The pitch-dark, cramped cabinet was like a tiny sanctuary, keeping danger and the noisy chaos of the outside world at bay.
Yan Yi lay curled in the down-filled nest, quietly listening to the alpha ramble over the phone, filling the silence with words.
“What surgery are you going to have?” The alpha sounded persistently concerned.
Yan Yi refused to answer.
“Where are you now?” the alpha pressed.
Yan Yi whispered, “In the cabinet… pregnant… my belly is swelling… I need to stay in the nest.”
He thought he heard something crash on the other end, followed by an expletive muttered beyond the receiver: “I’m fucking—”
The alpha’s breathing was noticeably heavier than before: “You have an alpha? Why isn’t there a mark? Why is he letting you get pregnant if you’re supposed to have surgery? What kind of… alpha is this?”
Yan Yi shrank smaller, his soft rabbit ears curling like a cream cheese roll in alarm. “You’re so loud,” he murmured.
The alpha paused, lowering his voice.
Yan Yi touched his slightly rounded belly. “It’s not his fault… It happened maybe ten days ago. I didn’t know about the surgery then. Looks like I’ll have to postpone it.”
The alpha fell silent.
Had he slept through parts of university physiology? An omega just over ten days pregnant shouldn’t even show a bump yet, much less have a noticeable one.
He asked in puzzlement, “Are you sure? Is there someone with you? You were so uncomfortable before, and no one helped… did I have to travel all that way… just to bring you snacks?”
Afraid of offending the little rabbit, he didn’t continue.
That night, the alpha stayed with Yan Yi in the hospital room, continuously releasing calming pheromones, stroking him, trying to ease his discomfort. Much of this care was drawn by Yan Yi’s own pheromones.
From the moment they first met at the highway gas station, the alpha felt a pull he could only describe as temptation. They should be highly compatible.
As long as this lop-eared rabbit remained unmarked, every alpha in the world had a chance to pursue him. Especially one so pretty, so enticing.
Yan Yi lay on his side in the nest, voice lazy and slightly hoarse: “Don’t call me again. My alpha treats me very well. He hasn’t been around just because he’s busy with work.”
Today, he had held Yan Yi’s hand—and that small gesture allowed Yan Yi to imagine the fullness of affection he craved.
Before he could finish, the cabinet door was flung open. The blinding light made Yan Yi’s ears snap upright. He raised his arms to shield his eyes. The phone slipped into a corner, still connected.
Lu Shangjin looked down at him: “Why are you hiding here? The hospital just called—the omega ahead of you in the schedule transferred to another facility. Your gland exchange surgery can happen tomorrow. Come with me to prepare.”
Yan Yi’s eyes squinted against the light: “I don’t want to… I’ll do it later… I’m… pregnant…”
“What are you doing again?” Lu Shangjin was displeased at his repeated defiance today. He grabbed Yan Yi’s wrist, roughly dragging him out of the cabinet and letting him fall at his feet.
Pregnant rabbits could be aggressive—irritable and quick to anger. Yan Yi, provoked by this threatening gesture, clutched Lu Shangjin’s forearm.
Normally, he could repel any threat several meters away, but with his gland continuously in a dormant state due to medication, he was weak—soft as a vine draped across Lu Shangjin’s sleeve, ready to snap at the slightest touch.
He could only curl protectively around his belly in the corner, keeping a wary eye on Lu Shangjin: “I’m not having surgery. Don’t come near me.”
Lu Shangjin forcibly seized Yan Yi’s arm, trying to drag him outside: “Come here.”
Yan Yi struggled desperately, trying to free his hand from the iron-like grip. He was like a little rabbit caught in the talons of a peregrine—completely powerless, left only to await being pecked, torn apart, his bloodied bones left in the wilderness, devoured by ants until only a snow-white skeleton remained.
“Stay away!” Yan Yi shouted, eyes red, kicking at Lu Shangjin’s calf.
Even a small rabbit, when bracing a kick against an eagle, could inflict some damage.
Pain shot through Lu Shangjin’s calf, like a droplet hitting concentrated acid. He instantly exploded, scooping up Yan Yi and carrying him out of the mansion, tossing him down the steps.
“Move,” he said.
Lu Shangjin climbed into the car, reversing and turning with practiced impatience, raising a cloud of dust as he left Yan Yi helplessly sitting on the cobblestones behind, gradually disappearing from the rearview mirror.
His contacts list held a row of docile, compliant omegas waiting for him to claim. He had given Yan Yi far too much attention.
The phone, left in the cabinet, still glowed. On the other end, the alpha listened to the chaotic, tension-filled argument gradually fading into the distance.
Veins bulging, the alpha gripped the phone. Hearing the clear disparity in power in the confrontation, the little rabbit was far too weak, and with who-knows-what growing in his belly, this fight had become a one-sided domestic assault.
He carefully picked out the familiar alpha’s voice.
“Lu Shangjin?”
Many knew Lu Shangjin had a family—a reclusive, gentle, virtuous omega wife.
No one expected this seemingly harmonious image to conceal such conflict.