When Seo-Yun woke, he was no longer on the cold stone floor.
Now it was velvet.
His limbs sank into softness he didn't ask for—silk sheets, blood-colored and warm, tangled around his bare legs. His skin burned. Everything ached. He tried to move his hand but couldn't feel his fingers. His shoulder throbbed—someone had roughly popped it back into place, judging by the swelling and bruising that pulsed in slow waves up his arm.
There were no windows in the room. Only flickering torches mounted on iron sconces. Everything smelled like musk, smoke, and sweat.
And then there was himself.
The scent hit first. Not blood—though that was there too—but Omega. Pungent and sharp, sweet in a way that made him gag. It clung to the air, to his skin. He could still feel it inside him, leaking down his thigh, sticking to the sheets.
He shut his eyes.
No.
He didn't want to remember.
The collar around his throat was tighter than before. A faint hum buzzed at the base of his skull when he moved—Saren's tech, probably. Some kind of tracker, or monitor. He didn't care.
He wanted to die.
"You're awake." The voice came from across the room.
Seo-Yun flinched. A shadow stepped out of the darkness: Kaelith.
He wasn't dressed in his uniform this time. Just a loose shirt, open at the neck, and dark trousers. He looked almost… human like that. Almost.
Kaelith crossed the room slowly, boots thudding softly on the stone floor.
"I was wondering how long it'd take," he said. "You passed out before we even started the second round. Disappointing, but not unusual."
Seo-Yun didn't speak.
Kaelith sat on the edge of the bed. His weight shifted the mattress, bringing him too close. He reached out with a gloved hand and brushed Seo-Yun's hair back from his forehead like he was a doll.
"Still stubborn?" Kaelith murmured.
Seo-Yun finally looked at him. Just looked. His face was blank. Eyes hollow.
Kaelith smirked. "Good. I don't like when they give up too quickly. You'll learn what happens when you resist... and what happens when you submit."
Seo-Yun swallowed dryly. His throat burned, his voice gone.
Kaelith leaned in until their faces nearly touched. "Want to scream at me again, little Omega? Curse me? Bite me like you did last night?"
Nothing.
"Or maybe you finally understand what you are."
Seo-Yun closed his eyes.
Kaelith stood. "Get used to this room. You'll spend most of your heats here. Alone or not, depending on how well you behave."
He paused at the door, voice hardening. "Clean yourself before the next Alpha comes. You smell like weakness."
The door slammed behind him, sealing Seo-Yun in the dark again.
He stayed very still.
He didn't cry.
Not because he wasn't broken.
Because he was.