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The tile under Zane’s free hand crumbled to dust as his orgasm hit with brutal force. Luca’s name tore from his throat, equal parts plea and possession. For one blinding moment, pleasure overwhelmed the shame, the guilt, the knowledge that he’d just come harder than ever thinking about his adopted brother.

Reality crashed back as the water washed away the evidence of his weakness. What the fuck was wrong with him? Luca trusted them. Needed them. And here Zane was, jerking offto fantasies of claiming their little prince like some rutting teenager.

He needed to get out of here. Away from Luca’s scent. Away from the temptation to storm down the hall and show the boy exactly what he did to him.

The private elevator to the training facility couldn’t come fast enough. Each floor that passed between the penthouse and the underground levels felt like torture, knowing Luca was up there in that scrap of silk, probably still flushed and…

No. Zane punched the elevator wall, leaving a dent in reinforced steel. He wouldn’t think about Luca. Couldn’t think about him. Not like that.

The elevator finally opened into the underground complex, a fortress of steel and technology built to contain supernatural strength. Zane stalked through the security scan, his alpha authority automatically overriding the need for credentials. Red warning lights flashed as his power levels registered—too high, too volatile, too close to losing control.

The main training facility stretched before him, a cathedral to controlled violence. Three-story ceilings disappeared into shadows above state-of-the-art equipment. Different zones served different purposes: combat rings, weapons arrays, parkour courses designed for supernatural speed. But Zane headed straight for the power-based chamber at the far end.

This room was different. Special. Built to withstand alpha-level destruction with walls of reinforced titanium lined with ancient runes. The space could contain full shifts, magical outbursts, even alpha rages without breaking. Right now, Zane needed every bit of that containment.

His shirt hit the floor as power rolled off him in waves. The alpha shift came without conscious thought—muscles expanding, bones elongating, canines dropping as his wolfpushed forward. The change usually brought clarity. Control. Tonight, it only made Luca’s scent sharper in his memory.

The first training dummy didn’t stand a chance. Zane’s claws ripped through reinforced material like tissue paper, synthetic stuffing exploding across the room. Not enough. He could still feel Luca’s silk-covered form against his chest. Still smell his arousal. Still see those gold-tinted eyes staring at Zane with naked hunger.

The second dummy lost its head to a single swipe. The third exploded under an alpha-powered kick that would have shattered concrete. Each destroyed target brought a fresh wave of memories: Luca’s pulse fluttering at his throat. Those damnable straps sliding down the boy’s shoulders. The little gasp Luca had made when Zane caught him.

“ENOUGH!” The roar shook the reinforced walls, his alpha power turning the word into a physical force that shredded three more dummies.

The door opened behind him, bringing his brothers’ scents—both heavy with the same frustrated arousal, the same shame and need Zane was drowning in. Their wolves recognized the shared torment through their pack bond.

Archer’s usual smirk was nowhere in sight as he stripped off his shirt, muscles already rippling with partial shifts. Ryker moved silently to the weapons wall, selecting steel batons that could withstand supernatural strength.

None of them spoke. They didn’t have to. The pack bond told them everything—how each had spent the last hour, what fantasies had driven them to seek refuge here, whose name they’d growled in release.

Zane launched himself at the next target, channeling his forbidden desires into violence. His brothers joined without hesitation, three apex predators working out their frustration on innocent equipment. The sound of destruction echoed offspelled walls—ripping fabric, shattering steel, primal growls that had nothing to do with training.

Hours passed in a blur of controlled violence. They moved through combat forms that had been drilled into them since childhood, their wolves working in perfect sync despite their human turmoil. But even supernatural stamina had limits. Even alpha rage eventually burned itself out.

When they finally stopped, the power-based chamber looked like a war zone. Shredded dummies littered the floor like fallen soldiers. Deep claw marks scored the reinforced walls. The weapons rack lay in ruins, bent steel testament to supernatural strength.

“We can’t keep doing this,” Ryker said quietly, his usual calm shattered.

“No,” Zane agreed, though his wolf snarled in protest. The evidence of their shared struggle lay in the destroyed room around them.

Archer opened his mouth, probably to make another smart comment about denial, but for once stayed silent. The air still crackled with alpha power, with frustrated need, with the knowledge that nothing had really changed.

They could destroy every dummy in New Vale. Train until their bodies gave out. It wouldn’t matter. Not when they could still smell Luca. Still feel him. Still want him.

Their brother. Luca was their brother.

The lie tasted like ashes in their mouths.

Chapter 12

Islammed my bedroom door and slid down against it, my heart threatening to pound right out of my chest. Oh God. Oh God, oh God, oh God. What was wrong with me? First the library ladder incident—because apparently, I’d learned nothing from every manga ever about the dangers of short shorts and high places. Then practically drooling over not one, but three throats like they were all-you-can-eat ramen buffets.

“Get it together, Luca,” I muttered, clutching the vampire guidebook to my chest. “They’re your brothers. Your very hot, completely forbidden, totally not blood related…” No. Bad Luca. Back to the brother thing.

The silk pajamas Archer bought me whispered against my skin as I stumbled to my bed. These absolutely not appropriate jammies that had made Zane’s eyes bleed gold, had Ryker looking away like I was physically burning him, and got thatlookfrom Archer that definitely wasn’t brotherly…

“Stop. Thinking. About. It.”

But seriously, what self-respecting vampire prince lost control around his adopted brothers? The book in my hands seemed to mock me with its title:Blood Bonds & TerritorialInstincts. More likeHow to Embarrass Yourself in Front of Three Alphas: A Complete Guideby Luca Valentine.