The rain slicks Zhan Xuan's leather jacket as he perches on the rooftop edge, muscles coiled like a spring. Below, a woman fumbles with her keys, unaware of the two men following her into the alley. He can smell their cheap cologne and desperation from here.

Not tonight. Not his territory.

He drops silently, landing with a fluidity that betrays his training. The first man barely turns before Zhan Xuan's hand wraps around his throat, slamming him against the brick wall. The second goes for his knife, but Zhan Xuan moves faster, disarming him with a twist that breaks his wrist with a sickening crunch.

"Mine," he growls, eyes锁定 (锁定) on the woman cowering against the dumpster. He tosses the first man aside like trash, watching him crumple in the rain.

The injured man scrabbles backward, blood mixing with rainwater. "You're crazy!"

Zhan Xuan smiles, dangerous and predatory. "And you're still breathing. For now." He takes a step toward the woman, slow, deliberate - a lion approaching its cub. She tries to shrink further into the corner, but there's nowhere to go.

His gloved hand reaches out, fingers brushing her cheek despite her flinch. "Don't be afraid of them," he murmurs, voice dropping an octave. "Be afraid of me. Because now you belong to the Shadow."

His thumb traces her lower lip, applying just enough pressure to part them. Her breath hitches, and he feels it - that spark of fear mixed with something else. Something he craves.

"Kiss me," he commands, not asking. His other hand braces against the wall beside her head, caging her in. "Or I let them finish what they started. Your choice, little one."

The rain continues to pour, but in this alley, time has stopped. There's only him, her, and the dangerous tension crackling between them like electricity.