“You’re insane,” I say again. “You can’t just put a collar on someone and call it a day.”
He steps in, close enough I can feel the heat radiating off his chest. “It’s not just a collar. It’s a warning.”
My mouth opens, but no words come.
“To them,” he continues, eyes dark with something primal. “Now they’ll know not to touch what’s mine.”
Mine?
My brain short-circuits.
If someone in my family had said that—if some snotty noble suitor had dared—it would’ve set my blood on fire with rage.
But this?
This doesn’t feel like ownership.
It feels like protection. Like fury carved into a vow.
I should scream at him.
I should.
Instead, I test the leash again, half-hearted. I tug it, more curious than angry, and he jerks it back—just a little. Just enough to remind me who’s holding it.
I shudder.
He watches every twitch of my body like he’s memorizing me in real time.
“You don’t know what I am,” I manage to say, quieter this time.
“No,” he agrees. “But I will.”
The hallway groans again with noise—someone else coming.
He doesn’t waste time. He coils the leash once around his hand and tugs. I stumble forward, right into him. His body’s a wall of heat and armor. My breath hitches.
“I can walk,” I snap, trying to find my dignity in the ashes.
He gives me a look—sharp, unreadable.
“Good.”
He turns, dragging me behind him, but not like a slave.
Like something rare. Priceless.
His.
“Kallus.”
“Ayla, jerk.”
This alien has the utmost audacity.
CHAPTER 4
KALLUS
