The morning fog was thick, cold, and wet. It rolled over the heavy gray stones of the mountain path like a thick blanket of smoke.

Lin Wan ran.

She ran until her chest burned with a sharp, heavy pain. Her soft leather boots were completely soaked through with cold morning dew. She did not care. She did not dare to look back at the city behind her.

Her fingers gripped the edges of her dark cloak tightly, pulling it over her shaking shoulders.

*Gasp.*

She stopped by a large, cracked rock to catch her breath. Her mouth was dry. She took a deep, shaky breath.

*Inhale.*

The cold air hurt her lungs. Inside her mind, a loud, red alert sound was still ringing. It was making her ears buzz.

"Weiwei," Lin Wan thought, her voice shaking violently inside her head. "Tell me the blocking field is gone. Tell me we can teleport now. Please!"

A sharp, digital chiming sound buzzed in her brain.

[I’m afraid it’s negative, host!] Weiwei’s voice was completely frantic, lacking its usual calm machine tone. [The physical distance between you and that courtyard is widening, but the spatial bridge is still glitching! His residual royal mark is too strong. It is burned directly into your energy core. We need to put at least fifty miles between you and that bed before the system can lock onto your position! Stay moving!]

"Hundred miles?" Lin Wan cried out in her mind. Her heart gave a wild, terrified thud. "I am just a human! My legs are going to fall off!"

Suddenly, a strange, burning heat flared right below her collarbone. It was so hot it felt like a piece of sizzling charcoal was pressed against her skin.

*Gasp!*

Lin Wan pressed her hand against her chest. She stumbled backward, her back hitting the cold, damp rock face. With trembling fingers, she pulled open the high collar of her tunic. She looked down at her own skin.

Right above her breast, a faint, glowing black crest had appeared. It was shaped like the magnificent, sharp wing of a giant beast.

The dark lines were pulsing with a faint, wicked purple light, moving perfectly in time with her own heartbeat.

"What is this?" Lin Wan whispered aloud, her voice cracking in the quiet fog. "He marked me? In just one night? How could he?!"

[He didn’t just mark you, host,] Weiwei explained, her digital voice trembling with deep worry. [He claimed you. You triggered his dormant royal bloodline. To a Manticore, not to talk of a Royal Manticore, you are no longer the little rich lady who bought him. You are his stolen property. He can feel your life force through that mark!]

Lin Wan’s eyes went completely wide with horror. She quickly pulled her cloak back up, trying to cover the burning symbol. "Property? I am not a thing to be owned! I saved him from that awful iron cage! I paid three thousand high-grade spirit stones for him!"

[A villain does not care about your money, host!] Weiwei shouted. [To him, you used his body and then ran away before the sun came up. His pride is completely shattered. Run! If he catches you right now, he will lock you up forever!]

Lin Wan did not waste another second. She forced her tired legs to move, plunging deeper into the thick, blinding white fog.

Back at the luxurious courtyard rental, the atmosphere was not peaceful at all.

The heavy wooden front door was hanging off its hinges, cracked down the middle. Inside the bedroom, the air was completely freezing cold.

A dark, terrifyingly heavy pressure filled every single corner of the room, making the wooden floorboards groan and split.

Cassian stood in the center of the room.

He was no longer sitting on the floor like a broken slave. His tall, magnificent frame looked incredibly imposing under the dim morning light.

His long, messy dark hair fell over his broad shoulders. His tattered trousers were still covered in dirt, but his bare chest was completely clean, his muscles firm and perfect.

Slowly, Cassian raised his large hand. Between his long, sharp fingers, he held the heavy black iron control token.

It was the exact token the slave trader had given to Lin Wan. She had dropped it on the floor when she escaped.

*Snap.*

With a tiny, effortless squeeze of his fingers, the heavy runic metal token crumbled into fine gray dust, spilling through his fingers like sand.

A slow, cruel smile touched his handsome lips. His slitted golden eyes burned with a dark, dangerous fire.

"You forgot your token, my little buyer," Cassian whispered into the empty room. His voice was a deep, smooth purr that carried a terrifying chill. "How are you going to control your slave now?"

He leaned forward slightly, closing his eyes.

*Inhale.*

He dragged the cold air deep into his lungs. The faint, sweet scent of jasmine and high grade human pheromones was still lingering on the messy bedsheets.

It was an incredibly addictive scent. It made his inner beast roar with an absolute, possessive hunger.

He opened his eyes. The golden color was so bright it looked like molten metal.

"You think you can run from me?" he murmured, his voice dropping into a low growl. "You used my body to soothe your lust and then you left me in an empty bed. No one treats an imperial prince like a discarded toy."

Cassian raised his left hand. The royal crest on his own skin flared with a blinding black light.

*Whoosh!*

The shadows in the corner of the bedroom suddenly twisted and came alive. A massive, shadowy beast with the body of a lion and the wings of a giant bat crawled out from the darkness.

It dropped to its knees, its red eyes staring at the floor in absolute terror and submission. It was a shadow messenger.

"Master," the beast spoke in a low, raspy echo.

Cassian looked down at the creature. His expression was completely cold, aristocratic, and heartless.

"Take my royal seal," Cassian commanded, his voice sharp like a blade. "Send a message to my commanders in the Upper Realm. Tell them I am alive. Tell them to prepare the vanguard forces. My treacherous brothers will pay for their ambush in blood."

"Yes, Your Highness!" the shadow beast answered, bowing its head lower.

"But before you do that," Cassian continued, his voice dropping into a dark, wicked tone.

He pointed his finger toward the messy bed. "Memorize this scent. Scan every single carriage, every hidden spatial array, and every border town in this realm. If she hides in the dirt, dig her up. If she tries to fly, clip her wings. I want her alive."

The shadow beast sniffed the air, its red eyes glowing brighter. "It shall be done, Master."

*Whoosh.*

The creature dissolved back into the shadows, disappearing instantly.

Cassian walked over to the open window. He looked out at the distant mountain path covered in thick fog. The wind blew his dark hair across his face.

"Let the game begin, my little female," he whispered darkly, his golden eyes narrowing. "Let’s see how far you can run before the leash snaps back."

Lin Wan kept running for hours. Her throat felt like it was on fire. Every time she took a step, a sharp pain shot up from her ankles into her knees.

*Gasp.*

*Gasp.*

The sun was now high in the sky, but the thick fog did not clear up. It seemed to grow even heavier, turning from white to a dark, gloomy gray.

The trees around the path looked like twisted, clawed hands reaching out to grab her cloak.

"Weiwei," Lin Wan panted, her voice incredibly weak. "How far... how far have we gone?"

[Forty miles, host,] Weiwei replied, her voice filled with tension. [You are doing great, but you cannot stop. My sensors are picking up strange vibrations in the shadow network. He has already unleashed his tracking hounds. They are sweeping the entire border area.]

Lin Wan stumbled over a thick tree root. She fell forward, her hands hitting the rough, muddy ground.

*Ah!*

She let out a small cry of pain. She looked down at her palms. They were scraped and bleeding, covered in dark dirt. Tears of sheer exhaustion and frustration welling up in her eyes.

For four long years, she had been protected by her powerful beast husbands. She had never had to run for her life like this.

Now, she was entirely on her own, running from a literal monster because of a stupid mistake.

"Why did I go to that market?" Lin Wan sobbed softly, wiping her face with her dirty sleeve. "Why did I have to meet him?"

[Because his charm was too strong, host,] Weiwei comforted her gently. [Without my shielding you, a human female stands absolutely no chance against a pure blood Manticore prince. It is not your fault. But you must get up. If he finds you here, he will not show any mercy.]