The room was the kind of place built for compliance four walls, no windows, bright lights that made everything feel flattened and cold. Even the air tasted wrong, like someone had filtered it until nothing natural was left.
Kairen stood in the center wearing a rough gray prisoner's tunic. It itched, it chafed, it made him feel like a stripped-down version of himself. The suppressants in his system didn't help. Three hours ago they'd needles in him until his natural scent was buried under chemicals. He couldn't smell like himself anymore just a metallic, bitter mess that clung to his throat.
Across the obsidian table sat a Beta drone named Casius. The man looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. His shoulders were tight, his eyes glued to the floor, his scent leaking nervous pulses he clearly couldn't control.
"General Aethel," he said, and the title cracked in the middle like it hurt to speak. "His Lordship has remotely sealed the Molecular Contract."
A hologram flickered into existence—red text, official, merciless. Kairen didn't need to look at it. He already knew every line. Elara had read it out loud three days ago, and the words had carved themselves into his memory whether he liked it or not.
Unconditional marriage to Lord Zyrus Vahn.
Nine-month breeding mandate.
Enrollment at Obsidian University under an alias.
And most importantly: find the leak behind the bioweapon research.
Refusing would mean the end of his soldiers. Funding gone. Supplies gone. Survival gone. The war was already lost; this was the price of walking away with anyone left alive.
Casius pushed a small velvet box across the table. It opened on its own.
Inside was a platinum band. No stones, no decoration—just a thin serpent etched on the inside. It would've looked plain to anyone else. Kairen knew better.
"His Lordship included a personal directive," Casius said, tapping the implant at his wrist.
The air shimmered. A projection materialized,dark colors bleeding into one another, the scent signature of an Enigma. Even translated into light, it filled the room with an intensity that made the space feel smaller.
Then came the voice.
"General Aethel."
Kairen went still.
"I remember your scent on that ridge three years ago," the voice said, calm and unhurried. "Honey and crushed leaves. Fear so sharp it tasted like surrender. I told myself I'd claim it one day."
A beat of silence followed slow, intentional, taunting.
"I own it now."
The projection pulsed. Kairen's jaw tightened.
"This ring is your leash. You'll wear it. You'll enroll as Kai Stryker. You'll hunt down whoever stole my research. You'll report to Professor Aris Vaughn my eyes, my hands, and, when necessary, your discipline."
The voice softened in a way that made Kairen's stomach twist.
"In nine months, you'll come to the Spire ready to give me the heir the Dynasty requires. Until then, leave your military pride behind. I don't need it."
A final drop, lower, almost a whisper:
"I prefer my Primarchs on their knees."
The projection vanished.
Casius let out a shaky breath like he'd been underwater.
Kairen didn't move. He stared at the ring. When he finally picked it up, his hand was steady. It was only when he slid it on that the tremor hit.
The metal tightened instantly, fitting itself to him. Heat flooded the band, followed by a soft internal click tracking activated, pheromone monitoring engaged, ownership confirmed.
Casius was already halfway out the door, eager to get away from the situation before any of it splashed onto him.
Kairen stood alone.
Nine months.
Two hundred and seventy-four days until he'd be summoned to the Spire like livestock being collected.
He flexed his hand. The ring tightened barely, just enough to remind him he wasn't imagining it. Somewhere far above, behind steel and guards and wealth, Zyrus Vahn was probably smiling.
Kairen let his own smile curl small, sharp, nothing pleasant about it.
Let him wait.
The shuttle to Obsidian University left in forty minutes. He had a new identity to learn, a professor to mislead, and a husband to kill once he got the chance.
He walked out without looking back.
The ring burned