The morning light filtered through the torn curtains, soft gold cast over chaos. The scent of blood, smoke, and sex still clung to the air like a memory that refused to fade. Noah stirred beneath the tangled sheets, his body aching not just from the night before, but from the weight of everything crashing down around them.
Theron stood by the window, shirtless, his sculpted back tense as he stared out at the forest beyond the pack house. His wolf was restless, claws beneath skin, teeth beneath tongue. There was a war brewing. And the moment he'd claimed Noah, he'd painted a target on the boy's back.
"You're brooding again," Noah murmured, voice hoarse and still thick with sleep.
Theron didn't turn, but his voice was low, rough, dangerously calm. "Someone crossed into our borders last night… while we were" his jaw clenched, " distracted."
Noah sat up, the sheets slipping down his bare chest, revealing the faint, fresh marks where Theron's mouth had worshipped him, devoured him. His cheeks flushed, but his gaze sharpened. "Do you think it's the rogue pack?"
Theron nodded. "Or worse. Someone who wants to use you to get to me."
"You mean someone stupid," Noah said, his tone sharper than usual, defiant and beautiful. "Because no one's using me, Alpha."
Theron turned then, finally, and holy fuck, the way his eyes burned with a fire that was both protective and possessive made Noah's breath catch. "No," he growled, stalking closer, his voice like velvet-wrapped steel. "You're mine. And I'll tear apart anyone who tries to lay a single finger on you."
Noah met him halfway, their bare chests brushing, and for a heartbeat, it was just the sound of their hearts thunderous and synced. "You don't own me, Theron."
Theron smirked, dangerous and amused. "Says the omega with my bite on his neck, still dripping my scent."
Noah's lips parted whether to argue or gasp, he didn't know because Theron surged forward, grabbing him by the waist and lifting him effortlessly. He slammed him back against the wall, lips crashing over his in a punishing, hungry kiss that stole every thought from Noah's mind. The kind of kiss that made promises and threats all in one breath.
"Say it again," Theron growled against Noah's lips. "Say you're not mine. I dare you."
Noah arched into him, defiant fire still alive even as his body betrayed him, aching and needy. "I hate you," he whispered, but it trembled more like a moan than a threat.
Theron's hand slid down, gripping the back of Noah's thigh and hitching it around his waist. "You hate how much you need me," he rasped, biting down on Noah's lower lip until he gasped. "You hate how good I make you feel. How right it feels to be mine."
Their bodies aligned like magnets. Every point of contact sparked heat. Noah's fingers twisted in Theron's dark hair as the Alpha kissed down his throat, tongue trailing the scarred bite mark he'd left. "You're playing a dangerous game," Noah whispered breathlessly.
Theron looked up through half-lidded eyes, his voice dripping with sin. "Baby, I am the danger."
And then it all snapped the tension, the control, the fragile sense of peace. Theron spun them toward the bed, tossing Noah onto the mattress like he was nothing but a fevered dream, and crawled over him with a predator's grace.
But just as their mouths met again in a hungry clash, a knock thundered against the bedroom door.
Theron snarled, eyes flashing gold. "They better be bleeding or dying."
A voice male, panicked filtered through. "Alpha, there's been a breach. North side. Three scouts down. One missing."
Theron froze. Noah's breath hitched.
"Give me five minutes," Theron barked. His eyes didn't leave Noah's face.
"Make it three," Noah muttered, already sitting up. "I'm coming too."
"No, you're not," Theron snapped, too fast, too hard.
Noah's eyes narrowed. "I'm not staying locked up like a pretty little omega while others bleed for me."
Theron's jaw ticked. He hated it how much he wanted to protect him, how much he couldn't bear the thought of Noah being hurt. But more than anything, he hated how right it felt to fight beside him.
"…Fine," he ground out, tossing a shirt toward Noah. "But you stay close to me. You don't fucking leave my side."
"Deal," Noah said, pulling the shirt on over his head and grabbing a blade from under the mattress like the damn rebellious beauty he was.
Theron smirked darkly. "Fuck, you're gonna ruin me."
Noah's lips curved. "That's the idea."
As they stepped out into the chaos of a world unraveling scouts shouting, wolves shifting, the scent of blood in the air Noah and Theron didn't just walk into battle.
They walked into the fire together.
And the world better be ready, because this Alpha and his omega? They were no longer just a scandal.
They were a storm.