Rin returned from his aunt's house in hurried, uneven steps. His breaths were already shallow. Ever since giving birth to the twins, his heats had become unpredictable—unsteady, erratic, sometimes crashing through him even after early suppressants.
Today was one of those days. The medicine he'd taken that morning was losing its hold far too fast.
He pushed open the door.
And froze.
Alaric sat at the small table, shoulders rigid, while the twins anxiously tried to dab medicine onto Riven's eye. Riven blinked, the last traces of gold fading from his irises.
Alaric's stare—sharp, unblinking—told Rin everything.
He saw.
Rin's pulse spiked.
Alaric rose slowly. "Explain," he said, voice steady but dangerous. "Why does one of the twins have golden eyes?"
Rin's tone stayed cold. "There is nothing to explain."
"Papa? What's he talking about?" Rhen asked.
"Nothing," Rin said quickly. "Finish the medicine—give that to me, I'll—"
But the words faltered.
A brutal wave of heat slammed into him, ripping straight through the last filaments of his suppressants. His breath hitched. His knees wavered. He grabbed the table for support.
No
"Papa?" Rhen tugged on him. "Are you sick again?"
"Yes," Rin forced out. "Go to your aunt. Now."
The twins, frightened, obeyed. The door closed behind them with a soft thud.
Leaving Rin alone with Alaric.
The silence thickened.
His pheromones escaped—warm, sweet, unmistakably Omega. He tried to steady his breathing, to cage the scent again, but his body refused to listen.
Alaric didn't move.
"Sick," he repeated. "That's not sickness."
He stepped closer. "This is a heat."
Rin backed up immediately—only to hit the small cabinet behind him.
Alaric's expression shifted: shock, disbelief… and something darker, deeper.
"You," he murmured. "You're an Omega. All this time."
"Alaric. Don't," Rin managed, voice trembling.
But the prince was piecing together the truth faster than Rin could deny it.
"And this scent…" Alaric's voice dropped. "I've smelled it before."
Rin froze.
"The banquet night," Alaric whispered, stepping closer. "Four years ago. The omega that I spend with that night.... ."
Rin's heartbeat roared in his ears.
"It was you," Alaric said, the realization unsteadying him. "It was you that night."
Another wave of heat crashed through Rin, stealing the strength from his legs.
"Stay away," Rin whispered, barely holding on.
Alaric closed the final distance, instinct warring with restraint.
His gold eyes—usually commanding—were wide, shaken.
"You're an Omega," he breathed, voice raw. "An Omega… all along?"
Rin turned to flee deeper into the small house, but Alaric moved with a speed sharpened by instinct, catching him effortlessly. His arm wrapped around Rin's waist, pulling him back against his chest.
"Don't," Rin gasped, voice cracking. Fear and memory tangled under his skin.
But Alaric's grip softened immediately. His hands gentled along Rin's waist. His head lowered, breath trembling as he inhaled the unleashed scent, fighting himself—fighting the rut clawing at him.
"Let me help you," Alaric rasped, voice thick with need and something painfully gentle. He lifted his head to meet Rin's eyes.
"I'm losing control, Rin. I need you. Do you… give consent?"
Rin's breath hitched.
Consent.
A word he never thought he would hear from this man. A word that cut through fear like light.
"Please…" Rin whispered, voice thin and shaking. "Please, Alaric. Help me."
Something in Alaric broke—not violently, but with a trembling surrender shaped by four years of denial.
He guided Rin carefully toward the pallet bed, every movement deliberate and cautious. His fingers brushed Rin's hair, his cheek, his throat—gentle, reverent, almost fragile.
So beautiful," Aleric murmured, his lips finding Rin's throat, leaving a trail of fire. His fingers tangled in Rin's soft brown hair, pulling his head back to expose the scent glands, the vulnerable curve of his neck.
Rin's body arched, a gasp tearing from him as Aleric's hand slid down his belly, finding the burning core of his heat. "Ah—!" A visceral moan broke free, loud and unrestrained, as Aleric's thumb stroked over his sensitive knot, sending shivers through him. The pressure in his heat was almost unbearable, a sweet agony demanding release.
Aleric groaned in response, the sound a deep, guttural rumble that vibrated through Rin's entire body. "My Omega," he vowed, his scent flaring, a pure, possessive claim that finally, irrevocably, anchored Rin's spiraling heat. He moved over Rin, powerful and deliberate, aligning their bodies.
The coupling was a chaotic release, a frantic collision between two entities finally allowed to meet their deepest biological needs. Rin cried out, the noise swallowed by the thick blanket of their combined scents and Aleric's possessive kiss. The Alpha found the core of the heat, pushing past the pain of four years of separation to enforce the biological imperative, but this time, it was met with Rin's full, though desperate, surrender. Every thrust was a wave of pure sensation, each one drawing a louder, more explicit moan from Rin, sounds he hadn't known his body could make. The intensity was overwhelming, a symphony of pure biological relief.
His voice lowered to a whisper, raw and reverent.
"…Rin… my omega."
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