The first thought that flashed through my mind was that I had to run.
But my body wouldn’t move.
It wasn’t fear or shock that paralyzed me.
It was Raizen’s pheromones, which had swallowed me whole, preventing me from moving.
‘His strength… it’s too much…!’
It felt like gravity itself.
The only thing I could manage was clenching my legs to keep from collapsing.
My legs trembled violently.
No—honestly, my whole body had been trembling for a while now.
‘I’m scared.’
I tried desperately to deny it, but it was useless.
My heart pounded chaotically, overwhelmed by a growing fear.
Was this what it felt like to be a herbivore caught in the gaze of a top predator?
Once you’re spotted, there’s no escape — only the grim acceptance of death remains.
Could a person really make another person feel this kind of terror?
I had never experienced it before, yet somehow my body already knew.
‘Ah, this is… pheromones.’
As a recessive omega, I… had no way of escaping from a dominant alpha during a rut cycle.
[Hey! Get a hold of yourself—!!]
Seol’s voice suddenly cut off with a loud thud!
I tried to turn my head toward him, startled, but the pheromones binding my body refused to allow even that.
“…?!”
The pheromones, which had so far focused only on suppressing me, began to caress my body softly.
Like soothing a terrified prey, it was gentle and—
“Ugh…!”
Wherever Raizen’s pheromones brushed against me, heat flared up.
They lightly grazed up my waist, then lingered insistently on the nape of my neck.
I bit my lower lip hard, desperately trying to stifle the moan that threatened to escape.
It was no different from sexual harassment.
And yet — the real problem was my body.
My body — my pheromones — were welcoming Raizen’s pheromones.
‘Fuck…’
A wildfire of heat spread explosively through my body.
My vision blurred, and my strength began to drain away.
Then, from deep inside me, a slow, throbbing sensation rose — something unfamiliar yet instinctively recognizable.
‘My heat cycle has started.’
Raizen’s pheromones had relentlessly stimulated mine until my body was forced into heat.
Before I knew it, Raizen was right in front of me.
My mind was a mess, and I couldn’t even properly make out his face.
“Sei.”
‘Goddamn it. Stop saying my name, you bastard.’
Of course, I couldn’t even voice that thought.
Not even a short answer came out.
The body that had barely managed to stay upright finally collapsed into Raizen’s arms, as if it had been waiting for this moment.
As he embraced me, I felt my body lift off the ground.
And when my feet touched the floor again — it was a different place altogether.
∗ ∗ ∗
Raizen had brought Sean to an isolated villa.
It was called a villa, but whenever the owner came, all the servants had to vacate.
The place was managed by loyal, tight-lipped retainers who had worked for the House of Pantheon for a long time.
Outwardly, they said nothing, but deep down, most thought of this villa not as a home — but as a prison.
A prison Raizen locked himself in whenever his rut cycle hit.
They pitied their young master for choosing such hardships.
But this wasn’t anyone else’s decision — it was Raizen’s own wish.
With a crackling sound, black-red sparks flashed around Raizen and vanished.
His feverish red eyes briefly glanced at the walls, where faint burn marks remained.
He had shattered the binding spell he had once placed on himself — the magic meant to keep his heat-crazed self from even moving beyond the room.
At the same time, he raised a barrier that prevented anyone from entering, even driving out the few remaining servants from the villa.
What was left now in this room was only instinct, as raw and desperate as a starving beast.
Raizen meticulously built his fortress, making sure that not even a grand mage could break in.
No one would be able to take away the mate he had finally found again.
During a rut, Raizen’s rational mind would usually be obliterated — but this time was different.
With Sean finally back in his arms, Raizen’s instincts now wielded greater strength than ever before.
Raizen should never have faced Sean.
He shouldn’t have let even the faintest trace of Sean’s pheromones touch him.
But after enduring alone for over a year, Raizen had convinced himself he could control his instincts — only to find himself utterly defeated when he finally saw Sean emerge after a long seclusion.
Everything happened swiftly.
After reinforcing the entire room with magic one last time, Raizen turned his gaze.
Lying curled up on the bed was Sean.
Raizen chuckled like a lion who had just filled its belly.
“Sei.”
Just saying his name made Raizen’s mouth sweet.
Breathing in Sean’s pheromones made it finally feel like he could breathe again.
Though Sean’s heat cycle had just begun and wasn’t nearly enough to satisfy Raizen —he still found him unbearably lovable.
If it wasn’t enough… he could just devour him until he was full.
He had all the time in the world.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Raizen gently stroked Sean’s hair.
The lifeless brown strands slipped through his fingers.
Raizen didn’t care what Sean looked like — but seeing him wearing someone else’s face after all this time… it irked him.
He missed the real Sean.
At the same time, he felt jealous of this ordinary facade he had chosen.
Who had Sean modeled this appearance after?
Even if parts had been altered, there must’ve been an original model…
As he mused, Raizen brushed Sean’s hair again.
And from the place his fingers touched, the brown color slowly melted away — revealing a brilliant silver beneath.
The magic artifact, supposedly unbreakable without the owner’s consent even by a grand mage,
was undone as easily as breathing by Raizen’s touch.
Of course, the backlash for forcing so much magic showed — veins bulged along Raizen’s forehead and arms, and the taste of blood filled the back of his throat.
But he didn’t care.
He only gazed, almost entranced, at Sean’s true form finally revealed before him.
“You’re beautiful. mSo beautiful.”
Raizen pressed a kiss onto Sean’s hair.
Every time his hands touched him, the way Sean’s body trembled with flinches was unbearably adorable.
‘Mine.’
‘The omega who manifested with me, who had been marked with my pheromones and protected, tamed during his four years of slumber — mine.’
His erection had long since become painful, but Raizen didn’t rush.
Rather, he savored the moment leisurely — savoring how Sean flustered helplessly under his touch and pheromones.
Still, Raizen, too, was nearing his limit.
He rose, no longer content to hover near Sean’s head, and instead moved up over Sean’s body.
Carefully, he tilted Sean’s desperately averted face toward him.
Flushed, tightly shut eyes, furrowed brows, tiny beads of sweat on his face.
Tears welling between his closed lashes.
Was he hurting?
At first, Raizen had used a bit of strong pheromones, but by now, it should only be sexually stimulating — nothing more.
Besides, it was a body he had spent four long years taming for exactly this.
— Ah, excessive stimulation can be painful, too.
Realizing this, Raizen smiled sweetly.
It pleased him terribly that Sean was in pain for the same reason as he was.
He brushed his tongue against the falling tear — surprisingly sweet.
In that moment, something surged up violently inside him.
“You said it yourself,” Raizen whispered, “you and I are the only ones in this world.”
‘Then why did you leave me? I was…’
“Without you… I was so lonely.”
But it’s all right now.
‘Because from now on, we’ll be together forever.’
Smiling faintly, Raizen devoured Sean’s lips.
He savored the soft, pliant texture and relentlessly tapped with his tongue until Sean’s mouth finally opened.
Everything was unbearably sweet.
