Page 11 of Warlord’s Prize

My last coherent thought before exhaustion finally claims me, dragging me under the weight of Kazuul’s body still knotted within mine, is of Haven Valley—my people will eat this winter. Five hundred lives secured through my sacrifice. I cling to this knowledge as darkness rises to claim me, the sole, bitter victory in my complete and utter surrender.

CHAPTER6

THE WARLORD'S PRIZE

I wake disoriented,my body aching in unfamiliar ways. Sunlight streams through high windows, painting gold across a chamber larger than my entire living quarters back in Haven Valley. For a moment, I can't remember where I am—then everything crashes back with brutal clarity.

The claiming ceremony. The witnesses. The public surrender of everything I once was.

I try to sit up and wince at the soreness radiating from between my thighs. My body feels different somehow, as though rearranged from the inside out. The sheets beneath me are silk, far finer than anything I've slept on since before the Conquest. The bed itself could easily fit six humans, its size clearly designed for an oni's massive frame.

When I finally manage to stand, I notice something else—my scent has changed. The chemical edge of suppressants has vanished completely, replaced by something richer, more distinctly omega. But layered through it is a new element—Kazuul's alpha musk, clinging to my skin despite the bath servants gave me after the ceremony. I'm marked by his scent, claimed on a level deeper than the physical.

Looking down at my naked body, I see evidence of last night's claiming—finger-shaped bruises on my hips, a raw patch where his teeth grazed my neck, and a lingering fullness in my lower abdomen. My muscles protest as I make my way to a large basin of water, trying to wash away what can't be removed.

I've barely finished when the chamber door swings open. Kazuul enters without knocking, his massive frame filling the doorway. He's dressed in what must be casual attire for oni—a simple wrap around his lower body, his chest bare except for ceremonial markings and the natural scaling that runs across his shoulders and spine. The scales catch the morning light, obsidian black against his crimson skin, trailing down his back like armor.

My treacherous body responds immediately to his presence, a rush of warmth spreading through my core, slick beginning to gather between my thighs despite my soreness.

"You're awake," he observes, golden eyes tracking my instinctive step backward. "Good. Your heat continues, though less intensely now that initial claiming is complete."

I wrap my arms around myself, acutely aware of my nakedness. "Where are my clothes?"

"You'll wear what I provide," he states simply, gesturing to a chest near the bed. "Your previous garments have been disposed of. They carried chemical scents that interfere with our bonding."

The casual dismissal of my possessions—my identity—sparks anger that momentarily overrides fear. "You had no right?—"

"I have every right," he interrupts, his voice still calm but carrying an undercurrent of steel. "You are mine now, little omega. Your body, your presentation, your purpose—all belong to me."

He crosses the room in three long strides, moving with a predator's grace that belies his enormous size. When he reaches me, one massive hand cups my face, tilting it up to meet his gaze. His palm feels scorching against my skin, his natural temperature far hotter than any human's.

"The sooner you accept this reality, the easier your adjustment will be."

Before I can respond, his mouth claims mine in a kiss that's surprisingly gentle compared to last night's brutality. His lips are hotter than a human's, his taste exotic and alien—smoke and spice and something metallic. Despite my determination to resist, my body responds—lips parting, breath quickening, that damnable slick gathering again between my thighs.

"Your body already understands," he murmurs against my mouth. "Your mind will follow."

What happens next establishes the pattern for days to come. Kazuul lifts me as though I weigh nothing, carrying me back to the bed. His wrap falls away, revealing his massive cock already hardening, the strange nodule at its base beginning to pulse visibly as it responds to my heat scent.

"No," I manage, though the protest sounds weak even to my own ears. "I'm still sore from?—"

"You'll adjust," he promises, positioning me on my back, his enormous body looming over mine. "Each claiming makes your body more receptive."

The bed dips dramatically beneath his weight as he braces himself above me, his body radiating heat like a forge. His size is overwhelming—shoulders broad enough to block out the light from the windows, arms thicker than my thighs holding his upper body above me. The black tribal markings across his crimson skin seem to shift and move in the morning light, recording victories I can't read but sense in the power of his frame.

He lowers his head to my neck, inhaling deeply at my scent gland. The sensation sends an involuntary shiver through me, a primal response to alpha attention that bypasses my conscious resistance. When his tongue, hotter than any human's, traces the spot where his teeth grazed me last night, my back arches without my permission.

"Already responding better," he notes with satisfaction, one massive hand sliding down my body to confirm what he can already smell—the gathering slick between my thighs.

His finger probes gently, testing my readiness, and I bite my lip to hold back a whimper. I'm still tender from the previous night's claiming, but my body betrays me again, producing more slick at his touch despite the lingering soreness.

When he positions himself between my thighs, the head of his massive cock pressing against my entrance, I close my eyes, unable to watch my own surrender. The first push stretches me again, burning slightly but nowhere near the searing pain of the initial claiming. My body—traitor that it is—remembers him now, opens for him more readily.

"Look at me," he commands, and I force my eyes open to meet his golden gaze. His pupils have contracted to vertical slits in the morning light, giving him an even more predatory appearance. "Watch as I claim what's mine."

He pushes forward with measured care, and I can't help but look down to where our bodies join. The sight is still shocking—his crimson cock disappearing into my body, the visible bulge it creates beneath my skin as he sinks deeper. It should be impossible to take something so large, yet my body accommodates him with each passing day.

When he's fully seated inside me, his cockhead pressing against my cervix and creating a distinct bulge in my lower abdomen, he pauses, allowing me a moment to adjust. The full sensation is overwhelming—being completely filled, stretched to my limit, reshaped from the inside to fit him specifically.

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