Rui shut the door behind him and collapsed against it, breath shaky, heart racing.
His legs trembled from the encounter with Kian. It had only been a few words—just a moment—but his body had reacted violently, unexpectedly.
His skin felt hot. Not just from embarrassment, but a deep, burning ache spreading from his chest down to his lower belly. His scent—once faint and clean—had grown stronger, sweeter… almost milky.
Pheromones?
He clenched his fists as a light floral smell lingered in the air around him. It was coming from him.
No. This couldn't be.
But deep down, Rui already knew.
System:Warning ! Warning! Pre-heat signs triggered.
"Shut up," Rui muttered.
Seventeen years of knowing—or rather, being told—that he was a defective omega flashed through his mind.
He remembered the sterile hospital room, the doctor's calm voice as he flipped through medical charts:
"Due to your gland underdevelopment, your body lacks proper omega functionality. Your pheromone output is minimal, almost indistinguishable from a beta. Without triggering events, you may never experience a heat cycle."
And Rui had been relieved.
No heat. No vulnerability. No bond.Just live like a beta. Hidden. Safe.
But all that changed today.
One look. One moment.Kian.
The alley. The arm that pulled him back. The calm voice.And something deep inside Rui's body recognized him.
Now it was as if his body was waking from a slumber it never meant to escape—the heat coiling in his belly, the strange desire to… be near.
He stumbled to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face.
"Am I… going into heat?" he whispered, voice unsteady.
The system chimed again, gentle yet clinical.
Early signs of a pre-heat surge detected.Triggered by close proximity to bonded alpha.Diagnosis: dominant Omega status has now fully awakened.
He stared at his reflection—same tired brown eyes, messy black-brown hair falling into them, and yet… something was different.
He was not defective.He was a dominant omega.
Rui had read about secondary genders, of course. Everyone had.
In their society, the ABO system wasn't just biology—it was law. Every citizen classified and registered.
Alphas led in politics and business.Betas ran the engine of everyday life.Omegas were protected under the Bond & Welfare Act—due to the intense vulnerability of their heat cycles and scent-based triggers.
Rui never had to register. He was classified as "Undeveloped Omega: Beta-Equivalent."
But meeting Kian… changed all of that.
He gritted his teeth.
"Because of him…"
The Kian Zhou—the city's youngest billionaire, ruthless CEO, and top alpha with a pheromone compatibility score of 0.01%—a biological miracle. The rarer the compatibility, the deeper the bond potential.
The system confirmed it:
Bond Match: 100% — One in ten million compatibility.
That explained everything—the way Rui's body reacted near him, the strange calm, then the chaotic rush of heat.