Page 23 of Claim of Blood
Power flared through the chamber, ancient and absolute. His eyes darkened to bottomless black, claws extending, fangs bared.
They felt him.
The Council members instinctively looked down, postures turning deferential. Even Nathaniel, Alpha-born and fire-forged, lowered his chin in submission.
Leo gasped, sharp, startled, and Adam’s gaze snapped to him. The bond surged again. He could smell the claim mark burning and watched as Leo crumpled, crawling toward him on shaking limbs.
He collapsed at Adam’s feet, forehead pressing to his knee, one hand gripping his ankle like a lifeline.
“Yours,” Leo whispered, voice fraying. The word trembled through his whole body.
Leo’s other hand clutched at the claim mark, fingers shaking.
The sound cut through Adam, stilling his rage. Not like this, he thought. He shouldn’t have to say it like this.
He forced the power back down slowly and deliberately, his features remaining monstrous even as the oppressive weight in the air began to lift.
He reached down and threaded his fingers through Leo’s damp hair. Leo flinched at the touch, then stilled beneath it.
“Mine,” Adam hissed.
He raised his head to face the Council, eyes still black.
“The claim stays,” he said. “The hunter stays. Anyone who challenges that will answer to me.”
Leo pressed closer to his leg, as if anchoring himself in Adam’s words. Adam felt the pulse at Leo’s throat slow—still fast, but no longer panicked.
Around the table, the Council was silent. But he saw the shift in their postures. Fear transmuted into grudging acceptance.
“Then we need a new plan,” Maja said after a beat, her voice low and careful.
Adam nodded but didn’t look away from Leo. “One that doesn’t involve sending him back.”
“Indeed,” she said, her spine straightening despite her still-lowered eyes. “Suggestions?”
Adam’s fingers found Leo’s hair again, the touch steady and reassuring rather than claiming, grounding them both.
Chapter Seven
Leo
Leostayedwherehewas, pressed against Adam’s leg, his forehead still resting against the vampire’s knee. He couldn’t bring himself to move—not yet. The remnants of that ancient power still crackled through the air, making his skin tingle and his mark burn. His fingers remained locked around Adam’s ankle, an anchor point in a world that had stopped making sense.
What had he just done?
The question echoed through his mind, competing with the memory of that overwhelming need to submit, to get closer, to... to belong. He’d crossed the council chamber floor on his hands and knees. He’d proclaimed himself Adam’s in front of the entire Council.
God. He’d meant it.
The steady stroke of fingers through his hair should have felt wrong. Should have made him pull away. Instead, he leaned into the touch, his racing thoughts gradually slowing with each pass of Adam’s hand.
“We could stage an accident,” Oren said, his voice cutting through the low hum of debate. “Make it appear as though he left the city. A crash on a back road. Remote. Final.”
Leo’s fingers clenched harder around Adam’s ankle, the words slicing through the haze that had wrapped around his thoughts. The idea of his family believing him dead should have filled him with panic.
But the first feeling that rose wasn’t fear.
It was doubt.
