Defy The Alpha(s) 2: Rebel Beast

"My prince..." Venus stuttered, his heart immediately falling out of rhythm. He should have been able to control something as simple as his heartbeat, but Caelis had caught him completely off guard. Now Venus had to force himself to calm down before his body exposed exactly how nervous he was.

It should have occurred to him that Caelis would be informed the moment he crossed back into serpent territory. Under normal circumstances, Venus would have anticipated something like this. Unfortunately, his head had been so thoroughly occupied by Brittney that common sense had failed him, and now he was about to pay the price.

Caelis’s nose suddenly twitched, his face wrinkling with distaste before his tongue darted briefly from his mouth to taste the air, an instinct so natural to serpent shifters that most of them barely noticed when they did it.

He frowned. "Why do you stink of some strange perfume concoction?"

Venus gulped. He should have known better. How the hell had he convinced himself that a few bottles of body wash and half a bottle of perfume would be enough to deceive Caelis?

Caelis continued, "Where is my document with Maverick’s signature?"

Venus’s heart nearly stopped. He had completely forgotten why he’d gone to House Therion in the first place. What kind of fucking charm did Brittney have over him that he’d forgotten the one task his prince had entrusted him with?

Venus knew at that moment that it was over for him. He could invent a story, but there wasn’t enough truth available to cover all the inconsistencies. Caelis was too intelligent to fool with some hastily constructed lie, and his network of informants throughout Bestiaris would eventually expose any deception Venus attempted anyway.

Above all, Venus was Caelis’s First Fang. He could fail his prince, however shameful that might be, but deliberately deceiving him was another matter entirely. Caelis trusted him, and Venus wasn’t about to repay that trust with lies simply because he was too embarrassed to admit what he’d done.

At once, Venus dropped to the floor and bowed until his forehead touched the ground. "Forgive me, Caelis, for I have failed you."

Caelis’s face tightened slightly. He couldn’t say he hadn’t seen something like this coming. When Venus hadn’t returned at the expected time, Caelis had initially assumed Maverick was deliberately holding him back.

But when news reached him that Maverick and Rhydian had fought in the restroom and Venus still hadn’t returned, Caelis knew something was wrong. He’d called Venus several times, but none of the calls had been answered before the phone eventually went off. Caelis had the device tracked afterward, only to discover that its last location was still somewhere within House Therion.

Had it been Rhydian, that hot-tempered, childish, fire-breathing lizard, perhaps he would have had reason to fear for Venus’s safety. But this was Maverick. The wolf was honorable, weakened as he was by those mundane morals of his, and wouldn’t harm the First Fang of House Ophidian without first considering the consequences it would bring upon House Therion. Caelis respected him enough to know that much.

So what the hell had been keeping Venus?

Caelis had decided to wait until midnight. If Venus hadn’t returned by then, he would have marched into House Therion himself and demanded answers, and depending on the answers he received, things could have gotten bloody.

Hence, seeing Venus finally return unharmed only to drop at his feet and confess that he had failed him intrigued Caelis far more than he cared to admit.

"What did you do, Venus?"

"I strayed from the mission and ended up doing something you wouldn’t approve of," Venus admitted, keeping his forehead pressed firmly against the floor.

"Look at me," Caelis ordered.

Venus had no choice but to lift his head, forcing himself to stare directly into the prince’s cold, unreadable silver eyes.

"Now..." Caelis said slowly. "Tell me exactly what happened. Do not leave a single detail out."

And just like that, Venus had no choice but to confess. He told Caelis how he’d snuck into the girls’ quarters after Maverick left in a hurry, intending to gather information about Aria. Unfortunately, he’d ended up in Brittney’s room instead, where the little demoness had tranquilized him and left him unconscious for hours.

By the time he came around, he was tied up, and with House Therion surrounded, escaping without drawing attention to himself had been impossible. He’d been forced to remain with her, and somewhere along the way, Brittney had turned out to be far more accepting than he’d expected. They’d talked, he’d gotten carried away, and eventually, they’d ended up having sex.

At least, that was the version Venus gave him. He deliberately omitted the fact that he’d knotted Brittney and might have left his mark on her too, just as she had on him.

He knew Caelis had explicitly ordered him not to leave anything out, yet the moment Venus considered revealing those particular details, something inside him resisted. It wasn’t merely embarrassment, but an instinct deeper than that, almost possessive, urging him to keep what had happened between him and Brittney to himself.

When Caelis didn’t reply immediately, seemingly lost in thought, Venus became even more anxious. "I have failed you, which is why I’ll gladly accept any punishment you give me. But please, let me continue serving you. I know I’m unworthy after sullying myself with a human, and I swear it will never happen again—"

"Oh, please, stop with the theatrics, Venus," Caelis interrupted, rolling his eyes. "You certainly don’t think you’re the first serpent to lie with a human?"

Venus’s brows lifted in surprise. He wasn’t? Suspicion immediately entered his eyes as he stared at Caelis. "Have you—?"

The look Caelis gave him was so deadly that it was a miracle Venus didn’t turn to stone right there.

"Father’s nefarious activities are not exactly unknown," Caelis admitted. "Humans are a different species, which makes them exotic enough to appeal to creatures like Njord Cobryn. My father is simply discreet enough to avoid the scrutiny and judgment of his people, or worse, give anyone reason to believe that serpents and humans can... fraternize." He deliberately chose the more subtle word.

Venus was stunned. No wonder he’d never known about it. Caelis must have gone to extraordinary lengths to uncover something the serpent King had taken such care to conceal.

Caelis looked at him. "You said the human tranquilized you?"

Venus nodded. "Yes. She set up an entire trap in her room."

"So she anticipated the possibility of a beast intruding and had the proper weapons prepared." Caelis’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "This year’s candidates are becoming far more suspicious than I thought."

"I won’t go near her ever again," Venus promised him.

"No," Caelis said. "I want you to go back to her."

"What?" Venus wasn’t sure he’d heard him correctly.

But Caelis continued, undeterred. "I want you to deliberately get close to Brittney Thorne. She already trusts you enough to let her guard down, so use that to your advantage. Find out what she knows, especially anything concerning Aria Aspen. If continuing to fuck her makes her more willing to talk, then by all means, continue fucking her."

A hint of amusement entered Caelis’s otherwise cold eyes. "Judging by how spectacularly you abandoned your mission tonight, I doubt you’ll consider that particular assignment much of a hardship."

Venus’s face went red with embarrassment.

"But don’t make the mistake of falling for her," Caelis warned him. "And make sure no one finds out about this arrangement. Be as discreet as possible."

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!