Leo's POV
I had no concept of home. I had been thrown far away from my father since I was young. I could only see my father from afar at the full moon ball every year. At this time, people around me reminded me to bow my head and bow to my father because he was the highly anticipated Lycan King.
Everyone knew that I was the illegitimate child of my father, and everyone looked down on me because of this. When a person's inferiority exceeded the love given by everyone around them, the result was the way I was now.
I found my sanity in the lab, but Leah's appearance confused my entropy. This selfish, arrogant, and always independent Lycan Princess was the focus of attention wherever she went.
I once designed an assassination when I was young. I hired the best werewolf assassin, seemingly to kill Lucian, but actually wanted to kill Leah. However, I underestimated Lucian's love for Leah - it was not the love between siblings. It was the love between father and daughter. And a father would do anything for his daughter. The assassin stabbed Leah, and Lucian tore the assassin in half with his hands.
That was the first time I witnessed the terrifying power of my eldest brother, and also the first time I learned the ugly truth about the Lycan family. Leah was the child of Lucian and his father's favorite mistress.
I didn't know why my father allowed his most trusted and valued son to dojąc such despicable things. But who knew? Lycans, these despicable animals, were used to everything.
But one thing I couldn't figure it out. Lucian had always been known for his indifference and calmness. Why would he do such dirty things? And what puzzled me the most was why my father could turn a blind eye to Lucian's despicable behavior, but not allow me, who was seen as an outsider. I worked hard to complete all the tasks my father gave me, just to gain his favor. But he never said a word to me except for occasionally checking the progress of the enhancement project. In his eyes, I was a complete faggot with no achievements nor talents.
Gean kept persuading me not to live a miserable life just to gain recognition from others. He was not 'others'. He was my father.
Everything I did was to make him love me. But now that old thing was dead, wasn't it? Gean was also gone. Who should I hate? Who should I love? What was the difference between a person's life without love or hate and death? At this moment, my foolish younger sister appeared by my side. She had taken too much of the delusional drug I had carefully prepared for her, and fantasized about being the reincarnation of the Moon Goddess, trying to forgive her father Lucian who wanted to kill her with her great love, and trying to save the whole world with her humble power. I really couldn't think of a more foolish thing than this.
No, wait.
I told her I loved her. She meant a lot to me. She was my only family. She believed all this. She chose to believe me. This was the stupidest thing anyone could have done, haha.
Now she had been sedated by me and was in a cage soaked in wolf venom, like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered. No one, neither her father nor her mate nor her batair, could save her.
The air in the room stank of venom and betrayal, a sour tang that clung to my throat as I stood there, staring at the wreckage of my own making. Leah's cage gleamed under the flickering torchlight, the wolfsbang pooling beneath her like spilled blood, her chest rising and falling in shallow, drugged breaths.
Lycidas had just walked away with a cold, dark look on his face. That turned me on. His Highness looked obsolutely yummy in his tailor suit. I could almost imagine myself lying beneath him and swaying my hips like a fucking slut. Ah, if only he wasn't my half-brother.
"What do you think?" I asked.
His parting words still burning in my ears - "You can go now."
"You can't do without me for carrying on with Project Z. I saw Darren. Such a failure. You've done it all wrong. You can't count on someone like Finn, brother."
"Don't you ever call me brother again." The shove he'd given me lingered too, a phantom ache across my chest where his hand had pressed, teasing and threatening all at once. My skin prickled, a traitor to my own dignity, thrilled by the closeness of him despite the venom in his voice.
Finn's mocking grin caught my eye as I turned to leave, his lean frame slouched against the wall like a vulture waiting for scraps.
I wanted to storm out to avoid humiliation from a fucking male whore.
But Finn stopped me.
"Going so soon?" he snapped his fingers. "I understand the frustration that you're suffering from, Your Highness Leo. So if you wanna a quick fix before you go, I've got exactly what you want."
A tall, dark man walked in and stood beside him.
"Kairo here is my slave." Finn stroked the man's firm, bare chest and said. "You can do whatever you want him to do."
Kairo seemed to be reluctant for a brief second, but then he stripped bare, his body a carved monument of muscle and ink, the totem tattoo curling over his chest like a living thing. I couldn't tear my gaze away, my breath hitching as I took him in - broad shoulders, taut abs, the faint sheen of sweat on his skin.
He was a slave, a toy for me to play with, and yet there was something in the way he held himself, fists clenched, jaw tight, that screamed of a fire not yet snuffed out.
That was so damn hot.
I stepped closer, my boots scuffing against the stone floor, the sound too loud in the suffocating quiet. My hand moved before I could stop it, fingers brushing the hard plane of his chest, tracing the edges of that tattoo. His skin was warm, fever-hot, and I felt the thrum of his pulse beneath my touch. Kairo's hand shot up, catching mine, his grip firm but trembling, like he couldn't decide whether to push me away or pull me in. The jolt of it raced up my arm, a spark that lit something dormant inside me, something I'd buried with Gean's body all those long ago.
I hadn't been touched since then - not like this, not with intent. The longing clawed at me, sharp and feral, a beast I'd caged too long. My eyes flicked up to meet his, searching for a crack in that guarded stare, a hint of what he felt beneath the mask of obedience. But his gaze gave nothing away, just a deep, unreadable amber that swallowed the light. Still, his hand didn't let go, and that was enough to drag me closer, my chest brushing his, the heat of him seeping through my shirt.
"Take what you need," Finn's voice slithered into the moment, oily and amused. "It's yours."
I shot him a glare, my lip curling. "I don't need your fucking permission," I snapped, the words tasting like ash. But it was a lie, and we both knew it. In this world, everything was permission, power, control - and I had none of it.
Finn chuckled, low and grating, leaning back with that smug tilt of his head. "Of course not. But Kairo's mine. Don't break him."
Then, he walked away, leaving me alone with the slave and my unconscious sister in the cage.
My attention snapped back to Kairo, to the steady beat of his heart under my palm, so calm compared to the wild stutter of my own. I wanted to shatter that calm, to see what lay beneath it.
Suddenly, his grip tightened, yanking me flush against him, and I felt the hard press of his arousal against my thigh. It was answer enough, raw and undeniable, and it set my blood ablaze. I leaned in, my lips crashing into his, tasting salt and heat and the faint metallic edge of his restraint. His kiss was brutal, teeth grazing my lip, a challenge I met with equal force. My hands roamed, nails digging into his shoulders, mapping the ridges of muscle, the scars I could feel but not see.
He pushed back, just as desperate, his fingers knotting in my hair, tugging hard enough to sting. It was a dance of need and anger, each touch a lash against the wounds we carried. I pressed him back, pinning him against the wall, the stone cold against my palms as I bracketed him in. His breath hitched, a sound that sent a shiver down my spine, and I deepened the kiss, swallowing it, claiming it.
But even as our bodies tangled, the emptiness gnawed at me. This wasn't Gean - this wasn't love. It was a transaction, a fleeting rush to drown out the silence where my heart used to be. Kairo's hands slid down my back, rough and possessive, and I let myself sink into it, let the sensation blot out the memories of my father's cold eyes, Leah's trusting smile, Gean's last shuddering breath.
When we broke apart, panting, I didn't pull away. I stayed there, forehead pressed to his, our breaths mingling in the damp air. His eyes were still guarded, but there was a flicker now - something alive, something that mirrored the chaos in me. I wanted to ask him who he'd been before Finn, before the chains, but the words stuck in my throat. Instead, I turned my head away, feeling the stubble scrape my skin, grounding me in the moment.
Then, his hands placed around my neck.
For the first time in my life, I felt the fear of death.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness," he whispered next to my ear as he strangled the last stray of breath out of me . "But this is what Master wants."