A cold, stinging pain shot through the skin on Lucifer's wrist where the iron chain wrapped, only to be instantly overwhelmed by a more intense, searing heat.
He had never permitted anyone—especially an individual radiating such a "masculine" aura—to come this close, let alone touch him. The cold chains coiled around his source of power like some taunting serpent. And the eyes before him—clear, sharp, burning with an unmasked flame—were unlike any timid or fanatical gaze he remembered.
"You're playing with fire, Sacrifice," Lucifer's voice was terrifyingly low, suppressing the surging savagery. He didn't immediately shake off the cumbersome chains. Instead, using this entangled position, he violently yanked Lin Xi completely off the ground. His other hand clamped around her waist like an iron band, pinning her firmly against the cold armrest of the throne.
His immense shadow completely engulfed her. Alpha wolf pheromones, thick as tangible fog, carried the scent of fir trees and gunpowder. They invaded every breath she took, attempting to dissolve her will from within. This was pure power, wielded for conquest and intimidation.
Lin Xi's breath caught abruptly, her heart pounding wildly in her chest. It wasn't merely the primal fear this body felt toward the apex predator, but the overwhelming pressure that threatened to squeeze her very soul out. Yet deep within her, the pride of the Chief Wolf Tamer ignited completely.
Tame him.
The thought was poison, laced with deadly allure.
Instead of struggling, she used the force holding her to lift her body slightly, drawing their faces dangerously close—their noses nearly touching. The chains rattled between them like a perilous accompaniment.
"Fire?" Lin Xi met the storm brewing in his crimson eyes with a smile that was painful yet defiant. "Your Majesty, you are mistaken..." Her breath was slightly uneven under his pressure, yet it added a subtle layer of ambiguity. "It is you who... burns."
Her words were like the softest feather, yet they struck precisely at his most sensitive nerve. Lucifer's grip on her waist tightened violently, his knuckles turning white as if he might crush her bones. His Adam's apple rolled, an unprecedented thirst rising from the depths of his throat, mingled with a desire for destruction.
He loathed this loss of control. He loathed being affected by the words and gaze of a "male." What he loathed even more was that this body, this soul, could pierce through his prideful defenses, directly stirring his deepest, most primal, beastly instincts.
"Sharp-tongued." He practically gritted the words out, his head snapping down. Fangs glinted as he closed in on her vulnerable, masculine carotid artery. The skin there was pale, veins clearly visible, yet it carried none of the sweet, enticing pheromones of an Omega. Only a clean scent, like a pine forest after snow—something was wrong! A werewolf, even a useless one unable to shift, should have pheromones!
His movement froze. His nostrils flared slightly, capturing that faint, elusive scent—utterly unlike anything he knew. Not the coarse sweat or earthy musk typical of male werewolves, but something... crisper, even carrying a trace of an almost imperceptible, ethereal fragrance reminiscent of a night-blooming jasmine under moonlight.
This absolutely did not belong to an ordinary, non-shifting "useless" male wolf!
In the very instant his mind was seized by this abnormal scent—
Lin Xi seized that fleeting opportunity.
Though her limbs went limp under the pressure of his powerful pheromones, her consciousness sharpened like the most razor-edged blade. The scarlet countdown on her system panel—[Mission Time Remaining: 2 hours 31 minutes]—flashed frantically in her mind.
She suddenly turned her head, no longer evading his fangs, but instead actively brushing her warm lips against his sharply defined jawline, which had momentarily frozen in surprise.
The touch was fleeting, as light as a moth drawn to flame, yet carried a startling, searing heat.
Lucifer's entire body stiffened violently, as if struck by the most intense electric current. The grip restraining her loosened for a split second.
Lin Xi immediately summoned every ounce of strength, wrenching her chained arms free from his grasp. She arched backward, propelling herself out of the most dangerous range of his restraint. Staggering against the cold throne, she gasped for breath. Her wrists bore glaring red marks from the chains and his earlier force, yet a faint, triumphant yet weary smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
"Your Majesty," she said, her voice halting with each gasp yet laced with a hook, as she met his crimson eyes—eyes filled with shock, fury, and some deeper, more chaotic turmoil. "Your 'interrogation'... seems to have veered off course."
Lucifer stood rooted to the spot, his jawline tight as rock, as if still bearing the strange, scorching sensation. He stared at her intently, his gaze seeming to peel back her skin and tear apart her bones, determined to see what monstrous creature lurked within.
Within the throne room, only the sound of their heavy, intertwined breathing remained—along with that silent, yet more piercing than any sound—
[Time Remaining: 2 hours 29 minutes]