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The Beach's Halloween party was in full swing when Niragi felt the first wrongness settle into his bones. He dismissed it initially—too much stolen vodka sloshing in his stomach, too many bodies pressed close in the humid night air, too many hours spent tracking Chishiya's white-blonde head through the crowd like his entire existence depended on keeping visual contact.

Which—fuck—it kind of did.

Niragi leaned against the pool deck railing, rifle slung across his back out of habit even though nobody was stupid enough to start shit at these parties. The weight pressed into his spine, solid and necessary. The costume felt ridiculous—black wolf ears mounted on a headband that kept slipping, fake tail clipped to his belt, fingerless gloves with moulded plastic claws that wouldn't scratch anything if he tried. Last Boss had dared him, and Aguni had given that look that meant I'd like to see you back down, and Niragi never backed down from jack shit.

So here he was, playing dress-up like some fucking civilian, scanning for the one person who made this whole circus tolerable.

There. There he was.

Chishiya stood near the bar, white hoodie abandoned for once—charcoal swim shorts sitting low on his pale hips, bare chest on display in reluctant compliance with Beach rules, vampire makeup stark against his exposed skin. Pale foundation ghostly against his already fair complexion, dark liner smudged around those calculating eyes, theatrical fangs visible when he smiled at some executive trying to make conversation.

Vampire. Of course the prick had gone vampire.

Niragi's cock twitched in his pants just watching him. Those fake fangs pressing into his lower lip when he spoke, the way his tongue—fuck, that tongue, Niragi knew exactly what it could do—played with them absently. He wanted to bite Chishiya's pretty mouth, shove something between those plastic teeth, taste whatever expensive alcohol he'd been nursing all night.

He wanted to drag him upstairs and fuck him until those careful words dissolved into gasps and his name.

As if sensing the attention—he always fucking knew—Chishiya's gaze cut across the pool area and locked onto Niragi. Dark eyes glittered with amusement, head tilting just slightly in that way that meant I know exactly what you're thinking, and you'll have to wait.

Niragi rolled his tongue piercing against his teeth, that sharp click of metal on enamel, and watched Chishiya's eyes track the movement even from this distance. Yeah. The prick knew.

Chishiya said something to the executive—dismissal, probably rude from the way the guy's face fell—and started moving through the crowd. Not toward Niragi, never that obvious, but circling closer. They'd learned to navigate their public interactions with precision—professionally antagonistic, loaded with subtext, close enough to brush shoulders but never touch where anyone might notice.

Their secret kept them alive. Niragi's hand found his rifle, strap, fingers tracing the worn leather. Without this—whatever this was between them—he'd have eaten his gun months ago.

Niragi waited until Chishiya was near enough—three metres, easy speaking distance if he wanted to be heard over the music—before pushing off the railing. "The fuck, Boss—you actually dressed up?"

"I make exceptions for amusing concepts." Chishiya's voice carried that perpetual edge of condescension that made Niragi want to either punch him or fuck him. Usually both. "Though I'm surprised you went with something so... obvious."

"Obvious?"

"A rabid dog wearing dog ears." Chishiya's smirk widened fractionally. "Barely a costume at all."

Niragi's fingers twitched toward his rifle, muscle memory and performance both. "Careful. I bite."

"How terrifying." Chishiya sipped his drink—something amber, probably whiskey. "Try not to actually bite anyone, Niragi. You're meant to be a costume werewolf."

The words settled wrong in Niragi's chest, like broken glass he couldn't dig out. He opened his mouth to respond with something crude, something that would make Chishiya's eyebrow arch in that particular way that meant later, in private, I'll make you regret that—

The world tilted.

Not physically. Worse. The air pressure changed, like ears popping on a too-fast descent, and something vast and wrong rippled through the Borderlands. Niragi had always known this world was fucked, but never like this. Never this wrongness pressing against his skull, crawling under his skin like insects.

The party noise dimmed. Or maybe his hearing sharpened. Fuck, everything was too loud—music pounding through his skull, conversations crashing into meaninglessness, his heartbeat suddenly thundering in his ears.

"Niragi." Chishiya's voice cut through clear and precise. Niragi latched onto it, focus narrowing. "Are you—"

Pain lanced through his skull where the fake ears pressed against his temples. Not pain exactly—worse than pain, something fundamental shifting in his bone structure. The headband suddenly felt wrong, constrictive, like it was fused to his skin. He reached up to yank it off and froze.

The ears moved. Independently. Swivelling toward sounds he couldn't consciously identify yet, catching the whisper of fabric across the pool, someone's lighter clicking from the far side of the deck, Chishiya's sharp inhale.

What the fuck.

His tail—the stupid clip-on tail—wasn't clipped anymore. He felt it, connected directly to the base of his spine, heavy and real and part of him. It lashed behind him unconsciously, counterbalancing his sudden shift in weight distribution.

The claws on his gloves weren't plastic.

Niragi stared at his hands, watching real claws—black and wickedly sharp—extend from his actual fingertips where the fake ones had been. His tongue piercing felt different too, the metal conducting sensation differently, everything in his mouth more sensitive. When he ran his tongue over his teeth they'd changed, canines longer and sharper, made for tearing.

His vision sharpened. Colours bled more vivid, edges crisper, and beneath it all—fuck, beneath it all was smell. He'd never noticed how much humans stank: sweat and alcohol and desperation, cheap cologne failing to cover fear. The Beach reeked of it, everyone pretending this place was paradise while counting down their visa days.

But cutting through all of it, clear and perfect and right, was Chishiya.

Clean antiseptic and expensive soap, cigarette smoke woven into his clothes, and underneath—Niragi inhaled deeper, couldn't help it—underneath was just Chishiya. Skin and want and something that made every newly-awakened instinct in Niragi's rewired brain scream one word:

MATE.

Oh fuck, oh fuck.

"Your eyes." Chishiya's clinical tone didn't match the spike in his heart rate that Niragi's enhanced hearing caught. Could hear blood rushing through his veins, pulse point visible in his throat where Niragi suddenly, desperately, needed to bite. "Pupils dilated. Irregular." He paused, head tilting slightly. "How interesting."

Niragi tried to answer. His vocal cords didn't want to cooperate, caught between human speech and something lower, more guttural. What came out was half-growl: "Boss..."

Chishiya's eyes narrowed, assessing. Around them the party continued—others must have been affected too, shouts of surprise and confusion rising above the music—but Niragi couldn't process any of it. His entire world had compressed to the man in front of him, the steady thrum of his pulse.

Every instinct said: claim. protect. BIND.

The human part of his brain, rapidly losing ground, managed: Hurt him and I'll kill myself.

The werewolf part answered immediately: Never hurt him. Keep him. MINE.

"You need to leave." Chishiya's voice was very calm, the way it got when he was three steps ahead of everyone else. "Before you do something you'll regret in front of an audience."

Niragi should go. Should turn around, find somewhere isolated to ride this out, lock himself away until whatever the fuck the Borderlands had done wore off. But Chishiya was right there, close enough that Niragi could see his pulse jumping in his throat, smell the faint spike of—not fear, never fear from Chishiya—but awareness. Anticipation.

"Can't." The word came out strangled. His cock was rock-hard in his pants, had been half-hard watching Chishiya all night but now it was painful, demanding, his entire body screaming at him to close the distance and take what belonged to him. "Boss, I need—"

"My room. Five minutes." Chishiya cut him off, voice dropping low enough only Niragi's enhanced hearing would catch it. "Do not follow me directly."

He turned and walked away, unhurried, white-blonde hair catching the party lights. Niragi watched him go, every muscle locked against the urge to chase, to run him down, to mount him right here in front of everyone and fuck him until everyone knew who he belonged to.

Five minutes. He could last five fucking minutes.

Niragi forced himself to move in the opposite direction, away from Chishiya's path, circling toward the stairwell that led to the executive floors. People gave him space—more than usual. Some primal part of them recognised he was dangerous now, more than the everyday threat he represented. Good. He needed them gone, needed the path clear, needed to get to Chishiya before he lost what little control he had left.

His enhanced hearing tracked Chishiya through the building. Footsteps on stairs, door opening and closing two floors up, the executive level. Room five. Niragi knew the space intimately—how many times had he fucked Chishiya in that bed, against that wall, on the floor when they couldn't make it past the door?

He started counting. Three hundred seconds. He could manage three hundred seconds without hunting down his mate.

Mate. The word fit differently now, foreign but right, a piece of something he'd lost and didn't know he was looking for. Not boyfriend. Not fuck buddy. Not partner. Mate.

Chishiya was his. Had been his since that first time—hostility and contempt bleeding into hunger, Niragi pinning him against a wall and Chishiya looking up with those dark calculating eyes and saying Is that all you've got?

Two minutes left.

Niragi made it to the stairwell, forcing himself to move at human speed when everything in him wanted to run. His claws clicked against the railing as he climbed. Two floors up. The hallway was empty—most residents at the party or smart enough to stay in their rooms when weird shit was happening.

One minute.

He could smell Chishiya stronger now, the trail of his scent leading directly to room five. Niragi's cock throbbed, precome already leaking into his underwear. He'd never been this desperate, this out of control, and some distant part of him was terrified of what he might do.

But the louder part, the part currently running the show, knew: Never hurt mate. Mate is precious. Mate is MINE.

Time.

Niragi reached Chishiya's door. Locked. Of course it was locked—Chishiya locked everything. His claws could tear through wood but that would be too loud, too obvious, and they needed their secret intact.

He knocked. Heard movement inside, footsteps approaching.

The door opened.

Chishiya had ditched the costume—theatrical makeup mostly scrubbed away, though liner still smudged at the corners of his eyes, the fake fangs already discarded on the counter. He'd changed into a thin white t-shirt and loose cotton pants, practical and minimal, like he'd been preparing for something physical. His expression was carefully neutral as he assessed Niragi—taking in the real ears, the visible tail lashing behind him, the claws, the obvious bulge straining his pants.

"Inside." Chishiya stepped back. "Quickly."

Niragi moved, shoulder brushing Chishiya's as he passed, and the contact sent electricity through his entire nervous system. He heard the door click shut, lock engaging. Niragi shrugged the rifle off his shoulder with clumsy urgency, propping it against the wall by the door—muscle memory even through the haze of need. Then Chishiya was there behind him, close enough that his scent wrapped around Niragi like a physical thing.

"Turn around."

Niragi obeyed before he consciously decided to move. Faced Chishiya in the small space between the door and the bed, every muscle coiled tight, shaking with the effort of not closing the distance.

Chishiya studied him with clinical focus. "Can you understand me?"

Niragi managed a jerky nod. Words were hard, his throat wanting to produce growls instead, but understanding was there. Clearer than ever, actually—his enhanced senses reading every micro-expression on Chishiya's face.

"Good." Chishiya's voice stayed level, controlled. "Then you'll follow my instructions. Won't you?"

The question wasn't really a question. It was a command wrapped in syntax, the same way Chishiya always phrased things when he wanted Niragi's obedience without explicitly demanding it. And fuck, even with werewolf instincts screaming at him to take what he needed, that underlying pattern was still there: Chishiya directed, Niragi performed. Chishiya controlled, Niragi submitted.

Service submission—his favourite fucking trap, the one that terrified and completed him in equal measure.

"Yes," Niragi forced out, the word more growl than speech. "Boss—need—"

"I know what you need." Chishiya took one deliberate step closer. His pulse was elevated but steady, his scent shifting toward something that made Niragi's mouth water. Not fear. Something better than fear. "Come here."

The command released Niragi like a snapped leash. He closed the distance in one stride, crowding into Chishiya's space, hands coming up to frame his face—careful, so fucking careful with the claws—and just breathing him in. Up close the scent was overwhelming, perfect, exactly what every cell in his body had been craving.

Chishiya let him have it, standing still while Niragi scented him like an animal, nose pressed to his throat where his pulse beat strongest. "Good," Chishiya murmured, one hand coming up to rest against Niragi's chest, over his racing heart. "Very good."

The praise hit Niragi's brain like a drug. He whimpered—actually fucking whimpered—and felt his cock pulse, precome soaking through his underwear now.

"Your ears." Chishiya's free hand reached up, fingers brushing the base of one real wolf ear. The sensation was incredible, overwhelming, directly wired to his cock somehow. Niragi's hips jerked involuntarily. "Sensitive?"

"Fuck—" Niragi gasped. "Everything's—too much—"

"But you're controlling it." Chishiya's fingers traced down to Niragi's jaw, tilting his face up. Their eyes met, and Niragi saw it there: Chishiya knew exactly what he was doing. Had assessed the situation and decided on a course of action. "You're not going to lose control, because I won't let you."

That shouldn't have been reassuring. Should've been insulting, Chishiya's arrogance thinking he could control a literal werewolf. But it was exactly what Niragi needed—the certainty that someone else had the plan, that he could let go without destroying everything.

"Gonna fuck you—" Niragi managed, brutal honesty spilling out. "Need to—fuck, Boss, need to breed you—so fucking bad—can't—"

"I know." Chishiya's thumb traced Niragi's lower lip, careful of his sharper teeth. "You're going to fuck me. Multiple times, I suspect, given your current state. But you'll do it how I tell you. Understood?"

Niragi nodded frantically, unable to articulate how desperately he needed that structure.

"Good boy."

The words punched through him. Niragi groaned, hips rolling forward, seeking friction against Chishiya's body. His tail wrapped around Chishiya's leg unconsciously, pulling him closer.

"Strip," Chishiya commanded, stepping back just enough to give Niragi room. "Carefully. Your claws are real now."

Niragi tried. His hands were shaking, claws making it nearly impossible to work buttons and zippers. He tore his shirt getting it off, fabric shredding under his claws, and his pants weren't much better. Finally he just hooked his claws in the waistband and ripped, sending buttons flying, until he could kick everything away.

His cock stood hard and flushed against his stomach, piercing glinting in the dim light. The Prince Albert looked the same but felt different somehow, more sensitive, the metal conducting sensation through his entire shaft. Precome dripped steadily from the tip, his body preparing to breed, and Niragi couldn't take his eyes off Chishiya, still fully clothed, watching him with calculating interest.

"Undress me now," Chishiya said. "Slower. I don't want my clothes destroyed."

Niragi moved forward, desperately trying for careful when everything in him screamed to just take. His claws caught on the thin fabric of Chishiya's shirt but he managed to work it up and off without shredding it. Chishiya's pale skin emerged inch by inch, and Niragi couldn't help himself—he leaned in and dragged his tongue up Chishiya's sternum, tasting salt and skin and mine.

Chishiya's sharp inhale was everything.

The pants took more concentration. Niragi had to focus on using the pads of his fingers instead of his claws, working the drawstring loose, easing the fabric down over Chishiya's narrow hips. No underwear beneath—the bastard had planned this. Known what was going to happen, or at least suspected, and prepared.

When Chishiya was finally naked, Niragi just stared. He'd seen this body hundreds of times, fucked it in every position they could imagine, knew every inch of pale skin, but right now with his enhanced senses it was like seeing him for the first time. The way light and shadow played across his ribs. The faint pink of his nipples, the soft dark hair at his groin, his cock half-hard and rising as Niragi watched.

"Beautiful," Niragi growled, hands coming up to bracket Chishiya's waist. "So fucking perfect. Mine."

"Yours," Chishiya agreed, startling him. The admission was bare, unguarded in a way Chishiya almost never allowed. "Now take me to bed."

Niragi moved, lifting Chishiya easily—even without werewolf strength he was bigger, but now it was effortless. Chishiya wrapped his legs around Niragi's waist, arms looping around his neck, and Niragi could feel the hot press of his cock against his stomach. He crossed the small space to the bed in two steps, lowering Chishiya onto the mattress with a care that contradicted every screaming instinct.

Chishiya sprawled back against the pillows, legs falling open, and Niragi's brain went completely offline.

Mate. Open. Willing. BREED.

He dropped onto the bed, covering Chishiya's body with his own, hips already rolling forward seeking friction. His cock dragged against Chishiya's thigh, the piercing catching slightly, and they both groaned.

"Slow," Chishiya commanded, breathless. "I need—let me—"

He reached between them, hand wrapping around his own cock, and Niragi watched with desperate focus as Chishiya stroked himself. Twice, three times, spreading precome and—wait. His fingers were slick already. Slick with something thicker than precome.

"You're—" Niragi's voice cracked. "You prepped yourself?"

"Obviously." Chishiya's other hand reached further back, and Niragi felt him working fingers into his own ass, opening himself up. "Did you think I wouldn't anticipate this?"

Fuck. Chishiya had known, or guessed close enough, and had prepared his body to take Niragi's cock. Had lubed himself up before Niragi even arrived, ready to be fucked. The image of Chishiya doing that alone, fingers working inside himself while he waited, made Niragi's cock pulse so hard it hurt.

"Boss," Niragi gasped against Chishiya's throat. "Please—need to be inside you—need to—"

"Then do it." Chishiya pulled his fingers free, hand coming up to grip Niragi's hair, tugging his head up so their eyes met. "Fuck me. Breed me. But listen to me, Niragi. Start slow. Let me adjust. Understand?"

Niragi nodded frantically, the command structure giving him just enough control to function. He reached down between them, gripping his cock, lining up with Chishiya's slick entrance. The head caught against his rim and they both froze, breathing hard.

"Push in," Chishiya ordered. "Slow."

Niragi obeyed, hips rolling forward with agonising restraint, watching his cock sink into Chishiya's body. The sensation was incredible—tight hot perfect—and his enhanced senses picked up everything. The stretch of Chishiya's body accepting him, the way his inner muscles clenched and released, the spike in his heart rate, the breathy sound he made as Niragi filled him.

"Good," Chishiya gasped when Niragi was halfway in. "Keep going."

Niragi pushed deeper, his piercing dragging against Chishiya's inner walls, until finally—finally—he was fully seated, balls pressed tight against Chishiya's ass, so deep he could feel Chishiya's pulse fluttering around his cock.

For one perfect second they just stayed there, Niragi buried completely inside his mate, both panting.

Then Chishiya's legs tightened around his waist and he commanded: "Move. Harder. I can take it."

The leash snapped.

Niragi pulled back and slammed in, the careful control disintegrating under the force of his need. Chishiya's sharp gasp was approval, had to be approval, because he was arching into it, meeting Niragi's thrusts. Niragi set a brutal pace immediately, couldn't help it, every instinct demanding he fuck deep and hard and claim his mate so thoroughly there'd be no question.

"Yes," Chishiya breathed, fingers digging into Niragi's shoulders. "Fuck—like that—"

Niragi bent his head, mouth finding Chishiya's throat, teeth scraping over his pulse point. The urge to bite was overwhelming—mark him, claim him, make everyone see—but he held back, just barely, tongue laving over the spot instead.

His piercing caught inside Chishiya on every thrust, metal dragging against what Niragi's enhanced senses told him was his prostate, and Chishiya made these broken sounds every time. His cock was trapped between their bodies, leaking steadily, the head flushed dark.

"Gonna—" Niragi gasped against Chishiya's skin. "Gonna fill you up—fuck, Boss, gonna breed you so full—"

"Yes," Chishiya encouraged, one hand sliding down to grip Niragi's ass, pulling him deeper. "Want it. Want you to come inside me."

The permission shredded the last of Niragi's coherence. He fucked into Chishiya harder, faster, chasing the building pressure at the base of his spine. His tail lashed behind him unconsciously. His hands found Chishiya's hips, claws carefully controlled but grip bruising, holding him in place to take every thrust.

"Mine," Niragi growled, the word ripping out of him. "My mate. Mine to fuck. Mine to breed."

"Yours," Chishiya agreed, voice wrecked. "Now fill me."

Niragi's orgasm hit like a fucking sledgehammer. He slammed in one last time, grinding deep, and came with a guttural howl. His cock pulsed inside Chishiya's body, come flooding his channel in waves. More than usual, his enhanced biology producing what felt like endless spurts, his body determined to breed his mate thoroughly.

But there was something else. Something swelling at the base of his cock, just inside Chishiya's rim, growing with each pulse of his orgasm.

"Fuck—" Niragi gasped, hips jerking. "Boss, something's—I'm—"

Chishiya's eyes widened fractionally. His hand slid between their bodies, fingers exploring where they were joined, feeling the swelling. "You're knotting."

"I'm—what?"

"Your knot." Chishiya's voice was strained but fascinated. "It's—you're locking inside me."

Panic and arousal warred in Niragi's brain. The swelling continued, stretching Chishiya wider, creating an impossible seal. His cock was trapped inside, still pulsing with aftershocks, still pumping come into Chishiya's body.

"Is it—" Niragi could barely form words. "Does it hurt?"

"No." Chishiya experimented with clenching around him and they both groaned. "It's... intense. Very full. But not painful."

The knot finished forming, locking them completely together. Niragi couldn't pull out if he wanted to—not without hurting them both. He was trapped inside Chishiya's body, come still leaking from his cock in weak spurts, and the biology of it satisfied something primal.

Bred him. Claimed him. MINE.

Niragi's teeth found Chishiya's shoulder without conscious thought, biting down. Not hard enough to break skin badly, but enough to leave a deep mark, something that would bruise dark and last for days. Chishiya made a sharp sound, body clenching around Niragi's knot, and then he was coming too, untouched, cock pulsing between their bodies, painting both their stomachs with streaks of white.

They collapsed together, Niragi's weight pressing Chishiya into the mattress, still locked together, both shaking with aftershocks.

"Fuck," Niragi finally managed, voice wrecked. "Boss, I—that was—"

"Intense," Chishiya finished. His hand came up to thread through Niragi's hair—not pulling, just holding. "You were perfect. So good for me."

The praise made Niragi whimper, hips twitching, his cock giving one more weak pulse inside Chishiya's body. "Didn't hurt you?"

"No." Chishiya's other hand traced down Niragi's spine, careful of where his tail emerged. "You were careful. Even when you thought you weren't."

That should've been reassuring. Was reassuring. But Niragi could already feel his body stirring again, the knot still holding him inside Chishiya but the need building again. The heat wasn't satisfied—one round wasn't enough, would never be enough until he'd fucked Chishiya so full and so thoroughly claimed that everyone in the fucking Beach would smell it.

"How long—" Niragi shifted slightly, testing. "How long until—"

"Until the knot releases?" Chishiya's fingers found the base of Niragi's spine, scratching lightly. "I don't know. Ten minutes? Fifteen? Then I suspect you'll want to go again."

Niragi groaned against Chishiya's shoulder. "Can't—too much—you need—"

"I need you to fuck me until this heat burns through you." Chishiya's voice was certain, commanding even with Niragi's cock still buried inside him. "I can take it. I will take it. Every round, however many there are, until dawn."

Niragi lifted his head enough to meet Chishiya's eyes. Dark and slightly dilated, watching him with complete focus. "Why?"

"Because you need it." Chishiya's hand tightened in his hair. "And because I want it. I want you feral and desperate and mine. Want to feel you come inside me until you can't anymore. Want to be marked and claimed and bred until everyone knows." His voice dropped lower. "Want to be ruined by you."

Niragi's cock pulsed inside him, the knot flexing. "Fuck, Boss—"

"Shuntaro." Chishiya's eyes locked on his. "Use my name. While we're alone. While you're inside me."

The permission felt monumental. Niragi never used his given name, not even in private, the intimacy of it too terrifying. But right now, locked together, Chishiya's body still fluttering around his knot—

"Shuntaro," Niragi breathed, testing it. The name felt right in his mouth. "Fuck, Shuntaro, you're—"

"Yours," Chishiya finished. "Now wait for the knot to release and then fuck me again. We have all night."

The knot took twelve minutes to deflate enough for Niragi to pull out. When he did, come flooded out of Chishiya's ass, slicking down his thighs. Niragi watched it, transfixed, some satisfied part of his brain cataloguing: bred him, filled him, marked inside.

Chishiya's hole was pink and swollen, thoroughly used, clenching around nothing. As Niragi watched, more come leaked out, and his cock—which had barely softened—immediately started hardening again.

"Already?" Chishiya's voice held dark amusement. He was sprawled on his back, hair mussed, skin flushed, looking absolutely debauched. "I should've known werewolf stamina would be excessive."

Niragi growled, hands finding Chishiya's thighs, spreading them wider. "Need you again."

"Then take me again." Chishiya shifted, presenting himself. "But this time I'm riding you. I want to watch you fall apart."

Fuck yes.

Niragi rolled onto his back, cock jutting up hard and flushed. Chishiya moved over him with fluid grace despite just being thoroughly fucked, straddling his hips. He reached back, guiding Niragi's cock to his entrance—still slick with lube and come—and sank down.

The angle was different. Deeper somehow, the head of Niragi's cock dragging across Chishiya's prostate immediately, making him gasp. The piercing pulled differently too, metal catching as Chishiya took him in one smooth motion.

"Fuck," Chishiya breathed when he was fully seated, Niragi buried to the root. "You're—so deep—"

Niragi's hands found his hips, claws pressing careful divots into pale skin. "Move. Please, Boss—Shuntaro—need you to move—"

Chishiya braced his hands on Niragi's chest and lifted up, almost to the tip, before sliding back down. The control was obscene—watching his hole swallow Niragi's cock, seeing the shape of it distending his lower abdomen slightly, the way his own cock bobbed with each movement, still hard and leaking.

"Look at you," Chishiya murmured, riding him with steady rhythm. "So desperate. So good. My perfect weapon."

Niragi whimpered at the praise, hips jerking up involuntarily. His tail thrashed against the bed. Every nerve ending was firing, overwhelmed by sensation and scent and the visual of Chishiya taking his pleasure.

"Touch yourself," Niragi begged, wanting to see him fall apart. "Please—want to watch—"

Chishiya smirked, one hand sliding down his own body to grip his cock. He stroked himself in time with his bouncing, thumb swiping over the tip, spreading precome. "Like this?"

"Fuck yes." Niragi's grip on his hips tightened, helping lift him, thrust up to meet him. "So fucking perfect. Taking me so well. Gonna—gonna breed you again—"

"Yes," Chishiya gasped, pace faltering as Niragi's piercing nailed his prostate. "Fill me. Want more."

Niragi sat up, changing the angle, arms wrapping around Chishiya to hold him close. Face to face now, breathing the same air, Chishiya's hand trapped between them still working his cock. Niragi's mouth found his neck, teeth scraping over already marked skin, adding new marks beside the old ones.

"Mine," he growled against Chishiya's throat. "Everyone's gonna see. Gonna smell me on you. Know who you belong to."

"Yours," Chishiya agreed, voice breaking as Niragi fucked up harder. "All yours. Always—fuck—always been—"

His orgasm hit first this time, cock pulsing between their bodies, come striping both their chests and stomachs. His channel clenched around Niragi's cock, rhythmic and perfect, and Niragi followed him over, groaning as he pumped another load into Chishiya's already messy hole.

The knot swelled again, locking them together. Chishiya made a desperate sound as it formed, stretching him, keeping Niragi's come trapped inside.

They stayed like that, wrapped around each other, Niragi's face buried in Chishiya's neck, both panting through the aftershocks.

"How many more times?" Chishiya finally asked, voice wrecked.

Niragi could feel it—the heat still simmering under his skin, satisfied temporarily but not done. "Don't know. A lot. Fuck, Shuntaro, I'm sorry—"

"Don't apologise." Chishiya's fingers found his ears, stroking the sensitive fur. "I told you. I can take it. I want it."

Niragi believed him. Had to believe him, because he couldn't stop, not until this burned through.

They fucked three more times before dawn.

The third round Niragi took him from behind, pinning Chishiya face-down into the mattress, covering his entire body. More marks—bites across his shoulders, his neck, the small of his back where it curved. Claiming bites that would bruise dark and last for days. His tail wrapped around Chishiya's thigh possessively, keeping him spread open.

"Mine," Niragi growled with each thrust, punctuating the word. "Mine mine mine—"

"Yes," Chishiya gasped into the pillow, one hand reaching back to grip Niragi's hip. "Yours. Mark me. Want everyone to see."

Niragi came with his teeth in Chishiya's shoulder, adding another bite to the collection, pumping what felt like an endless amount of come into his mate's thoroughly used hole.

The fourth round was slower. Hours had passed, the sky outside starting to lighten toward dawn, and they were both exhausted. Niragi rolled Chishiya onto his back, settling between his legs, and just—connected. Face to face, missionary boring but perfect, every thrust deliberate instead of desperate.

"Shuntaro," Niragi breathed, forehead pressed to his, watching his eyes. "Fuck, I—"

"I know." Chishiya's hand found his face, palm cupping his jaw. "I know, Suguru."

Given name for given name. Niragi's chest constricted, breath catching on something too big to name.

Niragi's orgasm built slowly this time, pleasure rolling through him in waves instead of crashing. When he came he whispered it against Chishiya's lips: "Love you—fuck, Boss, I love you—"

Chishiya's channel clenched around him, taking every last drop, his own cock pulsing between them. He didn't say it back—couldn't, maybe, or wouldn't—but his hand tightened in Niragi's hair and he kissed him, deep and thorough and meaning everything.

They stayed locked together as the knot formed one more time, kissing lazily, hands mapping familiar territory made new by the situation.

When they finally separated, Chishiya coaxed Niragi into drinking water, eating some crackers from his emergency stash. Basic care that Niragi's heat-addled brain hadn't thought about. He fed Niragi by hand, patient when his coordination was shit, and the domesticity of it made something in Niragi's chest crack open.

"One more," Chishiya assessed, noting the sun rising outside, turning the sky pink. "You have one more round left before the transformation reverses."

Niragi could feel it—the heat still burning but cooling, his awareness of the approaching dawn carrying weight. "Want—" He swallowed hard. "Want it slow. Want to remember."

"Then we'll go slow." Chishiya guided him down onto the bed, both of them on their sides facing each other. "Like this."

Niragi lifted Chishiya's leg over his hip, lined up, and pushed in slow. Chishiya was loose and messy, their combined come providing obscene lubrication, but still tight enough to feel incredible. Niragi set a rolling pace, deep but unhurried, and they stayed like that as the sun rose.

Face to face. Breathing together. Niragi's hand on Chishiya's hip, Chishiya's fingers threaded through his hair. The sounds between them quiet—gasps and whispered praise and Niragi's name in Chishiya's mouth like something sacred.

When Niragi came this time it was almost gentle, his knot forming one last time, locking them together as dawn broke fully across the sky. Chishiya came too, cock pulsing weakly between them, body milking the last of Niragi's come.

They stayed joined, watching light spread across the ceiling, and Niragi felt it happening. His ears tingling, shrinking back to human normal. His tail dissolving, that strange connection to his spine severing. The claws retracting until his fingers were just fingers again.

His senses dulled—sounds becoming reasonable volume again, scents fading, his vision losing that razor edge. The tongue piercing felt normal. His teeth were human, canines no longer elongated.

The knot deflated faster than before, some part of the magic knowing this was the last time. When Niragi pulled out, Chishiya's hole was wrecked—swollen and red and absolutely covered in come. It leaked out steadily, pooling on the sheets beneath him.

Niragi stared at it, human brain catching up to what his werewolf instincts had done. "Fuck. Boss, I—your body—did I—"

"Look at me." Chishiya's voice was rough but firm. "Niragi. Look at me."

Niragi dragged his eyes up, meeting Chishiya's gaze. Dark eyes steady and focused, watching him with complete attention.

"Did you hurt me?" Chishiya asked.

Niragi assessed him frantically. Bite marks everywhere—shoulders, neck, chest, thighs. Bruises in the shape of his fingers on Chishiya's hips. His hole swollen and used. But no blood beyond the bite marks, no tears, nothing that looked like actual damage.

"No?" Niragi's voice cracked. "I don't—I tried to be careful—"

"You were careful." Chishiya's hand found his face, thumb stroking his cheekbone. "Even when you thought you weren't. Even when I pushed you. You were perfect."

The words settled something in Niragi's chest, easing the panic. "Really?"

"Really." Chishiya shifted slightly, wincing. "Sore. Very sore. But not damaged."

Guilt swamped him anyway. "Let me—shower. Let me help you shower."

Chishiya considered him for a long moment before nodding. "Alright."

Niragi helped him up carefully, supporting his weight when Chishiya's legs trembled. They made their way to the small attached bathroom, Niragi running the shower until it was warm. He guided Chishiya under the spray and followed, reaching for soap.

"I can wash myself," Chishiya said without heat.

"I know." Niragi lathered his hands anyway. "Let me."

Chishiya allowed it, standing still while Niragi carefully washed dried come and sweat from his skin. He was gentle with the bite marks, thorough but careful, and when his hands skimmed over Chishiya's ass, cleaning the evidence of their marathon, Chishiya's sharp inhale made him pause.

"Too much?"

"No. Just—tender."

Niragi finished quickly, rinsed them both, and shut off the water. He dried Chishiya with the same careful attention, pressing soft kisses to each bite mark like apology.

Back in the bedroom, Niragi found clean clothes for them both. The sheets were destroyed—soaked with various fluids—but he helped Chishiya to the chair instead, wrapping him in a blanket.

"Sleep?" Niragi offered.

"In a moment." Chishiya was watching him with that calculating expression. "Come here."

Niragi crossed to him immediately, dropping to his knees in front of the chair so they were eye level. Chishiya's hand found his hair, fingers carding through it gently.

"You said you loved me." Chishiya's voice was very quiet. "Did you mean it?"

Niragi's throat closed. He wanted to take it back, claim it was the werewolf talking, protect himself. But he was so fucking tired of protecting himself from the one person who'd never actually hurt him.

"Yeah," he managed. "I meant it."

Chishiya's expression didn't change. "I don't—"

The words should've hurt. Did hurt, sharp and familiar. But Chishiya kept talking.

"Not yet. Maybe not for a long time." He paused, choosing words carefully. "I don't know how to be that vulnerable. How to trust it won't be weaponised."

"I'd never—"

"I know." Chishiya's hand tightened in his hair. "I know you wouldn't. It's not about you. It's about me. My damage."

Niragi understood damage. Understood protecting yourself so hard you forgot how to open up. "Okay."

"But." Chishiya tilted his face up, forcing eye contact. "I'm yours. I've been yours. Whatever this is between us, it's—" He struggled for words, rare for him. "It's the only real thing I have."

Niragi's chest constricted. "Yeah?"

"Yes." Chishiya leaned down, kissing him soft and brief. "So when I'm ready to say it, you'll be the only one I say it to."

That was—fuck, that was enough. More than enough.

"Okay," Niragi said again, the word encompassing everything. "I can wait."

Chishiya pulled him up, guiding him to the chair with him. It was cramped, Niragi bigger and taking up most of the space, but they made it work. Chishiya curled against his chest, head tucked under his chin, and Niragi wrapped his arms around him.

They dozed off together, exhaustion finally claiming them both. Afternoon sun filled the room, when Niragi woke, warming his skin where it touched. His chest rose and fell against Chishiya's back. The bite marks throbbed—a satisfied ache he'd carry for days.

Chishiya's fingers traced the edge of one bite mark. Niragi's breath hitched. His chest expanded with something that felt too big for his ribs, something he didn't have words for and didn't fucking need them.

Hours later—they'd deliberately stayed sequestered all day, avoiding questions about Niragi's transformation and Chishiya's visible marks—when the sun was starting to set, they finally addressed returning to reality.

Chishiya stood in front of the mirror, assessing the damage. The bite marks on his shoulders and neck were dark purple, clearly teeth marks. The ones on his thighs and hips would be hidden by clothing, but these—these were visible.

"I'll need to wear the hoodie," he said clinically. "Zipped up fully. Even then, the one on my neck might show."

Niragi felt guilt twist in his gut. "I'm—"

"Don't apologise." Chishiya cut him off, meeting his eyes in the mirror. "I told you to mark me. I wanted this."

"People will talk if they see."

"Then they won't see." Chishiya pulled on one of his spare white hoodies, zipping it up to his throat. The collar covered most of the damage, though one mark on his neck still peeked through. He studied it for a moment before shrugging. "I'll tell them I got scraped during a game. No one will question it."

Niragi had already dressed—new clothes from his own room that he'd retrieved while Chishiya showered again. His costume was completely destroyed, so he was back to his usual militant gear. No evidence remained except the memories and the ache in his muscles.

And the knowledge of what he was capable of.

"When we go back out there—" Niragi started.

"Nothing changes," Chishiya finished. "Same careful distance. Same loaded exchanges. No one can know."

Niragi's jaw clenched. This afternoon, lying tangled together, he'd wanted to drag Chishiya downstairs and fuck him in front of everyone. Make them all see. But standing here now, watching Chishiya zip that hoodie up to hide the evidence—his chest tightened with something close to relief. Their secret meant Chishiya stayed alive. Stayed his.

"After tonight, though." Niragi moved closer, not touching but close enough. "If it happens again—"

"It won't." Chishiya's voice was certain. "Whatever caused the transformation was a one-time Borderlands anomaly. It won't repeat."

Niragi knew he was probably right. The Borderlands didn't often repeat its tricks. But some part of him—the part that had felt right being a werewolf, that had experienced the clarity of knowing exactly what he needed—hoped maybe it would.

"But if it did," he pressed. "Would you—"

"Yes." Chishiya turned to face him fully. "If it happened again, I would absolutely let you fuck me through another werewolf heat. Obviously."

The casual confirmation made Niragi's cock twitch with interest despite how thoroughly spent he was.

Chishiya noticed, lips curving into that knowing smirk. "Down, boy. You don't have the stamina for round six."

"Could try," Niragi muttered, but he was smiling.

They stood there for another moment, just looking at each other. Memorising this, maybe. The calm after the storm.

Finally Chishiya moved toward the door. "I'll leave first. Wait ten minutes before heading down."

"Same as always."

"Same as always." Chishiya paused with his hand on the doorknob, looking back. "Niragi."

"Yeah?"

"Tonight was—" He paused, choosing words carefully. "Thank you. For trusting me to control it."

Niragi's throat tightened. "Always trust you, Boss."

Chishiya's smile was small, softer than his usual smirk—the real one, not the weapon. "I know. That's what makes you dangerous."

Then he was gone, door clicking shut behind him, leaving Niragi alone in the room that smelled like sex and them.

Niragi counted ten minutes, then headed out himself. The Beach hallways were busier now—dinner time, people moving between their rooms and the common areas. He got the usual mix of fear and respect, people giving him space, but no one looked at him differently. No one knew what had happened last night.

Good.

He made his way down to the lobby, scanning automatically for threats and finding—

Chishiya.

Standing near the bar, white hoodie zipped up, talking to Kuina about something. His posture was relaxed, face showing polite interest, nothing about his demeanour suggesting he'd spent the previous twelve hours getting thoroughly bred by a werewolf.

As if sensing the attention, Chishiya's gaze flicked up and caught Niragi's across the space. For one heartbeat they just looked at each other.

Then Chishiya's lips curved into the faintest smirk, visible only to someone who knew exactly what to look for. His hand lifted to adjust his hood's collar, drawing attention to his neck—and the single dark mark just barely visible above the fabric.

A message. A claim. A reminder.

Niragi grinned, sharp and wolfish even without the transformation, and continued on his way. He had patrol duty tonight, needed to check in with Aguni, maintain his position and reputation.

But later—later he'd find his way back to Chishiya's room. Would push him against the wall and kiss him until they were both breathless. Would trace every bite mark with reverent fingers and maybe—if Chishiya was feeling generous—get permission to add a few more.

Because they were mates.

Had always been mates, really.

The wolf had stripped away his usual bullshit. Made him say what he'd been too scared to admit.