Chapter Text
The scent of expensive sandalwood and rain, Chi Cheng's signature alpha pheromones, usually acted as an anchor for Wu Suowei. Tonight, however, it felt like a noose.
Suowei stood in the shadow of the marble pillar in the Chi family's main hall, his hand instinctively fluttering to his stomach. It was still flat, hidden beneath a warm sweater, but inside, a tiny spark of life was flickering. He was an Omega, he was built for this. But he wasn't built for the conversation happening ten feet away.
"The engagement ceremony with the Liang family is set for next month," Chi Cheng's father stated, his voice a gravelly command. "Their daughter is a high grade Omega. The lineage will be peerless."
Suowei held his breath, waiting for the dismissal. Waiting for Chi Cheng to bark out a laugh and say he already had a nuisance at home to look after.
"I understand," Chi Cheng replied.
The voice was cool, level, and utterly devoid of the heat it held when he whispered into Suowei's ear at night. There was no protest. No mention of the Omega he's been keeping in a high rise apartment like a favorite, pampered pet for the last year.
Suowei's knees felt weak. He shifted, and the floorboards gave a treacherous creak.
Chi Cheng's head snapped toward the pillar. His eyes, usually sharp and predatory, narrowed. "Suowei? Why are you out of the car?"
Suowei stepped out, forcing a smirk that didn't reach his eyes. "Just getting tired of waiting, Young Master Chi. If you're busy with... business, I'll just take a cab."
Chi Cheng walked toward him, his presence overwhelming. He reached out to scent Suowei's neck, a claim he made habitually, but Suowei flinched back. The movement was small, but to an Alpha like Chi Cheng, it was a thunderclap.
"What's wrong with you?" Chi Cheng's voice dropped an octave, a hint of his commanding aura leaking out.
"Nothing," Suowei lied, his heart hammering against his ribs. He knows. He's going to smell the change in my hormones.
"I just have a headache. I'm going back to the flat."
"I'll take you," Chi Cheng said, grabbing Suowei's wrist. His grip was firm, possessive.
As they walked to the car, Suowei looked at Chi Cheng's profile, the sharp jawline, the cold eyes that only softened for him in the dark. To Chi Cheng, Suowei was a distraction, a toy he'd picked up from the streets and polished. But a wife? A mother to the Chi heirs? That was a slot reserved for Hight class Omegas and prestigious lineages.
Suowei knew the rules of the game. He just hadn't expected to lose so much when the game ended.
Three hours later, Chi Cheng was asleep, his heavy arm draped across Suowei's waist. The room smelled of post rut musk and betrayal.
Suowei peeled the arm away inch by inch. He moved through the dark apartment, grabbing only the essentials: his ID, the wad of cash he'd been skimming off the allowance Chi Cheng gave him, and the positive pregnancy test hidden in the bottom of a trash can. He looked at the cheap plastic stick, two red stripes mocking him, no matter how many tests he took that week the result was the same, staring him right in the face.
He looked at the bed one last time. There were tears in his eyes and resolve in his heart.
"You don't get to have both," Suowei whispered to the shadows. "You don't get the perfect marriage and the secret Omega. And you definitely don't get this child."
By the time the sun began to peek over the Beijing skyline, Wu Suowei was at the long distance bus station, his scent masked by heavy suppressants, disappearing into the crowd of a thousand nameless faces.