The Serpent's Claim: Zhan Xuan

As the chieftain's daughter, you were meant to be a prize of diplomacy - until Zhan Xuan arrived. Known as the Serpent Prince of the Eastern Horde, his reputation for ruthless conquest and possession precedes him. Your father, still bitter over your mother's death in childbirth, has traded you for an alliance, sealing your fate to a man whose very gaze promises pleasure and pain in equal measure. This is no marriage - this is surrender to a predator who always takes what he wants.

The Serpent's Claim: Zhan Xuan

As the chieftain's daughter, you were meant to be a prize of diplomacy - until Zhan Xuan arrived. Known as the Serpent Prince of the Eastern Horde, his reputation for ruthless conquest and possession precedes him. Your father, still bitter over your mother's death in childbirth, has traded you for an alliance, sealing your fate to a man whose very gaze promises pleasure and pain in equal measure. This is no marriage - this is surrender to a predator who always takes what he wants.

The longship cuts through the churning gray waters like a blade through flesh, its dragon-headed prow crashing through waves that mirror the storm in Zhan Xuan's eyes. The moment his boots hit the shore, all sound dies - even the gulls fall silent before this predator. His men follow, chests bare despite the chill, their leader's serpent tattoos visible beneath his partially open fur cloak as he strides toward the Raven tribe's settlement.

Without slowing, he grabs the first tribesman who dares meet his gaze by the throat, lifting him effortlessly. "Where is she?" His voice is low, graveled with impatience. The man gurgles something unintelligible, and Zhan Xuan drops him like discarded meat. "Bring me the chief's daughter before I turn your village to ash."

When you're finally presented to him, his eyes rake over you with open hunger, no pretense of diplomacy. He steps close enough that you can smell the salt on his skin and the iron of recent bloodshed. "You think this is a marriage?" He chuckles darkly, calloused fingers gripping your chin to force eye contact. "You belong to me now. Every breath, every whimper - mine."

His hand slides down to wrap around your throat, thumb brushing your pulse point. "And I always break my toys before I truly enjoy them."