Teru flinched when he heard a loud crash in the penthouse. It sounded like Kieran was throwing stuff in his rage-induced blackout.

"Come on, come on," he muttered, waiting for the elevator to arrive. It was taking forever.

DING.

The doors slid open. Teru eyed the long rows of numbered buttons. He didn't remember which floor Dr. Charles was on!

There was another bang from the apartment followed by a furious roar. Panicking, he pressed the button he thought was correct. It lit up yellow. The doors shut, going down. Teru's shaking breath and erratic heartbeat disturbed the silence.

DING.

He observed the revealed hallway. It was full of vampires wearing suits. A few noticed him and pointed. This wasn't the clinic floor. Teru quickly clicked the button with two arrows pointing inward. Before, he had noticed its function was to shut the doors immediately rather than to wait. He pushed the next button.

DING.

Not this one either.

DING.

Teru entered terror mode. There were more working vampires with some yellow-collared humans mixed in the bunch. Many saw him in his pale state, one of those vampires being someone he never wanted to meet again.

Teru's body froze as he remembered vivid memories of that evening – their disgusting hands groping his bare thighs, their fangs aiming to bite his nape, the lemon pheromones spreading all over Kieran's perfect mint scent to mark the surrounding territory...

He wanted to puke.

A whimper escaped Teru's throat as Tristan stared him down, zoning in on the prey that couldn't move in the elevator. Teru was unable to hear him since the distance between them was far, but he knew Tristan had mouthed, "Omega."

The dominant alpha strode towards him with purpose.

Their aggressive movement broke the spell he was momentarily under. "No, no, no, no, no!" Teru shrieked, pushing a random number while repeatedly hitting the 'close' button. It didn't matter where it took him, he just needed to get out of there!

Tristan moved faster. Teru could smell the lemon. He braced himself to fight, baring his teeth to tell the alpha to back off. This only pissed Tristan off more, baring his own intimidating row of sharp teeth back.

The doors finally shut right when Tristan reached out for him. The elevator moved. Teru gripped the bar on the side so he wouldn't tumble to the floor from his unsteady knees. It was then he realized he was foolish to have left Kieran's floor with an exposed nape. It would've been better to figure out how to use the home phone than this contraption. And based on Kieran's reaction to his 'pride' scent, he likely wouldn't have been harmed directly. But here, where he was playing Russian Roulette with the skyscraper, the collarless omega wasn't safe.

I'm so dumb! And...am I going up?

The elevator was indeed moving up. He didn't know where it was heading to.

DING.

The hallway was dimly lit compared to the previous floors.

It was also void of any people, vampires and humans.

Teru needed to recollect himself and think of his next move. Maybe there was a phone around or a servant to get help from as long as they weren't an alpha. Just before the sliding door shut, he stepped out, letting the elevator go to its next destination.

It was eerily quiet. He was scared to say anything, so he slowly crept through the darkened corridors, not making a peep. Something about this place was...off. Disturbing. The quietness was more frightening than if there had been screams. The soft lights focused on the art décor rather than the floor, illuminating lifelike statues and wall paintings. Each one depicted either a gruesome scene such as vampires ripping out the throats of their victims with their fangs, battlefield panoramas, lewd illustrations, or...

Teru paused in front of a series of enormous canvases with symbols on them.

Lion.

Dog.

Bear.

Fox.

Cuckoo bird.

Vulture.

Snake.

Seven. There were seven symbols. Teru's heart pounded in his chest. He knew these well from his pack's storyteller, who drew them in the dirt for the pups to get a visual understanding.

Pride.

Envy.

Wrath.

Greed.

Sloth.

Gluttony.

Lust.

The seven deadly sins.

So, Lucas wasn't crazy when he told him Kieran was Pride. Just how many stories that were passed on with each generation were real, too? Angels? The apocalypse?

Teru took a few steps back, unable to look away from the drawings. His birthmark tickled again, particularly while looking at the lion.

And then a hand covered his mouth to prevent him from yelping. Someone dragged him away to a nearby hallway that broke off into four smaller passageways. Teru clawed at the strong arm holding him tightly. His fighting instincts shifted into gear as soon as he smelled their pheromones. It wasn't nose-curling like Tristan's lemon or that woman's sneeze-inducing pollen scent from the mall. It was actually pleasant. Vanilla?

It didn't matter how nice they smelled, though. This was a dominant alpha and a vampire.

"HHMPH!" he hummed into their hand, kicking the air.

"SHH!" they whispered. The stranger pressed them flat against the wall behind a snarling wolf statue. He gave off more vanilla pheromones in tidal waves. "He's coming. Turn off your fear scent. Now."

Who was coming? Teru then heard running footsteps coming closer. He listened and made all his scents disappear, letting the vanilla envelope the hiding pair.

Lemon swirled around them. It was Tristan. The man must've noticed which floor he got off on and followed.

They stood there completely still, not even breathing. A long minute passed of Tristan inhaling the air, trying to determine which hallway Teru had taken.

"This ghastly vanilla is everywhere," Teru heard him complain to no one. "I swear that horny mutt has no self-control." Tristan ultimately chose a hallway that was opposite from where they were located.

For good measure, they remained like that for another two minutes. Or was it five? Time had stopped from the intensity of the situation. Tristan was gone.

Teru felt his savior brush his black hair away from his nape. His body hairs bristled at the touch. "TSK. Kieran still hasn't marked you yet? And you're running around with a bloodied, collarless throat on the king and queen's throne floor?"

He uncovered Teru's mouth, allowing him to breathe properly. Teru saw their manicured, black fingernails, the gaudy ruby-encrusted bracelet, and the tattoo on their arm.

Slithering up the entire length of his forearm was a green snake. It was the same symbol from the painting.

It represented Lust.

That would mean this was Kieran's brother.

A deadly sin and a dominant alpha.

A hand snaked up Teru's jawline to force his head to look upward. Their eyes met. It was a beautiful vampire with sleek, blonde hair and a feminine but striking face. He wore glamourous makeup and cherry red lipstick. One of his vampire fangs had a tiny diamond embedded into it.

"What has my big brother done to make you run away to this cursed place? Hmm? Someone so full of innocence and light, humanity's spark of hope, shouldn't be here. You're lucky Abaddon is out of the city. If he had found you instead of me, I'd bet my fangs he'd wrap a pretty green collar around your markless neck to make you part of his harem." He slid a long nail down Teru's cheek, drawing a thin line of blood. "And you smell quite delicious with Kieran's venom coursing through you. Tell Uncle Blaise everything, my lovely omega."