******
Seraphine didn't know how long she lay on the fur rug, fighting for air.
One hour.
He had given her one hour to "calm herself."
An omega calming down in the Alpha King's wing? Impossible.
Her wolf was still shaking, pressed flat inside her chest like it was waiting for death.
But she forced herself to sit up.
If she didn't… if she was still trembling when he returned…
Consequences.
She didn't want to know what "consequences" meant for a man like Kael Dreadmore.
She wiped her tears with shaking fingers, inhaling as deeply as she could. Her heartbeat slowed just a fraction. Her lungs stopped burning quite so badly.
She pushed herself upright, gripping the wall for balance.
The room was silent except for the crackle of the fireplace. Shadows wavered around her like living things, cast by flames that seemed to pulse with their own heartbeat. Every surface smelled like him dominant, smoky, sharp enough to make her wolf whimper.
She tried to control her breathing.
In.
Out.
In....
Out....
The door slammed open.
Her body jolted violently, and she spun toward the sound, her back hitting the wall.
He was back.
But he was not alone.
Two warriors followed behind him, pushing a wheeled cart laden with items she couldn't identify folded clothes? Silver bowls? Dark towels? Her mind couldn't process the details through the haze of fear.
She pressed harder against the wall, her fingers twisting into her skirt.
Kael's silver eyes found her immediately.
Locked on.
She went rigid.
His aura hit her before his footsteps did cold, heavy, commanding. A pressure that made her ribs tighten and her lungs struggle for air.
But she wasn't trembling.
Not anymore.
Not as much.
Kael noticed instantly.
His eyes narrowed, studying her with an intensity that made her skin prickle.
Slowly deliberately he dismissed the warriors with a flick of his hand.
The door closed behind them with a heavy thud.
They were alone again.
Silence stretched between them like a taut wire.
He took three steps toward her.
Then stopped.
"Stand," he ordered, his voice calm. Too calm.
Her knees shook, but she obeyed. She forced herself upright, though her legs felt like they might give out at any moment.
He watched her carefully as if cataloging every twitch, every breath, every tremor she tried to suppress.
Then he stepped closer.
The air thickened.
He raised his hand slowly, deliberately toward her face.
Her wolf whimpered, cowering somewhere deep in her chest, but Seraphine held still. She wouldn't flinch. She couldn't. Not again.
His fingers brushed her cheek.
A feather-light touch.
A test.
She didn't know what possessed her terror, instinct, or pure muscle memory but her body reacted before her mind could stop it.
She flinched.
Just a tiny movement. A barely perceptible jerk of her head.
Just a single second of resistance.
But Kael felt it.
His eyes snapped to hers, silver flaring into something molten and dangerous.
The air itself seemed to crack around them.
"You resisted me."
His voice was low. Soft. Lethal.
"I... I didn't please I was just..."
His hand shot out, fingers closing around her wrist.
His hand dwarfed hers completely, his warmth seeping through her skin.
"You resisted me," he repeated, quieter this time, as if tasting the words on his tongue. Testing their weight.
She shook her head frantically. "I didn't mean my body just moved I swear"
He pulled her closer with controlled strength, stopping only when mere inches separated them.
"Your body does things without permission."
He leaned in, inhaling deeply along the side of her throat.
"And it reacts differently to my touch."
Her breath caught, trapped somewhere between her lungs and her lips.
Kael lifted her wrist higher, turning it deliberately so her racing pulse beat against his fingers.
He felt every frantic thud.
Every terrified flutter.
"You are afraid."
His thumb traced a slow, measured circle against her pulse point.
"But you're fighting it."
"I'm not," she whispered desperately. "I'm trying to obey."
"You resisted."
His voice dropped into a deep rumble that she felt in her bones.
"Twice now."
Her wolf cowered, but something else tightened in Seraphine's throat shame, confusion, helplessness all tangled together.
"I'm sorry please don't hurt me"
"Hurt you?"
He tilted his head, studying her the way a scholar might study an ancient text in a forgotten language.
"If I wanted to hurt you, omega, you wouldn't be standing."
His aura pulsed once sharp, focused, controlled.
Then something shifted in his expression.
Something cold slid behind his eyes.
Something curious awakened.
Something hungry stirred.
Very slowly, Kael released her wrist.
But his touch didn't leave her.
He dragged his fingers up her arm with deliberate slowness, leaving a trail of heat in their wake, stopping only when he reached her shoulder.
"You are not behaving like an omega," he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper. "And I need to know why."
She swallowed hard, her throat clicking. "I....I don't know why. I'm not special. I'm nobody."
Lie.
The word hung unspoken between them.
He smelled it.
Kael's eyes darkened to stormy silver. His wolf surged behind them, pressing forward, demanding answers.
He caught her chin firm but not painful forcing her face up until she had no choice but to meet his gaze.
"Don't lie to me."
Her breath hitched.
"I'm not lying...I swear...I'm nothing"
He leaned in, close enough that she felt his breath ghost across her lips.
"Nothing," he said softly, dangerously, "does not resist a king's aura."
The room seemed to shrink around them. The walls pressed closer. The air grew thick and heavy.
Kael's gaze swept over her face slow, intent, searching for something he couldn't name but would recognize when he found it.
Then…
His fingers trailed down her throat again, moving with agonizing slowness, lingering over the wild flutter of her pulse.
She trembled.
And that tiny tremble barely visible, lasting less than a heartbeat made something wildfire-bright ignite behind his eyes.
"There," he whispered. "Again."
Seraphine froze, not daring to breathe.
Kael's lips curved not into a smile, but into something darker. Something that made her stomach drop.
"You think you're hiding it. But you aren't."
He lowered his head, his lips brushing the shell of her ear, his breath warm against her skin.
"That little spark of resistance…"
His voice dropped into velvet darkness, a growl wrapped in silk.
"It's the first interesting thing I've seen in years."
Her heart stopped.
Skipped.
Started again too fast.
"I don't I'm not"
"You are."
His fingers tightened fractionally on her chin not enough to hurt, but enough to make his point unmistakable.
"And I will find out what you're hiding."
Her knees gave out.
But he caught her before she hit the floor.
He lifted her effortlessly, as if she weighed nothing, one arm sliding beneath her legs, the other supporting her back. She gasped, her hands instinctively gripping his shirt to steady herself.
He looked down at her, and the expression on his face made her forget how to breathe.
Not anger.
Not annoyance.
Possession.
Raw, absolute, terrifying possession.
"It doesn't matter what you think you are," he said, carrying her deeper into the room with measured steps.
"You resisted me again."
He lowered her onto the chaise with surprising gentleness, though his hand remained at her waist a brand of warmth and ownership.
"That one second…"
He traced her pulse with a slow, knowing touch that made her shiver.
"...shouldn't have been possible."
Her breath came out in a shaky whisper. "I didn't mean to."
Kael leaned over her, planting one hand on either side of her body, caging her in completely. His face hovered inches from hers.
"And that," he murmured, his voice dark silk sliding over bare skin, "is why you're going to stay exactly where I can watch you."
He reached up with one hand, brushing a strand of hair back from her face with unexpected tenderness that somehow felt more dangerous than any threat.
His eyes burned into hers silver fire that promised both ruin and revelation.
"One second of resistance," he whispered, each word deliberate and weighted.
A pause.
The world held its breath.
"And now I want to break you or understand you."
Another pause, longer this time.
His thumb traced her jawline.
"Possibly both."
Seraphine's blood ran cold, then hot, then cold again.
The Alpha King was no longer just curious.
He was intrigued.
And that was far, far more dangerous than simple cruelty could ever be.