Chapter Text
The city wept placenta-red, its streets glistening like torn flesh kissed by moonlight. Its pulse was slow but stubborn—a dying thing that refused to die.
Vein wondered if the city even had a heart, much like the omega resting against his shoulder—blissfully unaware of the static hum of the radio as the car glided through decaying streets.
The scent of rain clung to the pavement, thick with the perfume of rot. The city smelled of something decomposing in real time—metallic, sour, wet—its sickly breath causing the skeletal trees to sway like figures in a parade.
Vein tapped a finger against the window, his gaze flickering between the ghostly reflection of his own face and the small, vulnerable form curled against him. Xia Fei slept soundly; his soft breaths warmed Vein’s arm as if the world were not filled with monsters.
Including him.
The omega’s scent was faint yet unmistakable—lingering in the air like the first whiff of meat roasting over an open flame. It was sweet, heady, almost maddening. Vein could taste it at the back of his throat, clinging to his palate like honey over blood.
The scent blockers were wearing off, gradually releasing the inviting aroma—the kind that silently begged to be preyed upon. And the consequences hung in the air like the bite of a forbidden fruit: sweet, just enough to taste, just enough to starve for.
Vein’s hand hovered over Xia Fei’s shoulder before retracting, his fingers curling into a loose fist. He wanted to touch him—no, to consume him—not merely in lust but in an all-consuming hunger, a need. He longed to have Xia Fei beneath his skin, tangled in his nerves, nestled behind his ribs like a second, smaller heart. If he bit deep enough, perhaps he could keep him there forever.
A quiet chuckle escaped the alpha as he brushed away a damp patch of drool from his omega’s lips, his fingers lingering against the softness of Xia Fei’s skin. The motion was gentle, languid, even as his teeth ached—canines pressing against his gums, desperate to break free and press into the omega’s flesh. Nonetheless, a butcher admiring the tenderness of the cut before the knife slits.
“Keep your eyes on the road,” Vein growled at the driver—a beta who reeked faintly of damp linen and clean sweat. Betas might lack the potent pheromones of omegas or the raw instincts of alphas, but they still had eyes to see and noses to sniff. The driver’s glance had lingered on Xia Fei one second too long, and Vein’s temper flashed like a blade catching light.
The driver tensed, his hands tightening on the wheel, knuckles going pale at the intense pheromones that saturated the air, wrapping around his lungs like invisible threads.
They were scorching-like burnt embers, something fierce and consuming that radiated from the alpha in waves.
“Stop the car,” Vein ordered, his voice low and calm—the kind of calm that lingers a moment before a body hits the ground.
Then, thud.
The beta hesitated, his foot hovering over the brake. He glanced at the rearview mirror, brows furrowing. “Sir, we’re still—”
“I said, stop the car,” Vein interrupted, his tone laden with inevitability as his pupils shrank and his gaze deepened into crimson shadows.
The car lurched to a halt, tires screeching against wet pavement. Xia Fei stirred, mumbling incoherently as he burrowed deeper into Vein’s coat for comfort.
“Get out,” Vein said, his eyes cold.
The man hurried out, pausing as the car door opened slowly—Vein was stepping out—and adrenaline spurred him into flight. The beta ran, disappearing into the bleeding shadows of the city.
Vein slid into the driver’s seat, adjusting the mirrors with practiced ease. The scent of Xia Fei clung to the leather—an awful distraction for the alpha.
Xia Fei stirred again, looking at him with bleary, confused eyes. “Lǎobǎn… why are we stopping?” he asked, his voice drowsy and soft—the kind that should never mingle with death or hunger.
Vein’s gaze softened for a moment despite the tension roiling beneath his skin. “I’ll drive. The beta was too slow.”
Xia Fei blinked, his expression hazy with sleep. “Oh… okay,” he murmured.
Too trusting, too his.
Still half-asleep, Xia Fei allowed Vein to guide him to the passenger seat, his body pliant under the alpha’s touch as he buckled in. The omega now smelled sweeter, unguarded in his drowsiness—his scent weaving through Vein’s senses like silk and smoke, lingering at the tip of his tongue, a close reminiscient of spiced milk and crushed berries, warm and thick with the promise of something sweeter beneath
The alpha’s hand tightened on the wheel, nails digging crescents into the leather as if it were flesh.
This was fine. He could do this. The hunger clawing at his insides, the gnawing ache in his gut—just his instincts. Nothing more. Nothing urgent.
Xia Fei drifted off again, his head lolling to the side. Vein’s eyes traced the taut arch of his neck, where skin pulled tight over a fragile line—a blindspot.
That was what Xia Fei was: the one place Vein couldn’t see clearly, couldn’t predict, couldn’t control. His weakest point.
And it would be a lie if the alpha claimed he didn’t love that his omega drove him mad.
If the city was a rotting body, then Vein’s house was its stomach—a place where things were broken down until nothing remained whole.
Yet Xia Fei was an exception, something Vein could never fully digest. Sure, Vein had teeth to bite and chew, but not the power to swallow Xia Fei entirely. He lingered like undigested meat—a presence that Vein’s body rejected but his mind could not expel. Xia Fei always found a way back, slipping through the cracks like stomach acid creeping up a ruined throat. No matter how many times Vein spat him out, Xia Fei persisted, grinning as if he belonged among the bones and bile. It was almost admirable—in a sick way—how he refused to dissolve, how he stayed whole when everything else was broken down beyond recognition.
It was quiet when they arrived—the silence pressing against the ears like heavy gauze. The moment the front door clicked shut, Vein felt it: the shift, the way the space swallowed sound, leaving only Xia Fei’s soft breaths and the bellowing wail of his own hunger.
He carried Xia Fei inside with little effort—the omega pliant against him, his arms loosely wrapped around Vein’s neck. Too trusting. Too his. His to protect. His to devour.
Xia Fei’s body was warm, and Vein could feel his pulse—steady, soft—beneath the skin of his throat. A rhythm, a lullaby, a temptation.
Vein wanted to bite into it. Just enough to feel it yield. Just enough to taste him, to feel him sink beneath his flesh and bones, to have him assimilate—becoming his, and his alone.
Instead, he set Xia Fei down on the edge of the bed, each movement measured and careful. The restraint nearly killed him.
“Your heat is close,” Vein murmured, his voice low and reverent.
Xia Fei’s breath hitched, his fingers curling in the sheets. “I think so,” he admitted, his cheeks flushing that soft pink—the color of raw meat before it met the flame. “I’ve been too stressed with work, so it’s been… irregular.”
He hesitated, his gaze flickering up to Vein’s, revealing a vulnerable spark. “Plus… we barely see each other these days.”
Vein stilled. The words slid beneath his ribs like a carving knife, twisting their way in a 360 degrees and freeing something already ready to bare its teeth on the omegas flesh. The hunger he felt for Xia Fei was never just physical—it was deeper, uglier, a monstrous ache hidden in the marrow of his bones.
But this… this was something else entirely.
Vein could stomach the hunger. He could endure nights of aching restraint and unbearable tension. But the thought of his omega feeling alone? Unacceptable.
Vein moved before he could think further—before he could stop himself. One moment, there was space between them; the next, he was there—pressing Xia Fei down into the mattress deeply, his body a cage around the delicate form, his hands framing Xia Fei’s beautiful face, his breath warm against parted lips.
“You don't understand,” Vein whispered, his voice low, almost desperate. “How much I'm holding back—”
He swallowed the words, the feeling, the urge to tear him apart and keep every piece. And then he kissed him.
It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t soft. It was a crime, a prayer, a sin embodied in the shape of the omega’s lips.
He devoured the omega’s breath—the soft gasp escaping between them—his hands fisting in the sheets as he took, took, took. Xia Fei melted beneath him, his fingers clutching at Vein’s shoulders, his body surrendering on instinct.
Vein didn’t merely kiss—he consumed. His tongue traced the seam of Xia Fei’s lips, parting them slowly, sliding against his warmth, swallowing every sound, every exhale, every ounce of oxygen that Xia Fei breathed into existence.
The omega tasted delicious, the wetness of his mouth swirling into Vein's senses like the first bite of molten sugar, burning inhis tongue before melting into pleasure.
The hunger inside him curled, twisted, and turned over in its sleep. It was patient. It had waited this long. It could wait longer. Couldn’t it?
Xia Fei’s knees trembled, his thighs brushing against Vein’s hips, and he let out a soft groan as the alpha's teeth grazed his bottom lip with the barest pressure, teasing—just enough to elicit a whimper.
Vein’s vision went red. His instincts howled: Bite. Take. Mark.
His grip tightened around Xia Fei’s waist, pulling him flush, feeling how perfectly their bodies aligned—as if Xia Fei had been carved from something meant to be devoured. Xia Fei gasped against Vein’s mouth; his hands slid up his arms, trembling. His scent spiked—sweet and overwhelming—flooding the space between them, clouding every thought Vein had left.
Too much yet not enough.
Vein tore himself away, his breath ragged, his forehead pressed against Xia Fei’s as he forced himself to truly see him. Xia Fei’s eyes were wide, his lips swollen from the kiss, his expression fragile and hazy. His pupils dilated, his breath uneven—and Vein longed to tear him apart even as he yearned to cradle him.
He wanted— No.
Vein clenched his jaw. Not yet. Because once he started, he wouldn’t stop.
“Sleep,” Vein rasped, “You’ll need it.” Xia Fei blinked, dazed. “But—” “Sleep,” Vein repeated, firmer now—as if the word made the inevitable easier to bear. “Once I start, I won’t stop. Let me give you this night.”
Xia Fei hesitated—for just a second, Vein thought he might argue, might say something to unravel him completely. Instead, he sighed softly, relaxing into Vein as his hands loosened their grip on his shirt.
“Fine,” the omega pouted, his eyes fluttering shut. “But you have to come home early tomorrow!!”
Vein exhaled a quiet laugh, pressing a tender kiss to his lover’s forehead. “Deal.”
It was midnight when Vein became aware of the outside world once more— still stubborn in its slow decay. Stepping onto the balcony, the cold air struck him against overheated skin. He pulled out his phone, dialed, and brought it to his ear.
It rang twice before Liu Xiao’s irritated voice cut through the line. “The fuck do you want, Vein? It’s the middle of the night.”
“Xiafei’s heat is starting,” Vein replied smoothly.
A pause. Then: “And?”
Vein grinned—sharp enough to cut. “I need you to grab some things for him.”
The beta sighed heavily. “So now I’m your errand boy?”
“You’re my trusted errand boy,” Vein corrected easily. “And remember—no scent of alphas.”
Another pause. Then a scoff: “You’re unbelievable. Do you think the world revolves around your little omega?”
Vein’s fingers tightened on the balcony railing until it groaned under the pressure. “The world doesn’t,” he said, voice low, “but I do.”
Liu Xiao muttered something under his breath, but Vein barely heard it. Behind him, from the bedroom, came the softest sound—Xia Fei’s snore.
Vein turned his head, his body moving before his mind could catch up. “Fine,” Liu Xiao grumbled, “I’ll get your shit.” Click.
Vein stared at his phone for a moment then exhaled switching it off again before stepping back inside.
Back to his blindspot. Back to what made him weak. Back to what made him whole.