Kael stared at the ceiling.

His cock felt like he’d rubbed it with sandpaper.

Worth it.

Sage stirred against his right side. Her massive breast pressed into his ribs as she stretched, a satisfied groan rumbling through her chest. Cum still leaked from her swollen pussy onto his thigh, warm and sticky.

"Mmm..." Her eyes fluttered open. Golden irises, still hazy. "You’re still here."

"Where else would I be?"

"I half-expected to wake up alone." She smiled, running a finger down his chest. "Most men run after the first round. You stayed for... how many?"

"Lost count."

She nipped his collarbone. Rue made a small sound against his left side. Her petite body was curled into him like a cat, tails wrapped possessively around his arm. Cum dripped from her overused entrance onto his hip.

"Don’t wake her," Sage murmured. "She gets murderous if she doesn’t get her eight hours."

"Considering what she did to my back, I’d hate to see her murderous."

Sage laughed—soft, genuinely amused. Her tails swished against the ruined sheets.

Her eyes sharpened. "So. What now?"

Kael tilted his head. "Now I leave."

Sage blinked. "What?"

"I have training in two hours. Aria will worry if I’m not back before dawn." He sat up, dislodging both women. Rue mumbled something incoherent and grabbed for him, missing. "Last night was enjoyable. Truly. But—"

"But you’re not interested in anything more." Sage’s voice was flat.

"I’m interested in many things. Attachments aren’t among them."

The temperature in the room dropped.

Sage’s golden eyes hardened. Her tails—previously relaxed—went rigid behind her. The shift was instantaneous, predatory.

Kael stood. The sheets fell away, exposing his scarred, clawed body. He found his pants on the floor—somehow still intact—and stepped into them.

"I don’t do promises," he said, pulling on his shirt. "I don’t do relationships. I don’t do mornings-after where we pretend last night meant something it didn’t."

"It meant something to Rue."

"Then Rue has a problem I can’t solve."

Sage’s lips parted. For a moment, she looked almost hurt.

Then the mask slid back into place.

"Typical," she said, voice light again. "A Vorn. I should have known."

"Blame my father. He’s excellent at setting terrible examples."

Rue stirred.

Her eyes opened—violet, soft, unfocused. She looked up at Kael with an expression that made something in his chest twitch unpleasantly.

"You’re leaving," she whispered.

"Training."

"But—"

"I’ll see you around, sweets. He walked to the door.

"Kael."

He paused.

Sage had sat up, sheets pooling around her waist, massive breasts bare. Her expression was unreadable.

"You’re making a mistake," she said.

"Probably." He smirked over his shoulder. "But I make those so consistently, they’ve practically become a style choice."

He left.

The Silver Tier corridors were empty at this hour. Kael walked through them barefoot—his boots had vanished somewhere in the chaos—feeling the cold floor against his soles.

Damn, that was cruel.

The System went quiet.

Kael didn’t dwell on it.

Aria was waiting in his room.

She sat in the corner, shrouded in shadow, mask firmly in place. The moment he entered, her violet eyes fixed on him—tracking the claw marks visible through his torn shirt, the bite marks on his neck, the smell of sex and fox musk that clung to him like a second skin.

"Fox-kin," she said flatly.

"Perceptive."

Aria stood. The shadows in the room moved with her, swirling around her legs like living things.

"You smell like them," she said. "Inside and out."

"An accurate description of the evening’s events, yes."

"Was it worth it?"

Kael considered the question genuinely.

"Ask me again in a week when my back stops stinging."

Aria’s hands clenched at her sides.

He walked past her toward the bathroom.

"And brew me some Starwhisper tea. I have a feeling today is going to be long."

Behind him, Aria’s shadows rippled with something that might have been frustration.

Or want.

Or both.

She brewed the tea anyway.