He felt it.
Not the act.
The shift.
That was the difference between men and gods.
Men needed evidence.
Gods needed… disturbance.
And Ra had returned disturbed.
Mehen didn’t follow her immediately.
That would have been… pedestrian.
Instead, he waited.
Because jealousy, when wielded correctly, is not loud.
It is surgical.
Ra entered his chamber without knocking.
Bold.
Predictable.
Beautiful.
She moved like she was still deciding something—shoulders too still, breath too measured, gold catching light like she was trying to armor herself against something internal.
Mehen leaned in the shadows, watching.
Always watching.
“You took your time,” he said lazily.
Ra didn’t flinch.
Of course she didn’t.
“I needed air.”
Mehen hummed softly, stepping forward, the low light catching the gold along his skin as it belonged there.
“You found it… with company.”
Ra’s eyes sharpened.
“Careful.”
His smile widened.
“Oh, I am being careful,” he said. “You’re the one testing thresholds.”
Ra crossed her arms, defensive and regal all at once.
“You don’t get to interrogate me.”
“I’m not interrogating you,” Mehen replied smoothly. “I’m observing.”
He circled her slowly.
Not touching.
Never rushing.
He could smell someone on her skin. Was that the wolf?
The air around her tightened as if his presence itself had weight.
“I felt it,” he continued, voice dropping, amused. “The shift. The slight fracture in your composure.”
Ra turned to face him fully.
“You don’t feel everything.”
Mehen tilted his head.
“I feel what belongs to me.”
There it was.
The line.
Ra’s eyes flashed.
“I don’t belong to you.”
Mehen stepped closer.
Close enough that her breath adjusted.
“You belong,” he said softly, “to your choices.”
His gaze dropped—briefly—to her lips.
“And your choices,” he added, voice velvet and ruin, “keep circling back to me.”
Ra swallowed.
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Speak like you already won.”
Mehen laughed—low, rich, unbothered.
“Ra,” he said, “I do not win things.”
He leaned in slightly, just enough to feel the tension spike.
“I am chosen.”
Her pulse betrayed her.
He noticed.
Of course, he noticed.
“And yet,” Ra said, voice steadier than she felt, “you seem… concerned.”
Mehen stilled.
Just for a second.
A flicker.
Then it was gone.
Replaced with something sharper.
More dangerous.
“I am not concerned,” he said. “I am… entertained.”
His gaze darkened.
“You let them touch you.”
Ra’s breath caught—anger, not guilt.
“Mehen....”
Mehen’s smile sharpened.
“Your bestie vampire and your loyal wolf,” he said, almost conversational. “Tell me—do they take turns pretending they understand you?”
Ra stepped forward.
“You will not talk about them like that.”
Mehen raised a brow.
“Oh?” he murmured. “What should I call them, then?”
His eyes glinted.
“Your protectors? Your saviors? Your emotional support soldiers?”
Ra’s jaw tightened.
“They are not yours to dismiss.”
Mehen’s voice dropped, suddenly intimate.
“They are not yours to confuse.”
Silence snapped between them.
Then—
He leaned in closer.
Too close.
The kind of close that felt like a decision.
“Don’t play with your pets,” he murmured.
Ra’s eyes burned.
“They are not pets.”
Mehen’s smile was devastating.
“No?” he said softly. “Because they circle you. They watch you. They wait for you.”
His voice turned wickedly amused.
“They behave.”
Ra’s hands curled into fists.
“They choose to stay.”
“Exactly.”Mehen's devastating full lips tilted into a grin then.
That word hit like a blade.
Mehen’s gaze softened—not weaker, but deeper, more dangerous.
“They stay,” he said quietly, “because you make them feel necessary.”
Ra’s breath trembled.
“And you?” she challenged. “Why do you stay?”
Mehen’s answer came without hesitation.
“Because I am.”
The arrogance should have been insufferable.
It wasn’t.
It was intoxicating.
Ra hated that.
“You think this is a game,” she said.
Mehen’s eyes flickered with something darker.
“No,” he said. “I think this is inevitable.”
Ra stepped closer.
Matching him.
Fire meeting fire.
“I kissed him,” she said suddenly.
The words dropped between them like a match.
Silence.
Mehen didn’t move.
Didn’t react the way a man would.
No anger.
No outburst.
Just—
focus.
His gaze locked onto hers, molten gold and terrifyingly calm.
“Yes,” he said.
Ra blinked.
“You—”
“I said,” Mehen repeated softly, “yes.”
He stepped forward.
Now there was no space left.
“I felt it,” he added.
Her breath stuttered.
“Every hesitation. Every fracture. Every moment you stopped pretending.”
Ra’s voice dropped.
“You’re not angry.”
Mehen smiled slowly.
“I am not human.”
His hand lifted—finally—and caught her jaw, firm, controlled, unyielding.
“Anger is inefficient,” he continued. “Jealousy…”
His thumb brushed her cheek.
“…is far more useful.”
Ra’s pulse hammered.
“You don’t get to twist this.”
“I don’t need to,” he said. “You already did.”
His voice lowered.
“Tell me,” he murmured, “did it feel like home?”
That hit.
Hard.
Ra’s silence answered.
Mehen’s eyes darkened.
Not with rage.
With hunger.
“With him,” he continued, voice quieter now, more dangerous, “you remember who you were.”
His gaze sharpened.
“With me…”
He leaned closer, breath brushing her lips.
“…you become who you are.”
Ra’s breath broke.
“That doesn’t give you the right to claim me.”
Mehen’s smile was slow.
“I am not claiming you,” he said.
His hand slid from her jaw—down, slow, deliberate, stopping at the edge of her armor again.
The restraint was obscene.
“I am reminding you,” he murmured, “what you keep choosing.”
Ra’s hands found his chest again.
Not pushing.
Not pulling.
Just—
there.
“Then remind me properly,” she said, voice low, dangerous.
Mehen’s eyes flashed.
And for the first time—
His control slipped.
Just a fraction.
Enough.
When he kissed her—
It wasn’t gentle.
It wasn’t soft.
It was possession without ownership.
Hunger without apology.
Devotion sharpened into something that felt like fire, learning how to think.
Ra didn’t resist.
Not this time.
Because the truth was—
She liked being wanted like this.
And Mehen?
Mehen knew it.
When he pulled back, his voice was quiet.
Certain.
“Play with your pets if you must,” he murmured.
Ra’s breath shook.
“But don’t forget…”
His gaze burned into hers.
“They orbit you.”
A pause.
Mehen licked her lips and looked into her golden eyes with his searing golden gaze.
Then—
“I consume.”