Chase managed to slip out of Lilith's penthouse before the sun rose, leaving the sleeping Alpha to her post-Essence-transfer slumber. He took the long route home, hiking down several flights of stairs and walking across a quiet stretch of city parkland to ensure no one—especially not a territorial vampire—caught the distinct, heavy perfume of Lilith's ecstasy mixed with his own Essence on him.
Despite the spiritual recharge, his body felt brutalized. The claw marks covering his back throbbed with every step, and the ache in his muscles was profound. He felt like he'd been run over by a very powerful, very satisfied wolf-demon.
He finally reached his apartment door and let himself in quietly, hoping to melt into his shared bedroom before Rixsa noticed.
He had no such luck.
Rixsa was sitting on the arm of the sofa, already wide awake, watching his entry with sharp, assessing eyes. She was just… waiting.
"Well, look what the cat dragged in," Rixsa stated, her voice devoid of its usual playful snark.
Chase tossed his briefcase onto the hall table, leaning heavily against the wall. "Don't start, Rixsa. I'm not in the mood."
Rixsa hopped off the sofa and walked over, her nose twitching like a dog's. She circled him slowly, her expression growing increasingly severe.
"You look like wet trash, but that's standard," she observed. "However, you smell… different. It's a heavy mix of pure, fresh Essence—too much, in fact—and Alpha musk. You reek of Lilith's pleasure and your own Essence overload. And wait—is that a faint undertone of Seraphina? What happened about you not fucking your boss"
Rixsa's eyes flashed red with true, unadulterated anger. She grabbed his arm, her small fingers surprisingly strong. "You didn't just have a controlled transfer, Warrior. You had an unscheduled, explosive Essence dump using the fourth method. You broke your own contract. And you still smell like the vampire who tried to drink you dry."
"I didn't break the contract; the contract was exceeded," Chase corrected, pulling away and walking stiffly into the kitchen. He grabbed a bottle of water. "The Essence overflowed despite the daily siphoning. The stress of having four spiritual entities living off my payroll and my power caused my soul to go into overdrive, it happens."
He turned back, his expression grim. "When I got to Lilith's, the overflow was so extreme it triggered the full personality shift. I lost control. I engaged in the fourth method, Rixsa. I dominated her, drained the excess power, and completely reset the relationship dynamic."
He pulled his shirt up slightly, revealing the livid claw marks raked across his lower back. "That is the cost of my victory. She is satisfied, sated, and completely submissive, but she will never accept any method short of the fourth now. The contract is still exclusive, but the parameters have changed permanently."
Rixsa stared at the wounds, then at his face, her anger dissolving into a strange mix of reluctant awe and disgust.
"You son of a bitch," she whispered. "You went to war with her in bed and won. You didn't just drain the Essence; you took her Alpha status. That's incredibly dangerous, but damn effective." She paused, then added darkly, "But that Seraphina scent is still clinging to you. If Lilith catches a whiff of her competitor on her newly claimed prize, you're not just getting fired. She'll declare a corporate war on your apartment complex and probably rip you in half."
Chase sighed, running a weary hand over his face. "I know. I need to shower with an industrial-strength spiritual cleanser, if such a thing exists. Meanwhile, you need to manage the Goddess and Kaelen. I need to be entirely clean by Monday. My first official act as Lilith's exclusive partner cannot be to get murdered by her in the lobby."
Rixsa nodded, understanding the severity of the situation. "Go. Scrub the Alpha off you, Warrior. I'll make sure the aristocrat doesn't use the communal toilet for a footbath."
Chase nodded his thanks and walked toward the bathroom. The weekend was supposed to be his time to recover from the previous weekend. Now, he faced a spiritual decontamination procedure, followed by a full day of managing his domestic chaos, all before facing the office where his flirtatious CEO would now be his deeply submissive, utterly possessive mistress.