Chapter 34 THE SECOND CLAIMING
ALICIA’S POV
"The poison is spreading."
Elder Miriam's voice cuts through the fog in my head. I'm barely conscious, slumped against the wall where Kai carried me after we saved Monty. Everything hurts. Using that much healing power drained me completely.
But her words make me focus. Make me lift my head.
"What poison?"
"The silver from the chains. When Kai broke them to free Monty, the metal fragments entered his bloodstream through the burns on his hands." Miriam kneels beside Kai's unconscious form. His silver-white hair is matted with sweat. His breathing is shallow. "It's killing him. Slowly, but surely."
My stomach drops. "Can you treat it?"
"Not with medicine. Silver poisoning this deep requires magic to burn it out." She looks at me with ancient, knowing eyes. "Specifically, mate bond power. The kind that comes from completing a claiming."
The room goes silent. Ray stands by the door, arms crossed. Logan paces near the window. Even Monty, barely recovered himself, has propped himself against the far wall to listen.
"You're saying I need to claim Kai. Right now. To save his life." My voice sounds distant, detached.
"Yes. The bond will create a channel for your True Luna power to flow directly into him. It's the only thing strong enough to burn out silver poison this advanced." Miriam stands, gathering her supplies. "You have maybe two hours before the poison reaches his heart. After that, nothing will save him."
Two hours. To decide whether to complete the most intimate bond possible with a man I barely know.
Except I do know him. I've felt his thoughts through our incomplete bond. Felt his loneliness, his survival instinct, his desperate need to never care about anyone because caring gets you killed.
And now caring about me is literally killing him.
"Everyone out." Ray's voice is rough. "Give them privacy."
"Ray," Logan starts.
"Out. Now." The Alpha command leaves no room for argument.
They file out slowly. Monty catches my eye as he leaves, giving me a small nod. Permission. Understanding. Even though this will hurt him through our bond, even though he'll feel every moment of what I'm about to do with Kai, he's telling me it's okay.
Ray lingers at the door. "You don't have to do this. We can find another way."
"There is no other way. You heard Miriam." I force myself to stand despite the exhaustion. "And even if there was, I wouldn't take it. He saved Monty. Saved me. I'm not letting him die."
Something flashes in Ray's eyes. Respect maybe. Or resignation.
"Be careful. Kai's not like Monty or me. He's wild. Untamed. Completing this bond might be dangerous." He pauses. "For both of you."
Then he's gone. The door closes with a soft click.
Leaving me alone with Kai.
I kneel beside him, pressing my hand to his forehead. He's burning up. The poison working through his system like fire.
"Kai." I shake his shoulder gently. "Wake up. I need you to wake up."
His eyes flutter open. Unfocused at first, then sharpening when they land on me.
"Alicia." His voice is rough gravel. "What happened?"
"You're dying. Silver poisoning from breaking Monty's chains." I keep my hand on his face, anchoring him. "The only way to save you is to complete our mate bond. Right now."
He tries to sit up. Fails. Falls back with a grunt of pain. "No. It’s too dangerous. The bond will tie you to me. Can't have that."
"Too late. We're already tied. The incomplete bond formed when you saved me in the forest, remember?" I move closer, letting him feel my warmth. "This just makes it official. Makes it strong enough to heal you."
"I don’t want to be healed this way." His jaw clenches. "I don’t want to trap you in a bond you didn't choose freely."
"I am choosing freely. I'm choosing to save your stubborn life." Frustration bleeds into my voice. "Why are you fighting this?"
"Because bonds make you weak. Vulnerable. It give people power to hurt you." His eyes are fierce despite the fever. "I survived five years by not caring about anyone. Not letting anyone close. This bond breaks all of that."
"Good. Maybe it's time to stop surviving and start living." I lean down until our faces are inches apart. "Now stop arguing and let me save you before we both run out of time."
For a long moment, he just stares at me. Then something in his expression shifts. Softens slightly.
"You're sure?"
"I'm sure."
"It won't be gentle. I don't know how to be gentle." The warning is clear and honest.
"I don't need gentle. I need you alive." I touch his lips with my fingers. "Show me who you really are, Kai. No walls. No protection. Just you."
He moves faster than I expect. Pulls me down and rolls us so he's on top despite the poison weakening him. His weight presses me into the floor. His eyes are wild, more wolf than man.
"Last chance to run." His voice is a growl.
"Not running." I arch up and kiss him.
The bond sparks between us. Raw. Electric. Nothing like the claiming with Monty. That was tender, controlled, full of years of longing finally released.
This is primal and desperate like two predators coming together with nothing between them but need and fire.
Kai's hands tear at my clothes. Not carefully. Not slowly. Just removing barriers with single-minded focus. His mouth follows his hands, marking every inch of exposed skin with bites and kisses that border on pain.
I should probably be scared. Should feel overwhelmed by the intensity.
Instead, I feel alive.
My own hands explore his body. Hard muscle and old scars. Evidence of five years fighting alone. Surviving against impossible odds. I trace each scar with my fingers, learning his history through touch.
"These don't scare me." I tell him. "They just prove you're a survivor."
Something flashes in his eyes. Surprise maybe. Like no one's ever accepted his scars before.
Then his mouth is on mine again and thinking becomes impossible.
Clothes disappear completely. Our bodies press together skin to skin. His heart races against my chest, too fast from the poison. I can feel the wrongness in him through our incomplete bond. The silver burning through his veins.
"Now," I gasp against his mouth. "Complete the bond now before the poison spreads more."
He positions himself between my legs. Pauses. His eyes meet mine with an intensity that steals my breath.
"This is forever. You understand? Once I mark you, once the bond completes, there's no breaking it."
"I know. Do it anyway."
He deeps his penis into me in one hard thrust. The sensation is overwhelming. Fullness and pressure and the bond flaring so bright I see stars.
Kai doesn't move gently. Can't. His body is fighting the poison and surrendering to the bond simultaneously. Each thrust is desperate, claiming me in ways that have nothing to do with softness.
And I meet him stroke for stroke. Nails digging into his back. Legs wrapped around his waist. Taking everything he's giving and demanding more.
The True Luna power builds inside me with the pleasure. I feel it cresting, ready to explode. Ready to burn the poison from his system through the mate bond.
"Let me in." I gasp. "Open yourself to the bond completely."
"I can’t. It’s too dangerous. You'll see everything." His voice is strained.
"I want to see everything. All of you. No walls."
He resists. Even now, even dying, he fights against vulnerability.
I cup his face with both hands. Force him to look at me. "Trust me, Kai. Just this once. Trust someone."
His resistance crumbles. The walls around his mind fall away. The mate bond slams fully open between us.
Power floods through the connection. My True Luna power pouring into him. Burning away the silver poison. Healing the damage. Making him whole.
But with the power comes memories. His memories. Rushing into my mind too fast to stop.
I see his childhood. A happy pack in the mountains. Parents who loved him. A younger sister who followed him everywhere.
I see the attack. Wolves in the night. Silent and efficient. Killing everyone systematically.
I see Kai running with his sister. Desperate to save her. Failing. Watching her die.
I see him alone. Five years of isolation. Five years of telling himself he didn't need anyone. Didn't want anyone.
And I see the face of the wolf who led the attack. The one who gave the orders. The one responsible for slaughtering Kai's entire pack.
Elder Pascal.
The shock breaks my concentration. The power surges wildly. Kai's body arches against mine as the claiming reaches its peak.
His teeth sink into my neck. The marking bite is pure electricity. Pain and pleasure so mixed I can't separate them.
The bond locks into place. Permanent. Unbreakable.
Kai collapses on top of me, breathing hard. The silver poison is gone. Burned away by the combined force of our completed mate bond and my power.
He's alive. We're bonded. Forever.
But all I can think about is what I saw in his memories.
Pascal. Elder Pascal killed Kai's family. Ordered their slaughter. Stood by and watched while children died.
And now he's in our pack. Advising Ray. Guiding us. Acting like a wise elder when he's actually a murderer.
"Alicia." Kai's voice pulls me back. He's looking at me with concern. "What's wrong? What did you see?"
I open my mouth to tell him. To share what the bond revealed.
But before I can speak, the door bursts open.
Ray stands there, face pale. "We have a problem. A messenger just arrived from Blood Moon Pack."
"What kind of message?" Kai asks, already pulling away and reaching for clothes.
Ray's eyes are bleak. "Jake's calling for a formal challenge. Tomorrow at dawn. Him against Alicia. Winner takes all."
My blood turns to ice. "Winner takes what?"
"Leadership of both packs. Territory rights. And control over the True Luna." Ray's voice is hollow. "If you refuse, he attacks with everything Blood Moon has. If you accept and lose, you become his prisoner."
Kai's hand finds mine. The newly completed bond pulses strongly between us.
But even that connection can't stop the fear spreading through me.
Because I know things now. Know that Pascal is a killer. Know that Jake is being controlled by someone outside the packs. Know that nothing about this situation is what it seems.
And tomorrow at dawn, I have to face my brother in single combat.
With everything on the line.