Chapter 22 FIRST IMPRESSIONS MATTER
RAGNAR'S POV
I extend my hand towards him.
It is a simple and measured act leaving me with confusion.
Of all things to ask.
You have the once in a life chance of asking a powerful Alpha what you want and your only response?
My hand.
I expect Sebastian’s hesitation, his bundle of nerves and subtle tremor that betrays when he's nervous and overwhelmed.
What I do not expect is the sudden, violent stir of the mate bond.
I inhale sharply, nostrils flaring as a different scent crashes into me, not just Sebastian’s but something else layered beneath it.
I look and don't see Sebastian anymore.
I recognize the shift instantly.
‘His’ posture changes by a fraction with his shoulders squared.
His breathing is deeper, steadier and heavier.
He looks at me brightly and without the bundle of nerves Sebastian always is whenever he sees me.
The bond hums, restless and hungry, reacting not to fear but to intent.
He's too… feral.
I see it then–what ‘he’ wants to do, what he is about to do. My fingers twitch reflexively, recoiling.
“No,” I start, my voice low, sharp.
I could stop this.
I should stop this.
The Alpha voice coils in my throat, ready to strike and shut him down but Yurik surges beneath my skin, pushing back hard.
“Let him,” my wolf growls, thick with desire. “He chooses us, let him claim us.”
“This is not permission,” I growl aloud, though my feet remain rooted to the floor.
The bond pulses again, humming with agreement to what Yurik wants.
He does not want to hurt me.
He just wants his bite on me.
My control slips just enough so I let him.
‘He’ moves quickly and the bite lands fast on my hand.
His teeth sink into my hand with startling speed and pain flares deeply from the bite.
In a split second, the pain dissolves into something else that makes me almost moan.
It is like lightning through my veins.
My wolf howls inside me, thrilled with my instincts screaming at me to rip his head from my hand and show him what a proper bite mark would look and feel like on his throat.
‘He’s greedily holding on to my hand and that's making me feel something I usually deal with privately or alone.
How can I react to a simple bite like this?
I've fought with other wolves during fights or even spars and in wolf form, biting was a regular norm but how come it's different with him.
It's not an actual mate bite but it's close enough to make my body react as if it were.
Too close.
Blood wells from me, warm and slick against my skin.
‘Sebastian’ makes a sound–low and pleased–making the bond’s pull on us tighter and hungrier than ever.
I curse under my breath.
My hand comes up of its own accord, fingers tangling into his hair, holding him there. Holding himself steady before he trips the both of us to the floor.
“Easy,” I murmured, my voice gruff, meant more for me than him. “Easy there.”
He does not hear me.
Or he does, he chooses not to obey.
His grip remains firm on my skin with his teeth deep in me.
It was almost reverent, as if this moment is sacred with the way he was to my hand.
The sensation is overwhelming.
My wolf presses forward, urging me to complete what has been started.
“Mine,” Yurik snarls in my mind, satisfied.
I bare my teeth and force him back.
Slowly and deliberately, I breathe through the surge of my instinct, pressing and locking Yurik down the confines of my mind.
The last thing we'd want is two wolves going at it mindlessly.
This was not the place.
‘Sebastian’ finally releases me.
He pulls back just enough to look at me, my blood staining his lips with eyes blown wide and feral.
His chest rises and falls rapidly. He looks oddly pleased. Like he actually gave me the mate bond bite.
For one terrifying heartbeat, I imagine it.
My teeth in his neck and afterwards, my mark replacing the bite.
My hand sliding from his hair to his throat dragging him closer.
My control fractures for a moment–then slams back into place with brutal force.
“What is your name?” I ask.
My voice is too calm.
“Alisander,” he answers out of breath.
The bond shudders at the sound, recognizing him fully now.
Yurik surges again, testing the walls of my restraint, but this time I do not yield and force him down with sheer will.
“Why did you come forward?”
“Sebastian was taking too much time. I wanted to pick something different but he chose to play it safe and pick your hand. So I'm helping him be creative in his choice.”
Sebastian's wolf is a sly one.
How did he get paired with shy introverted Sebastian?
Enough.
This cannot happen again.
I turn sharply and leave.
The moment the door slams shut behind me, Yurik explodes.
“You deny us,” he snarls, fury shaking my bones. “You deny what is owed.”
“This is not about want,” I growl as I stride down the corridor. “Besides, a bite wasn't promised.”
“Yiur so called control will not save him,” Yurik snaps back. “Or you.”
My hands curl into fists as I stalk toward my chambers ignoring the pissed off Yurik in my head.
The bond still thrums painfully, another reminder of what I'm refusing.
I shove the door open and freeze.
Beta Ava stands inside my room.
She turns at the sound, already speaking. “Alpha, we have reports from the western–” Her words falter and stop.
Her eyes immediately lock onto my hand.
The blood.
The puncture wounds.
And the unmistakable mark of teeth.
Her expression hardens instantly, something calculating flickering behind her eyes.
“That,” she says slowly, “doesn’t look like it's from a sparring accident so don't even use that excuse.”
Ahh fuck.
“And if you even try to use the Alpha voice to buy your way out of this, I’ll quit because Moon goddess help me I refuse to deal with your avoidant behavior.”