Chapter 54: Knotted by my corporate rival -9

Kael stood in front of the mirror in the penthouse bedroom and did not reach for a single scent blocker.

The claiming mark on the side of his neck was still faintly red, healed enough to show clearly against his skin. He wore a sharp black suit, collar open just enough that anyone looking would see the edge of the bite. His own scent rose free and clean around him, soft Omega sweetness layered under the heavier claim of Silas’s scent that clung to every inch of his skin. No more hiding. No more chemical cage.

Silas stepped up behind him, already dressed, and rested both hands on Kael’s hips. Their eyes met in the glass.

"You ready?" Silas asked.

Kael’s reflection smiled, cold and sharp in the way that used to make entire boardrooms flinch. "I’ve been ready for years. I just finally have the right person at my back."

Silas leaned in and dragged his mouth slowly over the claiming mark. "I’m not at your back. I’m beside you. Remember that when you walk in there and take what’s yours."

Kael turned in his arms and kissed him, deep and deliberate, tasting the quiet certainty that had lived between them since the heat broke. When they pulled apart, Kael’s cock was already half-hard against Silas’s thigh. The bond hummed with shared anticipation and something hungrier.

"Later," Kael said, voice rough. "After we finish them."

Silas’s smile was pure promise. "After. I’m going to take my time with you once the blood is off the floor."

The boardroom on the top floor of Kael’s family building went silent the moment the doors opened.

Kael walked in first. Silas followed half a step behind and to the side, close enough that his presence was impossible to ignore. The long table was full. Directors who had spent years treating Kael like a convenient figurehead. A few distant relatives who had always looked at him with thinly veiled contempt once the rumors of his true nature started circulating years ago. Director Han sat at the far end, face already tight.

Kael took the head of the table without asking permission. He set a slim folder down and remained standing. His scent filled the room slowly, impossible to miss. Soft. Sweet. Claimed. Several Alphas at the table shifted uncomfortably. One older woman looked openly shocked.

"Good morning," Kael said, voice even. "Thank you for coming on short notice."

Director Han cleared his throat. "Kael. This is irregular. And frankly, the way you smell right now is inappropriate for a professional setting—"

"It’s appropriate for the truth," Kael cut in. "I am an Omega. I always have been. I spent years on suppressants that nearly destroyed my body because this board and my family decided an Omega heir was a liability. That ends today."

Silas’s hand settled lightly at the small of Kael’s back, a public, unmistakable claim. He said nothing. He did not need to. His presence alone made the air heavier.

Kael opened the folder and slid copies down the table. "Effective immediately, Voss Industries and the remaining independent shares under my personal control are executing a hostile consolidation. The merger terms you forced on me have been rewritten. I retain full operational control of this subsidiary and the majority voting block. Several of you will be offered generous exit packages. The rest of you who spent years trying to keep me small and medicated will find your seats dissolved by the end of the week."

Han stood, face flushing. "You can’t simply rewrite a signed merger."

"I can when the controlling interest belongs to my mate and me," Kael answered. "Silas and I are bonded. Fully. The market already knows. The stock opened twelve points higher this morning on the news that the cold heir finally stopped hiding and brought a real Alpha partner to the table. You no longer have the leverage you thought you did."

One of the younger directors spoke carefully. "The family trusts—"

"The family trusts are being audited," Kael said. "Any funds diverted to keep me controlled or to buy silence about my secondary gender are being clawed back. I have the documentation. Silas’s legal team has already filed the preliminary motions."

Silas finally spoke, voice calm and lethal. "Anyone who wants to fight this can. I welcome it. I have waited a long time to watch Kael take back every scrap of power you tried to deny him. Try me. See how quickly I make the rest of your careers radioactive."

Silence stretched. Kael watched the calculations happen behind their eyes. The scent of his heat-spent, claimed Omega body mixed with Silas’s steady Alpha presence left no room for the old games. He was no longer the isolated, suppressant-poisoned heir they could pressure. He was a bonded Omega with a ruthless mate and the combined weight of two conglomerates behind him.

Han sat down slowly. "What do you want from us today?"

"Signatures," Kael said. "Resignation letters from those on the list in the folder. Quiet cooperation from the rest. In return, the exit packages remain generous and the press releases stay civil. Refuse, and I release everything. The suppressant records. The internal memos about ’managing the Omega problem.’ The market will eat you alive."

One by one, the pens came out.

It took forty-three minutes.

When the last signature was dry, Kael closed the folder and looked around the table. "This company is mine now. Properly. You are dismissed."

They filed out in stiff silence. Director Han paused at the door, glanced once at the visible mark on Kael’s neck, and left without another word.

The moment the doors shut, Silas turned Kael into him and kissed him hard, right there against the head of the table that had spent years belonging to people who wanted Kael small. Kael kissed back with equal force, hands fisting in Silas’s jacket, the bond flaring hot with victory and leftover adrenaline.

"You were perfect," Silas murmured against his mouth. "Cold. Precise. Mine. I almost dragged you onto this table in front of them."

Kael’s laugh came out low and rough. "Take me home and do it there instead."

They barely made it through the penthouse door.

Silas shoved Kael against the wall of the entryway, mouth on the claiming mark, hands already stripping the suit jacket away. Kael yanked at Silas’s belt with equal urgency. The victory still burned under both their skins, mixing with the constant low pull of the new bond.