☆ a moment later ☆
The ceremonial sword clattered, its sound a death knell to Arion's freedom. The Royal Palace Plaza, moments before a scene of public duel and political chaos, instantly settled into an unnerving silence. Kyon, the undisputed victor, stepped away from the altar, straightening his blood-smeared robes with serene, chilling composure.
"The wedding is concluded," Kyon announced, his voice carrying the finality of a sovereign decree. "Consort , you are now bound to the Crown. You will proceed with the butler to the private family wing."
Arion, standing defeated, felt the weight of a thousand eyes upon him , dignitaries, soldiers, and spies, all witnessing his absolute submission. He ignored the urgent, pained cries of Maeva and the fierce, frustrated attempts of Torvin to break through the guard lines.
He looked only at Aiden, who was still clutched by the stiff, emotionless butler.
As the butler turned to leave the platform, Arion moved. His pace was slow, his head bowed just enough to signify fealty, but his mind was already mapping his internal defenses.
He was now within the serpent's lair, and every move had to be precise.
He reached the butler and, without asking permission, gently removed Aiden from the man's brutal grip.
The moment Aiden was in his arms, the boy stopped whimpering, burying his small face in the comforting, familiar scent of his father's uniform.
"Papa! Papa!" Aiden mumbled, relief thick in his voice.
"I'm here, love ," Arion whispered, his voice catching slightly, the sound of his son's terror fueling a cold new resolve. "I'm right here. No one will touch you again."
Kyon watched the exchange, his eyes narrowed, a calculation passing over his features. He didn't intervene. He was content with the public display of dominance; the private custody was irrelevant.
"You will share my suite, Consort," Kyon stated, his voice a possessive order. "The boy will have his own adjoining room, with a nurse and guard stationed outside. I expect you to be in the receiving parlor at sunset. We have matters of state to discuss."
Arion simply nodded, accepting the strictures of the gilded cage. He was escorted away, carrying Aiden, the new heir, toward the private wing a sanctuary that was nothing more than a highly secured prison.
***
Hours later, Arion was alone in the lavish, oppressive luxury of the Crown Prince's suite. Aiden was asleep in the next room, guarded by two silent, loyal to Kyon alpha soldiers. Arion stood by the enormous window, staring out at the city he now controlled, yet could not leave.
He stripped off the dark training tunic, revealing the raw bruises on his wrist and the thin line of dried blood on his throat.
He was officially the Consort of the Crown Prince. His honor was publicly shattered, his body subservient to a royal mandate.
But Arion knew that the external loss of honor was only a mask for the internal, unyielding commitment to his son.
He touched the healed, jagged line of the old c mark on his neck, a scar that symbolized his violation. He spoke the words softly, a Consort's Vow that was simultaneously a curse and a promise.
"You took my damn honor, you took my status, and you took my freedom," Arion whispered into the empty air, directing his hatred at the absent Kyon.
"But you will never take his spirit. I accept this bond, but I will use the power and proximity of this position to dismantle everything you have built. I am your consort, Kyon. But I am the Alpha's Price, and you will pay for it with your throne."
***
Just as Arion finished dressing in the fine, neutral silks provided for him, a discreet, unauthorized tap came at the outer door to the suite. A moment later, a small, lithe figure slipped inside.
It was Prince Lorcan, the small seven years old male omega prince . He was dressed impeccably, but his face was drawn with worry. He had clearly managed to slip away from his delegation immediately after the chaotic ceremony. Again ( sigh )
"Arion," Lorcan whispered urgently, his strawberry scent muted by anxiety. "I had to see if you were alive. That was horrifying. What in the hell did you just do? You just married the Serpent!"
"I bought us time, Lorcan," Arion said, his voice hard. "And I secured my son. He is safe for now."
Lorcan looked toward the nursery door, his green eyes widening with a sudden, shrewd understanding. "He claimed the boy to gain legitimacy. But now you have access. You are his weakness, Arion. And he needs you for the façade."
Lorcan stepped closer, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "The Southern Isles are watching. We will play neutral, but Cassian's network is already mobilized.
We know you are the key, Arion. Use your access. Find his true vulnerabilities, the ones he can't mask with chemicals or political lies. We will wait for your signal."
Arion nodded, recognizing the genuine allegiance in the young omega's eyes. Lorcan had witnessed the humiliation but still saw the warrior beneath the consort's robes.
"Go back to your delegation, Prince," Arion instructed. "Act outraged. Demand an immediate audience with your father. Make Kyon believe you are a problem, a distraction. Do not contact me again unless it is absolutely necessary. I need to be completely isolated here."
Lorcan nodded, accepting the command. He slipped back out, leaving Arion alone once more,a single, defiant shadow in the Serpent's opulent lair, ready to begin the final, silent war.
A tense silence settled over the royal suite after Lorcan's departure, a silence broken only by the rhythmic, heavy footsteps of the guards stationed outside Aiden's nursery.
Arion moved to the inner parlor, attempting to organize his thoughts, but the cold weight of the Jade Heart's presence in the adjoining room was suffocating.
He knew Kyon was using the remaining hours before sunset to solidify his legal and political victory.
The serenity was violently broken by a sudden, sharp sound from the nursery: a harsh, commanding voice, immediately followed by the terrified, heartbroken wail of a child.
Arion froze. The dominant voice was unmistakable: Kyon's. The Alpha scent, though still suppressed by the white tea façade, was thick and laced with a terrifying edge of frustration and control.
Arion bolted upright, adrenaline flooding his system. He didn't hesitate, rushing silently to the heavy, ornately carved door that separated the suite's parlor from the nursery.
He pressed his ear against the wood, his heart hammering against his ribs.
"...No, you will say it!" Kyon's voice was dangerously low, a coiled threat.
"You will say that you hate weakness! Say the word!"
Aiden's small voice, thick with tears, choked out, "Papa f-forbid... forbid me... say bad word! H-Hating is not good... Papa said..."
"Your 'Papa' teaches you sentimentality!" Kyon snapped, the sound of a heavy, quick movement following his words. "You are the son of the Crown Prince! You must learn strength! Now—"
The sharp, sickening sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed through the wood.
Aiden's scream was immediate, primal, and laced with absolute pain. "PAPA! HELP!"
Arion's control evaporated. Imagining The sight of his son's tear-filled face, the sound of that blow, shattered the Consort's resolve. He didn't think; he simply roared , a genuine Alpha battle cry that had been repressed for years.
and slammed his shoulder into the door.
The heavy door burst inward, splintering the frame.
Kyon stood by the small, intricately carved bed, his back to the door. Aiden was huddled against the pillow, his cheek already turning a sickly red where Kyon's hand had landed.
The guards stationed outside the nursery, two enormous Alphas loyal to the crown, stood frozen in shock, having never heard Prince Kyon display such raw, uncontrolled anger—or violence against a child.
Kyon slowly turned, his beautiful features contorted not with guilt, but with a terrifying, cold fury at being interrupted. His eyes were slitted, glowing with the gold sheen of an Alpha pushed to the brink, and his scent was now an undisguised, suffocating wave of burning amber.
"You dare," Kyon hissed, his voice trembling with Alpha dominance. "You dare interfere with the instruction of the Crown's heir, Consort?"
Arion stalked into the room, ignoring the guards and the trembling child.
He moved entirely on instinct, fueled by his paternal rage. "You will not touch him again!" Arion roared, his own Alpha presence, long dormant, fighting desperately against Kyon's overwhelming dominance.
"You use him as a political tool, but you will not use him as a punching bag! He is your son!"
Kyon laughed, a chilling, humorless sound.
He stepped away from Aiden, placing himself between Arion and the crying boy.
"Sentimentality is a flaw, Consort. I was teaching him the necessity of control. A lesson you seem to have forgotten the moment you took your sword to my throat."
Kyon's eyes dropped to Arion's chest, taking in the fierce, protective stance. The Alpha scent radiating off Arion, though weaker, was a clear challenge.
"You want me to stop hitting the boy?" Kyon challenged, his voice softening into a dangerous purr. He walked toward Arion, closing the distance until they were mere inches apart. His true Alpha scent of burning amber was a suffocating command, and Arion's body, traitorously, began to heat in response.
"You want me to ease his education?"
Kyon placed a cold hand on Arion's cheek, forcing Arion to look at him. "The price of my clemency is simple, Consort. I want another heir. You will submit.
You will enter a heat immediately, and you will give me a proper heir, born under the full acknowledgment of my Alpha nature. You will prove your submission, and I will cease these... lessons."
The offer was a raw, devastating choice. Arion felt the familiar, terrifying rush of heat spiking through his veins, the marks on his neck and abdomen pulsed with agonizing anticipation. He knew Kyon was deliberately manipulating his pheromones, using his powerful scent and dominance to force a heat. To submit now meant immediate, humiliating surrender and the risk of another pregnancy ,a terrifying vulnerability he wasn't ready to face for the second time .
But he looked past Kyon, to Aiden, who was watching them with wide, tear-filled eyes.
The child's safety was the only currency that mattered.
Arion closed his eyes, his entire body shaking as he swallowed his Alpha pride. The warrior was defeated. The mother had to win.
"I accept," Arion whispered, the words tasting like ash and defeat. "But you will never touch him again."
Kyon's smile was a chilling, absolute triumph. "Good, Consort. Now, come. The parlor is where we begin our true marriage."
The nursery door closed with a heavy thud behind Kyon and Arion, severing the painful sight of Aiden from the escalating threat.
Kyon, radiating lethal Alpha dominance, led Arion toward the adjoining parlor, his grip on Arion's arm possessive and bruising.
Aiden's cries, however, followed them. The little boy, sensing his protector was being taken away by the source of his pain, scrambled off the bed, stumbling to the closed door, his small fists beating weakly against the wood.
"Papa! Don't go! Don't let the bad man take you!"
Kyon paused, his jaw tightening. He slowly turned his head toward the door, his eyes , still sharp with raw burning amber glaring at the thin panel of wood. The child's continued defiance, the direct rejection of his authority, enraged the Alpha.
Aiden, hearing the silence and perhaps sensing the shift in the air, wailed louder, a sound of pure terror that tore at Arion's heart.
Kyon took a sharp, aggressive step back toward the door, his intention clear. He was going to silence the defiance, violently.
"No!" Arion cried out, fear for his son eclipsing all shame and pain. He moved with desperate, primal speed, catching Kyon's arm and violently spinning the Prince around.
Arion didn't hesitate. He seized Kyon's face and dragged the Prince down into a searing, brutal kiss. It was not an act of passion or surrender, but a desperate, calculated act of misdirection and violence.
Arion bit down on Kyon's lower lip, hard, drawing blood and forcing Kyon's immediate attention.
Kyon recoiled from the pain, his Alpha rage momentarily diverted into shock and possessive fury.
Arion leaned in, his voice a low, fierce rasp against Kyon's mouth. "The target is me, Kyon. Not Aiden. Finish what you started with me, if you must, but you leave my son out of your political theater!"
Kyon's eyes, burning into Arion's, were filled with a terrifying mix of lust and hatred.
The deliberate wound and the aggressive challenge only amplified the Alpha's intent. Kyon shoved Arion back against the heavy velvet drapery of the parlor window, his movements fueled by immediate, possessive need.
"Very well, Consort," Kyon growled, the taste of his own blood mixing with their shared breath. "You are the prize. And you will pay the price."
Arion inner voice scream : fuck you and your prize stuff . As Kyon's lips descended again, rough and demanding, Arion mentally prepared himself.
He endured the punishing kisses, the bruising touches, letting out only harsh, " ugh!" guttural groans to feign submission. The thin, needle , like a vial containing a concentrated, fast acting sedative he had managed to hide in the lining of his tunic during his frantic change of clothes, it felt impossibly heavy in his sweating palm.
Kyon, fueled by the forced escalation, tore at Arion's silks. Arion bore the pain, focusing his entire will on the moment. When Kyon finally lifted his head, panting, to move to Arion's neck, Arion struck.
With a swift, practiced motion, Arion brought the needle up and thrust the tip gently, yet firmly, into the sensitive skin just behind Kyon's ear.
Kyon gasped, his eyes flying wide with shock and confusion. He instantly recoiled, pulling the tiny needle out with a furious jerk, staring at the small, clear vial in his hand.
"A sedative?" Kyon sneered, even as his movements began to slow. "Did you think that weak beta trick would work on a chemically stabilized Alpha, Consort?"
A frightening smile spread across Kyon's face. Instead of collapsing, the drug, interacted violently with Kyon's complex chemical stabilizers, seemed to ignite his system.
His Alpha pheromones surged, and his eyes went wide and unfocused, now fully possessed by the drug's chaotic reaction.
With a roar of drugged, intensified passion, Kyon backhanded Arion across the face. The blow was brutal, slamming Arion's head against the window frame and sending sparks across his vision.
"Ugh…ah!" Arion shut his eyes for a second .
"You want pain, Consort? I will give you pain!" Kyon raged, his movements now clumsy but overwhelmingly forceful.
Arion tasted blood, his cheek throbbing, but he didn't fight back, knowing any resistance would only prolong the brutality.
He let out a choking sob, bearing the ensuing physical assault, enduring the agonizing violation until, finally, the chemical chaos peaked.
Kyon forcefully throw him down and spread him out . " w-wait " he look up at him his eye watery from the slap .
Kyon didn't wait , he simply took what he needed, he thrust his whole length into Arion without any preparation.
Arion arch his back from the pain . He kicked on kyon chest . " fucking stop! Kyon! It hurt! Ugh! "
Kyon roar and stabilize Arion both feet on his thighs . Arion end up letting out a pain fill moan . His body flush .
Kyon made him go through every kind of position. The worst of them was the dog style . It made kyon length go even deeper and hit Arion most deepest spot ( his womb ) .
Arion mind went blurry all he could feel was pain and the pleasure waking up. Until kyon pull him back towards him , and pull out leaving Arion anus gaping and leaking of his climax fluid . Before thrusting back all the way in and bury himself deep inside Arion and c*m , but it still wasn't enough. Arion struggled to breath , sweat dripping freely on the carpet beneath them .
It felt like an eternity, but slowly, the terrible, violent strength drained from Kyon. His breathing grew shallow, the intense Alpha scent receding as his body lost its fight against the sedative's delayed reaction. With a heavy, dead weight, Kyon collapsed, unconscious, directly on top of Arion.
Arion lay beneath him, his body a map of pain, his breath coming in ragged, shallow gasps. Tears streamed down his face, not just from the pain, but from the brutal realization of what he had done and what he had endured. He was a sobbing mess, emotionally and physically shattered.
But survival demanded action.
Arion slowly, agonizingly, managed to shove Kyon's dead weight off him and onto the plush carpet. He dragged himself to his feet, every muscle screaming in protest, the throbbing pain in his head and the agonizing ache in his womb reminding him of the terrible price he had just paid.
The mission. The thought was a lifeline. He hadn't endured that degradation just to rest. He had secured a window.
"Kyon's office," Arion wheezed, pushing his hair back from his bloody face. "The documents... the evidence of his stabilization, and maybe find out why he became this way ."
Ignoring the protests of his body, ignoring the residual scent of violation, he wore another tunic hiding his over use and injury form .
Arion stumbled out of the parlor, headed for Kyon's private study. He had to use the precious minutes of the Prince's unconsciousness to find the truth that would free them all.