As Kieran was paying, Teru studied the collar in a round mirror on the glass counter. The way the soft leather rubbed against his throat would be a constant reminder that he'd never be free again. He wanted nothing more than to rip it off and burn it.

He was above wearing a damned collar.

A new emotion churned within him. What was it?

There was a loud gasp. Hands roughly grasped his shoulders to turn him around. Kieran squeezed him so tight that Teru was sure his upper arms would bruise later.

"Hey, that hurts­—," he stopped mid-sentence upon seeing Kieran's face. The vampire was livid. In fact, Teru could say he was just as furious as when his brother, Tristan, assaulted him.

"Stop," Kieran fumed. "Whatever you're thinking of, just stop. You smell like pride. You reek of it."

Pride? How does that have a scent? "I'm not—"

"You do. Don't you smell it? The scent of decaying flesh coming from you is disgusting."

There was something awfully scary about the look in his crazed eyes. The color was a deeper red than before, like old blood. This wasn't the person who would read to him on the balcony when the weather permitted or give him praises when he wrote a challenging word.

Strong musky pheromones coated everything in the store. The employee was frozen in the corner. The warranty papers in his hands crinkled from his shaking hands. As for Teru, his knees gave way from the intense aroma of an angry dominant alpha. The only thing holding him up was Kieran's grip.

Teru's fear pheromones brought Kieran back from his maddened reverie. He loosened his tight hold and hugged Teru. He could literally feel Kieran's racing heartbeat through his chest.

"I'm...I'm...," Kieran attempted to say, loss for words. He was obviously trying to apologize but the words wouldn't, or couldn't, come out. For some reason, Teru knew saying something as simple as 'I'm sorry' was difficult for this vamp.

Just forget it. "I want to go," Teru said quietly. The various styles of collars and muzzles surrounding them made him uncomfortable.

"...Okay." Kieran snatched the paperwork from the worker. "Forget what you saw here," he told the bloodsucker, still petrified from the pheromones.

Teru felt a tug on his neck. Kieran had clasped a leash on the collar's metal loop. As he was led out of the store and into the heart of the mall, Teru had no choice but to follow behind, pretending he was okay with being treated like a pet. It was humiliating as everyone's attention focused on him – on the black collar. Even the depressed humans couldn't help but stare.

Teru cringed when he heard a nearby vampire say to their partner, "Do you think he'd let us breed that omega with our human alpha if we sent an offer?"

Just when he was about to break character and growl at the offensive comment, Kieran pulled on the leash so Teru was closer to him. "Don't listen to what others say. I'll take care of them later."

They were about to leave through the back doors to the emergency exit when a shrill voice said loudly behind them, "Is this your omega I heard so much about? Why don't you share him with us?"

Two identical female vampires approached Kieran.

Are they twins?

Given their scents, they were also alphas. Dominant. They each had a blood slave with red collars in tow. Both were beta males. Their poor condition screamed how their masters didn't care about their health – both had ugly bite marks on their throats, their skin was pale from blood loss, and their faces were gaunt. Neither paid Teru any attention as they kept their gaze on the floor, afraid.

"No, he's not for sharing—" Kieran started to decline but was interrupted again.

"You missed all the meetings this week. We need your final decision about a law. Now."

Laws? This was interesting to hear. Why is she talking so rudely to him?

"It can wait until tomorrow."

"Hell no. The deadline is tonight and the king is abroad. Because of your out-of-season rut, you're not exactly the easiest person to get ahold of. It's been very inconvenient for us." The bloodsucker looked at Teru up and down with her brown, almost black eyes. "And I can see why."

Her fluffy hair was a style that Teru has never seen before in real life, but his father told him it was called an afro – it was a tradition for many cultures on different continents; not all hair types were the same.

A ticklish scent wafted from her. She was emitting her pheromones which smelled like spring pollen. Teru's nose scrunched up. With his newly heightened sense of smell, he wanted to sneeze. It was an involuntary reaction; a complete accident. Shit.

"And not very well trained, I see," the woman said, peeved by Teru's reaction. "I'm surprised given your temper. I assumed he'd be tied up on your bed, waiting for you to return. Have you tried that with him yet? My human loves to wait for me with his arms and legs tied together for hours."

Her blood slave shuddered, meaning he didn't like that sort of play.

Excuse me?

Kieran thought about what to do first before murmuring into his ear, "I need to deal with them. Go in that store and look around. Stay in the front where I can see you." He pointed to the shop next to them and handed Teru the leash to his own collar.

"Won't he run off?" she asked. "Keep him here. The thing is easy on the eyes." The second female alpha didn't utter a word the whole time. She yawned. It was unnerving when she kept looking at Teru through her sleepy, half-closed eyes.

"He won't. Unlike others, I take care of my possessions. There's no reason for him to escape," taking a jab at the condition of their sick blood slaves.

They growled back. "Bastard..."

Escape.

He could try since the exit was right there, but was there a point? He'd be caught as soon as he was outside. And there probably wasn't a vampire who'd treat him the same as Kieran did. There was no doubt he'd end up looking like those blood slaves, if not worse given his already-slim figure.

And Teru could see why Kieran asked him to go away. These women's vibes were dangerous.

He gladly did as he was told, keeping his head down until he was inside the store while holding his leash. He immediately noted the three vamps who worked there, standing behind the checkout counter. It confused them that a lone human waltzed so casually into their store without an owner. If he kept to himself, there shouldn't be any problems.

He browsed through the items. Most were clothes but there were other things like shoes and small clocks for your wrist. The label said W-A-T-C-H. Kieran wore one most of the time. It was a habit of his to constantly check the time. Teru doubted he even realized he was doing it.

There was no reason to think so, but he thought it was charming in a way. He wished he could buy one for him.

Nothing interesting stood out to him since he wasn't a materialistic person. Regardless, he went through the racks, waiting until those dominant females left. Sometimes Teru would look through the tall windows, noticing Kieran's dislike towards them. He could tell by his stiff posture and furrowed eyebrows.

In the window's reflection, Teru saw one employee watching him. A normal alpha.

Okay?

He kept his guard up, continuing to look at the stuff. The vampire stayed on his heels, making it obvious that he was following him. Everything that Teru did was scrutinized closely. After ten more minutes of the predator being so close by, he couldn't handle it anymore. He turned around to leave...

But someone grabbed his forearm, digging their nails into his skin. Just a little more pressure and he'd bleed. It was the one who kept following him. "You're not going anywhere, thief," they hissed.

Thief? Teru tried to release himself from the painful hold, but they didn't budge. "I didn't steal anything."

The man smiled crudely. His fangs were short compared to Kieran's long ones. "You were very suspicious. You particularly spent a while near the watches. Am I right?"

The two other vampires nodded in agreement. "Yes, very suspicious."

"We've already called security so if you don't mind..." He dragged Teru over to the dressing rooms to the back of the store. When he brushed open the curtain, he threw Teru into the tiny room, almost tripping him. "I'll need you to strip so we can make sure."

Was he being serious? "But you followed me the whole time. I didn't take—"

"And I believe you stole merchandise. The only way to be sure is for you to take everything off."

Teru tried to leave but the alpha released his pheromones to subdue him. The others were also alphas who all emitted their scents. He couldn't move with his legs quivering from the trio of nauseating pheromones. Since Teru was used to Kieran's dominant scent, just one normal alpha wouldn't be enough to tether him down anymore.

But three at once...?

A fourth vampire joined them, wearing a military-esque uniform with many gadgets and weapons attached to his belt. The material of his uniform barely fit his muscles – just the size of his arms was thicker than Teru's head. Although he was a beta, Teru could easily be overpowered based on strength alone.

"Oh my. A human who steals from hard-working businesses?" the guard TSKed. "Your owner will be very disappointed."

The situation wasn't looking good. Teru felt his chest tighten from panic. Kieran needed to clear things up. And since he seemed to be an influential person, they'd listen to him, right? "If I can just get—"

"Don't worry. Once we confirm there's nothing on you, we will let you go." The four vampires grinned in agreement.

No one was listening to him! They knew he was innocent, wanting to take advantage of him.

"I–"

"Shut up and strip," the stalking employee ordered, using his commanding voice. Teru's hands automatically listened, shakily removing his shirt to expose his chest. The cold air made his nipples harden. They all watched greedily, taking in the sight of his smooth skin.

Why couldn't he fight back against the pheromones? Did he not do so with Nolan before? He literally lived with a dominant alpha that was so much stronger than his damned pack leader, let alone this inferior guy.

He unbuttoned his pants, screaming to himself, No, no, no!

The pants fell to the floor until only his underwear remained.

"Take those off, too," a second alpha ordered, also using his pheromones to make him do as he pleased. With two of these scents forcing him to do what they desired, his body felt unbearable pressure. If there was anymore...

He took off the last bit of his clothes in a robotic way. Everything was out in the open now.

"Get wet for us," the third alpha groaned.

There it was. More pheromones telling him what to do. His molecules were being torn apart, not knowing who to follow. An omega wasn't meant to undergo this many at once. Teru's body was chaotic inside because it only wanted to listen to one alpha. And that alpha wasn't here.

"Did it work?"

"Check his ass."

The guard forced Teru's hands to lean on the wall, holding his wrists in place. A finger pushed against his hole, trying to get inside.

Teru yelped and struggled against the assaulter.

"Be still, whore!"

The new tsunami of those revolting pheromones made him still once more. This bastard touched his intimate area again, unable to push past his pink entrance. "No, he's dry as fuck."

"Maybe he's defective."

"It doesn't matter. I have lube in the storage room. I can go get it."

"Just spit on his asshole and he'll be good to go."

While they bickered back and forth on how to take him, Teru's mind became cloudy like he was about to pass out at any second.

His inner omega was tired. Tired of being treated like this. He wasn't a personal sex toy. He wasn't an animal to be caged up and used. Teru didn't know if having his first heat was a catalyst for some deep, least-evolved response to make itself known, but a warm trickle gradually spread from his belly to the rest of his body.

Go away...go away...

The scent he pushed out wasn't exactly his normal sugary smell. While similar, it had its own muskiness to it except more feminine. It was a beautiful fragrance.

All four were paralyzed, taking in this unique scent. It quickly thickened, making everyone in the space choke on the thick air.

"Maybe we should go away," an employee said.

"Let's go away," the guard agreed, letting go of the omega's hands. A dizzy Teru fell to the wood floor below.

As the guard turned away, a tall figure behind him wrapped their hands around his head and twisted hard, decapitating him. There was an unpleasant sound of the vampire's spinal cord snapping in half.

Kieran stood there with darkened eyes. His black pupils were slivers, like cat eyes, from his dominant rage. He held the guard's head in his right hand. Blood pooled on the floor. The body twitched, the muscles thinking it was still alive. The viscous liquid staining Kieran's skin made his mock marking scar stand out.

Teru, not in the right mind from whatever this pheromone was, held out his arms towards Kieran, wanting to be comforted, to be safe. "Alpha," he said in a silky tone, "Please hold me."

Kieran dropped the severed head and picked him up, cradling him close to his chest. Teru purred when Kieran nuzzled his face against the omega's neck scent gland, not caring that the collar was in the way nor how Teru's back was now smeared with blood.

"This is a nice smell." The alpha kept sniffing his gland, stimulated by it.

"Let's go back."

"Let's go back," Kieran repeated.

They left to go to their vehicle outside, ignoring everyone's incredulous stares of a bloody vampire carrying a naked, black-collared human.

The three employees who were sparred at that moment were shocked. "I...I didn't know he was the Prince's omega!"

They knew they'd probably be sentenced to death later.