The group dissolves into laughter. I play into it with an easy smile and a shrug, letting them tease while the seed plants itself deeper in my head. Would Sai want me to stop? He’s obsessive enough. I can feel it in everything he does, every time he kneels and waits for my voice. But I don’t want to conform. I’ve already fought too hard to build this life on my own terms. I’m already playing a dangerous game by being this close to an Alpha who’s wholly taken by his family’s expectations.
My attention fractures when someone calls out, “Yo, the new issue came out.” They flip the magazine open and there he is, Sai Hollis on the cover, sharp jaw, dark eyes, silk shirt open just enough to hint at the power underneath. Giggles ripple through the room. “God, I can’t wait till he gets married to Elias Moreau and they have babies. Their kids are going to be gorgeous.”
Jealousy spikes in my chest. I stay silent, but the words sink in.Elias. The name tastes wrong. I picture Sai standing next to someone chosen for him, someone polished and approved, while I’m the secret he keeps hidden behind closed doors. The thought burns.
I pull out my phone and text Noemi.
Mavi: They’re talking about Sai and Elias like it’s already decided. Like he’s going to marry that guy and have perfect Hollis babies.
Noemi replies almost immediately.
Noemi: I’m not surprised. Did you really think someone from a family like the Hollis’ wouldn’t already have his life planned out? What are you going to do?
Mavi: I don’t know. Elias could never take care of Sai the way he needs. Sai doesn’t need perfect. He needs quiet. He needssomeone who can cut through the noise and tell him he’s good without making him choose.
Noemi: I’m not going to tell you to back down because I know you. But please be careful. I don’t want to see you hurt.
Mavi: No promises.
I shove my phone back in my pocket and stare at the magazine cover again. Sai looks untouchable in print, the golden Hollis Alpha everyone wants. But I know the version that kneels in my living room with my collar around his throat and my scent on his skin. I know the version that freezes over three shirts until I choose for him. I know the version that buries his face in my neck and breathes me in like I’m the only thing keeping him from falling apart.
I want to claim that version. Not in a way that destroys his world, but in a way that marks him as mine so clearly that even the machine cannot ignore it. The tie was a start. The anklet is another. But I need more. Something that sits against his skin all day and reminds him who he comes home to.
My mind turns the problem over while I finish the shoot. By the time I leave the set, the jealousy has settled into something sharper—determination. I won’t let Elias or the family or anyone else take the quiet I give him. Sai needs me. He needs the structure I provide, the decisions I make, the way I can silence the chaos with a single word or a single touch.
I start planning what I’ll bring him to wear tomorrow.
And the day after that.
And every day after, until the claim is impossible to miss.
