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Chapter 314
~Kai’s POV~
I knew I had screwed up without needing a second voice reminding me.
I threw away the chance to mate with my mate, the one thing my whole body had craved time and again since I met her, and worse, when I knew she was bound to me.
The second Valerie walked out that door, my wolf growled in my mind, loud, angry, and echoing.
"What the hell was that, Kai?" Kaiser’s voice snapped sharply. "You let her go. You pulled away. Are you stupid or just weak?"
"I didn’t let her go," I muttered, raking my fingers through my hair as I stared at the closed door.
My lips still tingled from her kiss. My skin burned where she’d touched me. But my heart... my mind, they were a mess.
"You didn’t stop her either. Idiot. Claim your mate. Mark her. Protect her."
"I couldn’t," I muttered under my breath as I paced the room.
Things had been going too well lately. Earlier in the kitchen, we’d laughed. Touched. Kissed.
I could still taste her on my tongue from earlier when I went down on her twice. The first at the pool and in the living room.
I wanted to take things further—gods, I craved it. But as soon as her hands began stroking me and I felt myself giving in, my mind had drifted... to the conversation we, the heirs, had after our fathers left that evening.
And suddenly, guilt rooted itself deep in my chest.
I hated keeping things from Valerie. But what scared me more was the possibility of hurting her again.
She wasn’t like us, not in the political sense. She didn’t have a legacy of power behind her name or a family known throughout the supernatural world.
We didn’t even know who her family was. She was a mystery, and in a world where bloodlines mattered to those in power... it terrified me.
If anything went wrong, if she got entangled in any political mess... There was no safety net. No one would lift a finger for her.
She could vanish overnight, and the Alpha Kings or their allies would bury the story like it never happened.
That kind of reality made me freeze. And all I could think about while holding her was—what if claiming her tonight put her in danger tomorrow?
"Now you understand, Dristan, huh?" Kaiser sneered. "You understand why he got so damn possessive and did what he did after the Silver reveal?"
I shuddered at the memory. Yeah, I understand now. That overwhelming fear. That desperation to keep her safe. It clawed at my chest just thinking about it.
"So your solution is to not touch her? Reject her? Brilliant."
I did not know whose side Kaiser was on right now.
"I didn’t reject her," I hissed, though I was alone in the room.
"Sure as hell looked like it. Do you even realize how much it stung her? Because I felt it. She was vulnerable, willing, and you turned your back on her."
"I just need her to be safe. She deserves a proper claim—something all six of us agree on. Not some heat-driven moment where I lose control and mark her without thinking. You know what that could do, jealousy, rage, fights she’s not ready for."
"Would Dristan have held back?" Kaiser growled. "Didn’t he have oral sex with her last night?"
I gritted my teeth. "Well, I ate her out today, a lot. Doubt even Dristan’s had that privilege."
"And?"
"She gave me a blowjob too," I added, smirking slightly to myself. "Judging by her technique—and that little choke—I’m definitely her first. So, yeah. I have that over the rest. And heavens, when her tongue touched my cock... I’ve had blow jobs before, but this... this was just right."
"Then complete it, dumbass."
"Not now, Kaiser."
"You’re a disgrace of an Alpha heir. Claiming her would make her safer, not weaker. You’d be able to sense her wherever she is. I bet the Lycan twins wouldn’t lose an opportunity like this, you goose."
I growled, my fists clenching. I wanted to punch something—maybe my wolf right in his smug snout.
But he had a point.
I sighed, yanked my black tank top off the floor, and tugged it back on. My feet moved before my thoughts did, bringing me straight to her door.
I raised my hand to knock, but just then, I felt a presence behind me.
I could already guess who it was even without looking. Turning, I found Dristan standing there.
Still... Shit.
He was just as possessive as I was and more competitive unlike the others.
Dristan looked like he’d been waiting for me. His lean form rested against the opposite wall, arms folded over his chest.
His ash-grey joggers hung low on his hips, and his dark eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
"Why are you bothering her?" he asked flatly. "It’s already midnight."
"It’s just eleven—" I started, only to be immediately cut off by the soft ding of the hallway bell.
Midnight.
Perfect.
I groaned and stepped back. "Nothing. I just wanted to talk to her." I arched my brow. "What? Do I need permission to see her?"
Dristan’s jaw ticked. "Don’t get all defensive with me. I just hope it’s not about... you know what."
"Not really. I just—"
"Not really?" Dristan scoffed. "Let it be. Don’t spark something to rile her suspicion. Our kiss earlier was one sus activity.
"You knew, yet you did it anyway."
"And so did you. I couldn’t miss out on kissing her, not when she presented a nice chance to accept us."
At once, Kaiser rose in my mind. "You see, Saint Knight Kai."
"Shut it, Kaiser."
"Let her rest, Kai. She deserves peace tonight." Dristan’s words were calm, but there was steel in them.
I nodded, jaw clenched. "Right."
He brushed past me, hands tucked casually into his pockets.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"To make tea and read," he said without looking back. "Can’t sleep."
"It’s about today, isn’t it?" I asked, trailing him.
"Maybe," he muttered. Then paused. "You’re welcome to join me if you want."
I followed him. Because I knew if I stayed near Valerie’s door a second longer, I’d bang it down and beg for forgiveness I didn’t know how to give.