"Lucian, it's been a long time since you've sought me out. Is something the matter?"
Annette swayed her hips gracefully as she approached Lucian. Her voice was as sweet as her own pheromones, teasing his earlobes like feathers.
Lucian had once pursued Annette, perhaps out of curiosity and perhaps... a bit of lust. Though she was an Omega, Annette possessed a rare charisma, an allure unlike any he had encountered. That, perhaps, was what intrigued him.
His gaze drifted from the cleavage pressed high by her corset to the place where Seraphina had stood moments before.
From above, emerald eyes looked down at him with cool mockery. Lucian's excitedly beating heart instantly stopped, falling into a cold, icy pit.
Lucian instinctively wanted to move forward, but Annette still clung to him persistently.
Noticing the prince's distraction, Annette ran her finger along his chest. Her temperature and pheromones seemed to penetrate through the thin fabric to caress the tanned skin beneath. Lucian's inattention had displeased the proud young woman.
"Where are you looking, my prince? Am I not enough to keep your attention?"
Lucian smoothly took a step back, evading her touch. A faint, courteous smile touched his lips—polite, yet empty, like a rehearsed gesture.
"Lady Annette, my apologize, but I have urgent business." He glanced up to the upper floor again, but Seraphina's figure had vanished without a trace.
Annette pouted in pretend sulkiness, while her eyes still gleamed with self-satisfaction. She moved closer to take Lucian's arm, deliberately pressing her bosom against it, her pheromones emanating even more strongly.
"Are you angry with me for ignoring you?" Annette cooed like the invitation of a poisonous flower in Lucian's ear. "Shall I make it up to you tonight?"
This was Annette's strongest play, one that no man could resist.
But Lucian was not just any man. He was a pureblooded Alpha, the future king of this kingdom. Before, he had indulged her out of interest, but no longer.
Lucian's calm gray-blue eyes suddenly hardened, all fiery passion now covered in thick frost. His pheromones began to seep from his skin, not to seduce, but to threaten.
"Lady Annette," he said, voice low and cold, stripped of courtesy, "I don't like repeating myself."
A shiver ran through Annette's spine, her knees nearly giving out beneath the crushing weight of his pheromones. The prince who had once pampered her like a princess was gone.
Standing before her now was a Pureblood Alpha, one who would devour her whole if she dared disobey. Lucian had never treated her this way before. And it struck her, with chilling clarity, that she had never once held power over him. She had always been dancing in the palm of his hand.
Annette instinctively stepped back, bowing her head low, unable to withstand the piercing gaze that rained down like a thousand arrows.
"I–I was out of line…" Her once-confident, syrupy voice had shriveled into a meek, breathless whisper. "Please forgive me, Your Highness…"
Lucian didn't bother arguing with a young lady, simply sliding past Annette and continuing directly to the upper floor.
His thoughts were fixed on one person, Seraphina.
As he reached the upper floor, Lucian's eyes scanned the room until they settled on a head of chestnut hair. She was sitting quietly, examining a collection of fabric swatches.
Lucian's heart, which had been suspended in air, finally returned to his chest. Just a moment of carelessness and she had left his sight. A creeping fear took hold, if he let her roam freely too long, he might lose her forever.
Lucian's hand unconsciously clenched into a fist as he strode toward her.
That would never happen. He would not allow it to happen.
Seraphina's fingers paused on the silk fabric. Her heart missed a beat as Lucian's pheromones rolled over her, hot and hungry, like the breath of a wild beast against her nape.
She instinctively gripped the fabric tighter, her gaze fixed ahead while focusing all her energy on keeping her own pheromones in checkresisting the instinct to respond to his call.
Here he was again, the Alpha prince. The one whom every cell in her body wanted to accept as her mate. What game was he playing this time?
Victoria, the boutique's owner who was personally attending Seraphina, stood up in surprise upon seeing Lucian.
"What wind has brought His Highness the Crown Prince to grace my humble store?"
Lucian responded to Victoria with a polite smile, his eyes still locked on Seraphina's perfectly straight back like a vise.
"A wins named Seraphina."
"…Pardon?"
Ignoring Victoria's bewildered expression, Lucian settled onto the long chair opposite Seraphina. His long legs crossed, one arm rested lazily on the armrest, the other propping up his chin as he flashed a lopsided smile.
Victoria glanced from the proud posture of the prince to Seraphina, who remained completely indifferent, as if Lucian wasn't even there. What was happening here? Another new prey for the prince to play with?
The entire kingdom of Lunaris knew that Lucian's tastes were quite particular. This wasn't the first time Victoria had witnessed the young prince's showmanship, but it was the first time she had seen someone, even an Alpha, ignore Lucian the way Seraphina was doing.
Lucian was not pleased that Seraphina wouldn't even spare him a glance. However, he still enjoyed this feeling, the feeling of watching his prey struggle in his spider's web. Satisfaction? Perhaps. For the more she struggled, the more appetizing it would be when he devoured every inch of her flesh.
After a moment of gazing at the face he had craved night after night, Lucian spoke, his voice resonating in the quiet space, a domineering declaration that shocked everyone around, including Victoria.
"Wrap up everything Lady Seraphina has touched today and deliver it to the Duke's estate. At once."
It should be known that Victoria's garments were not cheap. All were handmade with rare materials for the nobility. A single dress could cost up to ten thousand gold coins. Buy everything Seraphina touched?
Lucian must be insane.
***