Last night, when Lucien's eyes fell upon Leia, he felt it would be easy to make her submit to him. An omega she-wolf would not defy a dominant alpha like him. And his remaining suspicion of her cleared the moment she fainted, making him believe she was weak.
However, when he met her in the morning, all of those assumptions he had made about her shattered. She turned out to be outspoken, fiercer, and sharper.
Because she was the only she-wolf alive, he couldn't even risk upsetting her. What if she tried to kill herself just because he used some force on her? He couldn't afford that. But what confused him the most was why Leia was acting defiantly when she already knew she couldn't even stand a chance in front of an alpha.
*'This woman is clever. I need to observe her keenly,'* Lucien thought.
As he changed into his usual formal attire for the important meeting with the pack's elders, he felt the presence of his youngest brother, Kieran, in the room.
"What are you doing here?" Lucien asked coldly.
"I understand that you have your own methods to make people submit to you, but don't do it to Leia," Kieran told him.
"You sound like I punished her earlier," Lucien chuckled and picked up his phone before sliding it into the inner pocket of his blazer.
"You scared Leia. Who told you could take her to bed like that? She is the last she-wolf, and I don't want anything to happen to her," Kieran said.
Lucien hated it when his own brothers, including the second one, saw him as if he were a beast. In their eyes, he was a ruthless and heartless monster who didn't carry any emotions, which was also true. He hated it when anyone questioned his authority.
"Leave before I show you the place, Kieran!" Lucien warned him. His intimidating gaze was enough to make Kieran step back.
"If Dad and Mom were here, you would have been punished," Kieran said with a chuckle. "But they died because of you," he muttered.
"What did you say?" Lucien clenched his hands, and the next second, he was before Kieran. His hand was already on Kieran's throat, but he didn't crush it. He couldn't. After all, Kieran was his brother. But he used enough force to push him toward the door.
"Leave. Don't ruin my mood in the early morning," Lucien said, frowning at him.
Kieran almost showed his fangs to Lucien, but he would never fight him. He didn't have the guts to do that.
"It's better for you to stay away from my path if you want to live well," Lucien said and walked out of the room.
As he reached the living room, his eyes fell upon Leia, who was descending the stairs. She halted in the middle but resumed her confident walk. In that pale yellow knee-length dress, Leia looked more beautiful than the last night.
Lucien even noticed the light makeup she had put on. Was it to seduce him?
He approached her and stopped when she reached the bottom of the stairs too.
"I'm hungry," Leia told him.
"Follow me," Lucien said and went ahead of her to the dining room.
The lines of maids greeted his sight as he stepped in. Leia was just behind him. As he took his seat, Leia sat on his left. Kieran, too, arrived in the dining room and sat on his right.
"I thought you didn't like eating with me on the same table." Lucien's comment was directed to Kieran. He narrowly gazed at Leia, who was trying to study the atmosphere.
"Can't you stay a bit calmer in front of Leia?" Kieran asked.
"If you think she's here to be our mate, then you are wrong, Kieran. She's here to breed for us. That is why I did everything to buy her. Keep that in mind." Though Lucien had his eyes on Kieran, those words were meant for Leia so that she would remember the role she had. The earlier she would understand it, the better it would be for him.
Kieran wanted to say something, but he didn't dare. Lucien instructed the maids to serve breakfast. His eyes traced every movement of Leia, who had begun eating.
"Eat slowly, Leia," Kieran told her in his soft voice. Now, Lucien understood why women liked Kieran the most among the three of them. He was quite gentle around women. And he noticed Leia passed a small smile to Kieran.
"I was without food and water in that dungeon," Leia revealed.
"Really?" Kieran's expression turned into a grim one as if he wanted to kill the man who had captured Leia.
"I can't believe the auction houses are still prevalent. But what I am most confused about is how you all found out about me," Leia said and inserted the fork into the steak before bringing it to her mouth.
"Lucien found out about you," Kieran told her. "But why were you hiding yourself?" he asked. "Lucien told us the she-wolf is untraceable because she masked her scent."
"Tell us, Leia," Lucien said this time, curious to know what she was running from. Her fate, which was bound to the alphas like them, or something else.
"To save myself from the predators like your brother, Kieran," Leia pronounced, looking right into Lucien's eyes.
She was no ordinary omega wolf, that much Lucien had realized now.
"You love to play with fire, don't you?" Lucien asked.
"No. I am the fire, Lucien," Leia pronounced. This was the first time she had taken his name, and it sounded sweet for some reason.
"You aren't the only Alpha who desired me. That's why I burned those who tried approaching me," Leia stated.
"You'll submit to me soon, Leia. Maybe then, you won't want to be the fire anymore," Lucien said with a confident tone.