Akira freezes. His heart hammers against his ribs like a trapped bird. He tries to run, but his legs feel like lead under the weight of their predatory gaze. One of the Brutes—a leader with scarred shoulders and an intimidating presence—steps forward, the air around her shimmering with a territorial aura.

Akira Shiramine has always been a "boy of the indoors." With soft features and a slender build, he knows he is exactly the kind of prey the outside world hungers for. However, when his younger sister falls ill with a rare fever, and the only clinic with the serum is three blocks past the Safe Zone’s perimeter, Akira realizes he can’t wait for a courier who might never come.

"A little lamb lost his way," one growls, her voice a deep, vibrating rumble.

Disguised in an oversized poncho and a heavy mask, Akira slips through the rusted maintenance gate. The air outside is thick with a heavy, musky scent—the pheromones of the Brutes.

He is only halfway to the clinic when he hears it: the heavy, rhythmic thud of combat boots on cracked asphalt. From the shadows of a collapsed parking garage, three towering figures emerge. They are muscular, imposing, and radiate an aggressive heat that Akira can feel from yards away.

The first chapter ends as a massive hand reaches out, catching Akira by the hood of his poncho, pulling him back into the shadows where the real "lesson" begins.