Chapter 1: Stolen Shadows
The rain fell in sheets over the city, turning cobblestones into mirrors that reflected a world she had long refused to belong to. Seraphina Vale moved like a shadow herself, slipping through narrow alleys, her black leather boots silent against the wet stone. Her target tonight wasn't a person—it was information. A ledger, the lifeblood of someone powerful enough to ruin or exalt a kingdom she'd never asked to be part of.
Her fingers itched for the thrill, not the money. She had inherited fire, not fear. Every step she took, every shadow she melted into, whispered a challenge which was her catchphrases:Try to catch me and somewhere in the dark, she knew the predator was patiently waiting for its prey
The warehouse door was old but not obstinate. A soft click a second and she was inside the musty smell of ink and secrecy mixing with rain and something else anticipation.
Rows of filing cabinets glinted under the dim bulb overhead. Her heartbeat was steady, a metronome of control. Years of training in silence had taught her that boldness and precision were inseparable.
She spotted it immediately: the ledger, bound in black leather, corners sharp as daggers, promises hidden inside like a map of power and ruin. She slid it from its resting place Every instinct screamed: Leave before you're seen. But instinct alone had never thrilled Seraphina. She craved danger.
A sound. Soft, almost too soft to notice. But she did. A footstep? A shadow moving in the corner of her vision? Her body tensed, but she didn't flinch. She had learned the difference between fear and focus years ago.
From the corner of the room, a figure emerged.
Tall. Black coat clinging to broad shoulders. A presence that seemed to consume the air around him. Lucian Moretti.
Even the shadows obeyed him. And tonight, they had betrayed her.
"You shouldn't be here," he said, voice low, controlled, but with a sharpness that cut through the silence. One step closer, and Seraphina realized it wasn't a question. It was a warning. A claim. A threat all at once.
Her pulse quickened, but she stood her ground. "And you shouldn't be watching," she replied, lifting her chin. Her voice, though steady, carried that unmistakable fire he would later learn to crave. She didn't know it yet, but he had been waiting for her. For this moment. For her defiance.
Lucian's eyes narrowed. They were sharp, calculating—wolves' eyes in a human face. "Interesting," he murmured, circling her like a shadow that had learned to move independently. "You have fire. Too much for your own good."
"And you have control," she said. "Too much for anyone else's."
For a heartbeat, the world between them was nothing but tension, taut as a wire. Then he smirked, the kind that promised danger and possession, and the smile made her spine stiffen. Not fear. Recognition. Something ancient, primal, and binding.
"You've stolen more than a ledger," he said. His hand didn't touch her, yet she felt claimed, cornered, hunted. "You've stolen my attention."
Seraphina laughed, a sharp sound like breaking glass. "You can try to take it back, if you want."
Lucian's gaze darkened. He liked the challenge. That much was clear. "I always get what I want," he said, the weight of the words pressing down like velvet and iron. "And now, you're mine until I decide otherwise."
A sudden shift, almost imperceptible, yet it slammed into her chest. She wasn't afraid—not yet. But the world she thought she ruled alone had just shifted under her feet.
The rain outside became a drumbeat, a herald of chaos she hadn't asked for. Seraphina tucked the ledger into her coat, ready to vanish into shadows again.
But he blocked the exit stepping forward with silent precision, a predator in a suit, and an unspoken declaration You can run but definitely not from me.
She smirked, heart pounding with adrenaline. "Try me" she whispered already knowing the chase had begun between a predator and a prey and in the silence that followed both predator and firebrand understood: nothing would ever be the same.