The three days before the Council presentation passed in a blur of preparation. Tianyu had insisted Yifan stay at his estate rather than return to Mo Ran's sanctuary—both for safety and because they needed to coordinate their approach to the political minefield ahead. Mo Ran had agreed, though not without extracting promises from Tianyu about respecting Yifan's autonomy.
"I mean it," she'd said, standing in Tianyu's study with her arms crossed. "He's vulnerable right now, stressed about the presentation, and you're the only familiar Alpha in his life. Don't use that to pressure him."
"I won't," Tianyu had promised, and to his credit, he'd kept that promise.
The estate was beautiful—traditional architecture mixed with modern conveniences, sprawling grounds that included gardens, training yards, and a lake that never froze despite Tianyu's cold aura. The staff were respectful but kept their distance, giving Yifan space to adjust.
Tianyu himself was the perfect host. Attentive without being overwhelming, helpful without being controlling. He'd show Yifan around the estate during the day, share meals with him, answer his endless questions about supernatural politics and history. But at night, he'd retreat to his own chambers, respecting the boundary between them despite the obvious pull they both felt.
It was driving Yifan slowly crazy.
Not because he wanted Tianyu to push—he appreciated the respect, truly. But because every day, he found himself more drawn to the Alpha. More aware of his presence, his scent, the way his eyes tracked Yifan's movements with barely contained hunger that he never acted on.
The tension between them was building like a storm about to break.
On the afternoon before the Council presentation, Yifan was in the training yard practicing his fire manipulation when it happened. One moment he was fine, focused, creating careful spirals of flame. The next, heat crashed over him so suddenly he gasped and fell to his knees.
Not power surge heat. The other kind.
His second heat had arrived with zero warning.
"No," Yifan gasped, even as his body's response intensified. "No, not now. The presentation is tomorrow. I can't—"
But his body didn't care about political timing. His temperature spiked to 101°F in seconds and kept climbing. Slick started producing, soaking through his training clothes. His skin flushed deep rose, hypersensitive to every sensation. And his scent—gods, his scent exploded outward, Phoenix pheromones flooding the training yard.
Sweet amber and burning sandalwood, cinnamon and honey and something headier, richer than his first heat. The scent of a fully manifested Phoenix Omega in heat.
Yifan heard distant sounds of commotion from the estate—staff members reacting to the scent, Alphas among them responding with barely controlled aggression. But the wards held, keeping them at bay.
Then Tianyu was there, appearing so fast he must have run at supernatural speed. The Dragon King took one look at Yifan, one breath of his heat scent, and his eyes blazed pure gold.
"Inside," Tianyu said, his voice already rough with Alpha command. "Now. Before the wards fail to contain your scent."
He didn't wait for Yifan to move, just swept him up in his arms and carried him. Yifan should have protested, should have maintained some dignity, but the Alpha's cold presence against his burning skin felt too good. He found himself pressing closer, seeking more of that soothing chill, whimpering with need.
"Shh," Tianyu murmured as he moved through the estate at inhuman speed. "I have you. You're safe."
They reached Tianyu's private chambers—not the ones Yifan had burned, but another set, equally luxurious but even more isolated. The moment the door closed behind them, wards activated. Yifan could feel them snap into place, powerful magic that would keep everyone out and all scents in.
Complete privacy. Complete isolation. Just the two of them.
Tianyu set Yifan down on the bed carefully, then immediately stepped back, putting distance between them. His hands were clenched at his sides, ice forming and melting on his fingers in rapid cycles. Every line of his body screamed tension, restraint, the struggle between instinct and control.
"This is your second heat," Tianyu said, clearly forcing his voice to remain steady. "It will be more intense than your first because you're fully manifested now. The waves will be stronger, longer, with less recovery time between them."
"How long?" Yifan managed, though speaking was difficult. His mouth felt dry, his tongue thick.
"Seven days, probably. Same as before." Tianyu's eyes tracked every movement Yifan made, predatory and hungry despite his careful distance. "You need to decide right now, while you still can think clearly—do you want me to help you through this, or should I call someone else?"
"You," Yifan gasped without hesitation. "Only you. Please."
Something blazed in Tianyu's expression—triumph, relief, possessive satisfaction. "Are you certain? Once heat fully hits, you won't be able to change your mind. You'll be stuck with me for a week."
"I'm certain. I want you. Need you."
"Then I'm yours." Tianyu approached slowly, giving Yifan time to change his mind. When he reached the bed, he cupped Yifan's face gently, thumbs brushing over flushed cheeks. "I'll take care of you. I promise. But Yifan—no bonding. Not in heat. We agreed."
"I remember," Yifan said, though his heat-addled mind was already protesting. His body wanted the bond, wanted Tianyu's mark permanent and claiming. But the part of him that was still rational knew Tianyu was right. "No bonding. Just heat."
"Just heat," Tianyu agreed, and then he was kissing him.
This kiss was different from the gentle one Yifan had initiated after his awakening. This was consuming, desperate, a thousand years of wanting compressed into a single point of contact. Tianyu's cold tongue swept into Yifan's mouth, and the contrast of temperatures made Yifan moan, pressing closer.
His training clothes were soaked with sweat and slick, clinging uncomfortably. Yifan tugged at them, trying to remove them, but his hands weren't coordinating properly. Tianyu took over, stripping him with efficient care, revealing flushed skin covered in glowing Phoenix marks.
"Beautiful," Tianyu murmured, his eyes tracing every mark. "You're so beautiful like this."
Yifan wanted to say something clever, something that would maintain some dignity, but another wave of heat rolled over him and all that came out was a desperate whimper. His body was aching, empty, demanding to be filled. Slick was flowing freely now, his body preparing for what it needed.
"Please," he heard himself beg. "Alpha, please, need you."
"I know. I know what you need." Tianyu's hands were suddenly everywhere—mapping ribs, thumbing over sensitive nipples, tracing the phoenix marks on his hips. Each touch left trails of blessed coolness that soothed for a moment before the heat returned stronger.
Yifan's hands reached for Tianyu, tugging at his clothes. The Alpha was still fully dressed, and that seemed profoundly unfair when Yifan was naked and desperate. Tianyu helped, removing his shirt to reveal a muscled torso marked with dragon scales that appeared and disappeared across his shoulders.
But he kept his pants on, that last barrier maintained even now. Some part of Yifan appreciated the control—Tianyu wasn't just taking what he wanted, wasn't letting his own need override his promise to care for Yifan properly.
"Let me see you," Tianyu said, pressing Yifan back against the pillows. "Let me learn what brings you pleasure."
His mouth followed his hands, kissing down Yifan's neck, across his collarbones, finding the sensitive spots that made Yifan arch and gasp. When he reached Yifan's chest, he lavished attention there, using lips and tongue and the edge of his teeth until Yifan was writhing beneath him.
"So responsive," Tianyu murmured against his skin. "Every touch makes you tremble. I could spend hours just learning all the ways to make you come undone."
"Don't have hours," Yifan managed. "Need more. Need—"
"I know what you need." Tianyu's hand slid lower, over Yifan's quivering stomach, past the phoenix marks on his hipbones. "May I?"
The fact that he asked, even now, even with Yifan desperate and begging, made something in Yifan's chest ache with emotion he couldn't name. "Yes. Please yes."
Tianyu's cold hand wrapped around him, and the sensation was overwhelming—pleasure so intense it bordered on pain. Yifan cried out, hips bucking into the touch. The Alpha's hand moved in slow, deliberate strokes, learning what rhythm and pressure Yifan liked, adjusting based on his responses.
But it wasn't enough. Yifan needed more, needed to be filled, needed the Alpha inside him. His body was screaming for it, heat building to unbearable levels.
"Tianyu, please, inside, need you inside—"
"Not yet. Let me prepare you properly first." Tianyu's other hand slid lower, between Yifan's legs, finding him already slick and ready. One cold finger pressed inside carefully, and Yifan's entire body shuddered at the intrusion.
It felt incredible. The stretch, the fullness, the cold against his burning inner walls. Tianyu moved slowly, letting Yifan adjust, watching his face for any sign of discomfort.
"More," Yifan demanded, and Tianyu complied, adding a second finger. The stretch increased, pleasure-pain that made Yifan's vision blur. "More."
"Greedy," Tianyu said, but there was affection in his voice. He added a third finger, stretching Yifan wider, preparing him thoroughly despite the heat-slick that made his body already ready.
His fingers found that spot inside, that place that made pleasure explode through Yifan's nervous system like lightning. Yifan screamed, body arcing off the bed, overwhelmed by sensation.
"There," Tianyu said with satisfaction. "I'll take care of you, little phoenix. I'll give you everything you need."
He worked that spot relentlessly, fingers curling and pressing, driving Yifan higher and higher until he was sobbing with pleasure, unable to form words, reduced to incoherent sounds of need and desperation.
When Yifan finally came, it was explosive—pleasure rolling through him in waves, his body clenching tight around Tianyu's fingers, slick and release coating the Alpha's hand. His Phoenix marks blazed bright enough to light the dim room, and small flames flickered across his skin harmlessly.
But heat wasn't satisfied. Even as Yifan came down from the high, his body was already demanding more. The ache returned within minutes, need building again, insatiable.
"Alpha," he whimpered. "Not enough. Need more. Need you."
"I know." Tianyu finally removed his remaining clothes, and Yifan's breath caught at the sight of him. The Alpha was impressive, proportional to his size and power, already hard and ready. And at the base—the knot, currently swollen, designed for bonding.
Yifan wanted it. Wanted to be filled, stretched, knotted, claimed. His body knew what it needed on an instinctive level that overrode rational thought.
Tianyu positioned himself carefully, the blunt pressure against Yifan's entrance making them both groan. "Tell me if it's too much. If you need me to stop."
"Don't stop," Yifan gasped. "Don't you dare stop."
Tianyu pushed in slowly, carefully, despite Yifan's desperate attempts to pull him in faster. The stretch was intense, bordering on too much, but the slick eased the way. Inch by inch, Tianyu filled him, cold hardness pressing into burning heat.
When he was fully seated, both of them frozen, panting, adjusting to the overwhelming sensation. Yifan felt impossibly full, stretched perfectly, the ache finally easing with the Alpha inside him.
"Okay?" Tianyu asked, his voice strained with the effort of remaining still.
"Perfect. Move. Please move."
Tianyu did, pulling out slowly and pressing back in, establishing a rhythm that was careful despite Yifan's demands for more, harder, faster. He seemed determined to make this good, to prove he could provide what Yifan needed without losing control entirely.
But Yifan didn't want careful. He wanted claiming, wanted passion, wanted the Alpha to lose control the way he was losing it. He wrapped his legs around Tianyu's waist, pulling him deeper, raking his nails down the Alpha's back hard enough to leave marks.
"Harder," he demanded. "Stop holding back."
"I'm trying to be gentle—"
"I don't want gentle. I want you. All of you. Give me everything."
Something broke in Tianyu's control. His eyes blazed pure gold, dragon nature surfacing. His rhythm changed, becoming more powerful, more demanding. The careful restraint dissolved into passion as he claimed Yifan's body with deep, thorough possession.
This was what Yifan needed. Not the gentle Alpha trying to protect him from intensity, but the Dragon King who could match his fire with ice, who could take him with the passion that had burned between them for a thousand years.
The pleasure built higher, faster, overwhelming. Yifan could feel Tianyu's knot beginning to catch at his entrance, the swelling increasing with each thrust. His body welcomed it, tried to pull it inside, biological imperative demanding the Alpha lock them together.
"Knot," Yifan gasped. "Want your knot. Need it."
"Once I knot you, we'll be locked together for at least thirty minutes," Tianyu warned, though his own need was obvious in the strain of his voice. "Are you ready for that?"
"Yes. Yes. Please, Alpha, knot me."
On the next thrust, Tianyu pushed the knot inside. The stretch was intense, almost too much, but then it was past the resistance and Yifan's body clamped down around it, locking them together.
The sensation sent Yifan over the edge. He came with a scream, body convulsing, clenching rhythmically around Tianyu's knot. The pleasure was blinding, all-consuming, reducing him to pure sensation.
Tianyu followed moments later, and Yifan felt the rush of heat as the Alpha released inside him, filling him completely. The knot pulsed, and with each pulse, more of Tianyu's essence filled him. It felt claiming, possessive, exactly what his heat-addled body craved.
Tianyu's teeth found his neck, right over the bonding gland, and for a moment Yifan thought he'd bite, thought he'd complete the permanent bond. The pressure increased, teeth breaking skin slightly—
But not deeply enough. Not the bonding depth. Just a shallow mark that would heal in days rather than lasting forever.
Even now, even knotted and locked together and driven by instinct, Tianyu maintained enough control to protect Yifan's choice.
"Mine," Tianyu growled against his neck, licking the shallow bite. "My phoenix. My mate."
"Yours," Yifan agreed, too overwhelmed to think about whether he meant it temporarily or forever.
They stayed locked together, Tianyu's knot keeping them joined, both of them panting and recovering from the intensity. The Alpha's cold aura helped cool Yifan's fever slightly, providing relief from the burning. His weight was comforting, grounding, reminding Yifan he wasn't alone in this.
"Better?" Tianyu asked softly once he could speak.
"For now. It'll come back."
"I know. Heat is relentless. But I'll be here through every wave, every moment. You won't face this alone."
As they waited for the knot to subside, Tianyu held him close, whispering reassurances, pressing cold kisses to his forehead. And Yifan, wrapped in ice and safety and the arms of someone who'd proven they'd protect him even from his own heat-driven decisions, felt himself beginning to trust. Beginning to believe that maybe choosing Tianyu wasn't giving up his autonomy—it was choosing someone who would defend that autonomy fiercely, even against Yifan himself.
The knot finally released after forty minutes, and Yifan whimpered at the loss. But Tianyu was there, cleaning him gently, helping him drink water, making sure he was comfortable before the next wave hit.
Because they both knew this was just the beginning. They had seven days ahead—seven days of heat and need and intimacy that would either break them or bind them in ways that transcended biology.
Yifan was betting on the latter.