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"Good girl." The words are whispered against my ear, making my knees weak. "You learn quickly when you pay attention."

He pulls away before I can respond, leaving me breathless and confused against the rock wall. When I turn, he's already moving toward another plant cluster, acting as if nothing happened.

This is how our training sessions have evolved—practical lessons layered with tension that makes my skin feel too tight.Every instruction carries undertones of dominance that have nothing to do with wilderness survival. Every praise makes my body respond in ways that terrify me.

We climb higher, reaching a plateau that offers commanding views of the surrounding valleys. Vex extends his massive wings, stretching them after keeping them folded during our ascent through narrow passages. The motion is unconscious, like a human rolling tense shoulders, but the display makes my mouth go dry.

Fifteen feet of black feathers catching sunlight, powerful enough to carry both our weights through storm winds. The memory of being claimed in midair floods back—the impossible sensation of being filled while suspended in open sky, completely dependent on his strength.

"You're staring," he observes without turning around.

Heat flames my cheeks. "I was thinking about weather patterns. How you navigate in storms."

"Is that what you were thinking about?" He turns to face me fully, those predatory eyes seeming to read every thought I'm trying to hide. "Or were you remembering something else?"

I sink down on a flat boulder, needing the distance. "You're teaching me too much," I say, changing the subject. "Routes, plants, hunting, weather prediction. Why?"

Vex folds his wings against his back, though not completely—a position that keeps them partially displayed. "Survival knowledge benefits us both."

"How does it benefit you?" I press, needing to understand his motivations. "If you just wanted breeding stock, you'd keep me locked in your den."

Something shifts in his expression. "Is that what you think you are? Breeding stock?"

The question catches me off guard. "Isn't it? That's what the transport manifests said. What Captain Kain called me."

"Captain Kain sees everything in terms of Council classifications." Vex moves closer, his presence overwhelming even from several feet away. "I see an omega with medical skills, strategic thinking, and survival instincts that grow stronger every day."

"And what am I supposed to do with that assessment?"

"Survive," he says simply. "When circumstances change."

The phrasing sends ice through my veins. "What circumstances?"

He doesn't answer immediately, instead studying the valley below with tactical assessment. "Enforcement activity has increased at eastern checkpoints. Specialized equipment being assembled."

My stomach drops. "Gargoyle units?"

His wings twitch—the only sign of agitation he allows himself. "Among others. They're not coming for simple territorial dispute resolution."

"They're coming for me specifically."

"Yes." He turns back to me, and something in his expression makes my breath catch. "Which means you need to be prepared for independent movement if we're separated."

The word 'if' feels like a lie. We both know it's 'when.'

"I won't leave you to them," I say, the words surprising us both.

His head tilts, studying me like I'm a puzzle he can't solve. "Why?"

The simple question unravels me. Why would I care what happens to the alpha who claimed me by force? Who stole my freedom, my choices, my body? Who turned me into the very thing I'd spent eight years avoiding?

"Because..." I struggle for words that make sense. "Because you could have just kept me chained in your den. Could have used me and ignored everything else. But you didn't."

"That doesn't answer my question."

Heat builds in my chest, part frustration and part something else I don't want to name. "Because they'll cripple you. Remove your wings, maybe kill you. And for what? So I can be processed in some facility until I break?"

"You're avoiding the real answer." He moves closer, close enough that I have to tilt my head back to meet his eyes. "Why does my fate matter to you, omega?"