Esi twisted her hands in the uncomfortable manacles. They were tight enough to rub the grey fur right off her wrists, and she had been bound up in them for hours. A strong male gripped each elbow as she was lead from the stables to the centre of the camp and forced to kneel. The pup in her belly kicked in protest, blissfully unaware of the events that would unfold in the next few minutes. 
	The males beside the prisoner carried sharp, jagged daggers at their waist, as if they expected her to break free at any moment. She couldn't blame them for being cautious. After all, she was the one who took down an adult stag by grabbing onto his neck and bashing his skull against a rock while the rest of her party stood there uselessly, panting from having chased it for hours already. She was the one who took a young buck's virginity seconds before tearing its throat out and devouring its heart. She was the one whom the alpha chose to be by his side until death do them part. And now, death itself was breathing down her neck.
	The pregnant she-wolf tested the strength of the bindings. Not a chance. They were cold iron, and her hands were bound behind her to prevent her from using the full extent of her strength. Again, she couldn't exactly fault them. They didn't know that the bindings weren't needed, that she would have submitted before her mate and accepted her fate if he had so much as asked politely. But she played along with the charade, snarling and growling in mock protest as she tried to draw attention away from the glistening beads of nectar between her legs. She figured the least she could do was put on a good show – after all, it was time they'd see her alive.
	Last season, she dared approach the alpha – her mate and lifelong companion – with her grievances. “Do I mean so little to you?” she growled, even as she nipped his neck in acknowledgement of his utter superiority, “You give more attention to your dinner than you do to your own mate!” 
	The alpha growled in response, but Esi cut him off again with a snarl, whipping her head around and digging into the back of his neck, as if she intended to mount him and turn him into the bitch he had made of her. 
	“You spent the night with her,” she accused from behind him, spitting out a tuft of fur, “Your mate was ready and waiting in your den to reward you for a hunt well done, and you chose to play with food instead!” 
	The alpha female left out the fact that she had elected to investigate the stables herself while her mate cleaned himself up at the river's edge. The doe was utterly destroyed, barely recognizable, while the only sign that remained of her unborn fawns were scraps of smooth fur and small, broken bones scattered around a dark stain on the stable floor. Such passion, she thought – the image of her alpha satisfying every hunger he possessed on his unfortunate prey was enough to make her weak at the knees with arousal. She smelled his strong musk all over the doe's remains, even through the acrid scent of blood and gore. There was no doubt he made love to her before he devoured her. He must have taken her like he meant it, knowing that it would be the last thing she ever felt. Esi never saw that fervour when he mated with her. She stuffed her paws between her legs and imagined the final, bleating gasps of the mother doe as the hearts of her unborn fawns were devoured before her eyes. It didn't take long before the wolfess came hard enough to make her dizzy, and she bit her tongue to keep her howls from alerting the rest of the pack. 
	She knew then that she needed to see her mate at his finest. She needed to see the passion that made him so infamous, even if it was the last thing she did. She needed her mate to hunt her down and take her like it was her last night alive.
	“That night,” she continued, “I wasn't about to take 'no' for an answer. If you weren't going to let me reward you, I would just have to reward someone else instead.”
	The alpha's eyes widened. He turned around, and his heavy paw slammed into the side of her muzzle. He didn't give her time to recover before his claws were around her neck, pressing her against the ground. She was grinning with malicious glee even as her mate's hands cut off her precious air supply. “Marin was thrilled,” she coughed, gripping the wrists of her mate, “To be beckoned into the . . .ghk . . .alpha's bed to take his . . .hhk . . .place for a night!”
	The alpha paused, apparently considering choking his traitorous bitch of a mate to death right here in their den. But he released his grip, allowing Esi to breathe freely. He was alpha. He could have killed her right there, and any female in the pack would have jumped at the chance to take her place. Esi wondered what was stopping him.
	Esi coughed heavily as she rolled over on all fours. Her right hand gripped her throat. She turned her face away from her mate and stared at the floor. He probably thought she was hiding her shame, too afraid to look him in  the eye, but really she was trying not to grin. Her mate had taken the bait, hook line and sinker. 
	They made love one last time, there on the floor, with Esi on all fours, expertly playing the part of the unwilling, whimpering omega that she had apparently been reduced to. At first she growled at him, turning her head and snarling as she fidgeted and tried to buck him off, but he had her reduced to a pitiful, whining whelp in no time, or so he thought. In reality, he had her climaxing like crazy. Finally, he was fucking her like he meant it, forcing his bright red member into her dribbling snatch with a feverish, almost unbelievable strength. He bit the back of her neck hard enough to draw blood, and swiped his claws against her muzzle whenever she dared try to squirm away. Esi lost count of how many times she came that night. She managed to hide it almost every time, shrouding moans of ecstasy with whines of pain or snarls of anger. And then she felt his knot swell inside her, her mate desperate to flush out the weak beta-seed and replace it with his own. Esi howled with delight, unable to restrain her glee any longer as she felt her mate gush inside her. She came so hard her vision blurred, and judging by the way her mate howled along with her before collapsing over her body, he had likely had a similar experience.
	Both of them were panting, hard. It took all of Esi's strength just to stay balanced on her hands and knees. She was bleeding from multiple bite and claw marks. He had never done that to her before. It drove her wild, knowing that what she had just endured was but a taste of what she knew he was capable of. She grinned like a fool at the ground with her mate tied to her from behind. Her plan was progressing marvellously. Come next season, she'd be swelling with pups 'proving' she had betrayed her mate. 
	The months after were the hardest part. She had been banished from her alpha's side, sentenced to remain in the stables with only the four-legged beasts for company. She fought for scraps and dined side-by-side with her feral kin, reduced to a common animal. The alpha decreed that no one should touch her, for the illicit whelp in her belly had made her unclean, but curiously did not take a second mate. Esi knew he was saving himself, and the thought made her giddy. But waiting wasn't the hard part. The hard part was having to stay behind while the rest of her pack scoured the wilderness for prey. She could hear their joyous howls from miles away, but couldn't bring herself to join the chorus. She longed for blood and flesh, and occasionally her cravings were rewarded with a leg of sheep or boar. But never any of the tender meat she had become so accustomed to. Soon, she kept telling herself, rubbing her belly, soon.
	A rough grip on her muzzle roused the she-wolf from her reminiscence. “Speak, bitch,” her mate commanded, “Or have you lost your tongue as well as your loyal heart?”
	“Why did you wait so long?” she replied, honestly unsure what was even being asked of her. Her alpha smiled. At least now she wouldn't be chastised for not paying attention. But how could she not be distracted?
	“I wanted to let you feel the literal weight of your betrayal for as long as possible,” the alpha   answered, “I thought two seasons would be enough to let you feel them kick for mercy as your life fades. Bring the Blade!”
	Esi's heart jumped. She squirmed in place, rubbing her thighs together and feeling her groin mat with arousal. The 'blade' was an enormous piece of sharpened steel, pilfered long ago from a distant tribe. The edge itself was nearly three feet long, with a thick handle the size of her forearm on one end. Requiring two hands to wield, Esi's tribe found it too heavy and cumbersome for hunting, so they put it to ceremonial work instead. She had seen it in action – one swing could probably cleave her in half, or take off her head with unsettling ease. Her mate had spared no expense. Why would he, she thought, her supposed crime was certainly grievous enough to warrant the entire tribe's presence – as well as the presence of the Blade.
	“The tribe will hear your last words,” the alpha decreed, and there was silence.
	“Take me,” was her quiet reply. She looked up at him, unable to help a slight smirk from playing across her muzzle. “Take me like you took her.” 
	Murmurs spread through the crowd, but the alpha's raised hand silenced them. He looked down at her, kneeling before him, and smiled. He knew what she wanted. “Release her bindings,” he commanded. 
	The alpha wore no ceremonial garments, nor did she. They needed no visible mark of their respective positions. At his word, the bindings on his wandering mate were released, and he charged at her, taking her down to the ground and pinning her on her back. She winced, but the teeth around her neck prevented her from crying out. She could feel the pup kick as the alpha's weight pressed down on her midsection. He growled before replacing his teeth with a heavy hand on her neck. 
	“This is what you wanted,” he whispered in her ear, “isn't it?” He jabbed his claws into her throat for show, but his tone was soft, and it sent shivers up Esi's spine. She snarled in response and kicked her leg up, flipping him over onto his back. 
	“You knew?” she whispered back, her voice muffled by his shoulder in her jaws. She could feel his cock unsheathing against her. The alpha pushed her away with both feet against her pregnant belly, and she tumbled away, curling into the fetal position with a whine. The alpha snarled, taking advantage of her vulnerable position and grabbed her legs, forcing them up to her chest and driving his cock between her thighs with a triumphant roar. She was already slick enough inside that he only needed a single thrust to completely hilt himself. Esi howled, and scrabbled furiously at his chest, leaving a patchwork of angry red scratches before the alpha gripped her wrists roughly and pinned her down again, thrusting his hips violently.
	“Of course I knew,” he replied, punctuating his words with harsh-looking snaps and rolls of his hips, “I've seen the way you look at me when I hunt.” 
	She pushed him over onto his back again and slammed her hips down on him. “I've seen the mess you leave behind.”
	He grabbed her arm and pulled her off, shoving himself inside her again as she hit the ground. “I wonder what will be left of you when I'm done?”
	Esi stifled a gasp as his maw wrapped around her neck, cutting off her air supply. Her hips bucked uncontrollably as she came, the orgasm made all the sweeter not only by her asphyxiation, but also by the fact that one twist of her mate's muzzle would be enough to snuff her out completely. But he continued to pound her ruthlessly, slamming his member between her legs while denying her the oxygen she so desperately craved. 
	At last he released her, and she took full advantage of the opportunity by heaving herself upright, gripping his wrists and pushing him down onto his back. Her belly ached – her unborn pup had taken quite a few tumbles in the last few minutes. She could feel his knot beginning to swell inside of her as she pressed her hips to his. She didn't have much time – she knew as soon as he was done, so was she. 
	She pumped her hips furiously, her jaws around his neck. She could feel his knot completely inside her now, and all she could do was try to tug it out. The alpha whispered weakly in her ear, and in a carefully-orchestrated display of strength, he pried her jaws off of him, pushing her upright – an easy target for the Blade. Esi closed her eyes and bared her teeth, wincing as the most powerful orgasm of her life completely overtook her. 
	Her howl of incomparable ecstasy was cut short by the impact of the immense wedge of metal in her throat. The massive sword didn't even slow down – it carried straight through her thick neck as if it were a blade of grass. She raised her arms in alarm, but by that time her head had already been liberated cleanly from her shoulders. Her orgasm carried on through her sudden decapitation, her slippery sex clenching rhythmically as her body shuddered and collapsed on top of her mate. The alpha continued howling in her stead, driven to an equally powerful climax as the limp body of his mate fell on top of him, arterial spray quickly matting his face with blood just as his seed gushed into her womb. 
	The pair embraced, the alpha's arms wrapped tightly around his mate's back while her arms were slumped around his torso, her pregnant belly pressed against his midsection. The alpha rolled his hips a little. As expected, his knot was firmly stuck. He was tied to a corpse. It was what she wanted, he knew it. Maybe the rest of the pack knew it, too. 
	He could feel movement in her belly. The unborn pup – his pup - kicked and struggled, starved of oxygen now that its mother was no longer breathing on its behalf. A part of him wanted to save it, dig his claws into his mate's flesh and rip out his next of kin, declaring to the world that the cub's mother had died a good death, an honourable death. But his declaration would make her death meaningless. Instead he laid there, basking in afterglow, as the heartbeat of his child slowly ebbed away.