Teru swiped the tray of food off the table. It fell to the floor, scattering food everywhere. The maid, a beta woman with a yellow collar, gasped at the loud clang. For a second, he felt guilty because he was making her job harder, but the sight of seeing her collar color enraged him. She betrayed her pack, too, for comfort - for this messed up life.

He went back into his bed, covering himself with the blankets. Teru listened as she picked up his broken mess.

Still...what he did wasn't nice. Teru exhaled in defeat and kicked off the covers. He joined her by picking up the glass shards. A sharp piece sliced deeply into his pointer finger. A stream of blood oozed out from the small cut. It didn't faze him; he's had more serious wounds.

The maid gasped and wrapped his hand with one of her hand towels. Dots of red soaked through the white material. She fetched the first aid kit. When Teru saw this, he waved his hand in protest. "I'm okay, really."

"Please, sir, let me do this." There was a sense of urgency in her tone.

He complied. Before wrapping a bandage on the cut, she squeezed his finger longer to stop the bleeding. Teru watched the blue sky through the window. The rooftops of the other skyscrapers were visible from this angle. "Where are we?"

"You mean you don't know?"

"I don't."

"We're in Avania's capital, New York City. Most of the city names never changed from Before. This building was erected by King Abaddon and Queen Lily. It's not a castle, per se, but it's the main headquarters of Avania. The laws that all vampires and humans must follow are created here."

"And Kieran? Who is he?"

"Just a resident of this place. You could say I work here," someone else answered. Kieran had just entered the bedroom, eyeing the mess. His nose smelled the air.

"Where are you bleeding?" His eyes zoned in on the stained towel. He turned his attention to the maid. "What did you do to him?" A wave of musky pheromones saturated the room.

Teru's inner omega stood at attention. He wanted to roll over and expose his neck to him. The maid shivered, also affected by the strong pheromones. Kieran's scent was potent enough to force her into submission. Only a dominant alpha could do this to a beta.

No wonder she wanted to hurry and treat him.

Kieran rushed over to Teru.

Is he going to hurt me? he thought, panicked.

The vampire grabbed Teru's wrist - not roughly, but firm enough that he couldn't pull away. Drops of blood flowed down from the cut.

Kieran automatically put Teru's finger into his hot mouth and sucked. His tongue wrapped around the digit, coating saliva on the minor gash. It stung at first but the pain gradually went away. The long fangs grazed his skin, causing goosebumps to form on his arms. Those pointy canines were way too close for comfort.

Teru yanked his hand away. There was a POP noise when his finger came out of Kieran's mouth. A string of spit left his lips. A healed, red line was all that remained. It would be gone by a day or two.

The man's crimson eyes shined. They had a hungry look to them that made Teru's legs weak. Whether he shook from fear or from some other primal emotion was uncertain.

Kieran wiped his mouth with a handkerchief. "You need to eat. You're nothing but skin and bones."

Teru didn't say a word. He looked away, not wanting to see the wasteful mess he made.

"Little one, are you ignoring me?"

Yes, that was the plan. After a whole, long minute of Kieran staring daggers into him, he grasped tightly onto Teru's forearm and forced him to walk. They headed towards a door that he hasn't explored yet.

"Let go," Teru snarled. He bared his teeth and went to bite the bloodsucker's hand. Before he could rip out a chunk of cold flesh, Kieran gripped Teru's jaw and shook his head, like an owner reprimanding a disobedient dog that was caught chewing on something it shouldn't have been.

"Don't," he forewarned with authority. Teru had no choice but to oblige. He didn't have the strength to fight against it.

Kieran roughly pushed the door open. He turned on the lights to reveal a gleaming room. Everything was so polished. It was like a smaller version of the one at the auction house where the beta servants washed him.

There was a giant square bowl in the corner with a showerhead above. Was that the bathtub? A long mirror with frosted swirls bordered the wall above it. For the first time in his short life, Teru saw himself in high definition. Mirrors were hard to come by because 1) they weren't necessary for survival and 2) if scavengers brought one back, it was cracked and coated in moss or algae. Seeing his blurry reflection in the lake was clearer than a mirror found from over a century ago.

Kieran saw him looking at the mirror with amazement. "Have you seen yourself before?"

Teru broke the mini silent treatment. "Not like this."

"Go look." He released him.

Approaching the mirror, Teru put a hand on the glass. Was this really what he looked like? His long, black hair was slightly dull from malnutrition, but it was still thick. The strands poked his eyes. Thankfully, he was blessed with clear skin that held up well in the wild. The shade brought out his chocolate brown eyes. Hina used to always complain about how Teru never experienced a bad bout of acne.

He was surprised by his coon-eyes. It was old make-up from the auction house.

Regardless, this was him.

Wow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kieran watched the omega admire his reflection. There was no pride or narcissism coming from him. Was it just pure innocence? Did such a thing exist in this selfish world?

It was so interesting to the eldest prince.

Kieran snapped his fingers. The two beta females he called for earlier entered the bathroom. The human noticed the newcomers, eyeing the yellow collars with disdain. It seemed like he knew what the color meant. What a quick learner.

"Clean him up. Don't use any flowery or sweet perfumes. Non-scented soaps and lotions only. I don't want to see a speck of make-up on his face; not one sparkle. Everything else, you know what to do." The women bowed and went over to the boy, who was hesitant about their intentions. Kieran smelled a wisp of a bitter scent.

Was he scared?

"They're just here to wash you. After today, you can do it yourself, if you prefer." Kieran sat on the vanity's chair. There was a meeting he had to attend, but it wasn't important right now. He felt oddly overprotective once he detected the omega's fear pheromones. It wasn't like him to have such feelings towards another person.

They guided him to the bathtub. Once they adjusted the handles to the right temperature, water rushed from the faucet, filling up the tub.

The betas started to strip him. He was embarrassed and tensed up.

"Please lift your arms up, Mr...," one woman paused. "I'm sorry, what was your name?"

This piqued Kieran's interest.

"T-Teru." He went to grab something on his chest, realizing whatever he went to grasp wasn't there.

Teru.

The name was fitting. Perfect. Still, he was a little vexed that he told an average beta and not him.

Teru raised his arms so they could take off his shirt, followed by his pants. Everything was exposed. Kieran looked away since Teru was uncomfortable with him there, but he stole secret glances whenever he could. The desire to lick every one of those bruises and scabbed cuts was physically hurting his inner alpha. He wanted to eradicate everything that had caused each one of those wounds.

After Teru was in the bathtub, they cleaned him well by scrubbing away any remnants of the auction. Kieran didn't want any remains of that tainted place left on him.

He kept coughing in water from the shower sprinkling over his head, so they switched if off. Bubbles from the soap covered his body. The omega had a playful gleam in his eyes. He cupped water in his hands and stared at it. "It's so clear," he whispered.

Just what sort of conditions was he living in to react this way? It was only water and suds.

A servant grabbed the scissors and began snipping away the black locks. Teru flinched when he felt her cut the tips. "Wait..."

"They're merely trimming your hair. It was in your eyes, was it not?"

Teru didn't respond. He turned his body away from Kieran, sloshing the water around.

How can I get him to talk to me?

The alpha looked at his watch. He really needed to go to the meeting. Perhaps he could show up, give his opinion about the new law, and go. Yeah, he could do that. That last thing he needed was his siblings or the king sniffing around here because of his absence. Why? Because one drop of Teru's rare blood was the most delicious thing he's ever tasted in his life. They'd want a sample of him, too.

Kieran wanted to bend that lovely neck and sink his teeth into it. Just thinking about it was making his fangs ache again. He imagined his canines making a permanent ring on the nape...

He stopped himself from continuing that thought. Was he seriously considering that? Marking? Seriously?

"I have urgent business to attend to. I'll return in a few hours." Kieran was talking to Teru, but the women misunderstood and thought he was addressing them.

"Yes, sir," they responded.

Ugh. Betas, he huffed with annoyance.