Taras changed his clothes and slipped into his shadow form, heading to his Treasure's house as he always did, unseen by anyone.
The question of why those around him would dare to drug Le An had been swirling in his head since morning. Why would they risk messing with his mind? And why did the Treasure have to be kept unaware of this?
And without suppressants, how was he getting through his heat? Was he doing it with that esper guard, Theo, or someone else? As far as Taras knew, Le An had never been linked to anyone throughout his career, never had a known partner. People only ever whispered rumors about how close and intimate he was with his guard, Theo. But was it true? Were they close enough to endure the Treasure's heat together?
However, what lingered in Taras's mind was Le An's soft mumbling from last night, half-asleep, when he'd whispered that all he wanted were pheromones. Nothing else. That's what he'd said.
Like a bottomless well, Taras's mind led him ever deeper into these questions.
Luckily for him, the door to the room he could slip into was open. There were a few people inside. As he drifted through the threshold in his shadow form and hid in a dark corner, Taras's eyes searched for his Treasure.
First, he saw Le An's limp, swaying hand. The hum of voices in the room did not drown out the sound of Treasure and Theo, who was holding him.
"Shh, you'll hurt yourself like that, Le An."
"Nno… don't touch me like that, hng!"
"Take him to the bath at once, Mr. Theo," said a voice in the room. Taras recognized it, the GAC doctor. "Due to his inner fever, his pheromone secretion levels have dropped. This could swell his glands and cause damage."
Just as Taras was about to slip into Theo's shadow and follow them out, he felt like he locked eyes with Le An, and his shadow form froze. A moment later, Le An's tear-reddened eyes narrowed, trying to focus on the spot where Taras hid. There was a confused, hesitant, frightened look in Le An's eyes. He pressed his face into Theo's shoulder to hide, blinking rapidly, and soon lost again in incoherent moans.
As Taras followed them, he heard the doctor's voice behind him.
"Once he takes three more doses tonight, we can proceed to the final stage tomorrow," the doctor said to his assistant, almost in a gleeful tone. "He won't even know what's happening. He's practically unaware already, as long as we stabilize his vitals, it'll be done."
While Taras listened, he slipped into the bathroom with them and… froze again at the sight before him. The Treasure's esper guard knelt in front of a bathtub filled with ice, holding the Treasure in his arms. While staring into the icy water, he slowly slipped the robe off Le An, who was half-asleep, clinging to Theo's neck, breathing in his pheromones.
Taras decided to stop wondering what might happen next and watch instead.
A moment later, Treasure was left in nothing but his underwear. His fine hairs bristled, the cold air making his back shiver. Eyes shut, he reached for the arm that was undressing him.
"What… are you doing?"
"Nothing, Le An." Theo pressed his lips to Le An's forehead and pulled back. Le An, lulled by the gentle words and touch, relaxed completely. Taras felt something twist in him as he watched how easily Le An believed him, how he sank into the arms of the one holding him. Le An frowned, but his expression remained so soft, too harmless to frighten anyone, a feeble, innocent kind of anger. "It's so… cold. Hold me just for a bit, hm…"
Taras realized then that, despite Theo being beneath the Treasure in rank, he seemed to hold a terrifying power over him. Over this small, fragile thing that needed to be protected.
Theo lowered Le An into the bathtub. "Ha, ah!" And suddenly immersed in the freezing water, Le An thrashed. "…Theo!"
The cold seeped into his lungs and brain, biting at every nerve ending. Le An screamed, a sound that might have been heard throughout the entire house. He was in agony. Taras stared at Le An's face twisted in shock, the sight he'd wanted to see for years: the Treasure suffering. So why…?
The image hypnotized him, holding his eyes captive.
Le An, unable to focus, groped blindly at the edges of the tub, trying desperately to pull himself out. Each time, Theo forced him back under by his shoulders and knees.
"Let go! It's so cold- ugh!"
When Theo pushed harder on his shoulder, Le An's body slipped, his head sinking beneath the water for a few seconds.
"Le An, please-!" Theo yanked him back up.
"Uh, hmph! Haa… let go!"
"Stop resisting," Theo flinched at the sting of Le An's nails digging into his arm. But how could an omega not resist when plunged into freezing cold at the moment he needed warmth most?
Le An's flailing limbs splashed water everywhere, his drenched hair clinging to his face, a pitiful, bewildered creature under torture. Taras wanted to look away, to flee, but his shadow stayed pinned in place. It was… a mistake, visiting him tonight. A grave mistake, witnessing this.
Then he heard a fragile whimper and a hiccup. He found Le An's eyes again. The frantic splashing faded; it was like watching someone drown until they finally gave up.
Taras saw tears spilling down Le An's cheeks as he began to beg through gasping sobs. The words sliced through every thought, every ounce of sense Taras had left.
"Help me… please… hic, ugh… hic…"
Treasure's body, bright red beneath the ice cubes, had gone limp. His hands no longer clutched the tub's edge — they lifted weakly into the air.
"Theo… hic… is that you? Pull me out… so cold… hic…"
"Please… so cold… please…" His trembling hands reached out, helplessly suspended in the air. His fingers twitched violently as his teeth chattered. "Help me… p-please… someone…"
Theo held Le An by the shoulders, keeping him submerged, saying nothing, just staring at the tears streaming down his face. Taras, his shadow form darkening, looked more closely at this man's face.
His Treasure's closest, most trusted person, was this really him? The one meant to protect him… was doing this?
"Shhh, you'll be fine," Theo kept whispering into Le An's ear. "We have to do this a bit longer, okay?"
Le An's body, now trembling uncontrollably, had completely given up. His hands slipped under the water, arms curling around his own body as he tried to curl up into a fetal position. Theo grabbed his knees and forced his legs apart again, preventing more convulsions. Le An didn't even resist. He only wept, probably no longer even seeing or hearing anything.
Suddenly, the room filled with the scent of Le An's pheromones. Taras remembered that other omega medic in his unit; he saw the same look of sheer, primal fear in Le An's bloodshot eyes right now. It was the same survival reflex, an omega, pushed to the brink and felt threatened, producing pheromones to stay alive.
"Ha…" Theo sighed and buried his face where the scent was strongest, his breath growing heavy. The purpose of the ice bath was to trigger the expulsion of excess pheromones that had built up from the drugs.
But now, fear had done it all at once.
Theo lifted Le An out of the tub, wrapping his quivering body in a towel and carrying him back to the bedroom. There was no fight left in the body in his arms.
Taras stared at Le An's limp, dangling hand, but this time it was even more lifeless. Le An's pale lips parted. "You're…"
Theo held his breath and leaned closer, only now, his eyes gave away a trace of fear.
"You're not… r-real."
"…Yes," Theo whispered. "It's just a nightmare."
Ah... Treasure couldn't even accept that this could be real. and when he woke up, he'd be quick to believe none of this had ever happened. Even now, half-conscious, he refused to believe betrayal was possible.
Taras slipped back into the pheromone room behind them, watching as Le An was laid on the bed.
"Repeat the ice bath every two hours," said the doctor, glancing at Le An. "Keep monitoring him, and draw blood. Once we reach the target body temperature, we're done."
Emerald, unable to bear the sight of Le An's spasming, pain-ridden body, stepped out of the room. Theo dressed Le An in a new robe, then turned to the doctor and assistant, eyes narrowed. "What is it?"
"We need to take a blood sample now, sir," the assistant said. Theo shook his head. "Impossible, he's trembling too much."
"We must have results as soon as possible," the doctor insisted. "Hold him steady."
Taras watched as the three men pinned down Le An's body while the assistant drew his blood, ignoring his muffled cries. Soon, another red mark was left on the Treasure's pale, bruise-filled arm.
"And the pills, please," the doctor said, grabbing Le An's chin when he turned his head away in fear. "Don't hold his face like that," Theo snapped. "You'll hurt his neck."
The doctor let go immediately. "Oh, okay."
This time, Theo himself shoved a few pills into Le An's mouth with his fingers. Forcing water down his throat, he pinned his weak body in place. Le An's lips parted again. "It hurts," he whispered, voice barely audible. "It… hurts…"
One last tear slipped down Le An's cheek and fell onto the bed.
Taras, his shadow form now warped into something deeper, darker, as if trying to rip itself apart to become human, watched that final tear disappear into the sheets, a heavy weight of confusion and rage pressing into his chest.
"All right," the assistant said at last. As they prepared to leave Le An alone in the room, Taras finally heard the reason for all this with his own ears,
And something inside him snapped.
"Tomorrow morning, we'll bring in the alpha mate we arranged for," the doctor said. "In this state, Treasure won't be able to resist at all, his body will submit completely. No omega in this condition could fight off a dominant alpha's hold."
When they left, Le An lay abandoned in the middle of the bed, motionless, completely still.
Taras emerged from the shadows after a while. He stepped closer to the bed and slowly cupped Le An's face in his palm, his fingertips tracing the paths where those vanished tears had once run.
Between Le An's trembling lashes, his now darkened and lifeless eyes stared blankly into the void.
"Sleep a bit," Taras murmured, watching those empty eyes. "Sleep, and let me think for a while, treasure."
Now… what do I do with you?