Kael gave me one day to rest.
Just one.
Long enough to lessen the pain between my thighs. Enough time for my skin's markings to turn into bruises. Long enough for me to believe I might be forgotten, that the public degradation was over.
I should've known better.
The next morning, the den door opened with a creak, and two pack warriors stepped in—both males, both tall and intimidating.
"Alpha commands your presence," one said.
I didn't move.
They didn't ask again.
Rough hands pulled me from the furs. Aside from the leather collar, I remained nude. My modestly held blanket was ripped from my hands and thrown to the side. Despite the burning puddle of shame in my gut, neither of them gave me a lustful glance.
This wasn't about desire.
It was about obedience.
They led me out of the den into the heart of the camp. Around a stone clearing, dozens of wolves formed a circle. I could sense the sacredness of the circle in my bones. Old magic clung to the air like smoke. This wasn't just a training ground.
It was where lessons were taught.
And broken things were remade.
With his arms folded across his bare chest, Kael stood in the middle. His face was unreadable. He resembled a statue made out of storm clouds.
"Bring her forward," he said.
I was pushed into the circle.
I stopped just outside the stones, trembling.
Kael's voice cut through the murmurs. "Inside."
I shook my head.
"No."
One word. That's all it took.
The entire pack went still.
Kael tilted his head slightly, then began to walk toward me. Not fast. Not threatening. Just calm.
That was somehow worse.
"You've been claimed," he said. "Knotted. Collared. Fed. Washed. Sheltered. You will obey."
I responded, my voice breaking, "I didn't agree to any of this". "You took it."
He stopped a breath away from me. The heat of his body rolled over mine.
"That's right," he said softly. "I took what was mine."
I slapped him.
The sound cracked through the camp like thunder.
Gasps. Growls. Someone laughed.
Kael didn't flinch.
He simply smiled.
Then grabbed me by the throat.
Not tight. Not dangerous. Just enough to force me back—back into the center of the circle. My bare feet scraped over the stone. My knees buckled as he pushed me down.
"On your knees."
I resisted.
He gave me a stronger yank, and I fell.
There was a dull thud when my knees struck the stone. I hissed in pain.
"This is where an Omega belongs," Kael said.
Around us, the wolves watched silently. Some sat. Some stood. Their eyes glowed faintly. They were waiting.
"This is your second lesson," Kael continued. "The first was your body. This one is your mouth."
I stared up at him, jaw clenched. "I won't beg."
He stepped behind me.
"You already did once."
"That was different."
"Was it?"
He placed a hand between my shoulder blades and pushed.
"Down."
My forehead touched the cold stone. I hated the position. I hated the familiarity of it. Heat and embarrassment had already made my thighs slippery.
With even greater desperation, I said, "I didn't consent to this."
"You're not supposed to," Kael replied. "You're supposed to break."
And then his hand came down.
A sharp, cracking slap across my ass.
I gasped.
Another.
And another.
Each strike lit my nerves on fire. Each one forced my legs to spread wider for balance. My skin stung. My body betrayed me. I hated him—I hated him—but I was dripping.
"Tell the pack what you are," he said.
"No."
Crack.
"Tell them."
"I'm not your toy—"
Crack.
"Say it, Seren."
I was sobbing now. Not from the pain—but from the truth.
He was right.
My body wanted more.
And I didn't know how to stop it.
"I belong to Alpha Kael," I whispered.
He leaned down beside me.
"Louder."
"I… I belong to Alpha Kael!"
The pack howled in approval.
Kael's hand slid between my legs, confirming what he already knew.
"So wet," he murmured. "You don't even need a heat spike anymore."
He pressed one thick finger into me, and I choked on a gasp.
"You ache for me."
"I hate you."
"Say it again."
I shut my eyes.
"I belong to Alpha Kael," I whispered.
"Again."
"I belong to Alpha Kael."
"Say it until your heart believes it."
After the lesson, I was left kneeling in the circle.
Sweating. Panting. Empty.
Kael circled me like a predator examining its prey.
I tilted my face up to meet his eyes as he knelt down and hooked two fingers beneath my collar.
"Good girl."
I shifted my head away, but not quickly enough to cover up the tremor in my mouth.
He saw it.
He smelled it.
He thrived on it.
"You're learning," he whispered. "And soon, you'll want to obey."
He rose, leaving me on my knees.
The pack watched me with new eyes.
Not as a captive.
But as his.