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Rue felt something monstrous slip into her, a darkness that swayed from within. A quiet chuckle leaving her that had him shivering, head arched as if she were the Alpha, neck shown. And it pulsed in the air, heavy and seeping from her body, zeroed upon him with her tunnelling vision. He curled deeper into himself as her fingers moved to his chin, tilting it down to her.

"I'll cut you a deal," she whispered, felt him grow warmer at the ghost of her breath on his scent gland, her hands sweeping over his hot, muscular chest. Her body warmed, growing hot and slippery. "If you're a good boy, I'll give you what you want." The tips of her fingers ghosted over the column of his throat, and her skin tingled almost knowingly, electricity singing through veins.

He gasped, inhaled sharply, an eagerness twisting in his eyes. The flutter of it so bright that Rue knew she had him where she needed him to be. "R-Rue…"

"I'll decide what." She leaned back, noting the dart of his pupils, the way he stared at her like a puppy with his master. And she knew then and there that Valentino would be easy to control, for he begged for it. "For now, if you keep your mouth shut. I won't cut you out of my life. And I'll touch you." She wrapped her arms around his neck and his breath caught in his throat, pupils dilating further, cheeks growing pink. "Pretend we're close, closer than I am with anyone on this campus. Closer than I am with Halcyon and Altair. You'll be mine if you're good and I'll show you everything. Just you."

"Oh," he gasped, softly, eyes round, tongue darting out to lick his lips, heart thundering to an excited beat under her touch. His tentacles shuddered. The ghost of them seemed to splatter upon the wall, growing more corporal with each word out of her lips.

She provoked him now, pressed herself against him, body flushed, and his eyes widened only further as she allowed the tightness of her bands to slip. The swell of her breast to press against his chest the way only a woman could. The effect was immediate, a flush that roared red from his cheeks to his neck. The swell of his cock slotted between her, the flat of his body against the wall. She pressed against him, and it was pressure that had his hips rolling into the perfect dirty gap of her inner thighs.

"Oh."

He blushed furiously, body taught with the tension of it all, as if she were fucking him slow. She felt his muscles shivering under the heat of her. His heart fluttering messy to the track of the softest whimper. This was the closest she'd ever allowed him to be, and she knew he could feel her hot between her legs like the dirtiest of sin. He was frozen then, spine arching against her, body sheathed and all begging wet eyes. Gorgeous features twisting into one of unearthly pleasure. She supposed she must be guiding him too, must be doing something about the energy that twisted between his soul.

"Who am I, Val?" she murmured, lips against the shell of his ear. His body went liquid under her.

He was magnificent in his submission to her, in the sweetest convulsing moan that slipped out of him, a voice that stretched with liquid desperation. The baritone moans. "Rue." His eyes were all black when they slid to hers, hazy with delight, skin dewy with his pleasure. "M-my Alpha Rue."

Gods, Rue could solve her problem now, solve her issues, her potential death sentence with the drug. She could slide her panties to the side, already so fucking wet and slippery, pull out the cup, slather his thick cock with her juices and fuck him out of her Heat. And eros were always the best of lovers. He'd make sure that she got her orgasms, that her slick was milked out of her till she was squirting.

But fear clenched at her heart, her Omega whispering warnings. She knew that it was better that he thought her to be Beta, that he thought of her as a woman, but not the kind he wanted. Or else he'd do anything to keep her in his pretty bird cage, and he'd sink his teeth into her throat like an animal. So Rue stepped aside like a Beta uncaring of sex would, pushed herself off a beautiful body and spoke again, dark, dangerous and low.

"Just listen to me." She shrugged then, even though her body burned, and her Omega begged for Alpha. "If you don't, it's either you or me on the guillotine."

"W-what do you mean?" he whispered.

"I've told Seraphim the same fucking thing," Rue answered, walking off with a confident sway of her hips. "If you fuck me up, I'll kill you or I'll kill myself. You can choose the end to my story." His silence was loud, a thunderous ring at her words. And she craned her neck back, avoiding his gaze, slid to the patch of wetness between his legs—all him, she made sure of that. "Don't come to class until you've cleaned yourself up. I don't want the boys knowing."

"Yes."

"Yes, what?"

A pause. "Yes, A-Alpha." And her smile grew—nervous as a boiling heat rose from between her belly. Her eyes shifted uneasily towards Valentino almost tasting the sweetness of him in the air. Her mouth suddenly dry. She took a side step towards the bathroom and then left the vicinity altogether.

*

Levi

Rue was like salvation, like shadows, like sin. A guide that stole the headache that throbbed at his temples, a guide that took away the hiss of his pain. It hurt to be in Rampage, to have energy boil in his blood, vibrate through his veins, and turn him mad with agony. And Gods, for the average Alpha, power like this should turn one delirious and demented from the excruciating torment to expel it all.

There were reasons why the seven sat as the only SSS-ranked Espers in the universe, reasons why they stood at the tips of the world. The truth was, no one else could withstand that torture, no other alien could live through all that power. And most who'd encroached the beginnings of SS-rank had exploded into dust.

The seven future emperors were the only Alphas in the world with blood rich enough to contain such strength. It was why they'd struggled to find an adequate guide, one that could feed on their energy, could take away the combustion, the unfurling fire. It was like trying to contain a waterfall with cups, like trying to suck up all the air in the world with a shitty paper bag, like trying to scoop the stars with his bare hands.

And they went through so many guides just to breathe.

It hurt to not to kill their guides—to have himself wrecked and melting, and yet unable to release all that fire. Sometimes, the act itself could be a struggle, a strain. It was like running a marathon and his throat was closing, his eyes were seeing green, and his lungs were hot. Sometimes it felt like drowning, like he was gasping in viscous liquid and struggling to inhale.

It was too easy to kill, to tear through those restrains and take a shaky, tortured breath just to escape the Rampage. It was a blessing that the younger ones had their outlets. That Halcyon had his animals, could transform into lesser beings that would not struggle just as hard. That Altair had Valentino, and Valentino had Altair. But it was Dante that concerned him, Dante that could never seem to break out of the Rampage, stuck within the twist of pain, powers too strong for his body to handle.

Dante would die young if he continued burning like a star.

But Rue had given him seconds of that almost peace, ending the shatter of lightning. Levi groaned. With Rue, guiding was freedom like no other. Just his voice and Levi's body was relaxing. His warmth and Levi's Rampage would soften, no longer all sharp self-inflicting edges but a smoothened flow. A hand to his chest, and Levi's lungs were expanding, his greedy body gulping air, the pain ending.

Rue's lips on his, and it felt as if the inferno that he knew had disappeared, had calmed into a gentle peace. And it was as if it had become a gentle peace, of dusky breeze sweeping through lilac skies, of bubbling creeks and shifting grass, of the last rays of sun on his skin.

Then it'd explode in all the good ways, twisting through his body, warm, content and pumping. His heart would race, his thighs would shake and he'd experience colour like no other, dancing behind his eyes, painting his red every hue in the universe. His tummy growing taut from the tension, his balls drawing up, his cock throbbing. He'd expel it all into Rue's waiting body so hard that his orgasm would come roaring.

And it felt as if he was finally living.

Levi sat, perched in the darkness, eyes closed on the couch, feeling and tasting memories, fingers digging into his shirt. Their bond burned, vibrated with the rise and fall of Valentino's emotions. It had been wild all morning, twisting and beating like a heart. But his soulmate had pushed him aside, declared that they didn't have to worry, that he was just thinking of Rue as they all were.

Rue was their salvation.

And the seven men thought of Rue, Levi knew that, saw it in the tremble of their shadows, the string of their bonds. Whenever the tiny one neared, it shook like an earthquake, quivered as if maddened. Levi could read the jerk of it so much better than the rest for he spent most of his time in the darkness, settling in his senses, becoming one with his soul.

And Rue created a certain music in their souls.

So to feel Valentino jerking from low to high so quickly in their bond, it had his heart rate skyrocketing. Levi been too wired to do anything, legs shaking, sweat collecting at his collarbones as the room grew sticky and stagnant with his fire. He'd poured himself a cold glass of whisky, but even that sat sweating on the table, rattling to the beat of his heart as he laid upon the coach with furrowed brows.

On the battlefield, Levi could block them out, could take drugs that would allow him to settle his bonds and focus on the battle. But back home, Levi had allowed the emotions to wash over him, allowed it to feed him. It usually wasn't a problem, and it shouldn't be as an Alpha who'd marked his soulmates, as an Alpha who'd experienced his lover's Ruts and was no bumbling virgin. For fuck's sake, Levi had once pleasured all six of his rutting mates.

But Rue created calamity.

And right now…Levi leaned forward, picked up the glass and pressed the wet, icy surface to his cheek. Valentino was fucking horny, and it was all because of Rue. Levi tasted his lips, exhale slow.

His shadows were darting, expanding across the building. It didn't take long for a smile to twist over his lips, his body already betraying him, cock swelling against his thigh. Rue was coming, rushing up the stairs.

Levi craved Rue, craved Rue like he was some sort of forbidden fruit that dangled before him, begging to be fucked. He craved him like desperation at its core, like lust at its peak. He craved him like an Alpha craved completion.

He craved Rue's blood. There was nothing quite like him, and quite frankly there was no fucking equal. The flavours of Rue were unlike anything he'd ever experienced, velvety and sweet like the richest of chocolate. It had an ineffable quality—a taste of passion, of lust, of rage. It tasted like the full spectrum of sin, like carnality of the palate, like secrets, like more. And Gods, with one lick Levi wanted to taste all of Rue.

He wanted to suck his fucking cock, and taste life.

There was no other Alpha out there that made Levi feel this way, not even his soulmates. And Gods if Levi wasn't already mated to seven of the most stubborn of Alphas, if Seraphim wasn't so fucking sure of himself. Levi scoffed, folded his arms. He would have long assumed that Rue was his soulmate too.

He must be.