"Let go of me." Serah's voice is sharp with panic.
Everything inside me goes cold and deadly.
I'm moving before conscious thought forms. The crowd parts as I cross the distance in long strides. My magic surges to the surface, riding the edge of my fury.
"Get your fucking hand off her." My voice comes out low and dangerous.
Gornak blinks up at me, swaying slightly. "Was just asking her to dance, Rakk. No harm in?—"
"Remove. Your. Hand."
Something in my tone must penetrate his drunken haze. He releases Serah, stepping back with both hands raised. "Alright, alright. No need to get territorial."
But the damage is done. The entire canyon is watching now. Dad stares from across the plaza, expression thunderous. Kira stands frozen mid-dance, confusion and anger warring on her face. Serah looks at me with wide eyes, trembling slightly.
And I hear them—the whispers rippling through the crowd. Speculation about why I'm defending a human so aggressively. Comments about Serah's unmated status, her breeding potential, how strange it is that she's remained unclaimed this long.
"She should be taken," someone mutters. "Claimed properly before she causes problems."
"Several warriors have expressed interest?—"
"Won't be long now before someone stakes a claim?—"
The words hammer into me with sickening clarity. This isn't going away. Every day I've delayed, every night I've stolen with Serah in secret, I've left her exposed. Vulnerable. Fair game for any warrior who decides her unclaimed status is an invitation.
I convinced myself we had time. That I could figure out how to navigate Dad's expectations and my own desires without forcing a decision. That eventually the right path would reveal itself.
Instead, I've created a situation where Serah's autonomy—her very safety—hangs by a thread.
And now, standing in front of the entire clan with Serah's terrified gaze locked on mine, I understand what needs to happen. What I should have done weeks ago.
The realization doesn't make this easier. It just makes it inevitable.
I turn to face the gathered clan, pulling Serah against my side. She tries to step away but I hold firm, my arm wrapping around her waist possessively.
"Serah is mine," I announce, voice carrying across the sudden silence. "I'm already breeding her, and I will not share her with anyone else." I turn to look across the canyon. "We will mate, and no one else will touch her."
The canyon erupts.
Gasps. Shocked exclamations. Kira's cry of outrage.
I honestly didn't expect this since Kaelen and Lola have been together. But he is not the future Chieftain.
My father just raises a brow at me, probably annoyed I did this to another clan but content I've made a choice, no less.
But Serah?—
Serah looks at me like I've driven a knife between her ribs. Like I've betrayed her in the most fundamental way possible. Her face drains of color. Her whole body goes rigid against mine.
"What are you doing?" she whispers, voice raw with horror.
"Protecting you." Even as I say it, I know how wrong this is. How violated she must feel having her privacy stripped away, having intimate details of our relationship broadcast like property claims. "Serah, I had to?—"
"Don't." She wrenches free of my grip, stumbling back. "Don't you dare."
The hurt and betrayal in her expression will haunt me. This wasn't how I wanted to claim her. This wasn't how any of thiswas supposed to go. I wanted to ask her properly, to give her the choice, to make her understand what she means to me before binding our lives together.
Instead, I've made her into a spectacle. Reduced what we have to crude declarations of breeding and possession.
