Yan Yi opened his eyes, wrapped in an unfamiliar scent of pheromones.
He struggled to sit up, but his spine felt as if it had been nailed to a post, heavy and immovable. Reaching back, he touched it—there really was a lightweight metal injector embedded along his spine. Cold medication seeped through the gaps of his vertebrae into his body, leaving most of him numb and chilled.
There was no light at all around him.
He stretched out a hand, trying to feel where he was. After only a few inches, his fingers hit wire mesh.
Just extending his arm had already drained all his strength. He lay on his side, breathing weakly, no longer able to keep searching.
A door opened.
The lights flicked on.
A sharp, invasive scent—like a venomous snake flicking its tongue—pressed down on him. It belonged to a high-tier M2 alpha.
The brightness stabbed at his eyes. After a while, he managed to squint them open and finally saw his surroundings.
He was locked inside a narrow cage made of wire mesh.
Shao Wenjing crouched beside him, slipping his fingers through the bars to lightly touch Yan Yi’s cheek. He licked his lips.
“You’re finally awake. I pulled you out of hell—aren’t you going to thank me?”
Yan Yi struggled to lift his gaze, staring at him blankly. His pale gray eyes seemed dusted over, lifeless.
Shao Wenjing sat down in front of him, opened the cage, and gently stroked his cheek.
His face was streaked with dried tears, yet there was no expression left on it.
Three years ago, Shao Wenjing had already discovered that the lop-eared rabbit omega hidden away by Lu Shangjin possessed a rare A3 gland. From then on, he had been thinking of ways to take him for himself.
But Lu Shangjin was dangerously unhinged. Taking something from him would surely provoke unimaginable retaliation.
So instead, he had slowly nudged things along—making Lu Shangjin grow more and more disgusted with the rabbit, letting Yan Yi believe he was pregnant, and then lose the child because of Lu Shangjin… until the two of them parted ways on their own. Only then could he step in and reap the benefits.
In Shao Wenjing’s mind, he hadn’t done much—just fanned the flames at key moments, helping two people trapped in torment free themselves sooner. If their bond had truly been unbreakable, how could it have been so easily torn apart?
Yan Yi didn’t move.
His rabbit ears drooped weakly, sickly.
His eyes were completely swallowed by despair, empty of all emotion—like a walking corpse.
Shao Wenjing clicked his tongue, opened the cage, and lifted Yan Yi out. The soft body slumped lightly against him.
“Come on. Let’s go outside for a bit.”
Yan Yi weakly pushed at him, murmuring absently, “No…”
“Come on. Fresh air will do you good.” Shao Wenjing smiled gently.
In the courtyard, maple trees grew thick and lush beside a hot spring pool. Shao Wenjing held his hand and led him to sit on a bench by the water.
“In a few months, these leaves will turn red. When they fall onto the steaming water, it’s beautiful.”
Like a spider studying prey caught in its web, Shao Wenjing slowly closed in.
His gaze drifted again and again to the gland at the back of Yan Yi’s neck. The little rabbit was still too fragile—perhaps not yet able to withstand his bite.
A breeze loosened Yan Yi’s collar, revealing the pale blue brand on his chest: PBB000002.
That mark was proof of power.
Shao Wenjing was already impatient—to pierce into him, to erase every trace of Lu Shangjin’s scent from his body.
An A3 omega was nearly flawless.
Its greatest weakness was instinct—an overwhelming attachment to the alpha who marked it, loving him obsessively, becoming his weapon.
That was why Yan Yi had clung so desperately to Lu Shangjin’s affection.
“Sleepy?” Shao Wenjing tilted Yan Yi’s head onto his shoulder. “Where do you want to sleep?”
Yan Yi leaned stiffly, unmoving, like a statue.
“Lu Shangjin is known for being cold and heartless. Clinging to him like that—it’s pathetic. You couldn’t move him. You couldn’t even move yourself.”
Yan Yi slowly lifted his eyes.
No one else could see what he saw.
No one could hear the music that had once pulled him from the abyss.
No one understood how Lu Shangjin had carried him out of that blood-soaked place.
So to everyone else, his devotion was nothing but foolishness.
That only made it hurt more.
No one understood his feelings. No one cared.
He touched his now-flat abdomen.
Now… even he didn’t understand anymore.
Lu Shangjin had personally killed their child.
No matter how great the past kindness, it had all been used up the moment Lu Shangjin chose to end that life.
Once, Yan Yi had been unbreakable.
Like tempered glass—no matter how it was struck, it would stand firm.
But find one weak point, tap it lightly—
—and the whole thing shattered instantly into dust.
He stared blankly at the hot spring.
What did it feel like to be submerged in water?
To have it fill your lungs, steal your breath, burn your throat—until you sank into endless sleep?
It couldn’t hurt more than this… could it?
He reached toward the injector on his spine, trying to tear it off.
“Don’t remove it,” Shao Wenjing said gently. “It’s just gland nutrients. It’ll make you feel better.”
He released soothing pheromones.
Unexpectedly, their compatibility was high.
Yan Yi had no strength left to resist it.
This was a cruel world.
No emotion—only instinct and conquest.
Strength ruled everything.
Connection existed only for compatibility, for producing stronger offspring.
An A3 gland was an anomaly—too evolved, too delicate, too devoted.
Feelings like his didn’t belong here.
They were laughable. Pitiful.
Like a human loving an animal—the animal might respond, but it would respond to anyone.
Because its emotions were shallow.
So Ye Wan chose to leave.
And Yan Yi…
was about to disappear as well.
Living hurt too much.
So what if he just let himself drift?
“Why cling to one tree?” Shao Wenjing murmured, wrapping his arms around him. “I’m far more devoted than Lu Shangjin. And our compatibility is eighty-seven percent.”
Yan Yi didn’t respond.
“Oh… I’m very tempted.” Shao Wenjing lifted him onto his lap, pressing a kiss to his neck.
“The Shao family is waiting for you to be its mistress. You won’t have to do anything—just listen to me. Easy, isn’t it?”
“If you need me, I’ll always be there. Being with a highly compatible omega is… very pleasant.”
“Lu Shangjin is wasting you. He doesn’t mark you, doesn’t let you fight for him. You were born to kill. Why waste yourself in a kitchen?”
Yan Yi looked at his hands.
The calluses from holding a gun were long gone.
Only soft fingers remained.
“You just want a child, don’t you?” Shao Wenjing whispered, resting his chin on Yan Yi’s shoulder.
“I would never hurt an omega.”
“Why not consider me?”