Leia's POV:
For the next few days, I didn't see Ronan in the mansion. And I had found out that Lucien's orders were supreme. Defy him and you would see the worse.
In the house, not many would speak with me. Even if they did, they would try to dodge the questions related to these three alpha brothers.
'Maybe Lucien is watching me,' I thought as I stopped in the garden of the estate. I looked up toward the mansion and saw Lucien with his beta, talking in the front balcony of the mansion.
He looked like a predator, who was surveying his territory.
'What if Lucien has seen through my attempts? Even Kieran didn't talk to me after the day he professed how he wanted me to love him. I didn't give him any answer. Then, he left for a business trip. But why does it seem Lucien is the one, who is connected to all of this?'
An idea struck to my mind and I decided to go for this plan.
A game of seduction, I would play.
But Lucien wouldn't be my first target. I had tried seducing him once, back when I was naïve enough to think he could be swayed by charm. It didn't work. Nothing seemed to touch him, not warmth, not softness, not desire.
That's when I realized: to reach Lucien, I had to go through the others. His brothers. I would make him jealous to the extent that he would finally give in.
For a while, I believed taming Lucien would make everything easier. That if I could win him, the rest would fall into place. But I was wrong about him.
As I stood in the garden, our eyes met.
Lucien's obsidian gaze locked onto mine from the balcony above. His eyes flickered, and just for a second, they turned crimson red like a warning.
I turned abruptly and headed inside the house.
Stopping a servant in the hallway, I kept my voice light. "Do you know when Kieran is expected back from his business trip?"
"I'm sorry, Miss," the servant said with a quick bow. "I have no idea."
'Of course you don't.'
I sighed.
Kieran. Of all three, he was the most sensible and calm.
I was about to walk away when a voice stopped me.
"Seems like you've grown much more comfortable than before," Lucien said.
I looked up.
He stood at the top of the stairs, hands tucked into his pockets.
"Yes," I rolled my eyes and looked away. I didn't wish to talk to him.
"There's a party in the evening. You are coming with me," Lucien informed me. I saw he was at the bottom of the stairs.
"Is that an order?" I asked.
"Consider whatever you want to," Lucien replied.
I chuckled. "I am not interested in going to any party. Besides you bought me as a slave, didn't you? I can't stand by my master's side," I retorted.
I turned to leave his sight when he suddenly appeared before me. He cupped my face with his one hand and glared into my eyes.
"If you were a slave, you would not have been moving so freely here. You would have warmed my bed a lot of times. It's okay if you don't wish to come. But if I come tonight, be ready to serve me. I don't want any excuses, Leia," Lucien pronounced.
"You think I'll serve you. Never!" I yelled as I pushed him away. "You are worst among your brothers. Kieran was befriending me and you sent him away for a business trip. Then, Ronan... I didn't even get to talk to him because you forbade me after that incident. You are controlling me and I hate this."
Tears rolled down my cheeks. And it was not an act, but the strength which I had been holding up so far had crumbled. I quickly wiped my tears and turned around, not wanting him to look at me with that gaze. It made me uncomfortable and vulnerable to him.
Then, without waiting for his response, I ran upstairs to my room.
~~~~
Lucien's POV:
Leia had been unusually quiet over the past few days. Ever since Kieran left for his business trip, she'd grown even more distant. I tried speaking to her a couple of times, but she brushed me off with polite indifference. And I, buried in pack matters, let it slide.
Maybe I shouldn't have.
"Alpha, why didn't you tell Miss Leia the truth?" Caleb, my beta, asked, breaking the silence.
I turned my head to look at him. "What truth?"
"She's misunderstanding you," he said as he had overheard our conversation from earlier.
"I don't care about her misunderstandings," I replied.
It was a white lie.
Because I did care. Her distance gnawed at me more than I wanted to admit. Ever since I refused to eat those damn muffins, she had been avoiding me like the plague. I noticed it too well. Every single time she passed me without a glance, it pricked something I didn't want to name.
"Well… she wasn't exactly wrong," Caleb said after a beat. "You did buy her from an auction house. From her view, that makes her a slave."
"She's not a slave," I said. "She's… not. She's poised, graceful."
Caleb didn't press further. He knew I rarely said such things about anyone.
Trying to steer the conversation elsewhere, I asked, "Did you find out when Ronan will be back? It's been over three days, and I haven't heard a thing."
Caleb exhaled slowly. "No word yet. I tried reaching out to his beta, but the call didn't go through."
My brows furrowed in concern.
Despite everything that separated us, years of silence, pain, and bitterness, I still worried about my brothers. Especially Ronan. He had endured far too much from a young age.
"Keep trying," I said. "Let me know the moment you hear from him."
I made my way upstairs to talk to Leia.