Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The moment that Phainon lays eyes on those crimson streaks extending out from beneath rolled up sleeves, he knows.

That is Mydei. There is no doubt about it in his mind.

It doesn't matter that it's been years since he's last seen any trace of the boy he had once known and loved. Phainon would recognise him anywhere.

Looks like tonight isn't a wasted trip after all.

Phainon hadn't planned on coming out, but he'd been dragged out by the members of his cast since it was the last day of filming, and their show, The Flame-Chase Journey, had topped viewership charts ever since its release a couple days ago. Knowing that his rut was due in a few days, Phainon hadn't been feeling particularly social, especially since he tended to get more irritable during his pre-rut periods. But as the primary main lead of their series, he wasn't exactly in a position to say no, not when it was a cast party celebrating the show's success.

He'd made one attempt to decline politely at the start, but it hadn't quite gone the way he'd expected, and he'd swiftly given up thereafter.

"Your rut's approaching? Well, you'll be in the perfect place then. Don't worry, they're very discreet at the establishment we're going to." Cipher had winked at him conspiratorially when he'd explained his circumstances. In turn, Phainon had blinked incredulously at his costar while he stammered out his refusal. As if he would slake his pleasures while out at a social function with his colleagues! Other celebrities might have no qualms about doing so, but Phainon certainly isn't one of them.

Besides, the only person he'd ever wanted in any capacity had disappeared all those years ago, dropping off the face of Amphoreus without a word. And while there was no lack of beautiful people who flitted in and out of his life due to the nature of his job, Phainon had never quite managed to forget Mydei, nor found any way to replicate the way Mydei made him feel.

Never had he felt the same stirrings within him, that endless gaping maw of want that seemed to exist for Mydei alone.

But it wasn't hard to imagine that activities better suited for sundown might be occurring at the elegantly constructed Castrum Kremnos. The juxtaposition between its utilitarian name and the extravagance of its premises was a funny one, and Phainon couldn't help but wonder if it was intentional. If so, the owner of the establishment sure had a curious sense of humour, not that Phainon knew who it was. They were as shrouded in mystery as the origins of the club itself.

Phainon, however, couldn't care less.

Still, he could acknowledge that the bar and lounge were luxuriously furnished, velvet red fabric bleeding into teakwood panels that gleamed beautifully under amber spotlights, exuding an air of decadence and covert debauchery in dimly-lit alcoves. As an exclusive members-only club, Castrum Kremnos only granted membership to those able to fulfill the conditions it set: you had to be able to afford it and be vouched for by at least two existing members, which meant that the character and discretion of their clientele was thoroughly vetted before they could even step through the doors of the club. Their strict criteria, however, only made a membership at Castrum Kremnos even more in demand, due to how hard it was to be granted one.

Phainon had obtained a membership by virtue of his company and his reputation, and had long heard whispers of the services they provided outside of the usual offerings you'd find at a club like this. Members were allowed to relieve their ruts and heats in private rooms, and often opted to do so with each other or with the help of sex workers, typically betas or omegas, which was fairly common practice as far as clubs went. But what was more surprising was how things were set up here to protect the rights of their workers first and foremost, with the club even preparing their own non-disclosure agreements beforehand for participating guests, so that unsavoury behaviour could be prevented.

It's certainly the last place he expected to meet Mydei again, after all these years apart. Considering how little interest Mydei seemed to have for romance back when they were in high school, Phainon is surprised that he'd want anything to do with a place like this. But then again, he supposes satisfying a rut has nothing to do with romance, and everything to do with physical compatibility.

"If you'll excuse me," he mutters to everyone and no one at the same time, taking his leave moments after spotting his old friend, nearly stumbling out of the room in his haste to reach Mydei.

The hallways are darker than the private party he just vacated, and it takes a moment for Phainon's eyes to adjust to the dim lighting offered by the dark red sconce lights mounted on the wall. While Phainon is no expert, he'd guess that they were made out of the red stalactite crystals native to the land here.

Rare, and lavish, just like everything else in this place including Mydei, who he can just about see at the end of the hallway, looking as if he's about to turn the corner.

"Mydei! It's you, isn't it?" Phainon shouts, disregarding the club rules which discourage patrons from making loud noises in common areas. It's not like he cares about a strike on his record anyway, since he's not a regular here.

"Depends on who's asking," comes the low, smug drawl that Phainon has missed all these years. Fuck. It really is him.

"What about an old friend?" He approaches Mydei, bright eyes greedily taking in all the details that differentiate this Mydei from the one he knew before now that his eyes have adjusted to the light.

In their youth, Mydei had already possessed a muscular build, but the potential of it is realised in the conspicuous body he sports now.

The width of his chest is ridiculous, and if not for his years of media training Phainon thinks he would be drooling right now. Mydei's tits are practically heaving each time that he breathes in, and the deep V neckline of his open, black shirt is more than distracting, especially when Phainon can see the red swirls that form Mydei's unique birthmark on his bared skin, visible through the gap in his shirt. Kephale, he'd probably die happy if he could bury his face between those soft, firm mounds. They'd probaby bounce if Phainon were to—

"My eyes are up here, Phainon."

"I wasn't staring at your tits." He rushes to say, so quickly that it's obvious that that was exactly what he was doing.

"Not just your tits," Phainon amends, as if that makes it any better. Judging by the look of disbelief on Mydei's face, he doesn't think he's managed to convince his childhood friend.

"Stop calling them tits, for fuck's sake." Mydei scowls, baring his teeth as he crosses his arms across his chest. Pfft, as if it doesn't only push his tits up to make it more prominent. Not that Mydei will hear it from him. After all, Phainon knows how to appreciate a good view, and Mydei is certainly that and more.

In fact, now that he's finally able to take a good look at Mydei… Kephale, he truly is beautiful. His sharp, feline features have matured since they last met, and his golden eyes and pretty pink pout are perfectly framed by a squarely angular face. Mydei looks as if he were evicted from the Heavens, if only for the crime of being desire incarnate, his otherworldly beauty tempting mere mortals to fall to sin.

His dark garb, paired with flaxen locks dipped in red, only draws attention to how much he looks like an angel fallen from grace. If his sin is beauty, however, Phainon is willing to pay the price, no matter the cost, to have him.

What comes out of his mouth instead, however, is this. "I'll stop calling them tits when they stop looking like tits."

Ah, he never could stop himself from trying to rile Mydei up. The pink tint that would come upon his creamy skin was always so adorable on one ordinarily so fierce, and Phainon could never resist provoking him so that he could visibly see the effect of his provocations on Mydei's skin, however fleeting they might be. Kephale, he's missed this.

Phainon stalks forward then, impatience nudging him toward his long-awaited reunion, so close at hand now.

"Hmph. All that idol training, and you're still just as mouthy as ever. What would your fans think, if they could hear their sweet, innocent idol now?"

"Oh Mydei, you ought to keep up with my career better, otherwise you'd know that I left that concept behind three albums ago. Besides, you should know that only you bring out this side of me."

"It seems your time as a celebrity has made you more shameless than ever before." Mydei snorts, raising a brow as if he doesn't believe Phainon. The rising actor grins down at him, relishing the scant height difference between them that has remained the same all these years. Only an inch or two, but enough that Phainon feels like he retains the upper hand in one area, if not in any others.

So close to him, Phainon thinks he can smell the sweet, tart scent of pomegranate, along with a creamier smell, reminiscent of fresh milk. There is a spicier scent underlying it too, bergamot, if he's not mistaken.

Fuck.

It's hard, to resist the urge to bury his nose in Mydei's nape and huff his fill, the scent of him so intoxicating that Phainon feels like his blood is pumping quicker through his veins, the way it feels when he's about to go into rut. It's almost as if Mydei is in heat or something, not that Phainon knows for sure what Mydei's secondary gender is. Unlike Phainon, he hadn't presented back when they were fifteen and still in high school.

But Phainon is an alpha, with an alpha's nose. And right now, Mydei smells like an omega.

Like his omega.

"Mydei… are you in heat? I can help you ride it out. Make you come—" Phainon says brazenly, carelessly, as if his entire body isn't vibrating with need at the very thought that Mydei might let him do just that.

Mydei bares his teeth, golden eyes blazing in outrage, but it doesn't hide the pink tint to his cheeks nor the redness creeping down his neck. "Haikas. Is your sense of smell broken? I'm an alpha."

Someone clears their throat from behind Mydei, and Phainon glances over, only now realising there has been a silent observer to their interactions the whole time. The man is garbed entirely in black, similar in a sense to Mydei's outfit, albeit more modest, going by the lack of skin he's showing. His silky, pink hair flows down his neck and past his chest, and his body is lean, but not without definition.

Phainon hasn't picked up any discernible smell to the man, which makes him think the man must be either a beta or an omega. Jealousy rears its ugly head, leaving a sour taste in his mouth at the thought that the man might be Mydei's hired companion for the night, considering where they are and Mydei's present state. Another glance reveals that the man is an employee, judging by the nametag on his shirt spelling out 'Hephaestion', and Phainon has to suppress his alpha instincts to stop his own scent from seeping out. It doesn't help that Hephaestion's baby blue eyes are just a shade lighter than Phainon's own, and something about the resemblance irritates Phainon, the sensation akin to fireants crawling on his skin.

It should be Phainon who's allowed to be by Mydei's side, not this, this—omegan, pale imitation of him.

"Hephaestion, right?" Phainon addresses him directly, lips turning up into the half-smile he's known for, that highlights the prominent dimple in his cheek. It's the one that always makes his fans swoon, without exception, especially the betas and omegas.

Yet despite the man's delicate appearance, Hephaestion nods warily, as if he's not entirely convinced by Phainon.

That won't do. Phainon turns on the charm, flashing a megawatt smile so bright he hopes it blinds Hephaestion. "As you can see, Mydei and I have a lot to catch up on. Rest assured, you can leave Mydei in my capable arms tonight. I'll be sure to take care of him."

"What makes you think you can handle me?" Mydei taunts as he steps forward until there is barely an inch between them, making like a lion as he prowls into Phainon's space like the alpha he says he is. But Phainon is willing to bet that he can make this lion purr like a kitten in his bed, so long as he can get his hands on him. And he says so, watching the flush deepen on Mydei's face as his scent flares out in anger.

Hmm… it's a little sharper, but it's no less delicious to Phainon.

"Hmph. A pretty boy like you, I'd like to see you try." Mydei's tone is dismissive, but Phainon latches on to his words, smile widening into a real one at the thought that Mydei finds him attractive. The alcohol still burning through his system acts as fuel, serving as liquid courage for him to toss out the outrageous proposal that is just at the tip of his tongue.

"Mydei… you think I'm pretty? I'm flattered. In fact, how about we see who can come out on top between us, in a duel? Whoever wins can choose their prize…" He sidles even closer, nudging Mydei away from Hephaestion while herding the alpha closer to the wall and closer to himself as subtly as he can. Though judging by Mydei's narrowed eyes, it's likely that he hadn't been very subtle at all. "And if I win, I get to fuck you."

Mydei huffs out a laugh in disbelief. "You really think you can win? I never stopped wrestling, whereas you…" He rakes a critical eye down Phainon's body, before smirking. "You look like you haven't even thought of grappling in years."

Phainon takes offense at that—he's been keeping fit all these years, not only because of his training as an idol but because at his core, he hasn't forgotten his training as an athlete. But he doesn't let the smile drop from his face even as a vein ticks at his clenched jaw while he tries not to rise to the bait. He still wants to maintain the upper hand here, after all. Better that Mydei underestimates him, so Phainon will have a chance to catch him off-guard. When it comes to Mydei, he's not against playing dirty to get what he wants. As equally matched as they used to be, Phainon needs every advantage he can get here, so that he can win.

He has to win.

"Best of three?" Phainon suggests with a lazy grin, a challenge glinting in his bright blue eyes.

"Hah... If you want to get your ass beaten into the ground thrice, then I guess I'll just have to see it through with you till the end."

Hephaestion clears his throat indelicately once more as if to remind them of his presence. "May I suggest that you move into one of these rooms if you wish to… wrestle with each other, lest you disturb the other guests in Castrum Kremnos."

"Thank you, we will." Phainon replies, hardly sparing him a glance because his eyes are full of Mydei. "Ready whenever you are."

"I'll see you later, Hephaestion." Mydei tells the other man, who smiles wryly at him, like he knows something Phainon doesn't. Anger lights up in Phainon's chest at the familiar gesture, and he tests the doorknob closest to him, grinning when it gives way under his touch.

"You coming in, princess?" Phainon holds the door open wide as he gestures inward with a cock of his head.

A thrill runs through him as gleaming gold eyes narrow and turn to focus on him. Mydei pulls himself to his full height, and slinks into the room, graceful as a cat, the door clicking shut behind him.

In their youth, Mydei had always been more aggressive when they duelled, initiating fights while Phainon would take a defensive stance to start. Phainon remembers all of it, and tosses his past strategy out the window. As soon as the door shuts, he doesn't let Mydei get far before he pounces, slamming his full force against Mydei's bulk and knocking the wind out of him.

Locking Mydei's thighs down with his own, Phainon manages to keep him grounded. But it doesn't stop the Kremnoan from slamming his head upwards to connect with Phainon's own, and while the white-haired man doesn't lose his advantage, it's a close thing, as he would nearly have been unseated if not for his quick reflexes. Digging his elbow into Mydei's back, he shoves the other back down, pinning his neck down with a broad palm as he sinks his canines into smooth, unbroken flesh, close enough that it nearly grazes the other man's mating gland.

The strawberry blonde stills beneath him in shock and outrage, and after a count of three seconds, Phainon finally releases the pressure he was putting on the other man, now that he has won the first round.

He gets up off Mydei, barely able to relish his victory before he is swept back onto the ground mere seconds later. This time, he is the one on his back, having been tripped up by Mydei's ankle, their legs tangling as Mydei grins at him in satisfaction, his eyes wild.

"Fighting dirty so soon, Deliverer?" Mydei goads him on with his childhood nickname, clipping him on the jaw before landing a punch to his stomach, leaving Phainon hardly able to catch his breath. He deserved that, he supposes, considering that he snuck an attack on the man in the first place. "Didn't peg you to be so unconfident that you'd need to play dirty to win against me. Guess I must've struck a nerve earlier?"

"And yet aren't you playing dirty now, too? If you were so confident, why stoop to my level?" Phainon bites out, shoving the other with his shoulder. The movement gains him some leverage as he pushes back up, legs curling to keep their lower bodies entwined so that Mydei doesn't gain much ground.

"You—!" Mydei kicks out at him, successfully disentangling himself from Phainon as he sits on the man and presses him down until victory is assured. His eyes are alight with fire, and Phainon's breath hitches from the sheer beauty of this man, a deliciously feral expression on his sharp features as he holds him down.

"Keep gloating, Deliverer. We'll see who the victor is in the end."

Phainon pushes away from Mydei this time when the man lets him go, the air growing thick with alpha pheromones as they circle each other slowly. With Mydei's rut pheromones as strong as they are now, Phainon cannot help but be influenced by it, losing the ability to control the spread of his own. It's hard, especially when the scent of Mydei lingers on every pore of his skin, so intoxicating that he thinks he can feel it seeping into his bloodstream through the cuts Mydei has left on him. Though Phainon should probably be grateful that Mydei has been kind enough not to hit his face, considering Phainon's choice of career. But then again, the strawberry blonde has always been more considerate than he seems under his prickly demeanour.

This time, it's hard to determine who moves first. Either way, what is certain is that neither of them are holding back, from the moment that their bodies make contact with each other. It's hard to tell where his limbs end and Mydei's begin, not with how entangled they are with each other, rolling about on the floor as if they're schoolboys again, gripping each other in a headlock as neither refuses to give an inch. Punches are parried with kicks, and jabs are evaded with quick footwork, neither maintaining an obvious lead over the other. It's anyone's game at this point.

But Phainon still has one trick up his sleeve, and he's not afraid to use it.

"Come on, De. I thought you never stopped wrestling? Shouldn't you be able to get one over me far more easily? Unless… are you lying, Mydeimos?"

"I am not a liar," Mydei hisses at him and that is all the warning he gets before the man lunges at him with his entire body. Phainon only just manages to sidestep him, knowing this is the only opening he'll get. From the side, he grabs Mydei's arm mid-fall, twisting it behind his back while he jabs his fingers into Mydei's tenth thoracic vertebrae, his weak spot from way back when he'd injured it in a match over a decade ago.

The one that only Phainon knows.

Mydei thrashes in his hold, but it's too late. He gasps, falling limp beneath where Phainon has crowded him in. It's long enough that they both know who has won.

"Mydeimos… to think you're still so sensitive down here." Phainon murmurs absently as he traces the soft skin of Mydei's back, watching greedily as Mydei twitches beneath his touch. "Am I still the only one who knows of it? Your weakness?"

The man turns to glare at him, but doesn't say a word. It almost looks like he's pouting, what with his lower lip jutting out, as if he's sulking after his loss. How adorable. "You cheated."

Phainon is wise enough not to point out that Mydei had left his back open to him not once but twice. Instead, he says, "Can you blame me?"

"Besides, you played along." He slides a thumb down the bony aspect of the younger man's spine, taking in the minute shivers of his body, the way his tense muscles quiver whenever Phainon presses on a sensitive spot. "Don't tell me you're going back on your word?"

"HKS." Mydei shoves at him when he gets the chance, standing up abruptly to leave Phainon winded on the ground, staring up at him. "Patience clearly isn't your strong suit. If you want it so bad, come and get your reward then."

Kephale. It takes a moment for the words to sink in, but Phainon is up on his feet the moment he realises that Mydei has every intention of following through on their wager, taking large strides to where Mydei has disappeared behind a pillar to see that the strawberry blonde is headed towards the bathroom.

"Where do you think you're going?" Phainon asks in a low voice as he stops Mydei in his tracks by wrapping his arms around the younger man's waist—surprisingly narrow for his frame—and trapping him in his embrace.

"To take a shower. Since you're so eager to—" Mydei breaks off, pink colouring his ears as if he's having trouble voicing what Phainon wants to do to with him.

"To fuck you?" The silver-haired man fills in the blanks, his smile deepening as he observes the pink creeping down the back of Mydei's neck as he nods without turning to face Phainon. Cute. "There's no need for that. If we're going to get dirty anyway, we may as well have a bath later."

When Mydei bristles, looking like he's about to berate Phainon, the idol tuts at him. "You said it yourself. I'm eager. Don't make me wait, Mydei. Please?"

Phainon turns the younger man around to face him, and puts on the wide-eyed innocent expression that he had been known for in the early days of his career. That used to work on Mydei like a charm when they were younger, and perhaps unconsciously, that was why he'd built his identity around such a pristine image when he first embarked on his career. In truth, Phainon half-expects his attempt to fail this time, but while Mydei rolls his eyes, he doesn't put up any protest when Phainon drags him over to the plush king-sized bed, where the younger man lands in a disheveled sprawl.

Despite the pink flush suffusing his fair cheeks, Mydei looks up at him defiantly, his honeyed eyes glinting with a challenge.

Kephale, he paints such a pretty picture like this.

His wheat-coloured hair fans out across the bed, strands of gold trailing down his chest, where its red tips graze the pebbled peaks sitting atop the generous mounds of flesh straining against his shirt. There is a bruise at the edge of his jaw, and it only adds to his rugged beauty. His covetous desires over Mydei make themselves known at seeing the mark he left, his hind brain leaving insidious whispers in his head of how he could leave more marks on the alpha, marks borne of pleasure between the sheets.

"Are you going to stare at me all night, or do you intend to deliver on your promise to fuck me, Phainon?" The sound of his name on Mydei's lips sends shivers down his spine, but it is nothing compared to the full-body shudder he gets when Mydei hooks his index finger into his signature choker, and pulls.

He stops just short of their lips touching—another challenge for Phainon to take up. And like always, he rises to the occasion.

Phainon starts as he means to go on, letting their lips collide as he no longer holds his desire on its fraying leash. He kisses Mydei with the desperation of a dying man, licking hotly at the seams of his lips, begging for entrance the only way he knows how, until Mydei is entirely pressed against the bed. When Mydei lets out a ragged gasp, Phainon doesn't waste the opportunity to delve into his mouth. His canines scrape a plush lower lip, biting down until it tears a low moan from the subject of his ministrations.

Heat builds in Phainon's gut, arousal unfurling in his belly as he all but devours Mydei with tongue and teeth alone. Not that Mydei is going down without a fight. He snarls as Phainon holds his wrists down with his hands, his tongue battling Phainon's for dominance, refusing to give an inch until it is rightfully earned. Phainon isn't complaining, of course. Especially not when Mydei is so deliciously responsive like this, their lips meeting again and again only to separate with a string of spit connecting them each time.

But kissing isn't all he wants to do with the man. His clever hands make quick work of Mydei's shirt, slipping pearlescent buttons through the eyelet fastenings so quickly he nearly rips it in his haste. The dark dress trousers are next to go, and Phainon lifts Mydei up, shimmying him out of the garment with ease, the comparatively looser fabric easier to work with.

"Mydei, you're hard." Phainon says, awed, as the pretty pink head of Mydei's cock bobs up against his abdomen at its release from its confines.

"Of course I'm hard, I'm in rut." Mydei rolls his eyes, eyeing Phainon as if he's an idiot.

"Hmm. So you were just walking around with your dick hard in your trousers this whole time? How scandalous." Phainon shakes his head in mock disapproval, nipping at the soft skin of Mydei's thigh in punishment. "Eager to fuck that omega, aren't you?"

"Haikas. Hephaestion is—" Phainon doesn't let him finish, even as his thumb disburses the liquid gathering at Mydei's tip and trails it down his shaft as he begins pumping Mydei's cock at a steady rhythm.

"It's too bad, then, that you won't find much use out of this tonight." Phainon says lowly, squeezing at the base of Mydei's cock, causing a choked moan to escape the younger's lips. The hard glint in Phainon's glacial blue eyes is wholly devoid of warmth, entirely unlike the warm gaze that Mydei is used to seeing on his face. Mydei freezes at the sight, and finds that he can't quite bring himself to belabour the point, not now.

"Really, Mydei. You should know better than to call another man's name while you're in bed with me."

Phainon releases the other's dick from his grip at that, though he doesn't remove his hand from it, relishing the way Mydei's shaft throbs, the way his heated skin feels as he moves his hand in an up and down motion. He starts slow as he swirls his tongue languorously around the rosy pink tip of Mydei's nipple, sharp teeth catching against the point at which his nipple dips inward, and then picks up speed as he moves to suckle viciously at the delicate pink nub, until Mydei arches upward from the stimulation.

The movement pushes his nipple even deeper into Phainon's mouth, and the silver-haired man latches on even more relentlessly, sucking harder while he jerks Mydei off more ruthlessly, wrist flicking every time it catches on the delicate fold of skin on the underside of his cock. The strawberry blonde throws his head back, golden eyes hazy as he twitches under Phainon's attentions, fighting a losing battle against his rut.

But he fights it nonetheless, because he's Mydei.

The scent of ripe pomegranates and fresh goat's milk floods the room in waves, heady and suffocating in its intensity—proof that Mydei is an alpha in his prime. But it doesn't deter Phainon in the slightest, his own scent rising in prominence as his own rut approaches, crashing faster into him the more he breathes Mydei in.

It should be impossible, two alphas sharing their ruts, but perhaps because their violent urges had already been satisfied by their fight earlier, Phainon doesn't feel the need to fight for dominance here. Instead he lavishes attention on Mydei's absurd body, which looks and feels as if it is sculpted lovingly by a master artisan. Mydei's arousal coats his fingers, dribbles down to his wrist while he shifts to wrap his lips around a previously neglected nipple, coaxing it to hardness as he tightens his grip on the younger's shaft.

But Phainon pulls away abruptly the moment he feels Mydei's cock begin to swell at the base. A wet gasp is torn from Mydei's throat, and he bucks his hips uncontrollably, desperate for friction that doesn't come. Instead, Phainon catches Mydei's powerful legs, pushing them further up in the air as his hands trail down the younger's taut hamstrings to cup at the meaty flesh of Mydei's asscheeks, thumbs meeting in the middle as he pulls them apart to reveal the rosebud pucker of Mydei's rim.

Without hesitation, Phainon dives in, licking a stripe up the soft skin of Mydei's taint, tongue pressing deliberately against his perineum before returning to circle his entrance. As if to make a point, Phainon keeps his touches featherlight, careful not to provide too much stimulation, only dipping the tip of his tongue into the younger man's entrance before darting out, repeating the motion again and again until the strawberry blonde's knot goes down before it even gets the chance to reach its final form.

Mydei groans in displeasure, directing a baleful glare up at Phainon through red-rimmed eyes as he temporarily regains his composure. "Haikas. Get on with it. What are you dragging this out for?"

Phainon is sure that if not for the fact that he had won their competition earlier, Mydei would not be willing to be entirely at his mercy now, but the Kremnoan has always been more honourable than he in truth.

"How else am I supposed to prepare you if I don't do this? It's not as if you're accustomed to taking cock, unless—?" Phainon trails off, enjoying the way Mydei twists his face into a scowl, confirming that no one else has ever—will ever—have him the way Phainon intends to tonight. Something dark and possessive settles within him at the thought, at least until Mydei opens his mouth again.

"There's lube in the dresser." Mydei says so matter-of-fact that it only makes anger swell in Phainon's chest, that he should know such a thing. How often must he come to Castrum Kremnos to ride out his rut in the company of an omega or a beta that he's privy to such information without even checking?

It only spurs Phainon on, that he continues on as originally planned.

"Phai—have you gone mad?" Mydei hisses at him, but Phainon ignores his protests in favour of prodding deeper into his taint, dexterous tongue pushing further into the tight ring of muscle, loosening it from the inside out as he presses unrelentingly forward until the younger's walls are relaxed and soft, at which point Phainon inserts a finger alongside his tongue.

He breaches Mydei slowly, letting his finger sink past the first knuckle before he starts to fuck Mydei with both appendages. Keeping his thrusts shallow, Phainon adds one finger, and then another, taking care to use scissoring motions to spread Mydei open. The Kremnoan's cock is leaking from the tip once more, redder than before as it plumps up with each pump of Phainon's fingers into him, especially when he locates the bundle of nerves where Mydei is most sensitive and makes sure to brush against it each time he enters the man.

It doesn't take long before the base of Mydei's cock is fattening once more, filling up in anticipation of forming a knot, except the process is cut short when Phainon adjusts himself, withdrawing fingers and tongue from Mydei's hole without ceremony. The Kremnoan cries out, bucking his hips again to no avail.

"Phainon, you insufferable—" Mydei's eyes are glassy with unshed tears, frustration and anger writ on the lines of his face from both times Phainon has denied his pleasure thus far.

"If you don't get on with it, I'll make sure you never get the chance to fuck me again." His pheromones are sharper, sour at the edges with displeasure, yet strangely it doesn't put Phainon off.

"Aw, princess. You're already thinking of a next time?" Phainon says obnoxiously as his lips curl up into a shit-eating grin at having pried his name out of Mydei's mouth. Pettily, he thinks that Hephaestion must be the farthest thing from Mydei's mind by now. "Relax. I'm just getting some lube."

He lets go of Mydei's legs briefly to reach for the dresser, finding not only lube but condoms in different sizes. Before he can reach for a condom, however, Mydei speaks up. "You can go without, unless you're not clean. It's not as if I can get knocked up anyway."

Phainon groans at Mydei's unknowingly provocative words, feeling himself twitch in the confines of his trousers at the thought of Mydei carrying his pups, even while knowing it's not possible.

Kephale. Even the thought of it is titillating enough to have him on edge.

He rips the lube packet open without decorum, pouring a generous amount onto Mydei's rim, before he unzips his trousers to coat his length with the remaining liquid, smearing it messily on his skin in his haste.

Fuck. The rush of cold air against his bare cock makes Phainon aware of just how close he is to his limits. He needs to have Mydei now.

Raising Mydei's hips further, he bends the man practically in half, clamping a hand around his waist as he pulls Mydei forward, hauling him onto his cock as he impales the man entirely in one smooth motion.

To his surprise, Mydei's back arches into a perfect crescent, as a series of punched out sounds slip out from between his clenched teeth. His walls spasm erratically against Phainon, clenching and unclenching involuntarily as he comes dry without warning.

Phainon stills at that, mesmorised and awed by the sight of Mydei falling apart the moment he had sheathed himself within the man's inviting walls, despite not having knotted. If not for that, Phainon thinks he would have been swept up in the same tide.

"Fuck, Mydei. I can't believe you came the moment I put my dick inside. And a dry orgasm too. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were an omega—"

"Shut up," Mydei snarls, surging up as if to prove a point. He seems to have regained some of his strength and clarity after his orgasm, and he flips their positions, no longer content with letting Phainon take the lead. "And fuck me properly."

He grabs Phainon's choker roughly, dragging him up until their lips meet messily as he spreads his legs and drops himself down on Phainon's cock. He fucks himself on Phainon at a punishing pace, nothing like the way Phainon had taken his sweet time earlier. Tossing his head back, he lowers his thighs, muscles flexing powerfully as he takes Phainon's large cock like a natural, shaking his hips like a professional whore while keeping a tight leash on Phainon by way of his choker.

Not that Phainon minds, really. Not when he can feel Mydei around him, walls velvety-soft as it massages his dick from tip to end. God, this time he really is about to finish, but he doesn't want to come, not like this.

"Mydei, please."

"What do you want," the Kremnoan bites out before biting down on his lip, trying to control his moans from slipping out.

"Please, please, let me move. I won't tease anymore, I promise. I-I just want you to come with me." Mydei's scent flares beautifully at his desperate pleading, as if he is satisfied by the grovelling.

"Please, Mydei? I'll be good to you."

"But can you be good for me?" Mydei asks, grinding down on Phainon's cock as he clenches down at the same time, causing the silver-haired man to let out a shuddery gasp at how good all of it feels, from Mydei's words to his actions.

"Yeah, please, Mydei. I'll be good." Phainon babbles.

"Fine." The Kremnoan finally releases Phainon from his hold. "Do your best to deliver, Phainon."

The silver-haired man shivers at that, and as Mydei gingerly lifts himself off the man's dick, Phainon sits up, adjusting their positions until Mydei slides into his lap and back onto his cock.

This time, Phainon fucks up into Mydei in broad strokes, undulating his hips as he keeps to a brutal pace. He pulls out of Mydei until only the tip remains inside him, before slamming up into him repeatedly, taking care to strike Mydei's sweet spot with every upstroke until clear fluid spurts from the tip of Mydei's shaft with each time Phainon thrusts into him.

His hands roam the landscape of Mydei's body, nimble fingers twisting and pulling at pink nubs as Mydei retaliates by working his skin between his teeth, sharp enough to ensure that it stings.

In the end, a single sentence from Mydei is his undoing.

"Be a good boy and come for me, Phainon." Mydei whispers against his nape, and Phainon's body rushes to obey his command before he can even think.

His knot swells up, catching at Mydei's entrance every time he cants his hips until he pushes in, crying out as he seats his growing knot within Mydei's warmth. The pleasure is so intense that Phainon thinks his soul has ascended to the Heavens before it descends back into his body, and he grunts as he spills his seed deep within the Kremnoan.

Phainon comes back to himself just in time to see the younger man wracked in the throes of his own orgasm, copious amounts of clear fluid spurting across his abdomen, pooling down his iliac crests as he rocks forward subconsciously, riding out the last wave of his orgasm before he falls limp against Phainon.

Fuck. There's no way Phainon will be able to come back from this, to let go of Mydei now that he's had a taste.

It's a good thing that he has the rest of their rut period to convince Mydei that they should make this into a permanent arrangement…

Or, at least, that had been his original plan. Instead, they end up fucking like bunnies because of course, Phainon's hind brain takes over, and he can't help but give into the urge to plug Mydei up again and again over the course of a three day period.

By the end of it, he feels more settled and well-rested than he has in years. But when he wakes up to an empty bed on the fourth day, his heart drops to his stomach. Unsavoury thoughts flood his brain, of not being enough, of being too much, of having come on too strong that he's lost Mydei before he's properly had him.

That is, until he catches a note on the side table.

All that is written on it is 'Going back to work - Mydei' and a phone number, but that's all it takes to lift Phainon's spirits.

Now that an opportunity has presented itself, Phainon will just have to find a way to convince Mydei that they're meant for each other.

Surely, it can't be that hard.

Chapter Text

"Did something good happen to you lately?" Aglaea asks cryptically, directing her critical gaze to the test shots taken of Phainon by the photographer for the cover of Okhema Trailblazers. The subtle turn to his agent's lips tells Phainon that she is pleased with how they turned out. "Whatever it is, keep it up. We might be able to fit more into your schedule if you keep performing to this standard."

"Do we really have to?" Phainon groans, pouting as he thinks about how this could cut into what free time he has. What's the use of having such a full schedule anyway, when he's already achieved such a high level of fame as to be touted as the nation's boyfriend? He says as much to Aglaea, grousing at the unfairness of the situation.

"You may be the nation's boyfriend today, but you'll be yesterday's news by tomorrow if you don't stay relevant. You know better than anyone how fast things move in this industry. Besides, you've never complained before, so why do you care so much now?" She narrows her eyes behind gold-framed eyeglasses that look more stylish than practical, but knowing Aglaea it can't be anything but both.

"Ahaha… didn't you ask me to keep up whatever I'm doing? How am I supposed to do that without any free time? Come on, Aglaea," Phainon diverts his puppy dog eyes her way, not that it ever works on Aglaea, especially after so many years of working together.

His stoic manager frowns, shaking her head. "Do your job properly, and we'll see."

Phainon's smile sharpens even as it widens into a cocksure grin. "When have I not?"

True to his words, he shines beautifully under the spotlights at his cover shoot.

The silver-white strands of his hair are especially eye-catching against the midnight black garments he wears, its silky material clinging to every inch of his body, emphasising the broadness of his upper half with the opening at his chest. A clothed choker wraps loosely round his neck, perfectly framing the golden sun at the side of his nape. The cool, smoky set makes his cerulean blue eyes pop all the more, its sun-ray striations captured to perfection as he stares down the camera with a challenge in his eyes, daring the viewer to come closer.

The set intimates a sense of familiarity between the audience and the idol, who sits leaning toward the camera. A man with a lesser presence would've appeared to have shrunk, posed like this. Phainon, however, still appears every bit the perfect alpha, the teasing half-smile on his face just the right amount of inviting. Tall, effortlessly beautiful, yet with a boyish charm that feels almost attainable, Phainon is well aware of how to entice his audience.

But lately it's been working particularly well, what with Mydei having taken permanent residence in his mind at all times, so much so that Phainon can't help but have the alpha's reactions in mind even when he's working. Even now, Phainon can't help the thrill that runs down his spine as he imagines Mydei picking up a copy of Okhema Trailblazers and knowing, at a glance, that Phainon had been thinking of him during the photo shoot.

It's an impossible dream, of course, since for Mydei to make that connection, it would necessitate the younger man learning, first, how Phainon feels and has always felt about him.

In his defence, it's not as if Phainon hasn't tried to tell Mydei how he feels. It's just that, well. His efforts at trying to have a serious conversation with Mydei seem to get thwarted at every turn. Not wanting to appear too overeager, Phainon had waited till a few days after they had spent their synchronised ruts together before contacting Mydei to arrange to have lunch at his favourite café, one frequented by celebrities enough that Phainon wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb there. He hadn't known what to expect, anxiety growing teeth to gnaw at his frazzled nerves as the day approached, whilst anticipation beat a steady drum against the cavity of his chest.

The last thing he expected was to find Mydei looking unruffled and effortlessly stylish as he stepped past the threshold of the café, no trace of their embrace upon his person. It was a stark contrast to the way Phainon had last beheld him: wrecked and writhing beneath him, creamy skin marked with reddened marks and bites as tears streamed down his face.

Instead, his wine-red muscle tee was tucked artfully into ripped black jeans just shy of being high-waisted, the cut of his outfit perfectly framing his muscled arms and well-developed lats. To Phainon's dismay, any marks that he had made on Mydei's skin had already disappeared, but then again Mydei had always been freakishly quick to recover. Everything about him screamed alpha, and Phainon couldn't help but be aware of the loaded gazes directed his way when Mydei had stepped into the establishment.

It made Phainon's blood boil, to see the way others looked at Mydei when the man was his (even if the man didn't know it yet). But he also couldn't deny feeling a thrum of satisfaction curling in his abdomen when Mydei appeared to pay his admirers no notice whatsoever, making a beeline for him instead.

That's right. It didn't matter that others might want Mydei, not when Phainon was the only one who had ever been inside him.

Not that it seemed to matter to Mydei, or if it did, he made no mention of it. They talked instead about inane things, like what they had been up to in recent years. Mydei revealed that he was an entrepreneur, and had successfully opened a bar, striking out on his own like he always wanted, whereas Phainon had stepped onto the path to stardom the way he'd always planned to after high school, although he hadn't given up on his academic career, and he'd studied to obtain a degree in History alongside working.

They skirted around more sensitive topics, like the way Mydei had practically disappeared overnight one day, leaving Phainon with no way to contact his best friend until he, too, had no choice but to move away for work. It didn't mean they were any less aware of it—of the elephant in the room that amped up the tension between them—but if Mydei wasn't going to bring it up, then neither was he.

He could wait. He'd already waited for years to have Mydei back.

But it was also undeniable that the longer Phainon spent in Mydei's presence, the more it drove him crazy. The sweet and tart scents of pomegranate and goat's milk wafted through his nose, a less potent scent than when Mydei had his rut, but with the memory of the days they spent entangled together so fresh in his mind, all Phainon could think about was doing it—him—again.

Phainon could feel himself hardening beneath his trousers, inexorably reminded of how beautifully Mydei had sung beneath him just a few days ago. The rest of the afternoon was a blur from that point. He chattered on the way he always did, about everything and nothing at all, to distract from his inability to stop thinking about Mydei—Mydei wrapped around him, Mydei underneath him, Mydei riding him with his head thrown back, braid fluttering from the impact—until his mouth decided to run away with him, and Phainon threw out another challenge before he could think twice.

"Hey, Mydei." Phainon started, lowering his mask as he leaned forward until his hot breath grazed the strawberry blonde's cheek.

"What." Mydei asked, golden eyes narrowing.

"I bet I could make you come just as hard even outside your rut."

"HKS. We're in public." Mydei's eyes widened as a soft flush fell upon his cheeks. Not so nonchalant now, Phainon thought with satisfaction.

"If I recall correctly, you were the one who taught me that the word shame didn't in the Kremnoan language." Phainon taunted, lips curving into a smug smile.

"My rut is over, Deliverer." And so is yours. He didn't speak the words out loud, but Phainon understood what Mydei was getting at.

"Oh don't act like such a prude. Don't tell me you've never fucked outside of your rut before? Or are you scared you'll enjoy it too much?"

Mydei's nostrils flared, his sunlit eyes filling with a familiar fire that made Phainon's skin itch, hunger igniting low in his belly. "Kremnoans do not know fear."

"Then let me prove it to you. That I can take care of you, rut or not." The idol kept a smile on his face as he returned to his seat, cerulean eyes glittering with expectation.

The strawberry blonde furrowed his brows, staring at Phainon for a time as if he didn't understand what the silver-haired man was trying to achieve. His face twisted, before settling on a scowl. "Not here."

Phainon's heart skipped a beat. He'd thought it would take a lot more persuading to get Mydei back into his bed, but yet here he was, giving Phainon an opening. And he hadn't even tried that hard to convince Mydei before he gave in.

If he didn't know any better, he'd think that Mydei had wanted to give in.

The shock must've showed on Phainon's face, for the next thing he knew, Mydei had dragged him up by his choker until he was in a standing position, flipping his mask back up until Phainon's face was properly covered up once more.

"Well?" Mydei asks, brow raised as he crossed his arms, putting his ample tits on display yet again. Kephale. Phainon felt like all the blood in his body had travelled south, he wanted to suck on them so bad.

"My place is just round the corner," he breathed out in a daze, eyes hypnotised by the way Mydei's nipples stood to attention beneath his thin muscle tee for a second before he tore his gaze away by force, only to catch a knowing smile on Mydei's face.

This time, he was the one to take action. Grabbing hold of Mydei's wrist, he tugged at the younger man and left the café. Somehow along the way, his hand had migrated downward, until their fingers were interlaced with each other's. Mydei's hand in his was a comforting weight, one that the man with hair the colour of moonlight did not ever want to lose.

But first, he needed to convince Mydei to stay for tonight.

They came together explosively that day, their lips finding each other's so naturally after having spent several days and nights wound up in each other. It didn't take long for the heat to build, for Phainon to find the younger man's pleasure centres from instinct alone, for Mydei to spread his legs without coercion as if his body, too, couldn't help but anticipate what was to come. Despite it being outside of their ruts, there was just something about Mydei's pheromones and scent that riled him up, the sweet scent of pomegranates and milk making him want to bite into Mydei's supple flesh, and he was never one to deny his own desires. He was an idol and actor after all. It was in his nature to be greedy, to want more than his lot in life. Phainon would never have made it this far in the entertainment industry without his lust for more.

And the one person he had never been able to get enough of was Mydei.

Compared to their first time together, it seemed easier to open Mydei up. For a moment Phainon had let himself wonder if Mydei had explored himself there, opened himself up and fucked himself with his fingers while thinking of how Phainon had stirred up his insides. But he wasn't buzzed on alcohol this time, and he knew that that was just wishful thinking. Just the fact that Mydei was willing to be here with him was miracle enough. And if his marks would disappear so easily on Mydei's body, at least here he had made his mark. Because Mydei's body remembered him. Welcomed him in, like a long-lost lover. The strawberry blonde's walls tightened on Phainon's cock like an embrace, hugging him tight and refusing to let go.

If only the man whose insides invited him in so warmly shared the same sentiments as his body. For his body, alpha or no, took Phainon's cock in like it belonged, walls clamping around Phainon as if to draw him deeper, beckoning him home with the path Phainon had carved into him in those fevered days of their rut.

Phainon had had plenty of experience playing a lover, whether as an idol to adoring fans, or a budding actor in a television drama, but this—this was different.

Mydei's body was a marvel; their bodies so incredibly compatible despite them both being alphas that even without the heightened state of their ruts, it still didn't take long for Phainon to tip the younger man off the cliff's edge, nimble fingers flicking at the sensitive protrusions on the Kremnoan's chest while his teeth worked at the skin of the man's nape until it was pink and shiny with spit. The silver-haired man's scent spilled out of him in torrents, with claiming intent, the smell of newly tilled wheat fields and freshly baked bread seeping into the strawberry blonde's scent glands, his hair, his nape, all without Phainon's meaning to.

By the time he had the wherewithal to pull back, it was too late. Phainon's scent practically filled the room, and he stilled, unsure of Mydei's reception. Shit, he didn't usually lose control like that except during his rut, but then again Mydei always brought out a different side to him, even the parts that he'd have liked to have kept hidden. Ugh, he should've known better. Just because they had spent their ruts together without incident didn't mean that Mydei wanted to be cloaked in his scent from head to toe.

But the averse reaction he expected from the strawberry blonde never came. Instead, Mydei squinted at him, and with all the majesty of a sleeping lion unceremoniously roused from slumber, demanded. "Why did you stop?"

"I wasn't sure you'd like it." he answered hesitantly.

"I like it. It smells like sunshine and summertime. So don't stop." The moonlit-haired man's heart thudded in his chest, stunned by Mydei's matter-of-fact response, like his words hadn't spun Phainon's world on its axis. His inner alpha preened, thrilled to be accepted by its chosen mate, at the fact that Mydei had expressed a desire to be scented by Phainon because he enjoyed Phainon's scent.

If nothing else, it proved that their suitability was not only in Phainon's head, but was in fact a two-way street. He wasn't imagining things here. It, and Mydei, were both very real.

"All right, I won't stop. I'll make sure every inch of you is drenched with my scent, inside and out." Promise made, Phainon was determined to carry it out. And he did. The silver-haired man kept to his word, delivering the pleasure he promised Mydei as he teased and edged the man, sharpening his pleasure to a knife's point until copious amounts of clear liquid gushed down his front from the mere act of being speared on Phainon's cock once more.

Without the haze of his rut clouding his mind, Phainon was better able to take in the sight of Mydei: lips bitten enticingly red, eyes softened and glazed over from pleasure. This time, he committed it to memory the way he couldn't during his rut. The idol barely held back from finishing, pushing himself to continue fucking Mydei through his refractory period, determined to eke out another orgasm from the alpha before going over the brink himself. The effort was worth the sight of Mydei tossing his head in desperation, unable to decide between grinding down on Phainon or pushing away. His strong legs trembled, and he shifted, unsteady as a newborn kitten in his jerky, ungainly movements, a delicious contrast to the way he seemed so in control in the light of day.

Phainon wanted nothing better than to eat him up.

Using the entirety of his body weight, he managed to pin down the younger as he fucked into him with abandon, until Mydei jerked upward with a wet gasp, eyes rolling into the back of his head as his seed flowed down his body in rivulets of white. Seeing the lewd image of Mydei's spend dribbling down the indents of his abdominal muscles to pool obscenely at his pronounced iliac crests, Phainon understood in that moment why some called them cum gutters.

That was the last rational thought he had for some time, however, for his orgasm took him by force when Mydei's walls clenched and unclenched around him rhythmically, tightening into a vice grip from which he could not escape for want of trying, not until he had been milked dry.

And while that hadn't been the tone that Phainon had hoped to set, this marked the pattern their encounters would follow.

Phainon knows he is to blame for goading the strawberry blonde every time they meet, but what is he supposed to do when Mydei always acts so insufferably normal whenever they'd meet up? It drives him crazy. Makes him feel as if he's the only one affected by what they did behind closed doors. As if he's the only one in on the secret.

It's why he keeps laying ridiculous challenges down at Mydei's door, banking on the younger being unable to resist Phainon's provocations due to his competitive nature. It speaks to how well Phainon still knows Mydei that this works, but it also means that their nights are spent competing in bed to see which of the two is able to bring the other to completion sooner (Mydei wins by virtue of his clever tongue and the oral fixation issues Phainon realises he never stopped having), or which of them is able to make the other finish more times within the same session (Phainon wins this one by a landslide).

The tally changes with each time they meet up, neither one edging the other out of the lead for long, not that either of them are really keeping score. Though, of course, now that a number of months have passed since they've begun this unusual arrangement, there are times that neither of them can come up with a suitable challenge. Not that the lack of a real reason seems to stop them from tumbling into bed together at the end of a night spent in each other's company, as if it's a foregone conclusion.

He wishes he could be surer that they were a foregone conclusion, even if he still hasn't worked up the courage to have a real conversation with Mydei about what this all means. But surely it can't hurt to have hope? It's not like he doesn't have reason to. In fact, if he doesn't already know better, the idol might even go as far as to say that they're dating.

It's not as if he's plucking the idea out of thin air either. After all, they spend enough time together that Aglaea has begun asking him if there's anything he needs to tell her, to which Phainon had laughed and diverted the conversation. (Although he wouldn't be surprised if she did know about Mydei, since she's always had an uncanny ability to tell what he's been up to, even back in the day when he was still new to the business.)

And of the times they do spend together, it's not outside of the ordinary for them to grab a meal beforehand. In fact, they often have dinners at swanky establishments near his workplace, if only to preserve Phainon's privacy from the vultures moonlighting as reporters. The silver-haired man, however, would much rather pretend those are dates, and with the warm glow of the candlelight throwing Mydei's face into sharp relief, sometimes he even thinks he catches a look on the strawberry blonde's face that suggests the man might feel a sliver of the same toward him.

He wants to believe it, he really does. Except Phainon knows, deep down, that it can only have been a trick of the light. Because if Mydei truly had always felt the same echoes of how he felt about the younger man, why had he left Phainon behind so cruelly without a word, as if he had been nothing to Mydei? It's not something he likes to dwell on, but his mind returns to it time and time again, especially on long work days when he doesn't hear from Mydei as much, because Mydei rarely ever texts him first, even if he always responds. And what does that mean, if it even means anything?

And then there are the nights where they meet at either one of their apartments. More often than not, those nights are the ones where neither one of them makes any pretensions as to what they're there for, eagerness showing in the way Phainon clings to Mydei once the door slams closed, and the way the flame-haired man lets him. Some days it is the reverse, where the strawberry-blonde pins him to the wall, scenting him as he ruts up against Phainon, teeth sinking into a shoulder as his tongue swirls hot on tender, marked skin while Phainon carts him off into the bedroom, or the couch, if they can't wait that long. Those are the best and the worst days, Phainon letting himself buy into the delusion that what Mydei wants so desperately isn't just his body, or the relief he can offer Mydei, but him.

And the sex on those nights is always great, but pathetic as it sounds, what Phainon likes most is what comes after. Just them, sitting on the couch, playing endless rounds of Mario Kart, or watching some silly horror movie just so that Mydei gets the satisfaction of predicting every single jump scare and predictable plot line while huddled over a Chinese takeaway. It reminds Phainon of their high school days, when things were simpler, and Phainon hadn't yet realised that the fluttering in his chest wasn't indigestion but was instead a symptom of his feelings for Mydei. Like that, he can almost pretend that nothing has changed between them, that it hasn't been nearly ten years since Mydei had disappeared without a trace only for Phainon to find him by happenstance.

The truth is, however, that he can't forget. Can't convince himself that Mydei will stay this time, even as he presses into Mydei and spills his seed deep within the man, even as he curves himself around the man with hair of flame, chest pressed so close against the man's spine that no gap remains between them. They may be closer in proximity than they've ever been, but every time Phainon leaves his side, all he can think about is what Mydei does in his spare time. Does he carve out his time carefully for Phainon the same way Phainon does for him? Or does he spend it with others? Does he let other people into his own home? Into his body?

Absurd as it is to think that an alpha would do that, the fact remains that Mydei had let Phainon fuck him, even if it had taken him losing a challenge for it to happen. Who is to say that he hasn't developed a taste for being fucked? After all, he seems to enjoy it enough to let Phainon take him again and again. What if it isn't enough? What if Phainon isn't enough to satisfy him?

And what of his alpha instincts? After all, Mydei had been at Castrum Kremnos the first night they met, ostensibly with that pink-haired guy who had probably been there to help him with his rut. Phainon can't stop wondering if Mydei has—or had—a similar arrangement with Hephaestion, if Hephaestion comes over and makes himself at home at Mydei's abode, if Mydei curves himself protectively around the slighter man when they go to bed. Fuck.

So, he ends up installing surveillance cameras.

Well, Phainon hadn't planned on going through with it, at first.

It had started as an intrusive thought. One he'd thought would go away the moment he thought about it more, like the fact that he would be blatantly flouting Mydei's privacy if he were to do something like that without the man knowing.

Was observing Mydei's comings and goings worth the risk of being found out? The answer within him should have been no… but instead, it had been a resounding yes.

Besides, Phainon has always been a fantastic talker, having taken part in multiple international debate competitions at school where he'd come out on top. It's why Aglaea had never worried about coaching Phainon for his interviews, not when Phainon always seemed to know exactly how to come across to make his audience love him. So, he reckons that if Mydei were to find the hidden cameras installed in his home and at the entrance to his apartment, there's a good chance he'd be able to talk his way out of it, especially if he turns his puppy dog eyes upon the strawberry blonde again.

The information he may be able to glean from these hidden cameras, however… now that is priceless.

Today, for example, he watches the surveillance camera footage on his way to Mydei's after his photo shoot has concluded. Aglaea doesn't question why he's so quiet, and Phainon has never been more grateful that she isn't the type who cares to fill the silence with words. Not when he can feel himself getting worked up from seeing who Mydei had entertained in his home in Phainon's absence—the men who showed up to his apartment in the afternoon, acting so familiar with Mydei all the while, tossing their arms over his shoulders, nudging him with their elbows, laughing so boisterously that Phainon can practically hear it through the screen, despite the recording being a silent one.

Ugh. They act as if they have known Mydei forever. For all Phainon knows, they may have.

It stings, not being privy to all the things that Mydei might have done in the years they had been apart. Worse, Hephaestion was part of this crowd, the lone omega among burly alphas. He's sat on the ground, smiling face turned toward Mydei and Phainon can only seethe with jealousy in his car. He tries to rein in his irritation, keeping his pheromones in check because he doesn't want to piss Aglaea off by stinking up the entire car and then leaving her to deal with the aftermath when he gets out at Mydei's.

He watches the rest of the footage in double-time, eyes glued to the screen as Mydei lets out one of his rare smiles in the direction of the camera, and Phainon hates that it isn't intended for him. But he also can't help the small sigh of relief that escapes his lips when he watches the group of men leave, thankfully still fully clothed, and without Mydei having taken off a single article of clothing or having done anything remotely indecent with them.

It should be enough to reassure him. So why is it that he still feels restless, why is it that unease still threads through his entire body? It feels like adrenaline is pumping through his veins, the urge to see Mydei growing stronger than ever that he's practically vibrating with need. Fuck. Maybe seeing Mydei in person will help.

It takes some time for Phainon to regain his composure before he rings the doorbell, but the sight of Mydei unravels him all over again. The strawberry blonde man is still dressed in the same outfit as earlier, and—fuck.

He can't immediately locate Mydei's natural scent, what with the various scents that still linger all over his body. The smoky scent of a fireplace somewhere curled round his biceps, the cloyingly rich scent of red wine across his chest, crisp lemon lingering on his back. Fuck. Something burns dark and possessive in Phainon's chest at the realisation, panic and fury churning in his belly at the thought that other alphas have dared to scent Mydei. Mydei, who is supposed to be his.

His body acts before he can think, as he rushes through the open door and slams it behind him. Caging the flame-haired man between his arms, he rubs himself all over the man, tugging Mydei's clothes off in a bid to get to his natural scent, nuzzling and nosing at every inch of skin that is bared like a man possessed. Any control over his pheromones that he may have had before arriving at Mydei's doorstep is gone as his scent floods the room in oppressive waves, overripe and domineering, so much so that his head is reeling, dizzy with the strength of his own reaction.

Phainon can't help himself; he has never quite been able to when it comes to Mydeimos.

He regains his senses slowly, his consciousness trickling back into him at the taste of blood under his tongue, thick and sweet, like pomegranate milk mixed in with honey, so addictive that he desperately wants another taste, digging his elongated canines deeper to coax the release of more blood from the marred skin beneath his teeth, lapping the liquid up greedily.

Wait. Marred skin? Phainon retracts his teeth from the tender skin of Mydei's mating gland in horror, alpha gold fading from his eyes as his gaze is drawn to the imprint of teeth he's left on Mydei, milky pink skin turned a purpling red, swollen from his ministrations.

"Phainon? Are you back to normal now?" Mydei asks quietly, voice hoarse as if strained from overuse.

Images flash through Phainon's head as if he's seeing them through a looking glass, almost like it had happened to someone else. Of him, pinning Mydei against his couch, pushing his underwear aside as he sank his cock into Mydei's warmth, holding him down by his wrists until the skin turned white beneath his fingers. Of Mydei, landing a fierce kick against Phainon's chest only for Phainon to continue undeterred despite the red mark on his chest, forcefully sheathing his knot into Mydei, who had writhed uncontrollably beneath him. He'd ensured that his pheromones would seep into every orifice of Mydei's body as he came, spurting his seed inside the alpha and then again on him, smearing his cum all over Mydei's body as if it wasn't enough for Phainon to mark him from within.

In his hazy recollections, he saw Mydei trying to smack some sense into him, slapping his face and clawing at his back to drag him out of the mindlessness of his rut, all to no avail, as Phainon wholly ignored all his efforts, the only thought in his head being that he needed to breed that man. As a last resort, Mydei had dragged a snarling Phainon away from his neck by pulling him up by his choker, only for it to snap with force as Phainon fought back and dove back in to sink his teeth into Mydei's mating gland.

The strawberry blonde's eyes had lolled over at that, clear liquid streaming out of his cock to join the mess on his belly. He seemed to have sank into pliancy with that action, and he remained so even as Phainon fucked him through his overstimulated state, slamming into him with all the ferociousness of a seasoned warrior laying claim to his spoils, hands wrapping around a surprisingly narrow waist to spear the alpha onto his cock, tilting his hips just so to ensure that his tip would graze against the sensitive bundle of nerves within Mydei with every upward thrust, until the younger man's length began hardening again.

His long, deft fingers occasionally travelled to palm possessively at the bump in Mydei's belly, which reappeared with each time that Phainon carved his way into Mydei's body.

"Don't, ah—do that," Mydei's raspy voice said without conviction, as if he didn't realise that his body had betrayed his true desires by clamping down on the length inside him.

"Gonna fill you up. Breed you so good that you'll plump up right here. With my pup." The strawberry blonde's eyes widened at Phainon's proclamation, his insides constricting involuntarily as if he wasn't averse to the idea, and Phainon's inner alpha felt vindicated by his chosen mate's response.

Pressing against the same spot relentlessly, the silver-haired man ground at it with the heel of his hand at the same time he knotted the man once more, digging into his skin harder the more his knot grew inside the younger man. Overwhelming him from outside in, he bit viciously down on the same spot of the younger man's neck as if to solidify his claim. Mydei came just like this, mouth open in a silent scream as he convulsed around the foreign body inside of him, too spent to fight back.

Kephale. What has he done?

God, it was just like him to go overboard. "Shit, Mydei, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"

"Overreact? Lose your head?" The strawberry blonde shakes his head, somehow still looking radiant despite his ravaged state, amusement curling his lips upward. Flustered, Phainon makes a move to lift himself off Mydei, only for the younger man to hiss at him as his knot catches at Mydei's entrance.

"Sorry! I'm so sorry, please don't hate me—" He starts to babble, but Mydei silences him with a sharp nip of his incisors against Phainon's lower lip, trapping the appendage between his teeth as he rolls his hips and wraps his muscular legs more snugly around the silver-haired man's waist to keep him in place.

"Calm down." Mydei releases his pheromones at that, the tart, honeyed scent of pomegranates and goat's milk centring Phainon before he spirals further. The moonlit-haired man feels suitably chastised, guilt creeping into his chest for fucking up so soon even after he'd regained his sanity.

Kephale. Except for when he'd first presented, Phainon has never lost control this badly during a rut before, nor has he ever had a rut come on so quickly and so unexpectedly. His rut shouldn't even have been due for weeks yet.

It's strange, that his body should be acting like it did when he'd presented as a teenager, back when his hormones had yet to stabilise and he had no control over his inner alpha. His secondary gender had felt like a burden back then, especially when any contact he would have with Mydei would drive him into pre-rut, causing him to avoid his best friend in the lead up to Mydei's disappearance, all so he wouldn't pop a boner in public.

And then Mydei had gone, and his rut had stabilised, but at what cost? Phainon doesn't want to lose Mydei again.

"What are you even sorry for?" Mydei's voice cuts through his train of thought, open curiosity on his face.

"E-everything?" Phainon answers.

The flame-haired man clicks his tongue. "Is that a question or an answer?"

"An answer! I'm sorry, Mydei. I don't know what came over me. I-I shouldn't have forced you—"

"You didn't force me." Mydei interjects.

"What? But you were pushing me away…" Phainon trails off, confused when Mydei huffs in irritation.

"I was trying to smack some sense into you since you were in some kind of trance-like state. You should really get that checked out by a doctor, by the way." Mydei says in a matter-of-fact tone, and Phainon can only stare down at him with wide eyes, stunned at Mydei's cool composure.

"But you—are you saying that you didn't mind?" Phainon asks, watching as a wash of colour descends upon Mydei's fair cheeks. God. He's so cute I wish I could just bite him, he thinks.

It isn't till his gaze falls coincidentally upon Mydei's nape that he remembers that he already did. Twice.

"Haikas. If I truly wanted to hurt you, I would have. I wouldn't have let you touch me if I didn't want it too." Phainon can feel the redness creeping up his own neck at Mydei's answer. How does the man say things like that with a straight face?

"Still, I shouldn't have bit you, especially not without asking first. And I shouldn't have stunk the place up with my scent… I didn't mean to, I-I just didn't like smelling other people on you." Phainon levels a pleading look at Mydei, who rolls his eyes.

"Hmph. Whatever. The bite will fade in time, anyway. It's not like I'm an omega, so it's not a big deal."

Right. Of course it isn't a big deal to Mydei. Why would he want to be tied to Phainon forever? If Phainon were in his place, he wouldn't want it either. Not when Mydei has plenty of options, plenty of interesting alphas and omegas around him who don't just rely on their looks for a living. Who is Phainon to think he's anyone special to Mydei when Mydei hasn't said a word to affirm this? All he is is the guy who tricked his childhood friend into falling into bed with him.

"Are you still upset?" Ah crap. He's forgotten that he still doesn't have full control over his pheromones, and the souring of his scent had leaked out enough to be noticeable to Mydei.

"You don't have to worry about them. They're just my friends." Mydei explains. But isn't Mydei his friend, too? What are they then, if not friends? Friends with benefits? Fuck buddies? Phainon is too scared to ask, too fearful of what his answer might be if it turns out that Mydei doesn't feel the same way about him. If that is the case, he'd rather not know.

"Most Kremnoans aren't like the Okhemans, they don't think anything of letting their scents out around people, or scenting people they consider part of their pack or family." Mydei continues when Phainon remains silent. "But I'll tell them to stop, if you feel so strongly about it as to go into rut."

"Really?" Phainon perks up, surprised at Mydei's generosity. Not that Mydei isn't a generous person, of course, but to be so accommodating of him… the silver-haired man can't help but be touched by the younger man's thoughtfulness. (And he can't help but feel smug, too, that all of Mydei's thoughtfulness here is reserved for him.)

"Tch. The things I do for you, Deliverer." Mydei scoffs, but there's no heat to his words.

"Mydei, you're so good to me." Phainon nuzzles into his neck, suddenly giddy with glee as his inner alpha preens at having his desires indulged by his chosen mate.

"HKS. Why are you getting bigger—!" Mydei breaks off on a moan as Phainon's knot, which had barely gone down, starts swelling up almost immediately where it is still encased within his velvety warmth. The silver-haired alpha grinds deeper into him on instinct, pushing the tip of his cock into a narrower opening inside the blonde, one that squeezes so tight around his shaft that Phainon nearly forgets how to breathe from how good it feels.

Kephale. He could do this forever.

As if Mydei had heard his unspoken plea, the alpha rolls his hips, muscled thighs spreading wider to receive him better, and Phainon forgets to think altogether.

A month passes, and then two.

Phainon doesn't quite manage to kick the habit of checking his surveillance footage to observe Mydei's comings and goings, but he tries not to do it too often, at least. Just a couple of times a week, enough to ease his anxiety when his schedule is too busy that it doesn't allow him to drop in on the man. Just enough to know with certainty that Mydei isn't taking some other alpha or omega, or even a beta home in his absence.

Especially not that pink-haired omega with whom he seems so close, often accompanying him back after a day of work, even if Hephaestion usually leaves once he walks Mydei to his door.

It's irrational, really, when they still see each other several times a week, and Phainon's unusually frequent ruts leave him more insatiable than ever. Hardly a day passes that Phainon doesn't wake aching for Mydei, craving his tight warmth encased around his dick. He feels like some horny teenager again, which isn't great considering how inconvenient it is for him to get a boner at random times of the day, but his busy schedule hasn't allowed him the time to visit a doctor just yet.

Luckily for Phainon, however, Mydei had been kind enough offer his assistance. (Or at least, he hadn't yet turned Phainon away when he showed up, so really, isn't that the same thing?) And despite being an alpha, his body seems to swallow up Phainon's knot so easily now, Phainon meeting with barely any resistance even when he pushes in for the first time. Not that it's ever enough to satisfy his inner alpha's greedy inclinations to mate, nor is it enough to suppress Phainon's own desires to breed the man, however impossible it may be. And for all his griping that it's cutting into his precious beauty sleep, Mydei always acquiesces when Phainon begs for more, for one, two, three more rounds.

So really, life is good. Great, even.

There's just one little thing.

The bite mark still hasn't disappeared from Mydei's nape though two months have passed since the day he bit the strawberry blonde. But if Mydei doesn't seem to mind, then neither does Phainon. Really. Though he does feel a little guilty at how deeply he must have bitten the man for how long it's remained in spite of Mydei's incredible regenerative abilities. Mydei keeps the mark covered under a bandage now, almost as if he doesn't want Phainon to pay attention to it, so while Phainon would love to know how it's healing up, he also doesn't want to make Mydei uncomfortable, which means that the only thing he can do is to pretend he doesn't notice.

Today, Phainon is in an exceptionally good mood. First of all, Mydei had been the one to reach out to him first, asking where he was, which is rare enough of an occurrence that he can count them on one hand. And now, Mydei is on his way here, having come all the way to his shooting location, just to see him. Not only is he here, he's even made Phainon a lunchbox full of homemade food, and all because Phainon had mentioned that he planned on skipping lunch to practice his lines.

If this isn't the pinnacle of happiness, what is?

"Mydei!" He waves at the tall, statuesque man, whose wavy golden locks tumble beautifully down his shoulders, red tips curling around his bountiful chest, a singular braid grazing the tip of his nipple, barely hidden under the mink-coloured tank top that he's wearing. Kephale, his top makes it look like his tits have grown since they last met, which is… incredibly unlikely, considering they met as recently as a couple days ago.

But god does he want to wrap his hands around those soft mounds of flesh and squeeze down, so he could check for himself if there was any difference in his size. Shit, he's going to get hard if he doesn't stop looking at his tits. The idol lets his eyes wander downward to see that Mydei has paired his top with ripped wide leg jeans in a grey wash, drawing emphasis to the narrower curve of his waist without hiding the power in his muscled legs. Shit, at this rate, Phainon won't be able to look at him without getting half-hard, and the last thing he wants is to go into rut while on a shoot.

"Tch, Deliverer. You shouldn't skip meals when your health is already in a bad state." Mydei berates him, ochre eyes narrowed as he gives Phainon a once-over. The idol-turned-actor does a twirl, laughing, even as his childhood friend frowns at him.

"You should take your health more seriously." Mydei says with a sigh, unwrapping the lunchbox to reveal a delicious array of food. Mydei's favourite fig stew has been enriched with chickpeas and harissa paste, made more nutritious and calorie for Phainon's benefit. He's also included some snacks in the form of chocolate chip cookies shaped so much like the chimera they both have a liking for, as well as a pomegranate milkshake. Really, it's too generous, not that Phainon is complaining. It makes his heart flutter, to think that Mydei cares enough to take care of him in his own way.

Is he allowed to take this as a sign that Mydei really does like him back?

"Whoa, Mydei. Talk about a feast! Did you make these just for me?"

Mydei scoffs. "These were just leftovers I threw together since someone can't even feed himself properly."

"Even the cookies?"

"Except the cookies." Mydei folds his arms across his chest defensively, and Phainon fights a smile from breaking out on his lips at the thought of Mydei baking a special treat for him.

"Thanks Mydei." Phainon says softly. "And I'll book an appointment with the doctor next week, I promise."

"See that you do." The Kremnoan answers coolly, though Phainon can hear the relief in his voice. The silver-haired man tries not to overthink it, tries not to worry that Mydei's relief is because he will no longer be burdened with the weight of Phainon's all-consuming attentions, but rather because he is worried about Phainon's health.

"Say, what brings you here today?" Phainon asks, face cupped in his palm as he looks up at Mydei with curiosity. After all, it's not every day that Mydei reaches out, and Mydei has always been the more practical person of them two, which means he likely had a reason to seek Phainon out this time.

Strangely, however, Mydei hesitates. The Kremnoan looks unsure, as if he's struggling to string the right words together to express himself.

"Hypothetically… what would you do if you got someone pregnant?"

Phainon startles, nearly choking on the last of his food. He racks his brain, wondering if he's given any indication to Mydei that he has any interest in anyone else, let alone an omega. He's never had any interest in omegas in the first place, only ever sharing his ruts with the odd omega now and again when he was younger, and even then only if they reminded him of Mydei in some way or other.

Is Mydei trying to get reassurance from him? What would even be the right thing to say under these circumstances? Sure, if it were Mydei, he'd want kids, but with anyone else—

"I would never let that happen." Phainon's voice comes out harsher than expected, expression dark as if the possibility itself is too distasteful to bear thinking about, because it is.

As if he'd ever let anything jeopardise his budding relationship with Mydei.

He doesn't get the reaction he expected from Mydei, however. When Phainon looks back at the younger man, his complexion seems to have paled, and later, Phainon wonders if he had imagined the stricken expression on the man's face, there and gone again in the blink of an eye.

But what he knows is that the atmosphere is strange and discomfiting in the wake of Mydei's question and Phainon's decisive answer. Instead of defusing the tension, it seems to have had the opposite effect. Mydei stays for a short while, but he seems distant and faraway the whole time, flinching away the one time Phainon tries to touch him. It makes Phainon antsy, his anxiety rising to the surface as he rushes to check the surveillance footage as soon as he gets a chance.

He only calms after he catches sight of Mydei back in his home, alone. That doesn't last long, however. The next thing he sees on the surveillance footage just about makes his heart stop. Because there is Hephaestion, walking through the door, folding Mydei into his embrace. There is Mydei, packing up his belongings, putting them away into a suitcase. A suitcase that he packs full to the brim with Hephaestion's help. And then he's done, wheeling it out. But before he leaves, Mydei turns his gaze straight to the camera, unblinking.

An arm reaches up, and the camera footage turns fuzzy for a second, before it cuts out. Heart pounding in his chest, Phainon frantically checks every single camera—the one outside Mydei's front door, the one installed in his living room, the two in his bedroom—only to come to the creeping realisation that every single one has been cut off. He has been cut off.

Fuck.

It turns out that Mydei had known what he was doing all along. Yet for reasons Phainon is slow to comprehend, the Kremnoan had been fine with Phainon's surveillance, at least, up until today.

All it had taken was one conversation, however, and it seems like Mydei is no longer on board with it. With him.

Panic is a butterfly fighting its way out of the cocoon of his chest, no longer a place of warmth, but now a shell to be discarded, the way Mydei is discarding of Phainon from his life.

Kephale. What has he done? The worst part of it all is that he can't even leave straightaway, since his shoot isn't over yet. Phainon is lucky (not that he feels it) that the theme of today's shoot is dark intensity, a commercial for a makeup brand for which he is the spokesperson. There's no need for pretence today, his broody countenance helping him speed through the script and filming of the commercial. All the while, his mind is racing through endless possibilities, all roads leading to the same conclusion.

Hypothetically… what would you do if you got someone pregnant?

That was the reason why Mydei had come looking for him. But it wasn't really a hypothetical, was it? Someone had gotten pregnant. The question is… who?

It's obviously not Mydei. He's an alpha, after all. And Phainon hasn't slept with anyone other than Mydei since they had first crossed paths again all those months ago.

Which means… the only person that comes to mind is Hephaestion.

Fuck. Had Mydei gotten that omega pregnant? Was that what it was? Phainon tries not to think about the possibility that Mydei had been sleeping with Hephaestion at the same time he'd been involved with Phainon. He can't let jealousy cloud his mind at this juncture, not when he's on the brink of losing Mydei.

If he hasn't already lost him.

Right. Calm. He can do that. Maybe it had happened before Mydei and Phainon had even gotten involved. Perhaps that's why he'd chosen to seek advice from Phainon, only for Phainon to sound so averse as to completely dismiss the idea. Fuck. He'd basically made it sound like he hated the idea of kids. Was it any wonder that Mydei had felt so uncomfortable?

He books a taxi straight to Mydei's apartment after he's done with his shoot, hoping against hope that the alpha hasn't left yet, that the footage he'd seen was just a fever dream. Except when he arrives, the door is locked. And no matter how many times he knocks on the door, no matter how long he stays in the hallway, there is no answer.

For the second time in his life, Mydei has walked out of his life without any warning. Just like the first time, Phainon feels like he's fallen to shambles, as if something inside him has broken irreparably.

And the worst part is that this time, he has no one to blame but himself.

In the end, he cancels or suspends all prior commitments and appearances.

When asked on a scheduled live-stream about why he was taking a sudden break, Phainon had only smiled, tightlipped, and had said with absolute sincerity, "I'm looking for someone important to me."

It's enough for him to get benched by a concerned Aglaea, who doesn't quite ban him from his social media accounts, but she does tell him not to post anything, for now. He supposes that Aglaea must be shocked that he'd reveal details about his personal life when he's always been careful not to all these years, especially without telling her first. Really, he knows he should be more careful, but with Mydei still missing, he can't bring himself to care about his reputation or what this may imply. If anything, he's hoping that Mydei is one of the many viewers watching his live-stream, so that he's aware that Phainon hasn't given up on finding him.

He'd spent the first few weeks after Mydei's disappearance revisiting every place they'd ever been together. The problem was, most of their meetups had been at either of their apartments, since there was a need to preserve Phainon's privacy, which means there's not a lot of places he can go at all. He visits the one place Mydei used to frequent—the Marmoreal Diner, where he'd pick up an order of golden honey cakes every Sunday like clockwork—but still, there's no sign of Mydei to be found.

Even hiring a private investigator hasn't helped, as all it reveals is that Mydei is no longer in the Okheman city. Going to Castrum Kremnos several weeks ago didn't cede much information either, not until Phainon was desperate enough to ask after Hephaestion's whereabouts. It's then that he learns that Hephaestion had taken a leave of absence.

Which means that he is definitely with Mydei, wherever that may be. And it also makes it more likely that Hephaestion and Mydei are having a child together.

But where does that leave him?

Phainon isn't willing to give up on Mydei. Because surely Mydei must have liked him a little, to have kept him around for so long? The more he thinks about it, the more he believes the pregnancy must've occurred before they were involved. Mydei must've only just found out, for him to have come especially to speak to Phainon about it, even in oblique terms.

It feels like there's something he's missing here, but he can't pinpoint as to what it is.

The only good thing that has come of all this is that his schedule is now wide open, so he can finally get that doctor's appointment he'd been putting off. And all in good time too, considering Mydei's sudden departure had caused Phainon's rut to arrive early. This rut had been different to any other he's had before, and he'd clawed at himself, scratching his skin raw and destroying half the furniture in his living room before he returned to his senses. His house had stunk of yearning and sour despair and he'd needed to air out the room before slapping a suppressant patch on his neck.

God. He's never had violent tendencies during his rut before, and he doesn't know what it means. But he does know that he can't let it interfere with his search for Mydei, which is why he's booked in with Hyacine, his regular doctor who also happens to be a friend of his from university.

"Phainon… I know this is a bit of a personal question, but as part of protocol I have to ask. Are you recently mated?" He recognises the hopeful glint in her bright eyes, as if congratulations are just on the tip of her tongue, and Phainon realises he needs to correct her before she gets the wrong idea.

"What? No, that's—it's impossible." Sure, his inner alpha may have recognised Mydei as its mate, and he may have bitten Mydei, but it doesn't change the fact that Mydei is an alpha.

"Oh." Hyacine looks disappointed. "A new rut partner then?"

"Is that relevant?" His cheeks flush at the thought that it's obvious enough from his tests alone to know that he has a regular rut partner.

"Well, there is something showing up as an anomaly in your test results… Phainon, have you ever heard of an enigma?" When Phainon shakes his head, the word drawing blanks in his head, Hyacine continues on.

"Enigmas are incredibly rare, with less than 1% of the world's population being of this gender orientation. Usually they're born this way, but every once in a blue moon an alpha comes along with incredibly elevated pheromone levels, usually triggered by a powerful desire to mate and breed a fellow alpha, and they go through what we call a second puberty."

Phainon stares at Hyacine blankly, not sure where she's going with this.

"Your irregular and unstable ruts, as well as the increasing violent tendencies during your latest rut spent without your rut partner, fit the parameters of this second puberty. I still need to run further blood tests but… I think it's safe to say that your secondary gender has changed."

"What does it mean if my secondary gender has changed? How different are enigmas to alphas?" Phainon asks.

"Enigmas have the ability to mark their chosen mate, and they also gain the ability to impregnate their mate, regardless of secondary gender. There isn't a lot of literature about enigmas, since they are so rare, but I can recommend some texts for you to read so you can gain a better understanding of enigmas," Hyacine says with a sympathetic look on her face. "But if your transformation was triggered by an alpha, it's safer if you continue spending time with them, at least until you stabilise."

Phainon lets out a bitter bark of laughter at that, before clearing his throat when he sees the startled expression on Hyacine's face. "Ah, sorry. I didn't mean to do that, I'm just a little emotional right now."

She pats his hand comfortingly. "That's completely normal. For now, I'll prescribe you some suppressants and herbs that might help ease your ruts."

"Thanks Hyacine, you're a lifesaver." The smile comes easily, the one he wears when the cameras are on, even if he feels entirely the opposite inside. But while Hyacine is one of his dearest friends, he doesn't want to burden her with knowledge of his situation, not when she's busy enough as it is.

But he can't help but find it ironic, that his desire for Mydei has taken shape and changed form to allow him to impregnate and even mate the alpha. It's just too bad that the alpha in question is now out of reach, potentially starting a family with the wrong person in Phainon's opinion.

His legs work on autopilot after leaving the hospital, and with so much on his mind, he ends up walking aimlessly for hours. By the time Phainon even realises where he is, he's found himself at the entrance to Castrum Kremnos.

Ah, fuck it. He needs a drink anyway.

Five strong drinks later and his head is pleasantly buzzed, his vision swimming just enough to make things interesting if he moves a little too quickly. Wow, who knew that the solution to overthinking would be drinking himself into a stupor? He still misses Mydei something stupid, but at least his alcohol-ridden brain is too sluggish to think too hard after the revelations of the day.

Sipping on his sixth drink, Phainon starts chuckling to himself when he starts seeing things.

"Hephaestion!" He calls out to the apparition of the pink-haired man that can't possibly be in front of him right now, considering he's supposed to be on leave. "Hey, come here. I need to talk to you."

The man looks at him and shakes his head, turning to walk away.

"Hey, wait—!" Phainon nearly topples over his bar stool as he runs after the pink-haired man. Fuck if he's going to let even an alcohol-conjured version of Hephaestion run away from him. "Please, I just need a second."

"What do you want." The pink-haired man's voice is clipped, displeasure sharpening his words. Unlike the only other time they've met, his pheromones aren't concealed today, and the smoky scent of campfire surrounds him, hostile and bitter.

It's a strange smell for an omega, since most of them smell sweet or floral, but Phainon files it away for later. It's not important right now, anyway.

"Mydei… is he okay?"

"You have the cheek to ask, after what you said to him?" He looks at Phainon warily.

"Please, I-I know I said something stupid. I thought I was reassuring him; I didn't realise he was talking about you. I could never hate a child of Mydei's, even if they were yours, and not mine."

Hephaestion looks confused, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Mydei… you're pregnant with his child, aren't you?"

"What? Why would you think—" Hephaestion exhales loudly, running his hands through his hair before he answers. "I'm an alpha. And Mydei and I don't have that kind of relationship. Only you do, Phainon."

"Wait, wait. Are you saying what I think you're—"

Hephaestion doesn't wait for him to finish the thought. "Mydei's pregnant. And it's yours."

"What?" Disbelieving laughter bubbles out of his throat.

He doesn't understand the words coming out of dream-Hephaestion's mouth. His mind really must be addled by alcohol, to have conjured up such a fantasy. It's just too bad that Mydei isn't in his dream too. Phainon would much rather speak to the man he's in love with than his love rival.

Hephaestion sighs. "Look, when you're sober tomorrow, give me a call. I'll take you to him so you can sort this out with him properly."

"Really?" Even in a dream, this scenario seems too good to be true.

"Believe it or not, Mydei needs you right now. So you'd better shape up, and convince him that you'll be there for him."

That is the last thing Phainon remembers when he wakes up in a guest bed at Castrum Kremnos, thankfully alone. He must've passed out last night after drinking too much.

His head hangs heavy with a hangover now that he's awake, and Phainon goes to pour himself a glass of water, chugging it down as he goes over the strange dream he had last night. The thought of Mydei, pregnant with his child… and Hephaestion of all people telling him this? Phainon's never been accused of having an over-rich imagination before, but perhaps his mind's potential just hadn't been unlocked until now.

There's no way that that interaction had actually happened in reality… right? Just in case, he checks his phone for Hephaestion's contact, sure that he'll come up empty.

Except when he types in 'Hep' into his contacts list, Hephaestion's contact pops straight up, with a number that is unfamiliar to him. His heartbeat stutters in his chest, and he calls the number straightaway, not wanting to waste any time.

"I see you finally decided to wake up?"

"Take me to him. Please." Phainon implores, unable to focus on anything except for the fact that his dream hadn't been a dream after all, which means that Mydei is actually pregnant with his child. And to think he'd told the man he would never let anyone have his child. For Mydei, that had probably sounded like a threat. No wonder he'd up and left.

All Phainon wants is to make it up to him. He only hopes that Mydei will still be inclined to give him a chance, to hear him out and let him explain himself.

Turns out, the reason why the private investigators had been unable to locate Mydei in the city was because he wasn't there. According to Hephaestion, Mydei had gone back to his hometown several hours away, and was staying temporarily at his mother's beach house.

As his friend and secretary, Hephaestion had accompanied the man there, being the only one out of their friend group to know of Mydei's condition since he'd been the one to convince Mydei to pay the doctor a visit in the first place after he'd thrown up at work for the third time in two weeks. He'd stayed with Mydei for a few weeks after, making sure that he had all the amenities he needed and that the strawberry blonde was settled, before going back to work.

Kephale, Phainon feels like a fool. All this time he had thought that Hephaestion was involved with Mydei, when he was just being a good friend.

How had he missed Mydei's condition when they spent so much time together? Sure, sometimes Mydei returned from the bathroom looking a little pale in the mornings, but he'd always dug into his honey cakes with gusto afterwards, so Phainon had just thought the younger man hadn't gotten enough sleep. Phainon had thought his tits felt a little softer, but then he'd assumed that was just his overactive imagination, and had forgottne all about it.

When Hephaestion drops him off nearby, Phainon apologises. "I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused. But thank you for being there for Mydei, when I couldn't be."

"I'll leave it to you then. Bring him home."

"I will. I'll make this right." The enigma promises, conviction ringing in his voice.

The house isn't a large one, but Phainon can understand why Mydei had decided to come here. It's quiet and cosy, a cottage facing the sea, with the soft lapping of the waves against the shore in the background. It's idyllic, the perfect place for escape, and Phainon almost feels bad for coming here and disturbing his peace. But the way Hephaestion tells it, it doesn't sound like this has been the most restful time for the younger man at all, despite his surroundings. And Phainon can't help but feel responsible for it.

The house is sparsely decorated, as is expected of a beach house more suited for use as a holiday home, with nothing that particularly screams of Mydei, if not for his scent filling the house, the scent that Phainon has missed so much, that of ripe pomegranate and creamy goat's milk.

He follows the scent to where it's most potent to find Mydei curled up in bed, peaceful in his slumber. His eyes stir beneath his eyelids when Phainon enters the room, but otherwise, he remains asleep, tawny lashes casting shadows on his face, wheat-coloured hair spread across the pillows, as beautiful as the crepuscular rays at sunset. Phainon crawls onto the bed, careful not to disturb Mydei as he lies on his side, fingers combing through the alpha's silky hair as his eyes greedily take in the sight of the Kremnoan.

He can't help but let his fingers trail lower down to Mydei's nape as he remembers what Hyacine said about him being newly mated. Brushing away the soft hair covering the alpha's mating gland, his fingers glide over the bite he'd left on it several months ago, freshly healed, but scarred over the way a mating bite would.

Because that is what it is, even if neither of them had known at the time.

"Phainon?" Mydei's voice is soft, husky from sleep as if he hasn't fully woken up yet, and the silver-haired man's heart aches at hearing it. "You're here. How did you get here?"

He slides a palm up to cup the side of Mydei's face, thumb tracing his cheek tenderly. "I am. Hephaestion told me you were here. He let me in."

The mention of Hephaestion has Mydei stiffening in his hold, as if he's realised in that moment that he's no longer asleep and dreaming and that Phainon is truly there. Within seconds, he slams his elbow into Phainon's chest, leaving the enigma winded as he falls onto the bed while Mydei rears back, jolting up and away from the bed as if he's been scalded.

"Wait—! Mydei, please. Can we talk?"

Mydei's golden eyes narrow, but he folds his arms across his chest and nods. "Why are you here?"

Phainon bites his tongue even as he notices that Mydei's tits have definitely gotten more pronounced. After all, they're not the focus of the conversation.

He tries to phrase his words carefully, but there's no real way to do this, not with what he's about to say. "Hephaestion told me you were pregnant with my child. Is that true?"

Mydei scoffs. "Why ask when you already know the answer? You don't have to worry. We'll stay out of your hair. I know you don't want children."

"That's not true at all—!" The enigma shouts, startling the flame-haired man, whose expression turns quizzical before it morphs into an accusing look.

"You said—"

"I know what I said! I didn't realise that you were talking about yourself. I thought you meant some other omega I might have been with."

"You were sleeping with other omegas while you were with me?" There's an undercurrent of hurt in the golden-haired man's voice and Phainon wonders how he's managed to dig himself into a deeper hole.

"No, of course I wasn't! I just— I thought you could be under the impression that I was sleeping with other people."

"Why would I think that? Do you have surveillance cameras installed for other people?"

"What? No!" Kephale. How has their conversation derailed so rapidly? Phainon lets out a long exhale, trying to figure out the right words to say.

"I'm sorry, I was an idiot. I was trying to reassure you, since I didn't realise your hypothetical scenario was a real one. I didn't know that I could get you pregnant. But if you want to keep our child, then I would very much like to, too." Phainon tries to convey his sincerity with his eyes, and he takes a deep breath before continuing.

"I love you, Mydei. I always have. I should have told you sooner, but I was scared you didn't feel the same way. When you disappeared when we were younger, it ruined me. I was so happy to see you again and I couldn't risk losing you again." He lowers his head in shame, at having let his insecurities get to him, that he'd made excuse after excuse just to avoid having a real conversation with Mydei, which had led to the man running from him a second time.

"Haikas." He feels the mattress shift before he sees Mydei returning to the bed. "I didn't leave the first time because I wanted to."

"You didn't?"

Mydei shakes his head, wincing as if he's just recalled something unpleasant. "My father… he pulled me out of school to get private tutoring as the heir to our business, after I presented. I tried to tell you, but you kept avoiding me just before I left, that I didn't get the chance to tell you until it was too late. When I finally broke free of his influence and set up Castrum Kremnos, I tried to find you again."

"Wait. You're the mysterious owner of Castrum Kremnos?" Phainon finally glances up at that, shock writ all over his face. To think Mydei had been right under his nose the whole time!

"I thought you knew. How else do you think you landed a membership to Castrum Kremnos so easily? Considering your idol status, I thought this would be the most discreet way to let you know who I was, but you never reached out. I guess now I know why."

Ah. Phainon had never tried to find out who had vouched for him, even though their contact information was readily available, and now he wholly regrets it. But he can't change the past now, so instead he says, as earnestly as he can, "I'm sorry I kept you waiting, but I'm here now, if you'll have me. I want to start a family with you, Mydei. I want us to be true mates, in every sense of the word. As long as you want it too."

"HKS. Don't you think it's a little too late to say all that after you've already knocked me up and marked me?" Mydei snarks at him, but the playful glint to his eyes makes it clear that he's only joking.

Phainon laughs wetly, relief rushing through his veins.

"Really, why are you the one crying when I'm the one knocked up?" Mydei's hands come up to wipe at the tears spilling down his face, plush lips kissing his cheeks gently, an answer to Phainon's question in actions if not with words. Phainon tilts his head, lifting his chin to connect their lips together, and everything clicks into place.

Tongues tangle hotly together, clothes flinging off the bed while their bodies intertwine, sinking into the sheets as their pheromones permeate the room. Their scents blend beautifully together, bringing to mind the thought of bustling countryside festivals after a summer's bountiful harvest, like those in Phainon's hometown of Aedes Elysiae. It's intoxicating, and Phainon mouths greedily at Mydei's scent gland, now that he's allowed to, scent marking him as he kisses the delicate, sensitive skin of Mydei's neck.

Mydei shivers under his touch, his own lips grazing Phainon's sensitive mating gland as he scent marks the enigma in return.

"You can bite me back, y'know. I don't mind, even if it doesn't stay."

"HKS. What if your fans see?" Mydei hisses as he nips punishingly at Phainon's mating gland instead.

"I don't care. I don't want to hide you, or our family. You deserve better, and so does our pup." Phainon kisses Mydei's shoulder, roaming hands sliding beneath his loose t-shirt, pulling it off to cup at the mounds of flesh on his chest. He rolls a nipple between his thumb and forefinger, making the alpha arch his back as he lets out an audible gasp.

"Mark me, and let them see what a beautiful mate I have." Phainon's voice has dropped an octave, and he lowers his face to suckle at the other protrusion on Mydei's chest, sucking harder as he imagines milk trickling out of his nipple for their pup.

"Phainon, stop sucking so hard—" Mydei breaks off on a moan, canines elongating as he sinks his teeth into Phainon's mating gland and comes at the same time, shuddering as a weak trickle of come spurts from his twitching cock, smearing between their bodies.

"Mydei, fuck. That was so hot. I can't believe you're so sensitive you can come from your nipples now…"

"Shut up. Who do you think made me this way? If not for the pregnancy hormones, I wouldn't be so pent up!" Mydei huffs, skin pinkening from embarrassment as his cock plumps up again even without much stimulation.

"All right… of course, it's my fault. Don't worry, Mydei. I'll take responsibility." Phainon says in a coaxing manner, though his eyes stray to Mydei's mostly-flat stomach, and he resolves to be careful the way he hasn't been so far.

"Put your legs together for me, princess."

Mydei cocks his head but does as told, still loose-limbed and lax from his recent orgasm.

Phainon slots his shaft between Mydei's powerful thighs, which flex experimentally around him, tightening deliciously around his hardness. It makes the enigma thrust forward on reflex, cock scraping against the skin of Mydei's perineum, pulling a gasp from the alpha as he undulates his hips, which in turn makes Phainon slide forward. The pressure of Mydei's firm thighs against his length is so good it makes the enigma's eyes roll into the back of his head, the tautness of his muscles mimicking the pressure of his insides as they massage against him while he rocks forward slowly, before speeding up a little more with every thrust.

The wet, squelching sounds of their bodies smacking against each other echo around the room, interrupted only by the soft moans and grunts let out by the pair of them. Phainon thinks he could come just like this, surrounded by Mydei's scent, pressed against his soft skin.

Mydei, however, seems to disagree with him. The alpha digs his fingers into the hair at the base of Phainon's nape, pulling him up so that they can see eye-to-eye. Before Phainon can say a word, Mydei glares at him and lays down the law.

"Fuck me properly, Phainon, or don't fuck me at all."

"But I don't want to hurt our pup," Phainon starts, only to stop at Mydei's fiery gaze.

"Our pup isn't so weak that they could be harmed by their father." Mydei rolls his eyes. "Besides, the doctor said it was fine. So, hurry up and knot me, enigma."

He hisses the last of it, thighs falling open as he flips them over, straddling the wide-eyed enigma as he opens himself up decisively, fingers dipping into the wetness left behind on his stomach before sliding it into himself, opening himself up with one, two and three fingers before deeming himself ready.

Positioning himself over the enigma, Mydei lowers himself down, taking Phainon into his body without hesitation. The alpha rides him hard and fast, fingers curling into Phainon's choker as he chases his pleasure. Mydei looks gorgeous like this, long legs splayed in the bedspread as his heels dig into the sheets, the moonlight spilling in from the windows giving his skin a luminous quality and making his tattoos look more fluid, as if he is a god come to life, to take from Phainon what he would.

Phainon would give it all to him, willingly.

"Fill me up, enigma. Give me your knot." Mydei commands and bites down hard onto Phainon's mating gland once more.

Fuck. Adrenaline pulses through him, the pain of the bite only whetting Phainon's desire, augmenting his pleasure. A punched-out moan slips from his mouth as Phainon grinds deep into the alpha, his cock throbbing as his knot begins growing where it's encased within Mydei's seed-slickened walls. And then Mydei is arching his back as he comes again, loud and unrestrained, his mouth falling slack as his eyes flutter close in pleasure while white liquid splashes down his front.

Phainon watches, mesmerised, as Mydei's abdomen rounds out a little more, from his knot and his seed, as well as their pup. He still can't believe that all of this is his now, to hold and to have.

Later, after they've cleaned up and are curled up in bed together, Mydei grabs hold of his face, his ochre eyes flashing with intent. "In case it isn't obvious enough… I love you too."

Phainon smiles so wide at that he thinks his cheeks may split open.

He doesn't think that life can get any better than this.

Several months later, on a planned live-stream…

"Hi everyone, I just wanted to share some news! I recently married the man I've been in love with for the better part of a decade, and he's expecting! We're both very excited for our daughter's arrival, so in preparation, I'll be taking a hiatus for a year. I hope you'll all continue to support me, and my family. Thank you guys for everything."