SCARLETT
Lucien didn't move when I stopped in front of him. He didn't reach for my torn dress, didn't brush my swollen lips, didn't even acknowledge the bruises on my throat. He simply watched.
And that was worse.
Because Kael and Darius's desire was loud, hungry, impossible to ignore. But Lucien's silence was suffocating. Calculated. As if he saw through my games, through my cunning smile, down to the pulse racing in my throat.
I hated that my breath caught when his eyes met mine.
"You play a dangerous game," Lucien said at last, his voice deep, smooth, utterly controlled. "But you've forgotten one thing, little wolf."
I tilted my head, feigning curiosity. "And what's that?"
"That games have rules."
Before I could respond, his hand shot out, wrapping around my jaw with sharp precision. He tilted my head up, forcing my green eyes to lock on his obsidian ones. His grip wasn't bruising like Darius's or rough like Kael's—it was steady, unyielding, as though reminding me that he didn't need violence to control me.
My lips parted, my breath trembling as he leaned down, his mouth brushing the shell of my ear.
"And I don't lose."
A shiver ran down my spine. Gods help me, I was wet again.
Kael growled behind us, his golden eyes blazing. "Get your hands off her, Lucien."
Darius's amber eyes narrowed, fury in his stance. "She belongs to me. Don't you dare touch her."
Lucien didn't even glance at them. His thumb brushed my lower lip, pressing just enough to part it. I gasped softly, my tongue darting to taste his skin without even meaning to. His eyes darkened, the faintest flicker of his wolf in their depths.
I recovered quickly, my smile sharp. "And what if I want you to touch me?"
Kael and Darius both roared at once, their growls echoing down the corridor, but I barely heard them. My attention was locked on Lucien.
He smirked. Slow. Dangerous. "Then you'll beg me."
My pride bristled. I was the one who made Alphas beg, not the other way around. I opened my mouth to retort, but Lucien moved faster than either of the others.
He spun me, pinning me back against the cold stone wall, his hand sliding down to my throat—not choking, but holding me there, forcing me to feel his dominance without a single drop of rage. His lips hovered a breath away from mine, close enough for me to taste his control.
"Say it," he murmured. "Say please, Scarlett."
My body betrayed me. Heat flooded my core, my thighs clenching, my nipples tightening beneath the ruined lace of my dress. I hated how easily he twisted my hunger against me.
But I refused to break.
Instead, I arched my back, pressing my chest into his, my lips brushing his in the faintest tease. "Why beg," I whispered, "when you're already mine?"
The corridor erupted in growls behind us.
Darius stepped forward, fury vibrating through his chest. "Enough of this! She's marked. She's mine."
Kael snarled, his claws flexing at his sides. "She was moaning my name moments ago, Darius. Your mark means nothing."
I threw my head back and laughed, the sound rich and sultry, echoing through the corridor. "Oh, Alphas…" I dragged my fingers down Lucien's chest, my smile wicked. "You're all so certain. And yet…"
My eyes glittered as I looked between them. "Not one of you has truly claimed me."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Darius's breath heaved, his fury trembling just beneath the surface. Kael's fists clenched, his wolf howling for release. And Lucien… Lucien simply smirked, his thumb stroking my throat as though I'd just proven his point.
My heart pounded, my cunning mind whirring. I had them. All three. Bound by lust, rage, and hunger.
But just as I opened my mouth to push them further—
The floor beneath us shook.
The torches flickered violently, a deep, guttural howl echoing through the night from outside the stronghold.
All three Alphas stiffened, their wolves snapping to attention.
My smile faltered.
Because that howl didn't belong to any of us.
Another pack was here.
Lucien's thumb stroked my throat, the slow rhythm maddening. He didn't squeeze, didn't bruise, didn't snarl the way Darius did or tear the way Kael would—he simply held. And the restraint in that hold was what made me tremble.
I hated it.
I loved it.
My lips parted, my breath brushing his cheek. "What if I don't beg?" I whispered.
Lucien tilted his head, his smirk cutting like a blade. "Then you don't get what you want."
I laughed softly, though the sound came out breathless. "You think you're the only one I can use?"
His grip shifted. With one hand still on my throat, his other slid down, gripping my hip with bruising precision. He pulled me tight against him, his arousal unmistakable against my stomach.
My laugh caught in my throat.
Lucien leaned down, his lips barely ghosting mine. "No, Scarlett," he murmured, his voice silk wrapped around steel. "I know I'm the only one you can't control."
My breath hitched.
Behind us, Kael snarled, his fists clenching as though ready to rip Lucien away from me. Darius's growl was deep, vibrating through the corridor like a warning drum.
But neither moved. Because both of them could see it—the way my body betrayed me, arching into Lucien's touch, trembling under the weight of his restraint.
"Tell me to stop," Lucien whispered, his lips grazing the corner of my mouth.
I shivered. My pride screamed at me to say the words, to twist free, to laugh in his face. But my body… gods, my body burned for more.
Instead of stopping him, I tilted my head, brushing my lips against his jaw, tasting the salt of his skin. "You wouldn't stop even if I did."
Lucien chuckled low, the sound vibrating against my chest. "Clever girl."
His hand slid from my throat to the front of my ruined dress, fingers parting the torn lace until the swell of my breasts spilled free. I gasped, heat shooting through me as his thumb brushed across a peaked nipple.
My head fell back against the wall, a moan slipping free before I could stop it.
Kael cursed under his breath, his golden eyes blazing with hunger and fury. "She was moaning for me a moment ago. Don't think she'll ever—"
I cut him off with another moan, this one louder, sharper, as Lucien pinched my nipple just hard enough to send sparks of pleasure straight to my core. My thighs clenched, my body writhing against him, and my eyes snapped open to see both Kael and Darius watching me fall apart in Lucien's hands.
My lips curved into a wicked smile even as my breath came in gasps. "You're all so easy to break."
Lucien leaned down, his teeth grazing the edge of my ear. "And you're easier to read than you think, Scarlett."
I froze, my cunning smile faltering for the first time.
Because Lucien wasn't like Kael, who fought me with fire, or Darius, who drowned me in storms. Lucien saw me. He wasn't losing himself to lust or fury. He was studying me, dismantling my defenses even as he drove me higher with every calculated touch.
My heart pounded, and for the briefest second, I wondered if I had finally found the Alpha I couldn't outplay.
But before I could test him further—
The ground trembled.
The torches flickered violently.
And the howl split the night.
Low. Guttural. Alien.
Not Kael.
Not Darius.
Not Lucien.
My breath caught, my cunning mind snapping back into place. Another pack was here.
Lucien finally released me, his hands dropping away as he turned toward the sound, his expression cold and unreadable once more.
"Playtime is over," he murmured.
My body still ached from his touch, my chest heaving as I straightened my dress with shaking hands. But my lips curved again, my eyes glittering with hunger—for power, for chaos, for more.
Because I knew one thi
ng now, one truth that thrilled and terrified me all at once.
If Kael was fire, and Darius was storm…
Lucien was ice.
And ice cut deeper than both.