Claimed - Kendric's POV

Claimed - Kendric's POV
With no hesitation, she tilts her head and sinks her teeth into my collarbone. It’s not the official claiming spot, but stars, it burns. Her mark pulses through me like a fire in my veins, uncoiling everything I’ve ever held back.

I pull away, breathing hard, her blood still warm on my lips. Her eyes meet mine and everything within them undoes me.

“I want you,” she says, her voice like a promise.

In seconds, we’re tangled on the ground, our clothes disappearing as our limbs intertwined. She presses herself to me, her mouth finding the crook of my shoulder once again. This time, when she bites down, I feel it. The completion, the sealing of something ancient. Her mark over mine. A bond renewed. Reclaimed. Unbreakable.

A desperate sound escapes me as the emotion, the need and gravity of it all, takes over. I don't know where she ends and I begin.

She is mine and I’m hers in all ways. And now the bond can’t be broken.

Everything else blurs for several minutes, until the moment is shattered by hands yanking at my shoulders, tearing me away from her warmth.

“No, not again!” Ramsey’s voice is like a whip through the haze. “How dare you make her yours in this realm! I didn’t bring you here to take her like that.”

I sit up from where I was tossed and laugh. "She's mine, Ramsey."

His eyes burn like coals. He sneers, his voice full of bitter rage. “Her blood is still on your lips. You stole what was meant to be mine. If you hadn’t claimed her again, I could’ve unraveled everything.”

I rise to my feet, breath still ragged, body humming with the aftermath. His gaze flicks to Valeria, who lies sprawled, radiant in her exhaustion, her throat still marked with fresh crimson.

Ramsey’s voice darkens. “This can still be salvaged. You haven’t saved Kendric. He’ll still go feral. You’ve only bound yourself more tightly to him. I just have to find a new way to break it. Might take longer… but it’s not impossible.”

Valeria stirs, rising onto her elbows, blood streaking her throat and collarbone like war paint. Her eyes lock onto his with unwavering fire.

“You lose.”

"No, you do. Just because you claimed her within your minds doesn't mean she's physically claimed. It can still be undone with a little more effort." His mouth pulls into a grin. "I can still win this."

One moment, I see Valeria lying on the ground, fear reflecting in her gaze. In the next, I'm wide awake in the arena, screaming. "No, no, no. I need to go back."

As I move, I realize my shoulder is sore. I look down, only to see the bite on my collarbone. "He isn't going to win this time and he never will."

I chuckle to myself as I realize what happened within our minds transferred to our physical forms.

It doesn’t take long for Ramsey to storm into the arena screaming.

“How dare you! You think you can do this to me again? That woman is mine.” His fangs glisten in the dim lighting. “But there is good news. It won’t last.”

I move enough that he can see the bite marks on my collarbone and throat. “You were saying.”

His jaw drops open as he tries to find the words to say. “No, that couldn't have happened. You weren’t physically together, so you did this to yourself.”

Though he says he doesn’t believe, the look in his eye tells me otherwise. He believes and is freaking out. 

I watch as he paces and shakes his head, muttering things under his breath that are barely audible. “She’s mine. Check the mark yourself. I can’t bite myself on the collarbone, idiot.”

Those words seem to be the only thing he chants like a mantra in hopes of making it true. He glances over at me every so often and I can tell his anger is only growing stronger by the minute. Eventually, he might explode at this rate.

“You. This is all your fault. All those years ago, you had to make that deal with the witch.”

“Yes, and I have been thoroughly punished by slowly going feral. What is your point?” My heart thuds in my chest as he comes to a stop, his hands raised in the air.

“She was mine. That is the point. Valeria was in love with me until you showed up. I had to become immortal and hope that she would be reborn as they predicted. The only problem is you also made a deal to ensure she’d always be yours.”

I shrug. “Do you blame me? She’s always been my fated mate, and you made sure she’d return. Of course, I had to ensure I’d be born again as well to find her.” 

His fists clench at his sides. “You never had any right to her. Wolves and your ridiculous fated mates. She loved me, Kendric. Love. Not like. Then you came into her village and when she laid eyes on you, fate took over. It’s stupid.”

“Stupid? Fate doesn’t make mistakes. It pairs you with your perfect match in all ways. Sure, you can love a lot of people, but that doesn’t mean they pair well with you. As her mate, I have to ensure that I protect her and I’d been stupid to not choose to come back with her.”

His eyes narrow into slits as he studies me. “Of course,” he says in a mocking tone. “Of course, you will. But there is one slight problem. I have plenty of witches ready to separate you two because your bond isn’t final.”

I cut my eyes down at the bite marks and smirk. “Yes, it is. The markings are on my skin and I had her. She’s fully mine. It transferred.”

Ramsey chuckles. “While you have marked each other and claimed her within your mind, you never did things physically.”

“It doesn’t matter. It happened in that realm and was real.”

Before Ramsey can argue, the door slides open along the far wall. “Ah, there she is now.”

A woman dressed in all black steps inside the room. Her face is hidden by a veil and all you can hear when she walks is from a little bell on her ankle. She moves along the path and makes her way toward Ramsey. As far as I can tell, she never once looks at me.

“My little pet witch is here, at last. I’m so glad you can join us. Now, as for my request, you said you could undo what has been done as long as they haven’t completed the bond physically.”

Her head turns to evaluate me. “He bears a mark.”

Ramsey’s hands come to his mouth as he takes a deep breath. “Well, yes, but they haven’t completed things on this side. Can you do it?”

She’s silent for several minutes before exhaling sharply. “He has completed it within his mind, hasn’t he? Haven’t I warned you about that? Once it’s done, it can not be done. A bite is a bite. A mating is exactly that. They’re bonded, but his curse is holding him back.”

Ramsey nearly screams out of frustration. “You told me as long as they haven’t touched physically, it could be done. They haven’t. Now you are telling me because they played around within their minds that it counts? What good are you?”

The witch only nods. “Yelling will get you nowhere with me.”

Ramsey stomps off and right as I think he’s going to leave the arena, he turns on his heel with a smile on his face. “Nevermind. I know what you can do. Make him go feral. He’s so close and is going to, anyway. Can you do that?”

The witch’s hand clenches at her side. “That is not doable. A curse is already at play. He will go mad when he is supposed to.”

“Can you simply not cast another and make it work that way? What good is magic if you can’t use it?”

She shakes her head. “I don’t know what it will do to him if I cast a curse such as that.”

Ramsey trembles with anger. “Just do it.”

The witch turns to me, the bell on her ankle jingling as she comes to the edge of the arena. “Are you sure about this, Ramsey? Once it’s cast, it will never be broken because he will lose himself entirely. I suggest everyone leave the area afterward and never enter this room until he dies.”

“What do you plan on doing to me?” I finally ask.

Ramsey only laughs and ignores me. “Do it. I want him to go so feral that he attacks himself. Make it so he doesn’t know anything or anyone. If he dies, then Valeria is free to be mine. She’s not tied too closely to him, so she shouldn’t die with him.”

The witch moves her head in his direction. “Have my sister go to her and ensure she stays alive. I don’t know what will happen if he dies. They’re bonded closer than you think.”

Ramsey grows agitated and runs his hands through his hair. “Then does he need to live? I can keep him in a cage and just overlook the mating marks.”