Owned and Claimed by the Ruthless Alpha's

Chapter 3: The Blood Contract

The word Wife hung in the damp forest air like a guillotine blade waiting to drop.

Xander didn’t flinch. He didn’t roar. He went terrifyingly still. It was the kind of stillness that happens right before a bomb detonates.

"You’re delusional, Varrick," Xander said, his voice flat. "Get off my land before I mount your head on my gate."

Kade chuckled, taking a casual step closer. The rain began to fall harder, plastering his dark hair to his forehead, making him look even more unhinged. He reached into the inner pocket of his trench coat.

Every guard behind Xander raised their rifles. Xander raised a hand, signaling them to hold.

Kade pulled out a folded, yellowing piece of parchment. It was sealed in a plastic evidence bag.

"I’m not here for war, Xander. Not today," Kade said, his golden eyes sliding over Xander’s shoulder to lock onto me. "I’m here for a breach of contract. Civil matter. You know the Council laws. You can’t keep property that has been legally purchased by another Alpha."

"She is a person," Xander spat, though the defense felt cold, pragmatic. "Not a table."

"According to her legal guardian twelve years ago, she was an asset to be liquidated." Kade tossed the plastic bag. It landed in the mud at Xander’s feet. "Read it."

Xander stared at Kade for a long second, then bent down. He snatched up the bag. I peered around his arm, my heart hammering so hard I felt dizzy.

I recognized the handwriting instantly. It was loopy, jagged, and aggressive.

Elena.

"Six years ago," Kade narrated, his voice dripping with mock sympathy. "Your step-sister, Elena, had a bit of a gambling problem at my casinos on the strip. She racked up fifty thousand in debt. She didn't have cash. But she had a father with a hybrid step-daughter he didn't want."

I felt the blood drain from my face. My knees buckled, and I grabbed the back of Xander’s jacket to stay upright.

"She sold me?" I whispered, the sound barely escaping my throat. "For poker chips?"

"Futures contract," Kade corrected. "Payable upon your eighteenth birthday. Which, if my intel is correct, was yesterday." He checked an expensive watch on his wrist. "You are legally mine, Natalie. If Xander keeps you, he is kidnapping the spouse of a rival Alpha. That gives me the legal right to burn this entire pack to the ground, sanctioned by the High Council."

Xander finished reading. His grip on the paper was so tight the plastic crinkled loudly.

"This is a loophole," Xander growled. "A debt of honor isn't a marriage license."

"It is in the Old Laws," Kade smiled, showing sharp canines. "I’m not doing this to hurt you, Xander. Okay, maybe a little. But mostly? I just want what I paid for."

Kade’s eyes darkened. "I’ll give you until midnight to hand her over at the border. If she isn't there... I bring the mortars."

Kade turned on his heel, his coat swirling, and vanished into the mist with his entourage.

The silence in the Alpha’s penthouse was deafening.

Xander paced the floor. He had been pacing for ten minutes. He looked like a caged tiger—lethal, beautiful, and ready to tear something apart.

I sat on the edge of the velvet sofa, hugging my knees. I felt dirty. Used. I was fifty thousand dollars of bad debt. That was my worth.

"Stop crying," Xander snapped. He didn't look at me. He poured himself a drink—amber liquid, no ice—and downed it in one swallow.

"I’m not crying," I lied, wiping my cheeks furiously.

"You are. And it’s annoying." He slammed the glass down on the wet bar. "Your sister is a parasite. I should have killed her this morning."

"Why didn't you?" I shot back, anger finally sparking through the shame. "You knew what she was. You let her treat me like garbage for years!"

Xander spun around. He stalked toward me, closing the distance until his knees bumped mine. He loomed over me, hands on his hips, his shirt still unbuttoned, exposing the sweat and rain on his chest.

"I didn't care about you, Natalie," he said brutally. "You were invisible. A hybrid nobody cleaning floors. Why would I pay attention to the ants in my kitchen?"

The words stung worse than a slap.

"Then give me to him!" I yelled, standing up to face him. I had to crane my neck to look him in the eye. "If I’m just an ant, if I’m just a liability who’s going to get your pack bombed, hand me over! Kade wants me. You don't!"

Xander’s jaw clenched. A muscle ticked in his cheek.

"It’s not about you," he hissed, leaning down, his face inches from mine. "It’s about winning. Kade is using this to humiliate me. If I hand you over, I look weak. I look like I bow to his demands. I will not be the Alpha who gave up his own aide because of a piece of paper."

"So I’m a trophy?" I pushed him. My hands landed on his bare chest. His skin was scorching hot. "I’m just a pawn in your pissing contest with Kade?"

"Yes!" Xander roared.

He grabbed my wrists, pinning them against his chest. The contact sent a jolt of electricity through me that made my toes curl. It was wrong. He was cruel, he was using me, but God, the chemistry was suffocating.

"You are a pawn," Xander breathed, his voice dropping to a rough whisper. His grey eyes dropped to my lips, then back to my eyes. "But you are my pawn on my board. And nobody takes what is mine."

"He has a contract, Xander," I whispered, my breath hitching. "He has the law."

"The law..." Xander let go of my wrists. He took a step back, running a hand through his damp hair. He looked at the clock on the wall. 8:00 PM. Four hours until the deadline.

He started laughing. It was a dark, humorless sound.

"What?" I asked, backing away.

"The contract," Xander muttered. "I read the fine print. Elena was thorough, but she was stupid."

He looked at me with a gaze that made me feel like I was being stripped naked. It wasn't s****l—at least, not entirely. It was calculating. He was assessing me like a weapon he was about to deploy.

"The contract states that Kade is owed 'Natalie, the unmated daughter of the House.' It specifies that the transfer is void if the asset is no longer... pristine."

My stomach dropped. "What does that mean?"

Xander walked toward me. This time, he didn't stop. He backed me up until my legs hit the desk. He placed his hands on the wood on either side of me, trapping me.

"It means," Xander said, his voice dropping an octave, vibrating through my chest, "that Kade has a claim on a virgin bride. An unclaimed wolf."

He reached out and touched the sensitive skin where my neck met my shoulder. My pulse hammered against his fingertip.

"But if you belong to someone else..." Xander murmured, his thumb tracing the mating gland hidden beneath my skin. "If you are marked... the contract is void. It becomes null because property cannot be sold twice."

I stared at him, wide-eyed. "You want me to... with a random guard? To break the contract?"

"No," Xander said. His gaze darkened, shifting from cold calculation to something possessive and primal. "I don't share."

He grabbed my waist, hoisting me up onto the desk. My legs parted automatically, and he stepped between them. The air in the room grew thick, heavy with pheromones.

"Xander," I gasped. "What are you doing?"

"I’m finding a loophole," he growled.

His hand moved to the zipper of my jeans. The sound of the metal teeth sliding down was the loudest thing in the room.

"You have two choices, Natalie," he said, his eyes burning into mine. "You can walk out that door, go to the border, and become Kade Varrick’s slave-wife. He will take you to the East, and you will never see daylight again."

He leaned in, his lips brushing against my ear, sending shivers violently down my spine.

"Or," he whispered, "I claim you right now. I put my mark on your neck, I take your innocence on this desk, and I make it so that Kade can never touch you. You become the Alpha’s mistress. You become untouchable."

He pulled back to look at me. His pupils were blown wide, swallowing the grey.

"Decide," he commanded. "Now."

I looked at the door. I looked at the man who terrified me, the man who called me an ant, but the only man who had ever stood between me and the world.

My body made the choice before my brain could catch up. I wrapped my legs around his waist and pulled him closer.

"Do it," I breathed.

Xander didn't hesitate. He smashed his lips onto mine, a kiss that tasted of whiskey and war, and ripped my shirt open.