“Ma—Master…!”
The butler, who had withdrawn earlier after reading the atmosphere, knocked—and without waiting for a response, flung the door open.
In that instant, Lyle moved in a direction even he did not understand.
Haejin, blindfolded, could not see it—but Lyle instinctively stepped forward, blocking him, shielding his naked body.
“Th-there is urgent news…”
The realization struck him immediately. Disgust flooded in.
The fact that he had acted like an Alpha protecting his Omega was revolting beyond measure. That revulsion sharpened the already violent pheromones coiled around him. The butler, merely a recessive Alpha, went pale under the suffocating weight of a Dominant’s presence.
“Do not interrupt.”
Lyle snapped the door shut.
It seemed his secretaries had contacted the estate after his sudden return. They likely had not anticipated that the rut would arrive so abruptly.
But now that it had begun, anything could be postponed. The butler would judge and report accordingly.
The displeasure that had surfaced refused to settle. With that irritation simmering beneath the surface, Lyle turned sharply and bound Haejin’s wrists in front of him. The rope covered the bruises; that was better.
This degrading preparation had originated with a previous Omega under contract. The fool had clung to him under the pretext of bonding, expecting something more. Since then, binding from the beginning ensured no such opportunity arose. Denying even the chance to reach for him—that was Lyle’s method, evident even in the way he ran his corporation.
“Ah—”
His grip tightened unconsciously.
He loathed that this superior phenotype required him to perform such pitiful acts for life. Containing the violent surge within, Lyle tore his gaze away from Haejin.
There was an important negotiation in a few days. That was likely why his staff had rushed to the estate. In that case, this was preferable. Now that the rut had begun, he needed to restore his mind quickly—return it to clarity, complete control—so he could conduct negotiations flawlessly.
“Lie down.”
His voice was cold and rigid.
Haejin flinched, then moved obediently, like someone who had already abandoned resistance.
His thoughts ran incessantly. He was most worried about his adoptive parents—but recalling Lyle’s earlier words, he forced his resentment down.
As Lyle said, his signature was merely procedural. And officially, the patient was under the Vermouth family. A delay of a day or two would not cause a problem.
Yet sometimes unforeseen misfortune strangled a person without warning.
Like the truck that had taken his entire happiness.
***
“Ah—”
Their encounters were never easy—but this time was particularly overwhelming. Even accounting for the rut, something about Lyle’s thrusts was especially harsh. Below, it was already slick, almost making obscene sounds. Relentless movement gave Haejin no time to catch his breath.
He bit down on his lip with all his strength. Even so, muffled sounds escaped him. Today, he almost wished for a gag.
“Ha…”
Holding Haejin’s waist in both hands, Lyle tried to suppress the violent instinct boiling inside him. Haejin would not know, but Lyle made deliberate efforts each rut to control himself.
Today, however, that effort faltered.
As he had noticed before, Haejin’s body was thin—almost gaunt. Once aware of it, he could not unsee it. The wrists and ankles he had glimpsed earlier appeared sharper, bonier.
It irritated him.
Once this rut ended, he would warn him to maintain his condition properly, as per contract.
“Ah—ngh—”
Because he held Haejin directly this time, contact increased. Without the sight of bound arms behind him, it created a deceptive sense of something resembling proper intercourse.
Amid the heavy heat, Lyle tried to keep the rut dry, controlled. But the slick tightness enveloping him blurred his thoughts. Gradually consumed by the sensation, he flipped Haejin over.
It had been months since Haejin lay flat on the bed.
Normally, Lyle preferred efficiency—quickly thrusting from behind every other day for discharge.
But during rut, efficiency failed. Control faltered. Positions changed.
Haejin was tossed and turned under rough hands.
There was no point in asking which was more humiliating.
Still, Haejin thought enduring facedown was easier. That way, he could deaden his heart and imagine himself a tool. What they were doing was not an act between lovers.
“…Ah…”
Biting into the bedding failed to contain him. His legs were spread wide, suspended. He did not know what expression Lyle wore.
Nor did he know that Lyle’s expression was nothing like what he imagined.
The blindfold had slipped, covering most of Haejin’s face. Even so, the movement of black hair made Lyle recall his features clearly.
Beneath the fine bridge of his nose were lips clenched tightly, breath ragged.
Lyle found himself leaning toward them.
Even during rut, he had never engaged in caresses. That restraint was like a prohibition he had enforced upon himself.
Today, restraint was fragile.
He drew close—near enough to feel the warmth of breath—then at the last moment turned his head aside.
But that was all.
Restraint shattered.
He opened his mouth and bit into Haejin’s neck.
“Ah—?!”
The startled sound that escaped him stirred something hot low in Lyle’s abdomen. Still biting, he instinctively pressed his face against him. The neck was one of the primary glands where Omega pheromones gathered.
Haejin’s pheromones, which he had believed he would never grow accustomed to, seeped out faintly. As a Recessive Omega, he required direct stimulation to release them.
For Lyle—who despised Omega pheromones lingering in the estate—it had always been a convenient condition.
Regaining clarity for a moment, Lyle lifted his head.
Seeing the mark he had left reignited irritation.
Beneath him, Haejin trembled, face pale with confusion. Though his eyes were covered, Lyle could almost see his expression.
And that imagined expression shifted—into the same sorrowful face from under the moonlight.
“….”
Lyle’s expression hardened.
His heart pounded violently, as if it might burst. A strange sensation rippled down his spine.
Meeting the gaze of that imagined face, he lost the last of his restraint.
And below, something changed.
“Ah—!”
“—”
Haejin could not suppress the cry this time.
Lyle stared, equally startled.
Why now—
But once it began, it could not be stopped. Forcing separation would injure them both.
With no choice, Lyle gradually relaxed, focusing on Haejin.
The base of him swelled, filling him completely. The Alpha’s knot, refusing to withdraw, symbolized a relentless possessiveness.
He had once scoffed at other Alphas who used knotting for indulgence rather than reproduction—who boasted crudely of filling an Omega completely.
Now, he found their descriptions insufficient.
The overwhelming sensation—foreign, intoxicating—muddied his thoughts.
“It hurts—ah—!”
Through the crooked blindfold, Haejin’s wide eye was visible.
Unprepared knotting was pain for an Omega.
He struggled instinctively.
Lyle had no choice but to hold him tightly.
Beneath his palm, Haejin’s abdomen gradually gained fullness.
The unfamiliar sensation matched the rising pleasure consuming him.
The rut, from its very beginning, had become a chain of abnormalities.