Chapter 8: The Silent Challenge:A Grand Gesture, A Public Claim.

Virendra had been patient long enough.

He had watched Jayant smile for other Alphas, listened to him laugh at their words, seen him pretend that he had moved on.

But Virendra knew better.

He saw the tension in his shoulders when he entered the room. The way his breath hitched when their gazes met. The way he never spoke of that night, yet carried its weight in his silence.

Jayant thought he could erase him.

He was wrong.

If patience would not work, then Virendra would remind him—force him to remember—who he truly belonged to.

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The court was filled with nobility that evening, gathered in the grand hall for a formal banquet. Candles flickered against gilded walls, their flames casting long shadows across the marble floors.

Jayant was seated at the high table, poised and unreadable, as if he had finally silenced the war inside him.

Virendra’s lips curled into a smirk. Time to break that illusion.

Without hesitation, he moved.

The crowd murmured as he approached, his steps deliberate, his presence commanding. Jayant had avoided him for days, but now, he would have no escape.

The Omega’s eyes flickered to him, betraying the slightest hint of unease before he schooled his expression.

"Prince Jayant," Virendra greeted smoothly, ignoring the other Alphas seated near him.

Jayant exhaled slowly. "You seem to have mistaken yourself for a guest, Virendra."

Virendra only smirked. "A mistake easily forgiven, I hope."

Then, without waiting for permission, he took the empty seat beside Jayant.

A bold move. A public one.

And Jayant knew it.

The conversation in the hall dimmed. Nobles stole glances. The suitors bristled.

But Virendra ignored them all. His focus remained solely on the Omega beside him.

Jayant stiffened but did not react otherwise. "You are testing my patience, Virendra."

Virendra leaned in slightly, just enough for his breath to brush against Jayant’s ear. "Am I?"

The Omega tensed. Not from fear. From something else.

"You sit beside me as if you have the right," Jayant murmured.

Virendra’s smirk deepened. "I have more right than any of them." His eyes flickered toward the suitors. "They see an Omega prince. I see the man who once whispered my name with devotion."

Jayant’s fingers curled into a fist beneath the table. "That man no longer exists."

Virendra let out a soft chuckle. "Then why are your hands trembling?"

Jayant inhaled sharply, and Virendra knew he had struck the right nerve.

But before the Omega could respond, Virendra acted.

Slowly, deliberately, he reached forward and picked up a goblet of wine—Jayant’s goblet.

And then, he drank from it.

A sharp gasp rang through the hall. A claim.

A silent, undeniable declaration before the entire court.

Virendra placed the goblet down with a soft thud, meeting Jayant’s gaze with unwavering confidence.

"Let them see," he murmured. "Let them all know who touched you first."

Jayant’s breath hitched. He could not look away.

And in that moment, Virendra knew—he had just changed the game completely.

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Silence.

A sharp, suffocating silence filled the great hall as every noble, every Alpha, every courtier turned to stare at the scene before them.

Virendra had just claimed me. Not in words, not in name—but in action.

Drinking from my goblet… a gesture only an Alpha who had already laid claim to an Omega could make.

It was a declaration. A warning. A challenge.

And I could not let it stand.

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The first reaction came from Raja Udayveer. He set his goblet down with deliberate calm, though the tightness in his jaw betrayed his irritation. "I was unaware," he said smoothly, eyes narrowing at Virendra, "that the prince had already been spoken for."

My pulse raced. If I did not deny this now, it would become truth.

I turned to Virendra, my voice ice. "You overstep your bounds, my lord."

Virendra merely smirked, completely unbothered. "Do I?"

The murmurs in the court grew louder.

"Was it true?"

"Did the prince already belong to him?"

"Why has he not denied it?"

I clenched my fists beneath the table. "You presume too much, Virendra."

"Do I?" he repeated, tilting his head. "Tell me, Jayant—would you have let any of them do the same?"

I exhaled sharply. He knew the answer.

No other Alpha would have dared.

But that did not mean I would let him win.