The ride home from the hospital was quiet, almost heavy, as if the air itself had been altered by what they had just learned. Lior sat with his head leaning against the cool glass of the car window, gardenia-scented pheromones faint but lingering, carrying a quiet dominance that was neither fully controlled nor fully unleashed. Kaein drove in silence, knuckles tight around the wheel. The words of the doctor still echoed in both their minds: "Lunar—a rare class beyond Alpha and Omega. Stronger. Rarer. Capable of everything, yet carrying the burden of both."
The hospital had allowed them to bring home a set of journals and clinical texts written by past researchers, records that explained in detail the history of Lunars, their traits, and their dangers. Those thick binders sat now on Lior's lap, their weight symbolic, more suffocating than the actual paper. His fingers traced the edges, restless, like a child who had been handed an answer he wasn't sure he wanted.
When they finally reached home, the small house felt too small for what lay between them. They placed the journals on the living room table. Kaein kicked off his shoes with a sigh and sat beside him, his scent of wisteria brushing against Lior's gardenia like an unspoken tether.
Neither spoke for a long while.
It was Lior who finally broke the silence, his voice hoarse.
"Do you think… they're right? That I'm this… Lunar?"
Kaein's hand rested gently on his, grounding him.
"You felt it last night yourself, didn't you? The way you forced me into rut—it wasn't like anything I've ever experienced. No Omega could do that. Not even another Alpha. That was you, Lior."
Lior closed his eyes, guilt pressing down harder than truth. "And yet, what does it even mean? A Lunar? Dominant but… also vulnerable. A creature that can control but also… get controlled by cycles." His hands tightened around the edge of the journal. "They said I could even… carry a child. Kaein, how is that fair? I don't even know who I am anymore."
Kaein pulled him close, strong arms encircling him. "We'll read these. We'll learn everything together. You're not alone in this. Not ever."
And so, with hesitant breaths, they opened the first journal.
---
Journal Entry I — The Nature of Lunar
The handwriting was clinical, but the words burned into them: "Lunar is a designation beyond Alpha and Omega. It is not a third gender but a convergence—an evolution. Their pheromones are overpowering, capable of destabilizing even the strongest Alpha. They experience cycles similar to Omega heats but are dominant enough to trigger ruts in others simultaneously. Their power lies in balance: they can mark and be marked, not once, but in reciprocity. They can stand as both giver and receiver, leader and nurturer. One in a billion are born. Their existence unsettles hierarchy."
Lior read aloud, his voice trembling. "Unsettles hierarchy. As if… as if my existence itself is a threat."
Kaein shook his head firmly. "No. Not a threat. A force. Do you hear what it says? Stronger than Alpha, stronger than Omega. Both and neither. It means you're rare, precious."
Lior's lips quivered into something bitter. "Precious? Or dangerous? They wrote it like I'm a paradox they couldn't define. What if I hurt you, Kaein? What if one day my pheromones crush your will and you can't even resist?"
Kaein reached over, placing a finger under his chin, forcing Lior to meet his gaze. "Last night I didn't feel like I was being destroyed. I felt… consumed, yes. Overpowered, yes. But not broken. You don't destroy me, Lior. You make me yours."
The words made Lior tremble, not just from fear but from something deep, something dangerously close to relief.
---
They turned to the next section.
Journal Entry II — The Marking of a Lunar
"Unlike Alpha or Omega, Lunar does not bind through a singular mark. Their dominance allows them to imprint on their mate, but their vulnerability requires reciprocation. For a bond to stabilize, both must mark each other. Only then is permanence achieved. Without it, the Lunar's pheromones may spiral, leading to instability, infertility, or collapse of health."
Lior swallowed hard. "So… I can mark you. But you must mark me back. Both ways."
Kaein nodded slowly. "It means equality. Not possession, not one claiming the other. Us choosing each other, permanently. Isn't that what we already feel?"
"Yes, but…" Lior's voice cracked. "But it also means if you mark me… I could…" His voice trailed, words too heavy to say.
"You're afraid of the possibility of pregnancy," Kaein finished gently.
Lior flinched. The idea pressed like iron against his chest. Him—who always believed himself male, Alpha-like, untouchable—being told that his body carried the possibility of life, of vulnerability so immense it terrified him.
His fingers clutched the page until his knuckles whitened. "What if I can't handle it? What if I'm weak? What if you start seeing me differently?"
Kaein leaned closer, their foreheads pressing together, his wisteria scent wrapping tightly around the sharp gardenia. "Listen to me, Lior. Whether you can or can't—it doesn't change who you are to me. Lunar or not, fertile or not, dominant or vulnerable—you're still the same person I love. If life asks us to face it, we'll face it together. You will never be alone in this."
"Few days ago, did you think we could have a child of our own? Just the thought of it makes me happier. Seeing version of both you and me - can you feel it, Lior? A real family like one of us. It doesn't matter who carries the child or even if we don't have a child of our own. The fact you should never forget is that we both are lovers even if omegaverse existed or not. "
Lior's chest ached, both in pain and in comfort.
---
They read further.
Journal Entry III — Instincts of the Lunar
"The Lunar's pheromones react strongly to emotion—jealousy, possessiveness, fear. In states of heightened stress, their dominance may involuntarily suppress surrounding Alphas, Omegas, and even Betas. This leads to conflicts. Many Lunars were once misclassified as unstable Alphas and cast out of society."
Lior's eyes dimmed as he whispered, "So I was right… my existence is dangerous."
Kaein immediately placed a hand on his. "Stop that. Don't let old words define you. They didn't know you. They didn't see what I see."
"What do you see, then?" Lior asked, almost desperate.
Kaein didn't hesitate. "I see someone who was never given the chance to belong. I see someone who's stronger than anyone I've ever met—not because of your pheromones, but because you've survived, because you've still got a heart even when the world told you not to. I see you, Lior. Just you."
The words melted something deep within him, something that had been frozen since childhood. His eyes burned, and he quickly turned the page to hide them.
---
Hours passed as they kept reading—case studies of Lunars in history, medical diagrams of pheromone glands, even speculative theories about why Lunars existed. Some pages were yellowed with age, some were newer, but all painted the same truth: Lior was not a mistake. He was rare, terrifyingly rare, and with that rarity came both burden and strength.
By the time they closed the last journal, the clock read past midnight.
Silence filled the room again, not heavy this time, but contemplative.
Kaein leaned back, exhaling deeply. "So. We know now. A Lunar. One in a billion. And you… are mine."
Lior, exhausted yet raw, whispered, "What if I can't accept it? What if I never feel normal again?"
Kaein kissed his temple softly. "Then we'll create our own normal. One that belongs to us, not the world. You're not defined by categories. You're defined by what we choose to build."
For the first time since the hospital, Lior let out a small, fragile laugh. His hand slipped into Kaein's, fingers tightening. "You always say the things that make it sound simple."
"That's because love is simple," Kaein murmured. "It's the world that complicates it."
Lior leaned against him, gardenia and wisteria mingling again, not in conflict but in strange, perfect harmony. The journals lay closed on the table, heavy with knowledge but lighter now in meaning. They had learned what Lunar was, what it could do, what it meant. And though fear lingered, for tonight, it was tempered by the quiet certainty between them.
Together, they sat in the dim glow of the living room, two hearts carrying a secret that few in the world could ever understand.
And perhaps, that was enough.