Sabe exhaled deeply, his chest rising and falling with frustration. "How come he seems to have suddenly changed overnight?" he muttered under his breath, confusion flashing in his eyes. "He was always all over me, pleading for attention, trying to please me, doing anything just to get me to look at him. But now…" He trailed off, frowning. "Now it's like he doesn't care whether I look at him or not."
Still scowling, he pulled out his phone from his pocket and dialed a number with quick, irritated motions.
"Look into what my omega is up to," he ordered as soon as the call connected. "Find out where he spent the night. I already checked my hotels across the country, and they all confirmed he wasn't in any of them. I want to know exactly where he went and what he's doing."
He didn't bother waiting for a response before ending the call abruptly.
Moments later, his phone rang again. Without hesitation, Sabe picked it up.
"He spent the night at a therapist's office," the voice on the other end reported. "As for how he got there, I'm not sure. But I can confirm he stayed there all night."
Sabe blinked, momentarily stunned, before a slow, amused smile curved across his lips. "A therapist?" he repeated, his tone dripping with mockery. "A beta therapist?" A laugh escaped him, sharp and humorless. "So, what now? Did this therapist tell him that playing hard to get might get my attention? Is that the new game he's trying to play?"
"I don't know about that, boss," came the reply. "All I know is they met just yesterday."
"Oh, I see…" Sabe murmured, leaning back against the wall as his smirk deepened. "Interesting." He paused, then added coldly, "Keep an eye on both of them, the therapist and Gabe. Let me know if he starts going back there regularly. Someone like him… he'll definitely do it if he thinks it'll win me over."
He ended the call, chuckling under his breath before breaking into full laughter, the sound echoing through the quiet house. "Fine then," he said, his eyes glinting darkly. "He can keep playing hard to get. Let's see how long that lasts."
***
Alex's office~
The atmosphere was thick, almost suffocating with his pheromones. Every window and door had been shut tight, sealing him in with the storm raging through his body.
Alex sat hunched over his desk, his body burning hot, his breathing uneven. His shirt clung to his skin, damp with sweat, and his vision blurred at the edges.
His pupils had turned an unnatural shade of gold, a clear sign of distress. The golden haze of his pheromones grew stronger by the second, seeping from the mark which resembles that of a rose flower on his hand....the rank sign that pulsed faintly, releasing his potent scent into the air.
The pounding on his office door grew louder, urgent, insistent.
"What's going on, boss?" came Joshua's voice from outside the office door, muffled but clearly laced with worry and frustration. "All the omegas I sent....you sent them all away! I bought new ones but you still refused to let them in!" His voice cracked slightly as he added, "At least let me come in. I'm wearing a mask! I'm sure your pheromones wouldn't kill me."
"Just what the hell is going on with me" Alex hissed under his breath, clutching at his desk for balance as his body trembled violently.
His chest was rising and falling rapidly, beads of sweat rolling down his temples. With shaky hands, he grabbed a small plastic case from the edge of the table and fumbled it open, revealing several vials of a dull blue liquid, his suppressant. A medicine crafted especially for him to erase his scent and help him pass as a beta.
He injected it without hesitation, the needle pricking his skin as the cold fluid entered his bloodstream. His breathing slowed for a moment, but the heat in his body didn't fade...it only worsened.
"Why the fuck isn't it working?" He muttered through gritted teeth, slamming the vial onto the desk so hard that it rolled off and shattered against the floor
Without wasting a second, he snatched his phone and dialed a number. It connected almost instantly.
"What?" came the voice on the other end, impatient.
"Have you lost your skills?" Alex snapped, his voice shaky, almost desperate. "The suppressant you made for me....it's not working anymore!" His pupils glowed faintly golden trembling as he tried to control his breathing. "I've taken multiple doses and it's doing nothing! What the hell is going on?"
There was a sharp exhale over the line. "Not working anymore? Are you kidding me right now, Alex? You know how many years I spent formulating that suppressant for you. How could you possibly be calling me to tell me it suddenly stopped working?" the man's voice replied, irritation creeping into his tone. "Don't tell me your pheromone gland is finally destroyed, that you've overused the drug to the point it's useless. I warned you! There's no point hiding that you're an Enigma. Yeah, I know you hate being rare, and I get it....people would want to use you for experiments if they found out but honestly? No one would dare. Not unless they have a death wish."
Alex swallowed hard, gripping the phone tighter. "Just get your ass over here and examine me!" he demanded, his voice trembling with both fury and fear. "No doctor here can help me and you know that. My body seem not to be responding properly anymore. I can't even react to an omega's touch. The omegas I sent for… they couldn't even get my dick up."
There was a stunned pause. "…What? Are you kidding me right now?"
"When have I ever called you to joke about something like this?" Alex snapped again, exhaling shakily. "I'm serious. Dead serious."
"You couldn't at all?" the voice repeated, disbelief evident. Then came a sigh. "I'm on my way."
The call ended abruptly.
____
An hour later.
A young man in casual clothes sat before Alex, his dark hair was tousled, and his eyes were sharp yet filled with concerm as he watched over Alex who was pale and exhausted, with a drip connected to his hand. The suffocating golden haze of pheromones that had nearly choked the building earlier was gone, replaced by a faint sterile scent.
Damien leaned back slightly, crossing his arms. "And how are you feeling now?" he asked, his tone a mix of worry and restrained frustration.
"I'm fine… for now," Alex muttered, exhaling heavily. "Now tell me, Damien....what the fuck is wrong with me? Why the hell isn't the suppressant working anymore? And why the fuck can't I get hard?"
Damien's eyes softened slightly, though his voice remained clinical. "Your pheromone gland is badly damaged, Alex. That's the result of years of abusing suppressants," he said, shaking his head. "You know this already. But what's concerning is that even though it's damaged, having sex with an omega during your rut or even without rut helps with healing process but now you're telling me those omegas couldn't get your dick up. That's new."
"So you're saying what? That my gland is ruined completely?" Alex asked, his tone sharp, but his expression betrayed the flicker of fear behind his eyes.
Damien let out a long sigh and rubbed his temples. "I can't say for sure yet. I specialize in Alpha, Beta, and Omega physiology but you, Alex…" He gestured vaguely. "You're an entirely different case. Enigmas are rare, almost undocumented. I'm trying my best to understand your system, but it's unlike anything I've studied. Should I say those omegas given to you aren't handsome at all?"
Alex could only let out a scoff at Damien's last statement.
"When exactly did your rut begin?" Damien asked, pulling out a small device and tapping the screen.
"Last night," Alex replied, his gaze distant. "And yeah, I still remember getting hard then."
"Oh really?" Damien's brows arched. "And what got you hard?"
Alex froze, his mind suddenly betraying him. His thoughts drifted unwillingly back to the night before....to Gabriel. The sound of his soft, barely audible moans echoed vividly in his memory. Even though they were faint, Alex had heard them as if they were right beside his ear, his heightened senses amplifying every note, every breath, every heartbeat. The sweet, lingering scent of his pheromones… the way his body had reacted instinctively....
"Fuck…" Alex muttered under his breath, his pupils dilating as realization struck him. His eyes darted downward, and his breath hitched sharply.
There, beneath the thin fabric of his pants, a bulge was forming....stubborn, alive, undeniable.
He was hard.