Lucas had nightmares.

Terrible, horrible, disgusting nightmares that were even worse than the ones he had when under the Zhang's ownership.

Why? Because he dreamt of that horse-faced bloodsucker prince, Pride, cradling him in his lap, licking at his slashed throat. The dream was foggy, so Lucas didn't remember most. Before falling asleep, Lucas recalled how he foolishly challenged Abaddon, all to protect his best friend. He didn't regret it one bit, but his neck got sliced open by a god-damned fingernail in the process, a fingernail! While on the ground, completely out of it, he was positive he saw a group of omegas tearing the shit out of their captor as Blaise cried above him. Was that all a hallucination? Lucas didn't know.

It was a blur as he was placed into a car, groggily watching the trees whiz by through the small, square window. Sugar. Lucas smelled brown sugar during his lucid periods. It was the only smell keeping him from giving up, helping him turn away from the welcoming, comfortable light that appeared a few times in his head. Sometimes he'd hear quiet sniffles, feeling pressure on his neck.

Don't cry, Lucas wanted to say, hating how he couldn't utter a word; not even a moan to let them know he was hanging in there by a thread. The warm hands caressing his cold, sweaty face soothed him enough to sleep some more.

Pleasant dreams didn't come. Awful nightmare began. When Lucas 'woke up,' the alpha that he despised was holding him. Fucking Kieran. Lucas tried to crawl away on the seat, only to be dragged back by the scruff of his nape as Kieran licked his throat. Lucas squirmed and clawed at the vampire for this to stop. His wound kept reopening.

"Be still. I hate this as much as you do," Kieran growled. "Do you want to be mute for the rest of your short life?"

Lucas didn't want to listen. This nightmare had to end! He wiggled with poor strength and released weak lavender pheromones, unable to protest with words. The struggle smeared blood on Kieran's dark red hair. He hated the feeling of this bastard's wet tongue and the occasional snag of a fang on his skin. When he said he hated it, Lucas meant it with every fiber of his being. It was too close, too intimate. The mint scent was smothering. Vanilla would be much better. Who smelled like vanilla? He forgot.

His condition got the best of him in the end. Too lethargic to fight anymore, he had no choice but to let Kieran do what he wanted with his deadweight body, feasting away on his blood.

This...this...monster! Stop! Don't touch me!

Eventually, it did stop. Heavens, Lucas felt unbelievably exhausted. He shouldn't be this tired in a dream.

"Don't leave the car. I'll return later," that vamp told him.

Fuck you, was his last thought before the nightmare ended in darkness. Finally, some peace.

What felt like seconds later, Lucas scrunched his face. The sunset's light blinded him through his eyelids. He squinted one eye open and noted that this was the military vehicle. Outside the windows were trees. A...forest? Were they not in the city anymore? Was Teru okay? The seat beside him smelled of sweet pheromones. It was recent, too.

Abaddon died, right? What happened after that? I think Blaise-

Wait. Blaise. Where was that guy? Did he survive? It was as if Lucas had been dunked in a frozen pond, numbing him to the bone. What was this feeling? Concern? Anxious? Was he actually worried about Blaise, aka Lust? No, that was impossible. He should be glad to be free.

Instead of relishing in the freedom, his inner alpha was uneasy, looking for someone that had long, blonde hair.

Get yourself together. An alpha shouldn't feel like this towards another alpha-an alpha that owns, no, used to own me, Lucas scolded himself, shaking his head in frustration. These sentiments over a vampire were silly!

Sharp pain in the front of his throat made him wince, painful enough that he had bitten the inside of his cheek hard. He tasted blood.

Note to self: don't move head.

When the pain lessened, Lucas knew he needed to find out where he was, and who had driven them to...where was he exactly? Teru was around, surely.

Lucas sat up slowly. The grogginess of his long sleep stayed, unable to fully sober up from oversleeping. If he could, he'd groan from the aches all over his body. Well, challenging the immortal king would do that to a human, no matter how fit they were. Swallowing was incredibly sore, like having a cold but tenfold. Thanks to the inability to turn his neck, Lucas couldn't even observe his surroundings properly.

He almost panicked when he felt something wrapped around his neck. Lucas touched it with trembling fingers, scared at what he was going to find. If it was leather that was impossible to break, even with the strongest of alpha teeth...

The material was soft and taped with the utmost care. He sighed in relief when realizing it was just a bandage. For a second, Lucas believed he had been collared again!

But...

Why do I smell mint?

Brown sugar wasn't the only scent in the car. How could Lucas have missed another alpha's pheromones?! There was only one dominant alpha who had this smell. Kieran.

Lucas's physical health must be critical to have missed the obvious mint earlier. It wasn't just spread on the leather seats and the steering wheel ahead; these pheromones were sprinkled on Lucas's clean clothes, too. Someone stripped him, saw him naked, and, well, who knows what else! Mint was on his arms, his face, his throat, on the bandage, under the bandage...

That...wasn't a nightmare. It was real. Kieran held me, touched me, and ignored my pleas to be let go.

His alpha pride was angry.

Like, 'challenge anything that moved' anger.

The stuffiness in the car gagged him. It was difficult to breathe! Lucas fumbled with the handle. Eventually, it opened before he fell out of the vehicle, from a tall height that required you to use the hanging step to get inside. He huffed at the impact, landing roughly on his butt. The skin on his throat stretched. His eyes watered from the excruciating throb. The gash had likely split, ruining Kieran's progress to close the wound quicker from the healing properties in alpha spit.

This freaking thing was bandaged by him, Lucas spat in his mind, especially at the word 'him.'

He put his nails on the cotton seams, about to rip it off. He didn't. Instead, he took a minute to reflect on his irrational rage.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Look at the grass. Look at the sky. You're free. You're not a blood slave anymore. The Zhang's are dead. As much as you don't like him, Pride brought you here. The yellow collar is gone. He took it off for you. I should put our bad blood between us to rest, at least for now.

Though Lucas felt a little better at letting go of some of his animosity towards Kieran, it didn't stop him from punching the car door swinging in front of him. He was literally sitting on freedom, yet, why did he still feel incredibly alone and unhappy? A tear fell down his cheek when the image of an annoying bloodsucker came to mind, one who attacked his face with an occasional kiss to get a reaction out of him. A vampire that was misunderstood by others because of their deadly sin. An alpha who was disgusted with his own gender. A person who confused the hell out of Lucas, but not in a bad way.

He felt his soul cry out for Blaise. This odd pull within his chest-

"Teru! That's enough!" a faint, stern voice yelled in the distance.

Teru? Lucas whipped his head at the sound, instantly becoming lightheaded. His bandage was moist, red peppering through.

Lucas stood on wobbly legs, making his way toward the direction where he had heard the name. He used the trees as support, touching one after another. The rough bark scratched his palms. His breath wheezed, the first noise he could make since waking up. More stars zoomed past his sight, on the verge of blacking out.

Lucas screamed to himself, Don't die now!

There was light through the trees ahead, showing a wide clearing with a lake. The water glistened. So close to reaching Teru-!

Musky pheromones made Lucas pause, bringing him to his knees. It told him to submit. Commanding. Heavy. Dominant. These...were from Kieran, right? What the fuck was he doing with Teru? He was too small to be bullied with such potent pheromones! Was Teru shaking right now, begging to be freed from this hold? And the blood smell. Someone else was bleeding. Using a bush to hoist himself up, Lucas continued on to investigate.

Almost there. I'll put that bloodsucker in his place and-

Lucas froze behind the treeline, still obscured by the shade.

The aura was intense. He heard a string of purrs, low and needy, borderline about to mate. Hmm? A moan made him perk up. There were a lot of mixed messages that his inner alpha understood loud and clear.

Don't come near us.

Back off.

Protect.

Mine.

Yours.

But what shocked Lucas the most was Teru finding him with lethal eyes over Kieran's shoulder; eyes that were brown with golden slivers painted within the dark color. Teru glared, blood dripping from his lips. What in the actual fuck?! Who was this person?! They were not the same pack mate he grew up with-the one who wrestled with him in the meadow, whispering funny jokes at midnight, cried on each other's shoulders when the only thing to eat for weeks was grass and dead leaves, and promised to face the world together no matter what!

Teru's animalistic growl at Lucas exposed his longer canines. Those fang-like teeth were not vampire, nor average omega. And these musky pheromones weren't all from Kieran, either. Not even half of the scent was from the prince. No, a majority of the musk was from an omega, too. It was a little flowery, the complete opposite of an alpha's.

A normal omega's pheromones could not have musk when pissed off or to warn others. That was reserved for alphas to protect, maintain, and widen their territory. So that meant...

Is Teru...also dominant? I remember one story from when we were pups about them. They had similar instincts as alphas. Do those still exist? I thought that gender was only a legend.

Apparently not, since one was here in the flesh. Teru's overwhelming pheromones commanded him to not come any closer. It made Lucas, a normal alpha, listen, ready to do their bidding and please them. His legs shook in the presence of someone much stronger than he was; not physically, but in pheromones. Lucas's alpha cowered, immediately understanding that the dominant omega was above him.

I know I gave up on Teru back when I helped release the werewolves. This only proves that I made the right decision.

Teru was out of his league.

He knew at that moment just how much they would not have been compatible together as mates. Even if Teru was available and Kieran wasn't in the picture, Lucas would have never been good enough to be his equal half. Teru needed an alpha who could challenge those pheromones and subdue them into submission if the wild dominant omega was out of control. It wouldn't be farfetched to say that Teru could totally control a legion of alphas, all smitten with him. Heavens, could you imagine?

Another scent reached Lucas, very subtle, and one he never smelled before. Yet, his alpha instinctively knew. It was a peculiar sweetness, but not sweet like Teru's pheromones.

Slick.

Wetness from an omega.

"I said to stay and rest in the car. Don't even think of coming near him, or I'll fucking end you where you stand. My mate is not in the right state of mind to see you, Lucas," Kieran growled loudly, basically snarling. The vampire's livid pheromones overtook Teru's. They were extremely threatening, demanding him to retreat with his tail between his legs. Shit. Shit! Was that bloodsucker guarding? Or at least about to? Hell no. Nope. See ya. Lucas had witnessed guarding on a few occasions in his life, sometimes over their partner or even their pups. People died. He did not want to be caught in that bloodbath.

Without being told twice, Lucas turned around and escaped that thick fog of protective, horny, and irritated pheromones. As he went closer to the car, the flashing stars obscured half of his sight. The weight of the bandage was getting heavier as it absorbed trickling blood. All that work Kieran had done to close the gash went to waste because of Lucas's hard-headedness to find Teru.

Ah, I'm thirsty. I don't feel good. I want to puke. Or sleep. Both. Ugh...When-when did I get here?

Lucas was sitting on the dirt, using the tire to lean against. His eyes were closed. He didn't remember making it back. Everything spun. It was getting darker and darker outside, too. What should Lucas do? Leave? Be the third-wheel person, tagging on this journey with a mated pair?

I can't leave. After all, we 'promised to face the world together no matter what.'

THUMP.

It was probably a branch bumping into the metal.

BANG.

Lucas opened his eyes slowly.

THUMP. BOOM.

He stood as fast as he could, looking at the car.

THUMP. BANG. THUMP.

He took several steps back, wary of how the banging was getting louder.

GROWL.

G-growl? The low rumble came from...

...the trunk.

BANG!

Metal clanged. The backside door leading to the storage compartment flung to the side, breaking the hatchet. Bolts went flying.

"GRRR." The sound was guttural.

The car's weight shifted. Like a demon, a figure crawled out of the trunk, slinking to the ground while contorted. The sun was almost gone, making Lucas unable to see the creature clearly. Its jerky movements helped it stand up straight, long hair falling over its face. The whitened hair glowed because of the color, a hue recognizable from miles away.

Blaise?

Vanilla pheromones exploded in all directions, musky with killing intent.

Lucas held in a moan when he felt aroused, desperately wishing he could mount and breed until his balls were bone dry. It was like a rut, but Lucas knew it shouldn't be his season now. There were no signs of it! The urge to sniff out a hole to fuck changed to yearning. Then desire. Stirred. Excited. Conniving. Immoral. Not caring about who gets hurt, as long as he could enjoy the pleasures of the flesh.

Once upon a time during his first week under new ownership, a certain bloodsucker taught him new facts about the deadly sins, ones that not even the pack's storyteller knew. For example, when they were revealing their true form, others next to them could feel what that sin searches for in a sinner.

The sudden rush of hormones to Lucas's hardening cock proved what Blaise had said. That thing wasn't a demon. It wasn't even Blaise.

It was Lust.

A rampaging deadly sin was free.