Page 137 of Storm

"Yes," she whispers, her voice gaining strength with each word. "Claim me, Reed. Make me yours."

I don't wait. I lean over her, my chest against her back, and sink my teeth into her shoulder. The way I hold her is close, almost protective, as I bite down and break her skin. Her taste floods my mouth—dark chocolate with hints of storm clouds and lightning, wild and untamed.

The bond hits me so hard it knocks the air from my lungs. I've never felt anything like this. It's fast and intense, like something deep inside us just clicked. The feeling spreads through my whole body like a rush of energy.

Suddenly, I can feel her—not just her body, but who she is deep down, like we're fully connected. And through her, I can sense Rook too. Our bonds with Storm are linking us. He's part of the pack now, but the bond between us alphas isn't there yet.

I'm hit with everything she's feeling—her pleasure, her surprise, the joy of being with me. I feel how strong she is, how much fight she has under all that softness. Her emotions hit me like waves—big, wild, and beautiful in how real they are.

The most surprising thing is how she feels about me. It's not just want or need, it's something deeper. She sees everything—my darkness, my need for control, even the blood on my hands and she doesn't flinch. She accepts it all. And that kind of acceptance… It hits me hard.

The moment reminds me of the first time I saw her, years ago in that underground fight club.

I seethe moment she pushes through the crowd, my body reacting before my mind can catch up. Heat surges through me, unexpected and primal.

She's small but has curves in all the right places, with wild auburn curls tumbling around her face like flames. Her lips—full and slightly parted as she calls out—make me wonder how they would taste. Sweet like chocolate, I imagine. To match her scent.

"Rook," she calls, and I feel an irrational spark of jealousy toward the beta-born alpha I've just beaten.

Her scent reaches me next, sliding through my senses like silk—dark chocolate with hints of something deeper, something that makes my alpha instincts roar to life. My nostrils flare as I breathe her in. She's a beta, but there's something there—something that makes my blood run hot and my skin tighten with awareness.

"The fight's over," she declares, chin tilted up, throat exposed in a way that makes my mouth go dry.

I step closer than necessary, drawn by a need to be in her space, to have her scent wrap around me completely. "You've got fire, Little Beta," I say, my voice dropping low with desire that I don't bother to hide. "Not many would step into a ring to face me."

Her eyes flash, gray as storm clouds, and the challenge in them sends a jolt straight to my cock. I want to see that fire directed at me in an entirely different context.

"I'm not facing you," she snaps. "I'm getting him out."

Even her anger is intoxicating. Most people fear me, but she burns brighter.

As they attempt to leave, she stumbles. I move instantly, my hand capturing her wrist. The contact is electric, her skin impossibly soft beneath my calloused fingers.

She jerks away, but not before I feel her involuntary shiver. "Don't touch me."

I hold her gaze, letting her see the hunger in mine. "Just keeping you from falling, Little Beta."

For nights afterward, I dream of that brief contact—the softness of her skin, the defiant tilt of her chin, the way her body would fit perfectly against mine. Then for four years I watched her on that small screen as she pleasured herself and I stroked my cock.

Now,years later, I know what I felt then was just the first spark of something that would eventually blaze into this. A connection so deep it reaches places inside me I thought were long dead.

I lick the mark to seal it, calming the sting while she shakes under me. We're joined now—not just physically, but in a way that goes deeper. I can feel the bond between us buzzing, alive. And through it, I feel her link to Rook too—it's different from mine, but just as strong, just as real.

I hold her tightly, purring, as my knot keeps us joined. I press my lips to her mark, feeling her shiver.

"Rest while you can," I murmur against her skin. "Your heat is far from over."

She sighs softly as her eyes flutter closed, surrendering to exhaustion in my arms.

For the first time in years, I feel the tension I've carried begin to ease. That spark I felt when I first saw her pushing through the crowd has transformed into something I never thought possible—a bond that doesn't just satisfy the alpha in me but heals parts I thought were broken beyond repair.

All because of a fierce little omega who never learned to back down, not even from me.

I glance up and catch Rook watching us from across the room.

Our eyes meet, and he gives a slow, understanding nod — not jealous, not threatened.

Just acceptance.