February 14, 2016, 11:00 PM
——
In the small bonfire town of Keldivia, burning pine logs shot sparks into the black night sky, drifting upward with the wind.
Yan Yi walked through the echoing narrow alleys, the hem of his trench coat flaring with each gust. He carried a 590M shotgun whose barrel was already overheated, supporting his left lower abdomen from a gunshot wound. He stepped over several hyena-alpha bodies riddled with buckshot, his black, strapped combat boots sticky with congealed blood, each step leaving a tacky print on the ground.
Passing a flower shop, he saw the owner—a middle-aged beta whose glandular cells had not awakened or differentiated—huddled in the corner holding his child, hands trembling as he emptied every bill and coin from the cash register at Yan Yi’s feet, kneeling and begging in a quivering voice: “Don’t… don’t shoot… take the money… everything…”
The florist covered the child’s eyes and raised his head, pleading. Yan Yi, a handsome young omega, was dressed in a black butler suit beneath his trench coat, slender and tall, with soft light-gray hair from which two soft lop ears twitched slightly, brushing off the snowflakes landing on their tips.
It was this very omega who, at the end of the alley, had confronted a dozen J1-differentiated hyena alphas in ten jeeps, armed only with a camouflaged 590M shotgun. Against more than a dozen powerful, fast alphas, he had walked out alive—alone.
Yan Yi bent and plucked a rose from a vase on the counter, carefully removing the white netting meant to restrain its premature bloom. His bloodied hand, pale from blood loss and fatigue, held it gently as he tucked the flower into his chest pocket.
Lu Shangjin always liked aggressive flowers and strong fragrances. Yan Yi touched the back of his neck, where a tightly fitted black steel neck guard encased his glands—protecting the omega’s most vulnerable points in battle and masking the soft, sweet “candy” pheromones he emitted, so as not to rile Lu Shangjin.
At the intersection, a streetlamp had gone out. In the shadowy corner sat a silver-gray Porsche. Yan Yi leaned forward, knocking on the window:
“Sir, I’ve finished.”
Lu Shangjin opened his eyes, pushed the door, and pressed Yan Yi against the car, inspecting him like a graceful yet domineering leopard sizing up prey.
Yan Yi hung the shotgun strap over one shoulder and drew the rose from his pocket with his free hand, offering it with a small smile: “Sir, tonight you are like a black panther under the moon. I love you.”
Lu Shangjin responded with a fierce kiss, impatiently yanking off Yan Yi’s neck guard and pressing him to the car, licking the glands at the back of his neck while listening to the soft, submissive omega’s pained gasps.
Yan Yi murmured in self-praise: “Sir, the mission went very smoothly.”
He hoped this would lighten Lu Shangjin’s intensity a little.
Lu Shangjin remained unmoved: “That’s what you’re supposed to do.”
His hand pressed without hesitation against Yan Yi’s gunshot wound at his side. Yan Yi had to grit his teeth, enduring the excruciating pain the alpha bestowed with every act of intimacy—pain both terrifying and anticipated.
Lop-eared rabbits were an extremely fragile species.
Through the rearview mirror, Yan Yi looked at the tall, cold alpha behind him. If only his alpha would gently stroke his back or rest a hand lightly on his head, how comforting and blissful it would be. He curled his body, fantasizing about such reassurance.
In Lu Shangjin’s eyes, the all-capable bodyguard Yan Yi was a romantic, flirtatious little rabbit. In Yan Yi’s eyes, every confession was a bittersweet wish born from near-death experiences—a silent, fervent love for his alpha, wanting to reclaim him and make up for his past mistakes.
Exhausted, Yan Yi held onto the car door, no longer struggling, letting Lu Shangjin exert himself freely.
The glands on the back of his neck still bore the fine pain of newly grown skin from a recently removed mark, reminding Yan Yi that just a week ago, they had divorced. Or rather, it wasn’t even a formal divorce—just a breakup.
Lu Shangjin had cleared him out of the villa they had lived in so long. From then on, work was work, and love became a disconnected thread.
He knew it was his fault.
Their relationship was in the fragile phase of the “seven-year itch.” Lu Shangjin was often away, leaving Yan Yi alone in the empty villa.
When mating season came, Yan Yi could not relieve himself, enduring until his head throbbed painfully. Even after suppressants and painkillers, the discarded packaging littered the floor—he was still agonizing.
Finally unable to withstand it, he donned a coat, hat, and oversized scarf to conceal half his face, secretly entering a club and requesting a spider-alpha massage therapist.
The spider-alpha immediately began undressing as a matter of routine.
A mating-season omega showing up alone late at night left no doubt about his intentions. The spider-alpha didn’t waste words. This beautiful, cute little omega was destined for a fiery, sleepless night.
Unexpectedly, Yan Yi only removed his coat, wearing a soft, cozy home-knit sweater underneath. He lay face down on the massage table, shyly asking: “…Just the back, please. No need to undress.”
The spider-alpha was taken aback, running a hand through his styled highlights.
He spent the entire night massaging the little omega’s back.
The lop-eared rabbit turned comfortably, eyes half-open with sleep, gradually closing them as his breathing steadied. His curled lashes were like insect wings shedding morning dew, his small ears occasionally twitching.
The spider-alpha watched in awe, bending slightly to steal a kiss on the little rabbit’s forehead.
He was so adorable.
Adorable enough to forgo payment, staying up all night massaging.
A clean omega, yet the gland on the back of his neck bore a mark—already a married o—so no further advances were possible.
After Yan Yi comfortably endured his mating season under the spider-alpha’s care, he returned home to find Lu Shangjin waiting on the sofa, eyes sharp and questioning: “Where were you last night?”
Yan Yi hesitated, afraid telling the truth would anger Lu Shangjin, so he invented a vague excuse.
Lu Shangjin, however, threw a photo at his feet.
In it, the little lop-eared rabbit curled on the massage table while an elegant alpha leaned over, kissing his forehead in intimate proximity.
For an extremely possessive alpha, this was the barest provocation and insult. Given Lu Shangjin’s status as a second-stage peregrine alpha, he could not tolerate such blatant betrayal.
Yan Yi, in his early twenties, had argued too. At that time, they had broken up—
A battlefield couple without the guarantee of compatibility, who had endured gunfire and fought side by side, could not survive the fractures of the seven-year itch. Their passionate romance had crumbled into ruin.
——
Now, once again, Yan Yi was thrown outside.
In his wallet was a bank card he had saved while working for Lu Shangjin. After the breakup, he became an ordinary employee, receiving a fixed salary. Unlike other omega kept by alphas, Lu Shangjin had not given him a limitless card.
He had to find a warm, safe place for the baby in his belly.
Supporting his slightly rounded belly under a thin cashmere sweater, he wandered out of the Lu family garden, dazed and uncertain.