I only realized belatedly that he’d called my name. Blinking, I snapped back to reality: we stood in the middle of the road, motionless. Nathaniel Miller looked down at me, his frown etched with irritation.“What do you think you’re doing?”His calm voice carried clear reproach. I bristled, then let my true feelings surface.“You’re the one who cut me off! What kind of driving is that?”One of his eyebrows twitched briefly—so fleeting I almost missed it, yet it told me everything. Without a word, he turned his head and eyed my battered car jammed against his Jaguar. He shifted his gaze back to me with a single, deliberate glance—and I flinched.Damn this scent.Amid the city’s exhaust-laden air, that absurdly sweet fragrance lingered persistently. If I kept inhaling it, I felt I’d lose my mind—or lash out and ruin everything. I ground my teeth and glared up at him, daring him to stare back. If only I were four inches taller—no, six—so I wouldn’t feel like such prey. I wasn’t particularly short, but he towered over me, every sinew of his lean, sculpted body made more formidable by perfect proportions. Most Alphas were attractive, but this man was extraordinary. Was it an Extreme-Alpha thing? Did they all radiate such power?In any other situation—and if he weren’t an Alpha—I might have found him attractive.Thinking that made my blood boil, wounded my pride, and my expression hardened. My mind also buzzed with the memory of my stepfather’s touch, distracting me further.But he showed not a flicker of expression—apart from that one eyebrow. He drew deeply on a cigarette, then exhaled slowly. Only now did I notice he’d been smoking. Thankfully, the smoke mingled with his pheromones, diluting their potency.“So,” he said, smoke curling from his lips, “what do you intend to do about this situation?”I knew responsibility lay on my side, but he’d been reckless too. I wanted to flash a confident smile and promise to handle the damages myself—but I couldn’t.He stood before me: his Jaguar and my wreck. I had to survive—financially, biologically. I raised my voice.“You share responsibility for causing this accident! Don’t try to pin everything on me—you’re capable of basic decency, aren’t you?”He remained impassive, though I swore I saw his brow tighten. He wasn’t pleased.Abruptly, he raised a hand. I jolted, but he merely swept the cigarette from his mouth and brushed his hair back. Mortified by my overreaction, I fell silent.Haah.He sighed, exuding boredom so intense I thought it could kill. His indigo eyes darkened. When they met mine, an old phrase flickered through my mind: When you gaze into the abyss…“Are you saying it’s my fault?” His voice was still calm, but the lack of any inflection sent a chill through me.I opened my mouth to argue shared fault—then his hand shot forward, enormous and open.“What—”Before I could finish, his palm was on my neck, dragging me forward. With a harsh crunch, my body slammed onto the hood. Pain came next—a dull ache that escaped in a strangled groan.It didn’t end there. He stood behind me, pressing my throat against the cold metal. His fingers clamped around my windpipe as he raised the cigarette again. He inhaled deeply, then exhaled in a long plume.“Say it again.” His voice remained eerily even.His grip tightened. I struggled, but he laughed softly—then pressed four fingers precisely against my carotid artery.Instantly, my air vanished. My face burned crimson, my heart hammered uncontrollably, yet no air reached my lungs. As oxygen-starved darkness closed in, he calmly smoked his cigarette.Oh God.Beyond the fog of fear, I felt it—his arousal. As he strangled me, he was growing hard. Even as my vision flickered with black spots, the rigid length pressing against my backside felt unreal in its clarity.You insane... monster...!When his hand weakened and slid from my throat, my pounding heart caught his quiet voice.“So.” He lifted the cigarette again, that infuriatingly languid tone in his words. “Whose fault is it, Prosecutor Chrissy Jin?”I refused to admit that his chokehold excited him. The thought was unimaginable terror. Yet it was undeniable—and I didn’t want to die. If ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) I didn’t humble myself, he would kill me here.My lips opened, but no words came. My dry throat cracked as I fought to speak.All I had to say was “I’m sorry,” and it would be over. Tell him I was foolish to defy a brilliant Extreme Alpha like him, that every fault lay with me.Nathaniel Miller could never be wrong.A wave of helpless fury swept through me. I wanted to live, but I refused to break. With defiance blazing in my eyes, I glared up at him as he loomed above, as if he might crush me like an ant for amusement.Haah. He exhaled another smoke ring. The cigarette, burned to its glowing filter, wobbled between his long fingers. He smirked faintly. The ember’s red glow filled my vision, and I found myself transfixed by the promise of its heat. Ah—was that Fire Dance?

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