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Her thighs trembling. Her breath breaking.

Soaked. Dripping. Calling out.

Maybe my name. Maybe someone else’s. It doesn’t matter.

Because she’smine.

“How the fuck is this hitting so hard?” Kai groans, dragging a hand down his face. “She’s behind a steel door!”

“She’s strong,” Theo murmurs, dreamy-eyed. “That much we know.”

Ash finally speaks. “Unregistered.”

Theo nods grimly. “Unclaimed.”

“Dangerous,” Ash adds.

“Idiotic,” I correct.

“Aw,” Kai sighs, “you say that like it’s not the hottest thing you’ve ever seen.”

“She walked into central alpha territory without a claim or a reliable suppressant schedule,” I grind out. “That’s nothot- that’s asking to get disappeared by the fucking OMB.”

“Or,” Theo says gently, “she was hiding. For a reason.”

A silence falls. The heavy kind. The kind that knows the truth.

I glance at the sealed door. My fingers twitch.

“I don’t trust any of you,” I mutter.

Kai raises a brow. “Er,rude.”

“Withher,” I snap. “I don’t trust any of youwith her.”

“Yeah, well, maybeIdon't trust any ofyou, either,” he bites back.

Theo sighs. “So what? You want to sleep outside her door in full alpha guard mode until she cools off?”

“Honestly,” Kai mutters, “not the worst idea. We could rotate shifts. Maybe build a pillow fort.”

“We stay in this house until she stabilizes,” I say. “Until she chooses.”

“And if she doesn’t?” Ash asks.

“She will.”

“Confident,” Theo hums.

I meet his eyes, unblinking.

“This city is mine. She came here for a reason.”

A long beat.

Then Kai, quiet for once: “You’ve been watching her.”

“I’ve seen her,” I admit.

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