In the dimly lit room, the stiflingly hot breaths intertwined with gasps. Yang Shao lay utterly exhausted, slumped beneath the Alpha. Over the past few days, he had tried countless times to escape this room, only to be forcefully dragged back to the bed by the Alpha’s overwhelming strength.
The disorienting cycle of days and nights blurred his sense of time. Through the gap in the curtains, he could roughly guess it was nighttime. What he didn’t know was that four days had passed—four days without food or drink, spent enduring the Alpha’s relentless advances.
Four days earlier, Yang Shao had been working at a bar. Bars typically preferred Beta waitstaff—Alphas were too domineering, often offending customers, while Omegas were too vulnerable, making them easy targets for exploitation. Betas, with their low susceptibility to pheromones, struck the perfect balance, capable of doing their job efficiently.
After seeing off the guests at a private booth, Yang Shao gathered the used dishes and took them to the kitchen. On his way past the emergency exit staircase, the music suddenly intensified. Glancing at his watch, he realized the dance floor was at its peak frenzy. After a moment’s thought, he pushed open the door to the emergency staircase.
The thundering music echoed through the stairwell, amplifying tenfold. Yang Shao quickly closed the door, restoring the muffled stillness afforded by the bar’s soundproofing.
Soon, the sound-activated lights in the stairwell switched off. Yang Shao plopped down on the steps, fishing out a cigarette and lighter from his pocket. He lit up, taking a deep drag before exhaling a heavy cloud of smoke.
“Damn, it’s deafening,” he muttered, resting his elbow on the step above and arching his back until his joints popped. The brief release of tension brought him some comfort.
Given a choice, no one would willingly work in a place like this. But Yang Shao had no education, no connections, and no privileges. Coming from a small town, he had no room to be picky.
Despite the bar’s less-than-ideal environment and grueling hours, the pay was decent enough to help him carve out a foothold in the city.
He had it all planned—work here for a year or two, save up, and buy a small truck to start his own trading business. It wouldn’t be much, but at least he’d be his own boss, free from others’ whims.
His daydream was cut short by the sudden sound of the emergency exit door slamming open. It was Xiao Li, one of the liquor sales staff.
“I knew you’d be hiding here! Your booth guests are calling for service. If you keep dodging, the supervisor’s going to dock your pay.”
Yang Shao rolled his eyes, extinguishing his cigarette against the wall and tossing the butt into the nearby trash can. Annoying.
He jogged up to the second floor through the glass corridor. He vaguely remembered the guests in that booth—a mixed group of men and women, all unfamiliar faces.
Forcing a polite smile, Yang Shao knocked lightly on the door. “Excuse me, did someone call for service?”
There was no response. No one came to the door. Perhaps his knock had been too soft. In this job, knocking too loudly would earn complaints about poor attitude, while knocking too softly meant the people inside wouldn’t hear.
Suppressing his irritation, Yang Shao pushed the door open. “May I—”
The words caught in his throat. The room was eerily silent. The wall-mounted LCD screen wasn’t playing music, its green glow casting an eerie light. In a corner of the sofa, someone sat slumped with their head down.
Where had the rest of the group gone?
Despite the odd situation, Yang Shao stepped forward to check. “Hello? Do you need assistance?”
The person in the corner looked up at the sound. Disheveled bangs obscured his eyes, glasses slid down his nose, and his flushed face glistened with sweat. Beads of sweat trailed from his temples down his sharp jawline, pooling at his neck, where veins stood out prominently.
An Alpha. And not just any Alpha—an Alpha whose pheromones were spiraling out of control.
Yang Shao could smell the abnormal intensity of the Alpha’s cedarwood-scented pheromones, usually crisp and cool, now overwhelmingly potent. As a Beta, Yang Shao wasn’t affected by pheromones, but he recognized the danger.
Bars were rife with chaos—people losing control, overdosing, or being drugged. This wasn’t the first time Yang Shao had encountered such a situation. Remaining professional, he closed the door and approached the Alpha cautiously.
“Sir, should I call an ambulance for you? We also have Omegas—”
The Alpha’s piercing gaze cut him off, his furious roar reverberating through the room. “Get out!”
Startled, Yang Shao froze. The Alpha’s stern expression made his body tense. Betas might not be swayed by pheromones, but Alphas were natural-born dominators. A top-tier Alpha’s mere presence was intimidating.
Shaking off his initial shock, Yang Shao mentally cursed. Fine, I’ll leave. I’m not here to babysit. Who knows what I said to set him off?
He forced a faint smile and turned to leave, but a crushing force slammed into him from behind. His face smashed against the door, the impact leaving him dizzy.
Though Yang Shao was considered strong for a Beta, he hadn’t anticipated being so easily overpowered.
The overwhelming pressure made him realize just how dangerous this situation was. There was no way he could match the strength of this Alpha. Survival instincts kicked in—Sometimes, survival meant swallowing one’s pride.
“Sir,” Yang Shao tentatively tried to speak to the Alpha, “are you still…”
“Shut up!” The Alpha was breathing heavily, the coarse sound of it making Yang Shao feel like he was suffocating. Yet he couldn’t understand—how could the Alpha still have such a strong grip when he was clearly so exhausted?
Suddenly, the Alpha freed one hand and ran it from Yang Shao’s back to the back of his neck. His thumb rubbed against the joint at the base of Yang Shao’s neck, as if searching for something.
“Sir, you must be mistaken—ah!” Yang Shao cried out in pain as the Alpha’s hand tightened, warning him of the consequences of speaking further.
The Alpha pulled Yang Shao into a tight embrace from behind, pressing his face to the back of Yang Shao’s neck like an addict desperate for a fix. His hot, damp breath swept over Yang Shao’s skin, causing waves of shivers—not from the attraction of pheromones, but from a primal fear of the unknown.
When Yang Shao realized the Alpha’s target wasn’t the Omegas outside but himself, his blood seemed to freeze. His limbs stiffened as he futilely struggled to break free from the Alpha’s hold. Then, a sharp pain shot through the back of his neck, his vision went dark, and he quickly lost consciousness. The next time he woke, it was in this very room.
The Alpha now loomed over him, his body forcing Yang Shao into an unnatural, contorted arc.
Although there were plenty of Alpha-Beta marriages, the Beta’s physical structure was ultimately incomparable to that of an Omega. Accommodating an Alpha was significantly more challenging for them.
The intense pain and overwhelming humiliation drove Yang Shao to curse. “Fuck!”
In response, the Alpha only became more aggressive. Yang Shao shouted himself hoarse, but it had no effect. The Alpha simply frowned slightly, as though he found Yang Shao’s words annoying, and eventually covered his mouth to silence him.
Cursing and struggling proved as futile as an ant trying to move a tree. Exhausted, Yang Shao realized he could only try reasoning with the Alpha.
“Can you let me go?”
“I’m begging you.”
“Did I offend you somehow?”
“I can call an Omega for you…”
The Alpha seemed to hear him but didn’t respond, only shooting him a sharp glance at the mention of an Omega.
Having said all he could, and unable to resist further, Yang Shao finally gave up struggling.
It was only in bed that Yang Shao fully realized the physical disparity between a Beta and an Alpha. His strength drained quickly, while the Alpha remained full of energy.
As his consciousness began to blur, Yang Shao vaguely heard the Alpha muttering in frustration, “Why… can’t I mark you?”
Resistance and pleading seemed equally useless against this Alpha. Yang Shao didn’t know how much longer he could endure this.
….
Suddenly, Yang Shao sat bolt upright in bed, gasping for air. Beads of sweat covered his forehead, and his damp hair clung together in strands.
The room’s furnishings felt somewhat familiar. Turning to look at the window, he saw faint sunlight filtering through the curtain gaps.
He… was at home?
Yang Shao let out a long sigh of relief and leaned back against the headboard. His left hand instinctively pressed against his forehead. It had been a long time since he’d dreamed about that incident.
The suffocating realism of the nightmare left him shaken. The events with that Alpha felt as if they had happened just yesterday.
After a while, Yang Shao’s heart rate gradually steadied. When he finally calmed down, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and muttered angrily, “Damn it.”
….
“Daddy!” A child’s voice rang out along with the sound of the door opening. “I thought you weren’t up yet.”
Yang Tao climbed onto the bed, blanket in hand, scrutinizing the sweat on Yang Shao’s face. “Are you hot?”
Yang Shao swallowed, exhaled, and avoided answering his son’s question. He pointed to the nearby clothes. “Son, help me grab those clothes. If I don’t take you to school soon, you’ll be late.”
“Got it!”
Since Yang Shao had fractured his hand recently, even dressing required the help of his five-year-old son, Yang Tao. Once dressed, Yang Tao had already prepared a towel and squeezed toothpaste for him.
…..
Yang Shao’s cooking had never been great, and now, with only one usable hand, he relied on pre-made meals for breakfast. At least they tasted better than his own attempts.
After tossing a plate onto the table, Yang Shao urged, “Hurry up and eat. Then it’s off to school.”
“Daddy, do we still have enough money to pay the mortgage?”
Yang Shao chuckled at his son’s serious expression. “You’re really worried about that? Just focus on school.”
He rarely complained about money in front of Yang Tao. When he had taken out a loan to buy this house, it was so his son could attend a decent school. Back then, his monthly income had been enough to cover rent and living expenses. But after the accident left him unable to drive, his earnings dried up, leaving him struggling to make ends meet. Most of his savings were nearly gone.
