[b]Chapter 7 – Alpha Screening[/b]

[i]*The bond settles. The house quiets. But Victor’s job is never done—not when the fox sets his sights on another Alpha. Before Kael gets anywhere near Ven again, there’s going to be a conversation. It’s not a threat. It’s a vetting. And it’s very, very personal.*[/i]

After Midnight

The Residence was silent, blanketed in the kind of hush that only came after storms had passed and everyone had either surrendered or slept.

Victor lay on his back in the dark, one arm folded beneath his head, the other stretched protectively around the lithe body curled against him. The bond pulsed low and steady now—like the heartbeat of something ancient and at peace.

Moonlight spilled in through the open balcony doors, painting Ven in silver.

He looked impossibly young like this, tangled in the sheets, long black hair spilling across the pillow like ink. His breathing was slow, even. Asleep, for once. Truly asleep.

Victor stared.

He still hadn’t quite gotten used to this. Not the sex. Not the heat. But the quiet afterward. The belonging.

He reached out, gently brushing a stray lock of hair away from Ven’s eyes. His fingertips lingered just a moment too long, tracing the curve of the fox’s cheek.

A warm grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Ven blinked awake, lashes fluttering. His eyes found Victor’s in the low light. He smiled back—soft and sleepy, still hazed with safety and scent and bond.

For a moment, they just breathed together.

Then Ven’s mouth quirked sideways.

“Is it weird to knot someone who was born after you could buy booze?”

Victor snorted—an undignified, rumbling laugh that shook his chest.

“Are you seriously starting this at one in the morning?”

“I mean, I’m just saying,” Ven murmured, nestling closer, voice dry. “You were probably already in uniform when I was in diapers.”

Victor rolled his eyes and ran a hand slowly down the fox’s back. “You were in diapers last night, the way you were whining.”

Ven let out a scandalized little gasp and smacked his chest. “Sir.”

Victor caught his wrist and pulled him in closer, smirking. “And besides, I didn’t just knot you. I claimed you. Bonded you. Ruined you.”

Ven gave a pleased hum, nuzzling into the curve of Victor’s neck. “Yeah. You did.”

A beat passed.

“…Still old though.”

Victor chuckled into his hair.

“Still mine.”

And that, at last, made the fox go quiet again—smiling, soft, and safe in the arms of the Alpha he never expected to choose.

A Few Days Later — Undisclosed Location

The room was stark. Concrete walls. Fluorescent lighting that buzzed faintly overhead. A polished steel table separated the two men—one seated, one standing.

The rhino sat stiffly, thick arms crossed over his chest, wearing a collared shirt that strained around his shoulders. His chair creaked under his weight. There was a calm about him, but not comfort. He knew this room’s kind.

Across from him, Victor stood in charcoal slacks and a crisp shirt, sleeves rolled, no tie. No visible weapon.

But it wasn’t the kind of presence you needed weapons for.

Victor was the kind of man who was the weapon.

He flipped open a folder without looking at it. “State your name.”

The rhino frowned. “You know my name.”

Victor didn’t blink. “State it anyway.”

“…Kael. Kael Burrow.”

“Age.”

“Thirty-two.”

“Occupation.”

“Bouncer. Freelance mostly. Couple residencies on the South Strip.”

“Criminal record.”

“Couple bar fights. One resisting arrest charge. Dropped.”

Victor nodded slightly, flipping a page. “Parents living?”

Kael hesitated. “Yeah.”

“Mate?”

“No.”

Victor tilted his head, still not looking up. “Children?”

“No.”

“Medical history?”

Kael shifted slightly. “I mean—nothing serious. Why?”

Victor finally looked up. His eyes were unreadable, flat and sharp at once. “We’re done with general information.”

Kael narrowed his eyes. “Okay, what is this? Why am I here?”

Victor closed the file. Calm. Precise.

“The fox wants you.”

Kael blinked.

“…What?”

Victor’s voice didn’t rise. It didn’t change. “He wants you. Said you caught him. Liked your arms. Said you looked strong.”

Kael stared. “Wait, the fox—you mean—?”

Victor nodded once. “Ven.”

Kael let out a slow breath. “The Governor’s son?”

Victor stepped around the table, standing just a little closer now. His posture never changed, but the room seemed to contract around him. The air got tighter.

“I get him what he wants.”

Kael looked him up and down, suspicion giving way to something more uncertain. “What, and you're just… cool with that? You’re his Alpha, aren’t you?”

“I am.”

Victor’s voice had the weight of iron and the clarity of frost.

“I’m his Alpha. Not his warden. If he wants you—”

He stepped closer. Kael didn’t move, but he sat up straighter.

“—then I make sure you’re the kind of man worth giving to him.”

Silence.

Kael swallowed.

“…And if I’m not?”

Victor’s smile was all teeth and no warmth.

“Then we’re done talking.”

Victor didn’t move from Kael’s side.

Didn’t blink. Didn’t smile again.

He simply said:

“Describe the last time you were with an Omega.”

Kael blinked. “What—excuse me?”

Victor’s voice stayed perfectly neutral. “You heard me. I need to know how you treat them. How you think. What kind of Alpha you really are.”

Kael shifted in his seat again. The chair groaned under him. “I—I mean, it’s been a while. Few years. Casual. Mutual.”

Victor didn’t nod. Didn’t encourage. Just stared.

Kael cleared his throat. “She was a red panda. Older than me. Liked it rough. Used to grab my horns. Called me Big Bull.” A pause. “I hated that.”

“Why?”

“It made me feel like a joke. Like I was just a thing to her.”

Victor finally moved—just slightly—arms crossing over his broad chest. “Good.”

Kael blinked. “Good?”

Victor continued, tone calm but pressing. “Because you will not treat him like a thing. You won’t manhandle him. You won’t dominate him unless he asks you to. And even then—you check in. Verbally. Constantly. If he safewords, you stop. Immediately.”

Kael held up his hands, a touch of defensiveness rising in his voice. “I don’t hurt people.”

Victor's gaze sharpened. “You don't hurt him. Not even by accident. Not even by ignorance.”

Kael swallowed. “Understood.”

Victor took another step forward. Now he was close enough to feel the size difference between them—but it wasn’t Victor who looked smaller.

“Ven’s mouth is sharp, and his moods are volatile,” Victor said, voice quieter now. “He likes to push. He tests boundaries. You do not mistake that for a challenge.”

“…No?”

“No,” Victor said. “Because it’s not about you. It’s about him. It’s a shield. If you’re lucky enough to be let past it, and I mean lucky—then you will hold that privilege like glass. Understand?”

Kael nodded, slower now. “Yeah. I think I do.”

Victor leaned in.

“One more question.”

Kael’s voice dropped. “Yeah?”

“What would you do,” Victor said, his tone now deep and low, “if my Omega crawled into your lap, straddled your thighs, and said, ‘Use me until I forget my own name’?”

Kael’s eyes widened. His ears twitched. His throat bobbed.

He tried to answer, and failed the first time.

“…I’d—ask him if he meant it. I’d check twice. I’d make sure he wasn’t running from something. And if he still wanted that…”

He looked Victor in the eye now.

“I’d ruin him. Gently.”

Victor was silent.

Then—finally—he nodded once. Just enough to acknowledge what had just passed between them.

“Good.”