A sharp, piercing pain shot through his shoulder, as if a red-hot branding iron had been viciously pressed into his flesh.
Lin Xi couldn't suppress a short gasp—not from the unbearable agony, but from the undeniable declaration of ownership that the pain represented. Warm blood trickled down his collarbone, leaving a sticky, dangerous sensation.
Lucifer's fangs hadn't pierced deep, yet this bleeding bite mark held more symbolic weight than any other mark—it was a beginning, the imprint marking the start of a hunt.
His heavy body pressed down on her like a mountain range, every muscle taut as steel, radiating scorching heat and overwhelming power. Lin Xi was completely trapped between the throne and him, unable to move. The cold metal of the throne dug into her back, while before her lay his scorching, lava-like body. The dual torment of ice and fire blurred her consciousness.
But the system's countdown tolled like a funeral bell in her mind.
[Time Remaining: 2 hours 16 minutes]
Time was running out.
"Check?" Lin Xi gasped, her voice crushed beneath him, fractured and trembling. Yet her gaze was like poisoned ice shards, piercing the crimson pupils above him, eyes boiling with desire. "With your... fangs? Or with this body of yours... that only acts on instinct?"
Her scorn struck Lucifer's most sensitive nerve. He was a king—the wolf lord who ruled the North with absolute power and will—not some lowly beast ruled solely by heat.
"Shut up!" Lucifer growled, tightening his fingers around her jaw to force her head back, exposing more of her vulnerable neckline. He leaned in, his nose nearly touching the side of her neck, greedily and roughly inhaling that crisp, alluring scent, searching for any trace of sweet Omega pheromones, any shred of evidence that would justify his right to mark her.
Nothing.
Still nothing.
Only that cold, moonlight-woven scent, like a trap, coiled around him, taunting him, shattering his prideful self-control piece by piece. This unclassifiable, uncontrollable sensation made him restless and only fueled his rage further.
"No pheromones... no glands..." His hoarse voice carried the fury of deception, his scorching lips grazing the smooth skin at her neck, leaving a trail of heat. "What the hell are you?"
His other hand—the one that had torn her clothes—began impatiently kneading and exploring the fluid curves of her waist, its force unyielding, as if seeking to confirm her existence through touch, to prove she wasn't a phantom. Wherever his fingertips touched, they ignited clusters of trembling sparks.
Lin Xi clenched her teeth, fighting her body's instinctive response. His touch carried an air of appraisal and possession, like inspecting a piece of property. This felt more humiliating and... dangerously thrilling than mere violence.
"I am..." she managed to say. Amid his increasingly heavy breathing, she suddenly lifted her knee, which hadn't been fully pinned down, and pressed the inner side of it against his taut side—a position exquisitely subtle, hovering between attack and tease.
Lucifer's body stiffened abruptly, his probing movements halting.
Lin Xi caught his momentary freeze, her bloodstained lips drawing near his ear. Her breath was sweet as orchids, yet carried a cold, sharp edge:
"...something that confuses and overwhelms even a powerful Alpha wolf like you."
The words pierced his chaotic mind like the sharpest ice pick.
"Boom—!"
The last thread of reason in Lucifer's mind snapped completely.
Loss of control? How could he lose control!
Rage and a humiliating shame at being exposed twisted into a destructive impulse. He no longer pondered that strange aura, no longer sought her origins! All he wanted now was to silence her! To make her submit by the most primal means, to force her to acknowledge who truly ruled!
He yanked her torn collar, lifting her slightly off the throne before slamming her back down. The violent impact made Lin Xi's vision blacken. His heavy knee forced its way between her legs, locking her into an even more humiliating, inescapable position.
"You'll pay for your sharp tongue," his raspy voice ground like sandpaper. A bloody kiss landed brutally on her jaw—not a kiss, but a bite, a punitive plunder.
Lin Xi turned her head to dodge, but his lips landed on her jaw instead, leaving a wet, hot mark. Her hands pressed against his solid chest, pushing back futilely, her fingertips sinking into his scorching skin, unable to budge him an inch.
The disparity in strength was staggering.
She was utterly trapped upon this throne of power, pinned beneath him like a moth ensnared in a spider's web. The air thickened with the scent of blood, the acrid smell of gunpowder, and that suffocating blend of crisp moonlight and the savage aura of an Alpha.
[Time Remaining: 2 hours 13 minutes]
The countdown flashed.
Lucifer's kiss—or rather, bite—trailed down her jawline to her exposed collarbone, licking away the blood he'd spilled, leaving behind a wetter sting. His large hand gripped her waist firmly, while the other began roaming her body with unrestrained boldness. With undeniable possessiveness, it traced every curve, igniting wildfire wherever it touched.
Lin Xi's breathing became utterly chaotic. Her resistance gradually dissolved under his overwhelming strength and this almost torturous intimacy. Her consciousness swayed violently between the tidal wave of desire and the urgency of her mission.
She must... she must let him mark her...
Just as his lips closed in again, seemingly aiming for the most vulnerable curve of her chest, Lin Xi gathered her last ounce of strength. She jerked her head back violently, slamming her forehead hard into his nose!
"Ugh!" Lucifer winced, his movement halting.
Seizing the moment, Lin Xi whispered hoarsely into his ear:
"Lucifer... Is force all you know?"
Her voice was faint, yet it pierced his pride like a precision dagger.
"You can't even make a 'female'... willingly accept your mark?"
Within the throne chamber, only Lucifer's heavy, bellows-like gasps remained, mingling with Lin Xi's broken, stifled breaths beneath him.
Those crimson pupils, ablaze with desire, ignited with an even deeper, more dangerous light.