Aiden's POV
The den door slammed against the night.
Silence crashed down around Aiden in its wake—heavy, ringing, alive.
He stood frozen, chest rising and falling too fast, the ghost of Theron's touch still burning along his neck.
His knees gave out before he realized he was moving.
He sank to the floor beside the bed, fingers brushing the tender spot under his jaw where Theron's teeth had almost—almost—claimed him.
Aiden swallowed hard.
His wolf pressed against him from inside, trembling, pacing, wanting something it didn't understand.
Not exactly fear.Not desire.
Something tangled between the two.
"…Theron," he whispered, as if the alpha could still hear him.
The den smelled overwhelmingly of alpha rut.Heat and dominance and something else—something strangely soft under the surface.
Something that smelled like wanting Aiden.
Aiden shook his head violently, ears flattening.
"No. No, he didn't mean—he wasn't himself."But his voice wavered.
Because part of him knew the truth:
Theron hadn't lost control until Aiden stood too close.Until Aiden whispered his name.Until Aiden's pulse fluttered like it wanted to be found.
Aiden curled on the bed, pulling his knees to his chest.
He wasn't afraid of Theron.
But he was afraid of the way his own chest twisted when Theron touched him.
Afraid of what it meant.
Afraid of what he might want.
Theron's POV
The forest tore at him as he ran—branches snapping, earth scattering beneath his feet.
He didn't stop.
Couldn't stop.
Not when his blood roared, not when his vision blurred red at the edges, not when every instinct screamed GO BACK TO YOUR OMEGA—GO BACK AND CLAIM HIM—MARK HIM—BITE—KEEP—
Theron slammed himself into a tree, panting, claws carving the bark to keep himself grounded.
He bowed his head, forehead pressed against the rough wood.
"I almost marked him…"
His voice shook.
"I almost claimed him without his consent."
His chest heaved, breath breaking in ragged bursts.
The rut pulled at him like a chain hooked into his ribs.Every heartbeat sent another wave of heat crashing through him.
His hands wouldn't stop shaking.
His wolf howled under his skin—fur rising, teeth aching, instincts spiraling wildly.
MATE MATE MATE MATE—
"STOP IT!" Theron snarled aloud, slamming his fist into the tree.
His knuckles cracked.The tree splintered.
But the urge didn't stop.
He could still smell Aiden even here—that clean-sky scent, that quiet sweetness threaded with wolf-fire.He could still feel Aiden's pulse against his thumb.Still hear the way Aiden whispered his name.
He pressed his forehead harder into the tree, as if pain could drown instinct.
"I promised myself," he growled, voice breaking,"I promised I'd never force him. Never make him fear me. Never touch him in rut."
The next breath hit him like a punch.
But he didn't fear me…
That was almost worse.
His wolf pushed upward, claws digging at the inside of his skin, desperate to go back.
Desperate to hold Aiden down, scent him, cover him, mark him so deep the whole world would know.
Theron bared his teeth, shaking.
"No. Not like this."His voice sounded less human with each word."Not until he wants me."
He stumbled deeper into the woods, fighting every step.
But no matter how far he ran, he could still feel Aiden's warmth under his almost-mark.
And the truth burned him alive:
He didn't know if he could survive this rutwithout Aiden.
Without the one person he refused to touchand the only person he wanted.
Aiden's POV
When Aiden woke, the den was too quiet.
No warm alpha scent swirling gently.No steady breathing from the other side of the bed.No protective presence filling the space like a second heartbeat.
Just cold airand the fading echo of Theron's rut-heavy scent.
Aiden pushed himself upright, blinking.
"…Theron?"
No answer.
He stood, ears lifting sharply, tail twitching with alertness.
His wolf paced inside him—restless, agitated, whining low at the absence of their alpha. Aiden rubbed his face roughly.
"He didn't come back…"
The realization slid through him like ice.
A rutting alpha who forced himself away was a danger—to himself more than anyone. They burned through strength too fast. They tore themselves apart fighting instinct. They could collapse, pass out, go feral—
Aiden's chest tightened.
"Idiot…" he whispered, but it came out soft, worried.
He grabbed his boots, stepped outside, and inhaled the night air.
Theron's trail was a wildfire of pheromones and shredded restraint.
Aiden followed.
Not as an omega pulled by instinct.Not as someone who needed saving.
He walked with steady, sure steps—the same way he had as a beta for eighteen years.The way he had fought, survived, protected himself without anyone.
The way he knew how.
Branches cracked underfoot as he pushed deeper into the forest, following broken trees, claw marks, scattering of earth.
And then he heard it—a ragged growl, animal and pained.
Aiden's ears flattened.
Theron.
He stepped into a small clearing—
And there he was.
Theron stood hunched forward, chest heaving, sweat and rage dripping from him like heat waves, amber eyes glowing feral-bright in the dark. His claws were half-shifted, breath coming in violent, gasping bursts as he held onto the last scraps of his human mind.
He turned at Aiden's scent—instantly.
Amber blew open into molten wildfire, pupils narrowing sharply.
"Get back," Theron snarled, even his voice deeper, cracking. "Aiden—don't—get—close."
Aiden didn't flinch.
Didn't hesitate.
He stepped forward, slow.Measured.Unshaken.
Theron's whole body jerked like he'd been struck.
Aiden's voice came calm and deadly soft:
"You listen to me, Alpha King."
Theron blinked—shock fighting against feral instinct.
Aiden walked closer, stopping just out of lunging distance, blue eyes burning with something hard and fierce.
"You think running into the woods makes you strong? You think leaving me behind protects me?" His lip curled, low and sharp. "You think I'm so fucking weak I'll break if you look at me wrong?"
Theron growled—low, tortured, but Aiden cut him off with a snarl of his own.
"No. You don't get to decide that."
His wolf surged inside him—not shrinking.Not hiding.
Standing.
Aiden lifted his chin, ears forward, posture challenging—the way any trained beta would confront an unstable alpha.
"You want to burn through your rut? Fine."
His tail snapped upward, dominance slashing through the air.
"Fight me."
Theron froze.
Aiden took one more step, eyes flashing like winter steel.
"Fight me until you're too weak to stand alone, Alpha King.Since you're so determined to destroy yourself—then you can damn well do it against me."
Theron's breath hitched—something between shock, fury, desperation.
"Aiden…"It was barely a whisper, barely human.
Aiden bared his teeth.
"Stop running from me.Stop hiding behind your instincts.You want to lose yourself?"
He spread his arms.
"I'll be the one to bring you back."
The air cracked between them—
Theron trembling, Aiden unmoving—
Two wolves, two pasts, two instincts colliding.
Not alpha and omega.
But warrior and king.
Theron's growl rippled the air.
Low.Broken.Dangerous.
Aiden didn't back down.
"Come on," he challenged, voice steady despite the way his heart hammered. "If you're going to lose control, then lose it with me."
A sound tore from Theron's chest—something between a warning and surrender—and then he lunged.
Aiden barely had a second to brace.
Theron hit him like a storm.
Claws slammed into Aiden's arms, not deep enough to tear but hard enough to bruise. The force drove him backward, boots skidding across the dirt. Aiden's breath punched out of him, but he twisted, using Theron's momentum to shove him aside instead of being pinned.
Theron snarled, stumbled, but caught himself—eyes blazing, wolf surging beneath his skin.
"Good," Aiden hissed, baring his teeth. "Stay awake."
Theron lunged again—faster this time, instincts wild, movements too fluid to be fully human. Aiden ducked under his arm, spinning and slamming his shoulder into Theron's ribs. The alpha grunted, staggering.
But he didn't stop.
He couldn't stop.
The rut drove him forward, feral and hungry and unstable.
Aiden blocked another swipe, feeling claws graze his cheek. Heat spilled down his skin—a cut, shallow but stinging—but he didn't flinch.
He used the sting to anchor himself.
"Focus, Theron."Aiden grabbed the alpha's wrist, twisting, forcing him down to one knee."Don't go under. Stay here. With me."
Theron's head snapped up, amber eyes burning through him.
"You—" he rasped, breath shattering. "You shouldn't—be near me—"
Aiden shoved him, making him roll across the dirt and leap back to his feet.
"Too late for that," he growled. "Fight me, or you're going to collapse and go feral. I'm not letting that happen."
Theron's pupils blew wide.
Another snarl—this time pained—ripped out of him.
He came at Aiden again, but slower, less chaotic.
More aware.
Aiden blocked the blow with his forearm, stepped in close, and slammed his forehead into Theron's—sharp, jarring, intimate in a way that was more wolf than human.
Theron's breath hitched.Heat flared between them, bright and raw.
Aiden shoved him back.
"You're not done," he said, panting. "Don't you dare fall under."
Theron growled, chest heaving, but there was focus now—thin, shaky, but there.
Aiden allowed himself one breath of relief—
Just before Theron tackled him.
They hit the ground in a blur of limbs and heat and instinct. Aiden snarled back, twisting his legs around Theron's waist and flipping them, pinning the alpha to the dirt. Theron bucked beneath him, strength surging.
But Aiden held on.
"You think I can't take you?" he hissed, leaning down to meet glowing amber eyes. "You think I'm weak because some damn scent gland says I'm an omega?"
Theron's claws dug into the earth on either side of Aiden's thighs, struggling but shaking.
"Aiden…"His voice was a rough prayer.A warning.A plea.
Aiden growled right into his face.
"Look at me!"
Theron's eyes snapped open wider, locked on his.
"Stay here. Stay aware.If you fall—I'm dragging you back."
Theron's breath trembled.His body trembled.The rut trembled inside him, unstable and volatile.
But he stayed conscious.Because Aiden was forcing him to.
Aiden's hands pressed hard against Theron's shoulders, grounding him, pinning him to the earth, anchoring him in place.
For a moment—just one—Theron stopped fighting.
His chest rose and fell violently beneath Aiden's palms.His eyes softened, desperation replacing feral instinct.
"Aiden…"Theron whispered, voice raw and honest."You're the only thing keeping me sane."
Aiden's breath caught.
And then Theron surged again—but this time not to attack.
To cling.
His hands fisted in Aiden's shirt, pulling him close, heat and need and desperation pouring off him like fire.
Aiden didn't pull away.
Didn't run.
Didn't fear.
He held on—for both of them.
Theron's hands were still fisted in Aiden's shirt, knuckles white, claws half-extended but not hurting him. His breath came in harsh pulls, hot against Aiden's throat. Their bodies were pressed together from the fight—chests rising and falling in the same uneven rhythm.
The rut pulsed between them.Heavy.Tense.Electric.
Aiden hovered over him, knees on either side of Theron's hips, palms braced on his shoulders. He shouldn't have felt steady—he was breathing like he'd sprinted miles—but something about pinning Theron down felt… right.
Natural.
Theron's amber eyes locked on him, glowing like wildfire.
"Aiden…" he whispered, voice lower than Aiden had ever heard. "You're—"
He didn't finish.The words caught in his throat as his gaze slid down to Aiden's lips.
Aiden froze.
Theron lifted one hand, trembling slightly, and cupped Aiden's jaw with a gentleness that didn't match the rut burning off him. His thumb brushed Aiden's cheekbone, slow, reverent.
It wasn't dominance.It wasn't instinct.
It was something terrifyingly soft.
Aiden's heart slammed against his ribs.He should've shoved the alpha away.Should've snarled.Should've bolted.
But he didn't move.
Theron's forehead lifted, just a bit, nudging Aiden's.Their breaths mingled.Heat coiled low in Aiden's stomach.
Too close.Way too close.
"Aiden," Theron breathed, voice fracturing, "don't run from this…"
His lips brushed Aiden's—barely—a phantom touch, a question, a plea.
Aiden inhaled sharply.
It felt like the ground disappeared.
He didn't even realize he leaned in the tiniest fraction—until he did.
And that tiny movement was enough.
Theron's eyes fluttered half-closed.
The world narrowed to the space between their mouths—one breath, one heartbeat, one instinct away from closing.
Aiden's hand slid upward, gripping the front of Theron's shirt—
And then—
Something snapped.
His mind.His fear.His pride.His entire damn identity as a "not-omega."
He jerked back like he'd been burned.
"No."His voice cracked sharp and violent."No—no, no, stop. I'm not— I'm not that—"
Theron blinked, stunned, rut-hazed but aware enough to look hurt.
Aiden scrambled backward, nearly tripping, breath coming too fast.
"I'm not your omega," he spat, the words ripping out of him like claws."I don't want you. I hate this. I hate— you!"
Theron flinched.
Actually flinched.
The Alpha King's chest tightened, jaw clenching, pain flickering through his amber eyes before the rut surged again and swallowed it.
"Aiden—"
"Shut up!" Aiden barked, backing up farther until his shoulders hit a tree.His voice shook. His hands shook."I'm not weak. I'm not—gods— I'm not… made for you."
Theron's expression hardened in that slow, heartbreaking way.
Aiden felt it like a punch.
But he forced his chin up.Forced the snarl back into his voice.
"I'm. Not. An. Omega."
He spat the last word like venom.
And with that, the moment shattered.
Theron slowly pushed himself upright, breathing ragged. His rut burned in his eyes, but beneath that, deeper, there was something raw.
Not anger.
Hurt.
And that almost undid Aiden—but he twisted away, refusing to look.
Refusing to feel.
Theron finally spoke, voice low and dangerous."Aiden… you're not weak. But you are lying to yourself."
Aiden growled, defiant, wounded, furious.
"Fuck you."
Theron closed his eyes, nostrils flaring, claws digging into the dirt to keep himself grounded.
"Aiden," he rasped, "if you stay near me right now— I will lose control."
"Good," Aiden hissed. "Then you'll finally see I can handle you."
Theron's head snapped up, eyes blazing.
"Aiden—RUN."
Aiden didn't.
Not until the rut flared again—and Theron's control snapped—
And then Aiden kicked off the ground, darting into the trees, heart slamming, breath burning, the ghost of almost-kisses haunting his lips.