24: 24.
Wolves at the Door 24: 24.
Wolves at the Door Kwon Tae-hyuk gripped the wheel of his Maybach so hard that his knuckles turned white.It wasn’t even that he had escaped the estate gates when he tore open his collar to soothe the smarting cheeks.
Mother’s laugh was still echoing in his skull.
“Camellias after rain …..
…
how lovely, Tae-hyuk.” Twenty-eight years old, the young man was the Vice Chairman of Kwon Enterprise and the Prime Alpha capable of intimidating anyone in the boardroom with just a glance.
However, tonight he had fled the house of his childhood like a shamed teenager.
His neck was a pale landscape of love bites, the collarbone was marked with scratches, and every member of his family from the stern father to the arrogant older brother Do-hyun knew that a late-presenting Omega had humiliated him.
Had commanded him.
Tae-hyuk groaned, resting his forehead against the wheel as the car rolled out slowly at the traffic light.
It was not the humiliation that burned in his veins, twisting viscously in his gut.
An Alpha of his status should have drawn blood, but as he traced the abused skin near his pulse with a calloused thumb, a hot possessiveness swelled in his chest.
He wanted to tear into Seo-jun again, this time on purpose.
“Secretary Kim,” Tae-hyuk growled into the Bluetooth.
“Yes, Vice Chairman?
I am currently drinking my fourth espresso of the night.
How may I suffer with you?” “Are the shadow guards at Seo-jun’s place?” ” Do-jin and six other senior members are currently in the neighborhood like six-foot giants, sir.
They will know if anyone enters that street.
Now, if I may ask, Vice Chairman, why are you breathing so heavily?” “Mind your business, Kim.
Tell them to prepare presents for tomorrow.
I am going to the penthouse.” “Presents, sir?
You look like someone who has just been thrown into bear territory.
Are we sure that Seo-jun does not plan to feed you to his colleagues?” “Just prepare them,” Tae-hyuk snapped, ending the call.
He could not face his family, but he would face the world to make Seo-jun look at him, not with the horrified understanding that he had seen that morning, but with something more like desire.
Jun lay curled up on his narrow bed in a bare-bone apartment, staring unseeingly at the ceiling.
His whole body was sore, his hips tender, legs shaky, and his throat was raw from hours of crying during his unexpected heat.
Still, the worst of it was the all-consuming sense of shame that turned his face red and tight.
“I forced him,” Jun moaned into the pillow, hiding his burning cheeks.
“I made that horrible Alpha bend to me, and now I have to see him every day in the worst possible light.” How was he only going to look at Kwon Tae-hyuk’s beautiful face from now on?
The man was a Prime Alpha, a chaebol scion with a haughty walk and a stare that could freeze water.
He was not someone with whom a twenty-three-year-old ordinary Beta could spend time, even if Jun was already on his way up the Omega hierarchy.
Even now, with his Omega hormones raging, Jun could not get the scent of camellias after rain off his skin, the fragrance that clung to his Alpha’s tousled hair.
BZZZZ .
Jun flinched as his phone rang from the night table.
His heart pounded wildly, and he almost expected to see the Vice Chairman’s text waiting for him on the screen.
Instead, his eyes fell on the familiar name of his University classmate.
“Hey, ghost!
Are you feeling any better yet?
Don’t dare skip class tomorrow!
Professor Park is finalizing the group projects for the midterm, and if you are not there, he will chain you with the slackers.” Jun felt a small smile touch his lips at the familiar insult.
For a moment, the horror of the last forty-eight hours faded away, swallowed up by the solid, everyday feeling of college life.
“I will be there,” he texted back, letting out a soft, shaky laugh.
“Tomorrow, I will return to class, continue living my ordinary life, and somehow find a way out of this predicament.” His phone lit up again, but this time, instead of a text, there was an incoming call from an unknown number.
Jun’s heart sank to his knees at the sight.
The collectors.
In the confusion of the heat and Tae-hyuk, he had forgotten all about the monthly fee.
He was already late by 3 hours, and Seo-ah’s school was right on his mind.
He did not want to answer the call; his fingers twitched, wanting to throw the device on the floor.
However, the more he tried to ignore the ringing phone, the more his anxiety skyrocketed.
Swallowing,Jun took a steadying breath and pressed the green button.
“Hello?” “Well, well, look who decided to respond,” said the gruff voice on the other end of the line.
It was not one of the loan sharks, which was no surprise given how much the last three months had cost Jun.
Bong Doo-shik, a thirtysomething Alpha, was the collector for the illegal loan company that owned Jun’s dead father’s debt.
It was also the place where Jun’s sister, Seo-ah, went to school.
“You are late, Seo-jun,” said Doo-shik, his voice coming through the phone crackling.
Jun could hear the lighter flickering in the background.
“Two hours late, to be precise.
I do not appreciate it when people keep me waiting.”I…..
I’m sorry, Boss Kang,” Jun replied, tightening his fists around the phone.
He forced himself to sit still and not reveal the chaos raging within him.
“Something unexpected happened.
I was sick and unable to work, and I will transfer the interest in the bank tomorrow afternoon when it opens.” “Did you get sick?” asked Doo-shik, giving a rough laugh.
“You think you can get sick instead of paying me interest?
Listen closely, kid.
I have been exceptionally patient with you for a year because you were somewhat decent-looking, but you are a pathetic Beta.” Jun bit hard on his lip so that he would not interrupt the man.
If he realized that Jun was no longer a defenseless Beta, but an Omega who had recently presented, his life would become significantly more difficult.
“You think I care how you pay me back?” Doo-shik spat, his voice dripping with hatred.
“Sell a kidney, crawl on your hands and knees, or show me your body.
In fact, since you are not a regular, ugly Beta, but an Omega of exceptional beauty, I would enjoy the last option.” “Boss Kang, please …” Jun began, but Doo-shik interrupted him.
“Be quiet,” he growled, returning to his polite persona.
“Your interest has tripled because of your impudence.
Prepare five million won in cash tomorrow night by eight o’clock in my club.
If you cannot raise the money, come to my private room to pay me back with your body, Jun-ah.
You have been a very naughty boy.” CLICK.!
The line went dead as soon as Doo-shik finished speaking.
Jun stared at the dark screen, his fingers twitching.
Five million won in twenty-four hours was a lot, and he was completely at the mercy of a low-life collector.
He buried his face in his knees, trembling.
A wisp of the scent of camellias after rain curled around his nostrils.