CHAPTER 73: BOULDERS

🌙𝐋𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐡

The High Alpha’s mansion wasn’t large in the way slick modern homes or futurist condos were—all glass and showmanship. It wasn’t built in the grandiose, competitive way the wealthy and affluent built theirs, nor was it understated.

It simply was.

The mansion was, in a way, a well-thought-out extension of Vladimir. It loomed like a castle without being one. Imposing, not arrogant—a monument to restraint, not vanity. Every line, every plane of glass, every steel frame built with exactitude, just like him. Even the air felt regulated, like spontaneity was a mortal threat to its architecture.

It was cold and impersonal, yet it breathed.

But that was not the biggest similarity between Vladimir and the domain he called home.

It mirrored his impeccable symmetry, but something was unsettling it all.

Like the perfectionism was a facade itself. That just like Vladimir, his home held secrets.

That was how I felt as I walked through unfamiliar corridors with Dmitri. I moved closer to him, my eyes tempted to dart about.

The hallways seemed to stretch on forever, a labyrinth. If I had no guide, I would be lost by the first turn.

This was the best and worst place to be chased down by a serial killer. The hairs on the back on the neck rose and I scrambled forward faster just as we made another turn, in a new flight of stairs.

Up we went, to the third floor. The moment I stepped into the final stair and unto the floor, it was no longer my mind...

It was the smell that wafted past my face, and traveled futher into the third floor hall way as if beckoning me to follow.

Vladimir.

The scent was his, there was no doubt about it.

It was the same distinct smell of new snow just as if fell, mingled with cold steel, yet somehow this was this different.

Stronger, startling...

It was like standing in the heart of a winter storm instead of watching it through a window. There was no barrier to it, it was exposed, unreigned, raw.

It was alive, demanding, a frequency that resonated my bones. Demanding I come, and get engulfed.

I wanted to...

When I finally found the focus I had not known I had lost in the first place. I found myself walking alone through the hallway towards what I knew was danger.

I could feel Kaia’s intrigue and attraction as well as my own.

A hand on my shoulder snapped me out of it, I snapped back to see Dmitri there.

A worried, apprehension look in the depths of his eyes. "You can’t be here, Lilith. Let’s go."

I wanted to ask what it was, what was dragging me towards something I could not even put a name to. But I bit back my questions, knowing that I would only begin to ramble.

I did not even know when I had left his side. He took my hand and pulled me back towards the stairs we had taken get up here, then we took another turn into a glass-walled corridor that opened onto the east courtyard.

I stopped breathing for the second time that morning. It wasn’t a courtyard at all. It was a cathedral of concrete and steel. Two stories of cold, unforgiving space stretched before me, floor-to-ceiling glass on three sides flooding it with harsh natural light. Polished concrete floors. Black steel beams.

An upper level walkway that overlooked everything—a place to watch. To judge. The space was massive. Empty. Beautiful in the way a blade is beautiful. Sharp. Purposeful. Designed to cut. "This is where we’ll train," Dmitri said quietly.

Within the large space that made me feel nothing but overwhelmed and insignificant where what were training equipment.

There were a barrage of dummies, but not made of wood and a stuffed fabric. These dummies looked like their beefed up older cousins that would bully them just for the fun of it.

Matte metallic supports that still somehow managed to shine, wrapped in black reinforced fabric that looked like it could take a beating—and had. Deep gouges and scars marked their surfaces, evidence of countless strikes.

They stood in formation like silent sentinels. Waiting.

Beyond them, massive natural stone boulders sat scattered across the polished concrete like discarded sculptures. Some were waist-high. Others towered above me, easily six feet tall, their surfaces rough and unforgiving.

My throat went dry.

To the left, a climbing wall rose the full height of the two-story space. But it wasn’t like the colorful rock walls I’d seen in gyms. This was brutal minimalism—smooth concrete with industrial metal holds scattered at cruel intervals. Some sections had barely any grips at all.

I swallowed hard and kept looking.

The far wall—behind security glass that gleamed like ice—was lined with weapons. Swords. Staffs. Training knives. Throwing blades. Everything arranged with the same cold precision as the rest of Vladimir’s domain.

"We’ll start with—"

"The boulders."

I JUMPED.

The voice came from directly behind me. So close I felt the words brush against my neck.

I whipped around—

And found myself inches from Vladimir’s chest.

I stumbled back a step, but he was THERE. Right there. Close enough that I had to tilt my head up to meet his eyes.

The scent hit me like a physical blow.

Not the distant, concentrated version from the third floor. This was HIM. Real. Present. ALIVE.

New snow and cold steel—but underneath, something else. Something that made my pulse spike and my skin flush hot.

Musky. Raw. MALE. Not different from what I’d smelled before.

My breath caught.

His pale eyes locked on mine. Intense. Focused. Almost... primal.

Like he was seeing through me. Into me.The air between us felt CHARGED.

For a heartbeat—maybe two—neither of us moved.

Then something shifted in his expression. A muscle in his jaw ticked. His eyes cleared, sharpening back to that cold, controlled gaze I’d come to expect.

The mask slid back into place.

Today will be for boulders," he said, voice rough. Husky. Like he’d just woken up or been silent for too long. "Training strength. You’ll push them. Drag them. Move them until your muscles give out."

He paused, eyes still holding mine.

"Then you’ll do it again. And again. Until you can CARRY them."

I tried to find words. Any words.

Failed.

He stepped past me—so close his shoulder nearly brushed mine—and walked to the center of the training facility where the largest boulder sat.

It was massive. Easily six feet tall. Had to weigh several hundred pounds at least.

Vladimir stopped beside it. Didn’t pause. Didn’t brace himself.

Just reached down with ONE HAND—

And LIFTED.

The boulder rose like it weighed nothing. Like it was made of foam instead of solid stone.

He held it at shoulder height. Muscles didn’t even strain. Breathing didn’t change. Pale eyes found mine across the distance.

"This is your goal," he said quietly. "For the next few days."

He set the boulder down with perfect control. Not a sound. Not a crack in the concrete.

Then straightened.

"Dmitri will handle the training. I’ll be observing."

His gaze flicked to the upper walkway. The place to watch. To judge.

His gaze flicked to the upper walkway. The place to watch. To judge.

"Don’t disappoint me, Miss Brooks."

I doubt he ever called me by my surname. It sounded so impassive, nothing like the smothering heat of his gaze on me.

He turned and walked away. Footsteps echoing in the massive space.

Up the stairs to the observation level.

Where he would WATCH.

I stood there, heart hammering, skin still flushed, the ghost of his scent lingering in my lungs.