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"Choose," I say simply, yellow eyes holding hers as lightning illuminates both our faces.

In this moment, suspended between storm and stone, between defiance and surrender, I offer the only mercy available. Not freedom—that was never truly hers in a world governed by Prime biology. But survival. Protection. The chance to see another dawn under my claiming rather than die abandoned on my mountain.

The storm rages around us, indifferent to her choice. But I am far from indifferent. Something about this particular omega—her tactical thinking, her continued resistance, the intoxicating complexity of her scent—has awakened more than territorial claiming instinct.

It has awakened genuine hunger.

And in my territory, what I hunger for becomes mine.

CHAPTER 4

FIRST CONTACT

Amelia's POV

"Choose," he says simply, yellow eyes holding mine as lightning illuminates both our faces.

The word hangs between us like a death sentence. Choice—what a joke when I'm suspended in a monster's tail, bleeding and burning alive from the inside out while a storm rages around us.

Another wave of heat tears through me without warning, more vicious than anything before. I convulse in his grip, a scream ripping from my throat as my body betrays me completely. Slick gushes between my thighs, soaking through what's left of my uniform. The emptiness inside me clenches desperately, demanding to be filled by the alpha whose scent is driving me to the edge of madness.

"Fuck," I gasp, doubling over as cramps seize my core. The clinical part of my brain—the nurse who's seen omegas die from rebound heat—knows exactly what's happening. Temperature spiking. Heart rate approaching tachycardia. Hormonal cascade accelerating toward system failure.

I'm dying. My body is literally consuming itself, and this monster knows it.

"Your system is in cascade failure," Vex observes, voice rough with something that might be hunger. His nostrils flare as he breathes in my scent, pupils contracting to razor slits. "You smell like desperation and need. Like an omega who knows she's running out of time."

"Go to hell," I spit, even as another wave of heat makes me writhe in his grip. The tail around my waist tightens, not enough to hurt but enough to remind me exactly how powerless I am.

He laughs, a sound that vibrates through his chest and into my bones. "Hell would be leaving you to die unclaimed. Is that what you want, little nurse? To convulse yourself to death on my mountain?"

How does he know I'm a nurse? The transport, probably. Medical personnel are valuable breeding stock.

"I'd rather die free than live as your breeding bitch," I manage through gritted teeth.

"Would you?" His free hand cups my face, claws pricking against my skin with just enough pressure to draw pinpricks of blood. "Because your body is telling a different story."

As if summoned by his words, another surge of heat crashes over me. This time I can't bite back the moan that escapes, my hips grinding involuntarily against nothing as my omega biology screams for what he could give me. The betrayal of my own flesh makes rage burn hotter than the heat itself.

"Your cunt is dripping for me," he growls, breathing deep of my scent. "Your body knows what it needs, even if your stubborn mind refuses to accept it."

The crude words send a bolt of unwanted arousal straight to my core. I hate him. I hate what he represents. But my treacherous body responds to his dominance like it's been starved for exactly this kind of brutal honesty.

"You're a monster," I whisper, even as my nipples harden beneath his predatory gaze.

"Yes." His thumb traces the blood he's drawn on my cheek. "And you're prey. But you're also dying, and I'm the only thing in these mountains that can save you."

Lightning flashes again, illuminating the impossible choice before me. Submit to the monster or die writhing in agony as my own biology destroys me from within.

"What happens after?" I force out. "After you... claim me?"

"You become mine." His tail constricts slightly, making my breath catch. "Your body, your heat, your submission—all mine. You'll carry my mark, bear my offspring, serve my needs."

The blunt declaration should terrify me. Instead, another gush of slick betrays my body's response to his dominance. The omega in me recognizes an alpha powerful enough to survive what's coming—the violent claiming my heat will demand.

"And if I refuse?"

His gaze doesn't waver. "Then you die. But not quickly. Heat-death is agony—hours of burning from the inside while your mind fragments. I've seen it before."