​"Ren," Cilian whispered, leaning down so his lips brushed Ren’s ear. "If I were you, I’d stop worrying about the Captain. Look at the elder. He’s headed this way."

​Ren froze. The elder was indeed walking toward them, carrying two more jasmine crowns and a fresh bowl of the milky tonic.

​"The Protector and the Bride!" the elder announced, his voice booming. "The first union was strong, but tonight, the whole island joins you. To celebrate the new life, and the life that is to come!"

​Ren felt the nausea spike again, a sharp, cold realization hitting him. They weren’t just celebrating Harris and Kaelo. They were celebrating a double pregnancy—one confirmed by the night’s screams, and one they assumed was already taking root in Ren.

​"Cilian, tell them," Ren gasped, his hands trembling as he shoved at Cilian’s chest. "Tell them we aren’t... we can’t... I can’t..." His words were stuck in his throat.

​"And spoil the mood?" Cilian chuckled, his arms locking around Ren’s waist, pulling him back into his embrace. "Besides, Ren... with that scent you’re starting to give off, I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t planning on making their ’celebration’ a reality tonight."

​Ren looked at Harris, who was being forced to drink from a coconut shell, and then back at the elder.

He realized then that on this island, there were no pilots, no doctors, and no prisoners. There were only Alphas and the Omegas; they were destined to fill and be filled.

The drums began to beat—a low, thrumming pulse that seemed to sync with the frantic rhythm of Ren’s heart. The villagers formed a circle, their voices rising in a chant that felt like a physical wall, closing off any hope of escape.

The elder reached them, his face wreathed in a beatific smile. He placed the jasmine crowns on their heads, the scent so heavy and cloying it made Ren’s vision tilt.

"Tonight, the island is your witness," the elder proclaimed, holding the coconut shell to Ren’s lips. "The sky-birds may fail, but the blood does not. Drink, for the strength of the lineage."

"Cilian, please," Ren whispered, his eyes darting to Harris.

The pilot was already swaying, his face flushed purple as Kaelo clung to his arm, looking up at him with a mixture of adoration and predatory triumph. Harris looked broken—a man who had surrendered his wings for the weight of a knot.

"Don’t look at him, Ren. Look at me," Cilian commanded. He took the shell from the elder, his fingers brushing Ren’s in a way that felt like a brand. He drank first, his eyes never leaving Ren’s, and then he tilted the shell back against Ren’s mouth.

Ren tried to pull away, but Cilian’s arm was a steel band around his waist, and the villagers were pressing in, their cheers becoming a deafening roar. He was forced to swallow. The liquid was thicker tonight, hotter, infused with something that didn’t just warm his stomach—it set his skin on fire.

The ’Great Union’ was a blur of firelight and swaying bodies. Ren and Cilian were led to the center, positioned next to the ’new couple.’

Harris looked like he wanted to apologize, his mouth opening and closing as he stared at Ren, but Kaelo was already pulling him toward their designated mat, his hands bold and claiming.

"It seems we’re sharing the spotlight, darling," Cilian murmured, his voice a dark, velvet rasp. He began to lead Ren toward their own hut, the villagers throwing handfuls of dried petals that felt like rain.

As the door clicked shut, the silence of the hut felt like a trap. The aphrodisiac from the tonic was already warring with the sweet, rising scent of Ren’s approaching heat. He slumped against the bamboo wall, his breath coming in short, jagged hitches.

"I... I hate you," Ren gasped, but his fingers were already curling into the fabric of Cilian’s robe.

"I know," Cilian said, stepping into the shadows to close the distance. "You never relent from reminding me, and I’ll tell you mine. I love you and will always love you,"

Liar! Ren’s inside screamed. If he loved him, he wouldn’t let this happen to him. This... was humiliating. How many times would he have to be subjected to this humiliation?

How many times would he be seduced into accepting Cilian’s advances?

Cilian looked down at Ren, the jasmine crown lopsided on his golden hair, his eyes dark with a hunger that the island had only made sharper. "Tonight, you’ll be your monster for as long as it takes." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

He reached out, his hand sliding up Ren’s thigh with a slow, agonizing possessiveness.

"And tomorrow too," Cilian whispered, his lips grazing Ren’s feverish ear, "I’ll fill you with my marks so deep inside you that you’ll never be able to scrub me out."

Ren’s fingers dug into Cilian’s shoulders, his knuckles white as he tried to push him away, but his body was singing a different tune. The heat of the tonic was merging with the natural, rising fever of his own anatomy, creating a cocktail of desire that made his skin feel too tight.

"Don’t... don’t say that word," Ren choked out, his eyes glistening with tears of frustration. "You don’t... You don’t love me. You love the power. You love the way you can break me."

Cilian didn’t argue. He simply leaned in, inhaling the scent of jasmine and the sharp, floral spike of Ren’s distress. He began to unwrap the sea-grass cord that had been draped around Ren’s neck, moving with a deliberate slowness that was a torture of its own.

"If that’s what you believe, then let me break you properly tonight," Cilian murmured.

He didn’t rush. Unlike the frantic, desperate energy of the previous nights, this felt like a siege. He began to peel the robe from Ren’s shoulders, his lips following the path of the falling fabric. He kissed the marks he had left the night before, his tongue tracing the bruises as if he were memorizing his own handiwork.

Ren’s head fell back against the bamboo, a soft, broken sound escaping him. The cloying scent of the jasmine crown was overwhelming, mixing with the musky frost of Cilian’s pheromones. He felt Cilian’s hands, large and warm, sliding over his ribs, and he couldn’t stop the way his back arched to meet the touch.

"You’re shaking, Ren," Cilian whispered, his voice vibrating against Ren’s skin. "Is it the hate? Or is it because you know that even if we’re here for the rest of our lives, I’m the only thing you have left?"

"I’ll... I’ll find a way," Ren panted, even as his own hands moved to the back of Cilian’s neck, pulling him closer. "I’ll never... be yours..."

Cilian let out a low, dark chuckle and swept Ren up, carrying him the short distance to the bamboo bed. "Funny, Ren, cause it feels like you’re already mine,"

He laid him down, the petals from the village celebration sticking to Ren’s damp skin like colorful scales. Cilian followed him down, his weight a crushing, grounding reality.

This was another night where there was no mention of the Syndicate or the empty radio waves.

There was only the sound of the ocean, the distant thrum of the village drums, and the frantic, rhythmic hitching of Ren’s breath as Cilian began to systematically dismantle his defenses.

He worked Ren’s body with a perverted expertise, making sure every inch of him was sensitive to the air before he even considered the final claim. He wanted Ren to be the one to beg—not because of a drug, but because the hollow ache in his gut was too much to bear.

"Tell me," Cilian rasped, his hand settling firmly over Ren’s stomach. "Tell me you want me to stay. Tell me you want the island to keep us."

Ren bit his lip, trying to hold back the sob. His body was pulsing, his internal muscles clenching in anticipation of a knot he knew was coming. He hated this. He doesn’t want to stay here with him for the rest of his life; he wants to escape... but his head was swimming, and his logic was crumbling.

He was playing the tune of his body now. The need, the want... the lust.

"I... I want..." Ren’s voice broke. He looked up at Cilian, seeing the monster he hated and the only person who truly saw him. "Fill me. Just... fill me up and make me forget."

Cilian’s eyes flared with a dark, triumphant fire. He placed his cock on Ren’s swollen entrance and then, with one hard movement, he pushed his cock in, burying himself deep in one smooth, devastating motion.

Ren let out a high, keening wail that was lost to the wind, his legs locking around Cilian’s waist as the ’Great Union’ reached its fever pitch.

"That’s right, Ren, hmm. Feel me inside you, just keep squeezing and taking what you want."

Cilian began to move, hitting deep and hard to the point Ren could no longer think of anything else. He could not remember, trapped in the haze of pleasure.

A tear slid down from his eyes, and Cilian kissed it.

"Shh, don’t cry, Ren. I’m here. I’ll never let you go,"

In the darkness of the hut, as Cilian continued to hammer his mark into the very core of Ren’s being, the world beyond the reef ceased to exist. There was only the heat, the scent of jasmine, and the terrifying, absolute weight of an Alpha claiming his Omega.