🌙𝐋𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐡
The High Alpha’s mansion wasn’t large in the way slick modern hos or futurist condos were—all glass and showmanship. It wasn’t built in the grandiose, competitive way the wealthy and affluent built theirs, nor was it understated.
It simply was.
The mansion was, in a way, a well-thought-out extension of Vladimir. It lood like a castle without being one. Imposing, not arrogant—a monunt to restraint, not vanity. Every line, every plane of glass, every steel fra built with exactitude, just like him. Even the air felt regulated, like spontaneity was a mortal threat to its architecture.
It was cold and impersonal, yet it breathed.
But that was not the biggest similarity between Vladimir and the domain he called ho.
It mirrored his impeccable symtry, but sothing was unsettling it all.
Like the perfectionism was a facade itself. That just like Vladimir, his ho held secrets.
That was how I felt as I walked through unfamiliar corridors with Dmitri. I moved closer to him, my eyes tempted to dart about.
The hallways seed to stretch on forever, a labyrinth. If I had no guide, I would be lost by the first turn.
This was the best and worst place to be chased down by a serial killer. The hairs on the back on the neck rose and I scrambled forward faster just as we made another turn, in a new flight of stairs.
Up we went, to the third floor. The mont I stepped into the final stair and unto the floor, it was no longer my mind...
It was the sll that wafted past my face, and traveled futher into the third floor hall way as if beckoning to follow.
Vladimir.
The scent was his, there was no doubt about it.
It was the sa distinct sll of new snow just as if fell, mingled with cold steel, yet sohow this was this different.
Stronger, startling...
It was like standing in the heart of a winter storm instead of watching it through a window. There was no barrier to it, it was exposed, unreigned, raw.
It was alive, demanding, a frequency that resonated my bones. Demanding I co, and get engulfed.
I wanted to...
When I finally found the focus I had not known I had lost in the first place. I found myself walking alone through the hallway towards what I knew was danger.
I could feel Kaia’s intrigue and attraction as well as my own.
A hand on my shoulder snapped out of it, I snapped back to see Dmitri there.
A worried, apprehension look in the depths of his eyes. "You can’t be here, Lilith. Let’s go."
I wanted to ask what it was, what was dragging towards sothing I could not even put a na to. But I bit back my questions, knowing that I would only begin to ramble.
I did not even know when I had left his side. He took my hand and pulled back towards the stairs we had taken get up here, then we took another turn into a glass-walled corridor that opened onto the east courtyard.
I stopped breathing for the second ti that morning. It wasn’t a courtyard at all. It was a cathedral of concrete and steel. Two stories of cold, unforgiving space stretched before , floor-to-ceiling glass on three sides flooding it with harsh natural light. Polished concrete floors. Black steel beams.
An upper level walkway that overlooked everything—a place to watch. To judge. The space was massive. Empty. Beautiful in the way a blade is beautiful. Sharp. Purposeful. Designed to cut. "This is where we’ll train," Dmitri said quietly.
Within the large space that made feel nothing but overwheld and insignificant where what were training equipnt.
There were a barrage of dummies, but not made of wood and a stuffed fabric. These dummies looked like their beefed up older cousins that would bully them just for the fun of it.
Matte tallic supports that still sohow managed to shine, wrapped in black reinforced fabric that looked like it could take a beating—and had. Deep gouges and scars marked their surfaces, evidence of countless strikes.
They stood in formation like silent sentinels. Waiting.
Beyond them, massive natural stone boulders sat scattered across the polished concrete like discarded sculptures. So were waist-high. Others towered above , easily six feet tall, their surfaces rough and unforgiving.
My throat went dry.
To the left, a climbing wall rose the full height of the two-story space. But it wasn’t like the colorful rock walls I’d seen in gyms. This was brutal minimalism—smooth concrete with industrial tal holds scattered at cruel intervals. So sections had barely any grips at all.
I swallowed hard and kept looking.
The far wall—behind security glass that glead like ice—was lined with weapons. Swords. Staffs. Training knives. Throwing blades. Everything arranged with the sa cold precision as the rest of Vladimir’s domain.
"We’ll start with—"
"The boulders."
I JUMPED.
The voice ca from directly behind . So close I felt the words brush against my neck.
I whipped around—
And found myself inches from Vladimir’s chest.
I stumbled back a step, but he was THERE. Right there. Close enough that I had to tilt my head up to et his eyes.
The scent hit like a physical blow.
Not the distant, concentrated version from the third floor. This was HIM. Real. Present. ALIVE.
New snow and cold steel—but underneath, sothing else. Sothing that made my pulse spike and my skin flush hot.
Musky. Raw. MALE. Not different from what I’d slled before.
My breath caught.
His pale eyes locked on mine. Intense. Focused. Almost... primal.
Like he was seeing through . Into .The air between us felt CHARGED.
For a heartbeat—maybe two—neither of us moved.
Then sothing shifted in his expression. A muscle in his jaw ticked. His eyes cleared, sharpening back to that cold, controlled gaze I’d co to expect.
The mask slid back into place.
Today will be for boulders," he said, voice rough. Husky. Like he’d just woken up or been silent for too long. "Training strength. You’ll push them. Drag them. Move them until your muscles give out."
He paused, eyes still holding mine.
"Then you’ll do it again. And again. Until you can CARRY them."
I tried to find words. Any words.
Failed.
He stepped past —so close his shoulder nearly brushed mine—and walked to the center of the training facility where the largest boulder sat.
It was massive. Easily six feet tall. Had to weigh several hundred pounds at least.
Vladimir stopped beside it. Didn’t pause. Didn’t brace himself.
Just reached down with ONE HAND—
And LIFTED.
The boulder rose like it weighed nothing. Like it was made of foam instead of solid stone.
He held it at shoulder height. Muscles didn’t even strain. Breathing didn’t change. Pale eyes found mine across the distance.
"This is your goal," he said quietly. "For the next few days."
He set the boulder down with perfect control. Not a sound. Not a crack in the concrete.
Then straightened.
"Dmitri will handle the training. I’ll be observing."
His gaze flicked to the upper walkway. The place to watch. To judge.
His gaze flicked to the upper walkway. The place to watch. To judge.
"Don’t disappoint , Miss Brooks."
I doubt he ever called by my surna. It sounded so impassive, nothing like the smothering heat of his gaze on .
He turned and walked away. Footsteps echoing in the massive space.
Up the stairs to the observation level.
Where he would WATCH.
I stood there, heart hamring, skin still flushed, the ghost of his scent lingering in my lungs.
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