The next morning came without sunlight.
Just like every other day in the Pairing Suite, time passed without markers-no windows, no clocks, just the mechanical sigh of recycled air and the quiet beep of monitoring systems. Ren had memorized every tile on the ceiling. Every seam in the wall. Every place his body ached when he shifted on the thin cot.
He hadn't touched the collar.
Not yet.
But he didn't flinch at the sight of it anymore. That felt like something.
Across the room, Luka hadn't moved in an hour. Maybe two. He sat with his forearms on his knees, eyes half-lidded but not asleep. He didn't seem to need sleep the way Ren did. He just... endured.
Ren watched him through lowered lashes.
Even now, there was something unreadable in Luka's posture. Controlled, but not tense. Ready, but not waiting. Like if he were called on to move, he'd already be halfway there. Like he'd trained himself to resist wanting.
Which made the whole thing worse.
Because Ren knew exactly what his own body was doing-and it was starting to slip out of his control again.
The scent hit first.
It wasn't sharp like the initial spike during the first wave of heat. It was slow, insidious-a hum beneath the skin, a phantom pressure behind his teeth, in his throat, his chest. His fingers twitched without permission. His spine curved toward sensation, not logic.
And the worst part?
He could smell Luka too.
Not overtly. Not like pheromones poured into the air. But the alpha's presence was real, close, felt in the way heat is felt-intimate and inevitable.
Ren knew he had maybe an hour before it spiked again.
And there was no suppressant patch this time.
He got up. Slowly.
Luka looked over but didn't rise.
Ren didn't speak as he crossed the room-his bare feet soft against the sleek synthetic floor, breath shallow. He paused halfway to Luka, as if waiting for a reaction.
Luka's expression didn't shift. Not even a twitch.
"Are you going to stop me?" Ren asked, voice quieter than he intended.
"No."
Ren took another step.
"And if I do something reckless?"
"I'll stop you then."
Ren stared down at him.
"You're really playing this line hard."
"I'm not playing anything."
"Right," Ren whispered. "Of course not."
He turned sharply and walked to the other side of the room again, trying to outrun the urge crawling up the back of his neck. His skin was too sensitive. His breath too loud. Everything Luka didn't do-every restraint, every quiet permission-just made Ren's thoughts spiral faster.
He wanted-
He didn't want-
No. That wasn't the right word.
He craved.
Not sex. Not bonding. Not even touch, really.
He craved being seen. Being held in place, gently. Being known, truly. Not as Featherlight, not as some illegal omega skirting the system-but as himself. Ren Kael.
The words slipped out before he could catch them.
"Would you have claimed me if I asked?"
Luka didn't answer at first.
Ren turned to face him. "Be honest."
Luka's voice came low, even. "Yes."
Ren felt his breath leave him like a punch.
"And if I begged?" he whispered. "Would you have liked that?"
Luka stood slowly.
He didn't cross the room. He didn't reach for Ren. He just stood there-tall, silent, and focused.
"You're not thinking clearly," he said.
"I'm too clear," Ren snapped. "That's the problem. I know exactly what I'm doing."
"You think you do."
"Stop acting like I'm broken."
"I'm not. I'm acting like I've seen this before."
Ren's jaw clenched. "Yeah? And how did it end?"
Luka's eyes darkened. "Badly."
Ren pressed his back against the far wall, hands shaking slightly at his sides. The heat wasn't full yet-but it was pulling at him, tugging strings inside him he hadn't given names to. His body wanted touch. His skin ached for it. His scent was changing-he knew it. He could feel the room warming with it.
Luka smelled it too.
That was clear.
His hands were balled at his sides, fingers flexing in slow, silent denial.
Ren stared at him.
"Do you want me?"
Luka didn't blink. "That's not the question you should be asking."
Ren stepped forward, slow and deliberate.
"Answer it anyway."
"Yes."
One word. Unflinching. Honest.
Ren's mouth went dry.
"And you're not going to touch me?"
"No."
"Even if I ask?"
"Not while your system's unstable."
"And if it stabilizes?"
Luka stepped closer. Just once. Just enough to let Ren feel the heat of him.
"Then you'll know if you really meant it."
The silence that followed was deafening.
Ren wanted to hit something. Or cry. Or scream. Or maybe just fall forward and let himself be caught, for once.
But he didn't.
He stepped away, hands trembling.
"I hate you," he muttered.
"No, you don't."
"I do."
"No," Luka repeated. "You hate what this place does to you. You hate being cornered. You hate needing anyone."
Ren looked back at him-and for once, he didn't argue.
Later, Ren sat on the cot with the collar in his lap.
It wasn't cold anymore. His body heat had warmed it, made it feel less like a tool and more like a choice.
He turned it over in his hands, thumb brushing the sleek interior edge. It didn't hum. It didn't glow. It wasn't activated.
He could activate it himself.
Luka had shown him how.
He looked across the room.
Luka wasn't watching. Not directly. He sat with his head tilted back, eyes closed. He looked tired, finally. Like the weight he carried had started pressing down in real time.
Ren licked his lips. His scent was still strong. Still hormonal. But his mind was-strangely-clear.
Not driven.
Not feral.
Just... present.
He stood.
Crossed the room.
Stopped in front of Luka and held out the collar.
"I'll wear it," he said, "if you put it on me."
Luka opened his eyes slowly.
He stared at Ren. Not with heat. Not with control. But with something deeper.
Recognition.
"You sure?" he asked.
"No," Ren said.
"But I still want you to."
Luka took the collar.
Lifted it gently.
And fastened it around Ren's throat.