he touched and every part he didn't. You're going to reek of me, little human. You're going to smell so strongly ofusthat no alpha will be able to get within ten feet of you without knowing you're claimed."
Her omegakeened. I could hear it, that subsonic sound that only alphas could detect, the sound of an omega in desperate need of her pack. It hit me like a physical blow, making my clawsextend, my pupils dilate, every predatory instinct screaming at me totake, claim, MINE.
"Good omega." I pressed my forehead to hers, breathing her in, feeling her tremble against me. "Such a good omega. Making those sounds for me. Letting me hear what you need."
"I need—I need—" She couldn't finish. Could barely think, from the look of her.
