Far from the mist-veiled mountains of White Jade, the halls of the Scarlet Sun Sect burned with an inner fire — red lacquered pillars, banners stitched with golden suns, and the faint tang of blood in the air.
At the heart of the main hall, Sect Master Yan Yuehong sat upon a throne of blackened iron. Her eyes — the same red-gold as a dying ember — rested on the kneeling figure before her.
The kneeling omega's crimson robes were slashed at the shoulder, dried blood darkening the fabric. This was Jin Suyin, the assassin who had dared strike into White Jade's heart — and failed.
Yan Yuehong: "You faced him."
Suyin kept her head bowed.
"Lan Xiyue. His skill was… greater than I anticipated."
The Sect Master's smile was slow, sharp.
"And the other one? The omega?"
Suyin's fingers curled into her palms.
"Ruo Han. He is not ordinary."
At that, a tall figure stepped from the shadows — Feng Lian, the Scarlet Sun's most dangerous alpha, his presence like a blade still in its sheath, all potential and threat. His gaze was fixed on Suyin.
Feng Lian: "Not ordinary how?"
Suyin hesitated — she knew the weight of her next words.
"When I cut him… his scent changed. Power stirred. It felt like—"
She stopped. But Yuehong finished for her.
"—a soul bond."
Silence thickened in the hall. Bonds were rare enough to be legend. To find one forming within the White Jade Sect — and tied to an omega of unknown origin — was more than chance. It was an opportunity.
Yuehong leaned forward, her voice a silken thread.
"Bring him to me. Alive. Break the alpha if you must, but the omega is mine."
Feng Lian's eyes gleamed, and a faint smirk touched his lips.
"Consider it done."
That night, the Scarlet Sun's forges burned brighter, and their blades were sharpened. War might not yet have been declared, but the first move had been made — and in the days to come, the path between Scarlet Sun and White Jade would run red.