A soldier arrived with the tray of food.

"Place it there," Vladya pointed at a corner, his eyes not straying from the beast.

When they were alone again, Vladya bared his neck, gritting his teeth as he did so. His beast roared and raged inside him. “We do NOT submit to anyone!”

Within seconds, the beast emerged from its barricades and stood before Vladya. After sniffing him, the beast snorted and backed away.

Vladya brought in the large tray consisting of all kinds of steak and just a few vegetables.

Minutes passed while Vladya waited patiently, but the beast simply ignored the food. He tried everything he could, but the beast ended up spurning them.

An hour and four plates later, Vladya knew there was no escaping it. If he wanted the beast to eat, he needed to exhaust it.

Fighting ferals was never a wise course of action, but it was the only way. With a resigned deep breath, Vladya allowed his beast to surface.

Two Urekai alpha beasts now faced each other. Huge. Domineering. While one reeked of aggression, the other was placating.

They bumped heads together, and then the fight began. The feral fought to kill, while the other defended, actively engaging the feral.

It was brutal. Savage. Lethal.

After what felt like an eternity, the beast grew tired. Exhaustion hit Vladya as he shifted back into his human form. He had bruises, some bleeding profusely, while others were light scratches.

But Daemonikai was finally eating—the beast had no choice; it needed to replenish after exerting so much strength in the fight. It was instinct.

Vladya dressed in the spare clothes his men had prepared for him and left the forbidden chambers. With his troop of soldiers dismissed, he walked alone.

Then, he saw her. The slave princess, Aekeira.

She carried a bucket filled with water on her head. If Vladya were to guess, she was on duty to fill the large drums. He paused for a moment and observed her.

The girl was stunning—no human had the right to possess such beauty. And she wore her royalty like a cloak, even in her slave garments.

That inexplicable attraction surged through him. Alien. Overpowering.

Followed by anger, extinguishing the attraction as soon as it arose. Burning hot. Raging.

She had no right to evoke such feelings within him. No matter how transient they were, she had NO right. No human had that power.

How dare she?

For a second, he took a step forward. His hands fisted. He needed to punish her.

Humans and their audacity.How dare she arouse such emotion inside him?He practically shook with the need to make her hurt.

"You must return to Blackstone, Your Highness. You need to feed," Yaz's voice made him pause.

His head soldier stood by the wall, looking at him with concern.

"I dismissed you all, Yaz. You did not leave with the others?"

"No, my lord."

Lord Vlayda was not surprised. And Yaz was right; he did need to feed.

With a last look of pure loathing directed at the girl, he turned and walked in the opposite direction, back to Blackstone.

Master Gaine had gone out to oversee the other slaves working in the backyard, assigning Emeriel the task of unloading the new drinks that arrived that night.