Chapter 6: Claim Him

Aaron kicked the door shut behind them hard enough that the frame rattled.

He crossed the room in three long strides and set Levi down on the large bed with more care than his expression suggested. The omega’s head lolled against the dark pillows, cheeks flushed, lips parted, body still trembling with residual heat even in unconsciousness. The sweet, open scent of him filled the chamber in thick waves. Aaron straightened and dragged a hand down his face as if he could wipe the pull out of his own skin.

Dexter closed the door more quietly and leaned against it, silver hair catching the low lamplight. He watched his brother with pale, unreadable eyes.

"You’re angry," Dexter observed.

Aaron let out a short, humorless breath. "Angry doesn’t cover it." He turned to stare down at the unconscious omega sprawled across his sheets. "That little thing walked into our hall, lost control like a reckless pup, and somehow dragged all three of us under with him. Do you have any idea how ridiculous that is?" His voice dropped, rough with residual instinct and genuine fury. "I’ve never lost my head over an omega in my life. Not once. And tonight I nearly tore a visiting Alpha’s throat out because he looked at him too long. How dare he. How dare a common Hill omega make me feel like this."

He paced once, then again, the heavy dominance in his scent spiking with agitation. "And the audacity of it. One omega to try and claim three of us. Does he think the Goddess handed him a set? Like we’re prizes he can just collect?"

Dexter’s gaze drifted back to Levi. The third prince’s expression remained calm, but something thoughtful and faintly troubled moved behind his eyes. "Maybe we’re simply drunk on the pheromones," he said quietly. "Full moon, unmated omega in sudden heat. No suppressants. It wouldn’t be the first time strong scents clouded judgment."

Aaron stopped pacing and looked at him like he had suggested the sky was green. "No." The word was flat and absolute. "I’ve been driven by pheromones before. I’ve wanted to fuck something senseless because it smelled good. This is different." He pointed at the bed without looking away from Dexter. "I feel the pull. The real one. I felt it the moment his scent hit the hall, and I still feel it now that he’s unconscious and the worst of the heat is dulled. That isn’t drunkenness. That’s a mate bond."

Dexter was silent for a long moment. When he spoke again his voice was softer. "All three of us..."

"All three of us," Aaron confirmed, bitter and baffled in equal measure. "Explain that to me. One omega mated to three heirs? Does the Goddess has a cruel sense of humor?"

Dexter pushed off the door and walked closer to the bed. He studied Levi’s face, the soft features slack with exhaustion, the dark lashes against flushed cheeks, the pulse still visible in his throat. "What’s next, then?"

Aaron did not answer immediately. He dragged a chair away from the wall and dropped into it, elbows on his knees, staring at the omega who had upended the entire claiming night in under a minute. The suppressant vial they had forced between Levi’s lips earlier sat empty on the nightstand. It had taken the edge off enough to let him fall into a restless unconsciousness, but the underlying sweetness of his scent remained, stubborn and telling.

"I don’t know," Aaron said at last. "Father is going to lose his mind. Kai is still dealing with him. And this—" he gestured at Levi "—this changes everything."

Levi finally made a small sound in his sleep and turned his face into Aaron’s pillow, chasing a scent he did not yet understand.

Then his eyes opened.

For a moment he simply stared at the ceiling, unfocused and dazed. The suppressants had dulled the worst of the heat, but the mate pull remained, a low insistent throb beneath his sternum. He became aware of the room in pieces, dark furniture, the heavy scent of Aaron soaked into the sheets, the cooler, sharper presence of Dexter nearby.

He pushed himself up on unsteady arms, but Aaron was on him before he could fully sit.

The second prince crossed the space in a blink, fisted a hand in the front of Levi’s shirt, and slammed him back against the wall beside the bed hard enough to knock the breath from his lungs. Levi’s head hit the plaster with a dull thud. Aaron’s larger body caged him there, one knee braced against the mattress, eyes dark and furious and still burning with the same pull that had undone him in the great hall.

"What the fuck was that?" Aaron snarled, voice low and lethal. "What did you do? What kind of game are you playing, omega?"

Levi’s hands flew up on instinct, not to fight but to create the smallest possible space between them. His heart hammered against his ribs. The suppressants had taken the edge off the heat, but Aaron’s scent at this distance was still overwhelming.

"I—I didn’t," he choked out. "I forgot my suppressants. I didn’t mean—"

"You didn’t mean." Aaron’s laugh was sharp and humorless. "You flooded an entire claiming ceremony with heat, nearly started a brawl between packs, and somehow tied a mate pull to three different Alphas. And you expect me to believe it was an accident?"

He leaned in closer, free hand braced against the wall beside Levi’s head. The same position he had used in the bathroom days earlier, only this time the fury was personal. "Talk. Now. What did you do to us—"

The rest of his question was drowned by the sound of the door opening

Kai stepped inside and closed it quietly behind him, his expression colder than usual. He took in the scene in a single glance, and immediately made to deescalate the situation.

"Aaron," Kai said. The word was soft and absolute. "Leave him."

Aaron’s jaw flexed. For a moment it looked like he might refuse. The hand fisted in Levi’s shirt tightened, then slowly opened. He stepped back with visible reluctance, chest still rising too fast, eyes still locked on the omega like he had not decided whether to kiss him or shake him until answers fell out.

Levi sagged against the wall, sucking in air that was still too full of all three of them.

Kai crossed the room without hurry. He stopped in front of Levi and, without asking permission, caught the omega’s chin between long fingers and tilted his face up. The grip was firm, not quite cruel. He turned Levi’s head slightly, studying his eyes, the flush still lingering on his cheeks, the way his pulse jumped under the skin of his throat. He drew in a slow, deliberate breath, scenting him at close range the way Aaron had done in the bathroom.

"It’s real," Kai said quietly. He was still looking at Levi, but the words were for his brothers. "The bond. I felt it in the hall. I feel it now. It’s not pheromone drunkenness. It’s not the full moon playing tricks. The Goddess put a mate pull on all three of us, and it points at him."

He released Levi’s chin but did not step back. His gaze moved from Levi to Aaron, then to Dexter, and back again to Levi. He had made up his mind, and he was going forward with it.

"I’m claiming him tonight."