Lucan doesn't stop.
He doesn't say a word even as he strides into the pack house, still in his massive wolf form.
All heads turn immediately, hushed gasps filling the air, but he pays them no mind.
The thick scent of tension floods the hallways.
His heavy paws echo against the polished floors as he marches forward, Kyle limp and silent in his jaws.
The whispers start as soon as they see him.
With the wolf's sharp hearing, Kyle catches every single word.
"The Alpha is back..."
"He has found her..."
"Thank the Moon Goddess he has found her."
"She must have ran because she doesn't want him. She rejected the bond after all."
"Impossible. Who wouldn't want Alpha Lucan? Even some men here look at him like they wouldn't mind being pinned by him."
"Don't say such filthy things. Men wanting a man? Get your head checked."
"For me, I think she didn't expect Alpha Lucan to be her mate. She got scared. That's why she ran."
"Or maybe she thought she's not good enough for him."
"Which she's not."
"Yes she is! She's perfect for him! Anyone can see it. The way the Alpha is obsessed with her... nothing will stop him."
Their voices blur together, a confusing, overwhelming sea of noise that presses against Kyle's mind, making it harder to breathe.
Panic wells up inside him, suffocating.
He knows Lucan won't let him go.
And worse, he knows he's about to be alone with him.
Lucan's heavy body moves forward with purpose, carrying him deeper into the mansion.
Each step feels like the ticking of a clock counting down to the inevitable.
The door swings open with a deafening crash.
Lucan lowers him onto the bed, not harshly, but with a firm, possessive grip that leaves no doubt: he's not letting him disapear again.
Before Kyle can even sit up, there's a flash of silver light.
Lucan shifts back into his human form. Remaining completely naked.
Kyle gasps and instantly twists around, squeezing his eyes shut, his hands flying up to cover his face.
Heat floods his cheeks.
But worse than that... there's a raw, forbidden curiosity rising inside him.
The urge to look. To see that unresistable body.
His heart pounds violently in his chest, thrumming like a caged bird.
Don't look. Don't look.
But he feels it anyway, the weight of Lucan's gaze on him, heavy and scorching.
He hears bare footsteps approach.
Slow. Deliberate.
Each one sinking into the floorboards, reverberating straight into Kyle's bones.
He trembles even visibly, uncontrollably.
Then Lucan speaks, voice hoarse and shaking with restraint.
"Let me mark you. Please."
The desperate edge in his tone nearly shatters Kyle's resolve.
"Let me mark you." He repeats.
"I know this isn't the right time," he continues, voice ragged. "Not after what you've been through. But I need this because it helps me anchor myself to you. If you let me mark you... I'll always know where you are. I won't take so long to find you next time. If you let me mark you... you'll never have to face anything like danger again. Everyone will know you're mine, and anyone who dares hurt you will answer to me. So Please... let me."
The sincerity. The brokenness.
It slams into Kyle like a physical blow.
His panic rises to a fever pitch.
If Lucan marks him, it won't stop there.
He knows it.
Mating. Sex. Claiming.
That is how it happens, marked at the height of pleasure, claimed in the midst of it.
He shakes his head weakly, unable to speak, but Lucan is relentless.
"I'll be gentle," he murmurs.
"I'll make you love every second, even if it kills me to hold back. Just let me mark you. That's all I'm asking for now. Please."
Lucan's large, warm hand slides onto the side of his neck..
The touch is gentle, almost reverent, yet Kyle feels the hidden strength coiled beneath it, the barely-contained force that could so easily overwhelm him.
Tears sting his eyes, but he blinks them away furiously.
If only he were truly a girl. Or if Lucan knew he was a boy and still wanted him just as much, he would have let him take him, he would have given him everything. But now... he knows that's impossible.
He can feel Lucan's body closing in behind him, the heat of him, the hard line of his arousal pressing against his lower back, undeniable and terrifying.
Lucan leans closer, his chest pressed against Kyle's trembling back, his breath fanning across Kyle's ear.
"You don't have to be afraid," Lucan breathes. "I promise you... I'll put you first before my needs."
Kyle clenches his fists tightly, nails digging into his palms.
He needs a way out, any way out. Because he knows by now Lucan is not backing down. He wants him.
In a desperate flash of instinct, a lie spills from his lips, raw and unplanned.
He starts coughing, so weakly it seems he's on the verge of dying.
"I'm sick," he chokes out, his voice barely more than a whisper.
Lucan freezes instantly, pulling his hand back as if jolted awake, as if he hadn't realized what he was doing.
"You're sick?" His voice is sharp, urgent.
Kyle nods without meeting his eyes, keeping his face hidden.
He feels the shift in Lucan's body, the instant withdrawal.
"I'll get you a doctor." Lucan says getting off the bed.
On instinct, Kyle grabs Lucan's wrist, his fingers trembling against the Alpha's strong skin.
"Don't go," he says. "I... I don't feel that bad. But I don't think I can handle claiming and marking right now. I know you've waited too long already, and I don't want you to suffer because of me. Maybe... maybe I can help you... in other ways. Even if it's not sex."
The words spill out, clumsy and dreading.
Kyle's heart race in anticipation. He wants to do it.
Even if it breaks him, even if it shatters every fragile wall he's built,
He still wants to touch him.
He still wants to be touched by him.
Even if only like this.