“But that would defeat the purpose.” Bennett leaned closer, his mouth hovering just above Dakota’s throat. “I need the tiger to understand that you’re marked. That you’ll always carry my claim, no matter what cosmic bond he thinks you share.”
The words took a moment to register, and when they did, cold horror flooded through Dakota’s system. Marked. Claimed. Bennett was going to bite him. Was going to sink those fangs into Dakota’s throat and leave a permanent reminder of this violation.
“No.” The word came out strangled, desperate. “Please don’t. Please.”
“Begging is a good look on you.” Bennett’s breath was cold against Dakota’s skin, wrong in a way that made every instinct scream danger. “I always liked it when you begged.”
Dakota’s body bucked with renewed terror, fighting with strength born of pure panic. His legs kicked out, trying to find purchase, trying to throw Bennett off balance. His hands twisted in Bennett’s grip, nails digging into his own palms because he couldn’t reach anything else to claw.
It made no difference. Bennett held him like he weighed nothing, like all of Dakota’s struggling was just an amusing interlude before the inevitable.
“The more you fight, the more it’s going to hurt.” Bennett’s mouth pressed against Dakota’s throat, his lips tracing the line of the artery. “But maybe you like it when it hurts. You certainly never complained before.”
The implication made bile rise in Dakota’s throat. He hadn't complained before because complaining had consequences, because Bennett had made it clear that Dakota’s comfort was always secondary to his own desires.
And he’d never used fangs or his strength against Dakota, keeping what he was a secret.
But this was different. This was assault, pure and simple, and Dakota’s mind couldn’t reconcile how someone he’d once trusted could be doing this to him.
“Please.” The word came out broken, all of Dakota’s pride dissolving in the face of genuine terror. “Please don’t do this.”
“Too late for please.” Bennett’s fangs extended, and Dakota felt the sharp points press against his skin. “You should have thought about consequences before you ran away. Before you let that tiger put his hands on what’s mine.”
The pressure increased. Those fangs beginning to pierce skin. Dakota’s scream built in his throat, his entire body going rigid with the anticipation of pain.
And then Bennett’s mouth opened wider, and the fangs sank in.
The sensation was fire and ice and violation all at once. Dakota felt the sharp pierce of entry, felt something foreign invading his body, felt his blood being pulled from his veins by a mouth that had once kissed him with false tenderness. The pain was immediate and overwhelming, white-hot agony that radiated from the puncture wounds through his entire system.
Dakota screamed. The sound tore from his throat raw and animal, beyond words or thought. Just pure terror and pain given voice. His body convulsed, every muscle contracting in a useless attempt to escape what was already happening.
Bennett made a satisfied sound against Dakota’s throat, the vibration of it obscene. His mouth worked at the wound, drawing blood, and Dakota could feel each pull like a hook dragging through his insides. His vision blurred with tears. His hearing went distant, muffled, like his head was underwater.
He was going to die. The thought crystallized with terrible clarity. Bennett was going to drain him right here on his apartment floor, and no one would know until it was too late. Kivani would find him tomorrow, cold and empty, and Dakota would never get to tell him that the mate bond was real, that what they’d started to build was real, that Dakota had been falling just as hard.
The world started to gray at the edges. Dakota’s screaming had turned to whimpers, his body too depleted to maintain that level of sound. His struggling had weakened to pathetic twitches that Bennett ignored completely.
Then suddenly there was a new presence in the room. Dakota felt it before he saw it, a rush of heat and fury that made the air crackle.
Dakota’s vision cleared just enough to see Kivani. His face was transformed into something terrifying, his eyes glowing amber in the dim light and his features twisted with rage Dakota had never seen before. One hand gripped Bennett’s jaw, forcing the vampire's head back at an angle that should have broken his neck.
“Get. Off. Him.” Each word was a growl, barely human, and Bennett’s eyes went wide with something that might have been actual fear.
Kivani’s hand on Bennett’s jaw tightened, and Dakota heard something crack. Bennett’s fangs retracted with a wet sound, blood coating them. Dakota’s blood. The sight made his stomach heave, but he couldn’t look away.
“Now.” Kivani’s voice had dropped into a register that made Dakota’s bones vibrate. The tiger was right there, barely contained under human skin.
Bennett tried to speak, but Kivani’s grip made it impossible. The vampire's hands released Dakota’s wrists, coming up instead to claw at Kivani’s arm. His nails left furrows in skin, drawing blood, but Kivani didn’t even flinch.
With a motion too fast for Dakota’s pain-fogged brain to track, Kivani yanked Bennett backward. The vampire's weight lifted off Dakota’s body, and Dakota sucked in air that felt like knives in his lungs. He tried to sit up, to move, but his body refused to cooperate. All he could do was lie there and watch as Kivani dragged Bennett across the room like he weighed nothing.
The shift happened mid-motion. One second Kivani was human, the next a massive tiger occupied the space where he’d been standing. The transformation was seamless, terrifying in its efficiency. Four hundred pounds of muscle and fury, all of it focused on Bennett.
Bennett didn’t even have time to scream before the tiger's jaws closed around his throat.
The sounds that followed would haunt Dakota’s nightmares. Wet tearing. Breaking bone. Bennett’s gurgling attempts at speech that cut off abruptly. The tiger shook its head like a dog with a toy, and Dakota heard something in Bennett’s body snap with a sound like a tree branch breaking.
Dakota’s hands came up to cover his ears, trying to block out the sounds, but they were already embedded in his memory. His entire body shook, tremors that started deep and worked their way to the surface. Blood ran hot down his throat, soaking into his sweater, and the wound Bennett had left throbbed in time with his racing heart.
