Ficorpio
Chapter 1
Standing outside my bedroom door, I realized two things.
First, I had absolutely no reaction to my Omega fiancé’s pheromones.
I could smell the sweet scent drifting through the air, but it did nothing for me. If anything, it was too sweet—cloying, heavy, nothing close to the clean pull it was supposed to have.
Second, the club-styled Omega currently in my bed with him looked an awful lot like the pretty little thing always hanging around my mortal enemy. I’d seen the two of them together more than once, slipping in and out of places respectable people had no business being.
…
There probably wasn’t an Alpha alive more pathetic than me.
I was a workaholic who left the office early once every geological era, and the reward for it was finding my cute, delicate little Omega tangled up in bed with somebody else.
And they were using props.
Props.
I was an Alpha, and even I felt embarrassed watching it.
I stood in the doorway for ten minutes. They only got more into it, and it was obvious they weren’t wrapping up anytime soon. In the end, I had no choice but to put the cake I’d brought home into the fridge before storming out to settle accounts with Damian Sterling.
The more I drove, the angrier I got.
My Omega had always been obedient, soft, well-behaved. Ever since we got engaged, he’d practically never gone out. Even though my pheromones had some issues and I still hadn’t been able to scent mark him—meaning our relationship had stayed stubbornly Platonic—he’d never once complained. Never showed the slightest disgust. Never brought up breaking off the engagement.
Where was I supposed to find another Omega that good?
If he’d done something like this now, then he had to have been coaxed into it—tempted, led astray by that little Omega hanging off Damian’s arm.
By the time I reached Sterling Group Headquarters, I was seething.
I pulled out the access card that bastard had given me ages ago, swiped through security, and marched into the executive elevator. I jabbed the button for the top floor hard enough to nearly crack it.
The young Beta receptionist inside the elevator seemed startled by my expression. He shrank back a little. “G-good evening, sir.”
I yanked at my tie and shot him an impatient look. “Has Damian left?”
“M-Mr. Sterling is in the lounge,” he stammered. “He said he isn’t to be disturbed. If you need anything, you can wait in reception—”
“Don’t need it.”
The display hit thirty-seven, and I strode out the second the doors opened.
A broad-shouldered bodyguard stood outside the elevator exit. He took one look at me, stepped aside, and gave me a respectful nod.
“Mr. Sterling’s in a bad mood tonight,” he said. “If you two start arguing, maybe go a little easy on him.”
I let out a cold laugh. “In his dreams.”
At the end of the hallway, I kicked open the lounge door.
“Damian Sterling, can you keep your people under control for once—”
I stopped dead.
What the hell? Was he in rut or something?
The moment I stepped inside, the room hit me with an overwhelming blast of sharp mint—thick, aggressive Alpha pheromones so concentrated they forced me to halt. I clapped a hand over my nose and immediately hit the ventilation controls for the central air.
That asshole didn’t even bother getting up.
He stayed where he was behind the executive desk, one hand resting lazily on the long tabletop, like he hadn’t just turned the room into a pheromone gas chamber. He lifted his eyes and gave me a slow once-over, his dark gaze unreadable.
“Dad doesn’t have time to fight with you tonight,” he said lazily. “Go home and sleep it off.”
The audacity.
I slammed the door behind me. “Your little side piece dragged my engaged Omega into bed!”
…
After a beat of silence, he looked at me with something between pity and bafflement.
“First,” he said, “I’m single. I don’t have a side piece. Second, if an Alpha can’t even handle his own Omega, getting cheated on seems pretty normal.”
I bared my teeth. “What did you just say? You’re the one who can’t handle things.”
I rolled up my sleeves and glared at him. “Don’t try to change the subject. Tell me what you plan to do about this.”
He sighed, picked up a glass, and walked over. “You’ve been yelling for a while. Drink something first.”
Yelling?
Was that his way of calling me noisy again?
I glared at him on principle, but I was thirsty enough to temporarily surrender to evil.
I took the glass and drank.
Then drank again.
The water had a faint sweetness to it, clean and cool with a soft aftertaste that soothed my throat almost instantly.
Near my ear, I heard a low laugh someone clearly hadn’t meant to let slip.
I hesitated, but I still clung to the glass while glaring at him over the rim.
This was strategic recovery.
Once I finished drinking, I was absolutely going to beat the hell out of him.
…
Only…
Why was I suddenly sleepy?
I set the glass down on the coffee table, rubbed at my temple, and then lost my balance without warning, toppling sideways onto the lounge sofa.
The cushions were soft. It didn’t hurt.
I was just dizzy.
And weak.
My whole body had gone slack.
“I told you to go home earlier,” Damian said as he sauntered over, looking down at me from above. “Why are you always this stubborn?”
He paused, then added in the same maddeningly calm tone, “I forgot my suppressant today, and I’m not in the mood to handle this myself. So… how about you help me out?”
Help my ass.
Chapter 2
If I’d been able to move, I would’ve kicked him straight into the next life.
“If you touch me,” I snapped, “I’ll cut that thing off and feed it to a dog.”
Damian calmly unbuckled his belt.
“Perfect,” he said. “You still owe me a few barks from those bets you lost.”
Why was every word out of his mouth so infuriating?
I had never once won an argument against this black-hearted bastard.
“Go to—mmph—”
The curse died in my throat.
Because I hadn’t expected him to actually do it.
Mint flooded down over me, thick and hot and shameless.
Was this lunatic seriously turned on by another Alpha?
I was trembling with rage, but I didn’t dare speak. I kept my mouth tightly shut, terrified of what he might actually do if I pushed him too far.
If he really crossed that line, I’d cut every last business tie between us tomorrow. Let the whole world burn.
“No more yelling?” Damian bent over me and lightly patted my cheek. “If you’d behaved this early on, I wouldn’t have had to tease you.”
I let out a breath, but I still stared at him warily without saying a word.
“Oh?” he drawled. “You’ve gotten smarter.”
What was that supposed to mean?
He lowered his eyes to mine, his voice flat and steady. “If you keep squirming around like a panicked little hamster, I’ll kiss you.”
…
No.
Absolutely not.
I shut up on the spot.
Damian looked like he’d expected exactly that.
He didn’t say another word.
…
Anyone who took things this far had to be sick in the head.
The more I thought about it, the madder I got. I lifted my leg and kicked at him.
Well. Tried to.
I was too weak for it to count as a kick. It was more like my foot brushed against his waist.
That didn’t matter.
I was unhappy, and he didn’t look much more pleased.
“Fair’s fair,” he said.
How was someone this shameless allowed to exist?
I spat out, “Don’t need it. I’m not the one in rut like some damn animal. Get lost.”
At that, Damian lazily tugged at his silver striped tie.
“Keep making noise,” he said.
Wait.
Was he going to let me go if I did?
Hope flared in my chest, and I looked at him.
The corner of his mouth curled. He braced a hand beside my neck, leaned down, and nipped lightly at my ear. His voice was warm, soft, intimate in the most infuriating way possible.
“That way,” he murmured, “I’ll have an excuse to do it again.”
What was wrong with him?
Were Alphas in rut all this obscene?
I was so furious I was about to rip into him properly when my traitorous stomach let out a loud growl.
A very loud one.
Damian’s hand stilled. He lowered his gaze to me with a look that was almost meaningful.
“Oh?” he said. “Cursing me out internally?”
“Shut up. You—you made me miss dinner.” Mortified, I squeezed my eyes shut and refused to look at him.
If his so-called side piece hadn’t corrupted my Omega, I would’ve been slicing into cake by now.
I’d had my eye on a caramel walnut layer cake from a bakery for ages. The place was too far from the office and closed too early; even if I preordered, I normally couldn’t get there before they shut down, and I hated asking favors. Today I’d finally managed to pick one up.
And now it was sitting in my fridge.
Who knew whether it would still taste the same later.
“Want to eat with me?”
His voice cut through my spiraling thoughts.
When I didn’t answer, Damian lifted a brow. “Or would you rather continue?”
“Not continue,” I said immediately.
He gave an understanding hum and finally stepped back, smiling as he let go of me. “Then while I’m still feeling generous, tell me where you want to go.”
Since when was he this easy to talk to?
I ground my teeth at him. “Do you think I can just go out with you like this? Haven’t you caused enough ridiculous rumors already?”
“Now you’re worried about that?” His eyes narrowed, and the look he gave me turned strange. “Funny. Considering the first time we met, you got drunk, clung to me like your life depended on it, and threatened to beat up anyone who tried to pry you off. In the end, I had to take you home myself, and we got photographed outside your building by entertainment reporters for a solid ten minutes.”
The second he brought that up, I wilted.
I coughed awkwardly. “W-well… nothing happened after that, did it?”
“I paid a premium to buy the negatives and had every major outlet in the city warned off before you got your peaceful little life back.” He reached out with a half-smile and ruffled my hair into chaos. “Anything to say for yourself, you ungrateful brat?”
I choked on my response for a while before carefully changing the subject. “You can send a VAT reimbursement invoice. I’ll have finance pay you back. A standard invoice won’t work.”
Why did he suddenly flick me in the forehead?
Pain shot through me, and I sucked in a breath before glaring murderously at him. “Just you wait. If you hadn’t slipped me something, I would’ve beaten you to death.”
“Drugged you?” He let out a short laugh. “What exactly are you thinking? I was worried you were thirsty and handed you a drink. I just didn’t realize your alcohol tolerance had gotten even worse with age. Apparently even a trace amount gets you drunk now.”
He narrowed his eyes slightly and poked my cheek with one finger.
“Though if you’re interested,” he added, “I could collect some genuinely interesting substances for you.”
“N-not interested.”
I shut my eyes and played dead, only to hear him laugh again under his breath.
“Hard to believe you used to be that loud all the time,” he murmured. “Your old business partners must have all been saints.”
What did business partners have to do with anything?
Chapter 3
I frowned and opened my eyes to look at him. “I want to go home.”
Damian’s expression darkened again. “You’re in such a hurry to get back to that Omega?”
Actually, I wanted to go home and eat my cake.
But I had no intention of telling him that.
Whenever Damian was unhappy, I felt vindicated. After losing to him so many times, I deserved that much.
Still, there were two practical issues.
First, how long would it take before I could move properly again?
Second, if I drove myself home like this… wouldn’t that count as drunk driving?
“Can you call me a car?” I wasn’t used to asking him for help. After only a few words, I looked away, awkward all over. “I still… don’t really have any strength.”
“And then what?” Damian gave a derisive laugh, contempt plain in his dark eyes. “You think that fragile Omega you’ve been raising like some charity case can hold you up? Or are you planning to pay the driver for the whole night and sleep in the back seat?”
I froze.
Annoyingly, he had a point.
“I’m giving you two choices.” Damian slowly rolled up his sleeves, exposing the sharp jut of his wrist bones. “One, I drive you home and make you something to eat—assuming it doesn’t kill you. Two, if you refuse, we keep going. It’s about time. My refractory period should be over by now.”
Bastard.
That wasn’t a choice at all.
I’d come to one ironclad conclusion: anytime Damian Sterling got involved in my life, disaster followed.
Being half-dragged through an underground parking garage by that bastard like we were sneaking away from a crime scene was bad enough already.
“You really are bad luck in human form…” I muttered under my breath, my nose full of that sharp mint scent to the point I wanted to sneeze.
I’d assumed he wouldn’t hear me.
Instead, the man with an arm around my waist stopped for half a beat, then pulled me even tighter against him.
Petty. That had to be revenge.
“Damian—” I coughed, struggling for breath. “Let go of me!”
He gave a faint, unreadable smile and lowered his head to my ear. “You’ve still got the nerve to snap at me?”
Maybe it was because he hadn’t taken a pheromone suppressant during rut, but his voice was especially low and rough right then, like he was one second away from doing something morally indefensible.
I swallowed.
Best not to provoke him any further.
“Fine. I won’t insult you anymore tonight, okay?” I said quickly. “J-just get me out of here.”
Bad move.
The second I backed down, he seemed to enjoy himself even more.
He let out a soft laugh, his breath warm against my ear. “Tell me something. If anyone saw you like this right now—limp in my arms, all weak and boneless—do you think we’d make the news tomorrow?”
I glared at him. “Are you insane? We still have cross-holdings in each other’s companies. If some ridiculous scandal tanks our stock prices, I swear I’ll help the board’s old fossils bury you.”
“I always thought your brain only had room for work and that Omega of yours,” Damian said with a cold little laugh as he opened the passenger door and shoved me inside. “Nice to know the board still ranks somewhere in there too.”
I flailed and tried to kick him.
He caught my calf in one hand and pinned my leg back against the seat.
“Don’t casually spread your legs in front of an Alpha in rut.” He sounded irritated as he undid the top button of his shirt, his fingers dragging hard over his throat. “Otherwise I’m going to want to pin you down in this car and—”
Pervert.
Absolute fucking pervert.
How did someone even develop that kind of interest in another Alpha?
“…An Alpha can’t exactly do much to another Alpha anyway,” I said, shivering a little as I tried to reason with him. “You really shouldn’t be like this. It’s such a waste. Society’s already dealing with low birth rates, and you being this…”
Damian looked at me expressionlessly.
My scalp prickled. I swallowed the word animal and hastily replaced it with something more flattering.
“…this energetic means you’re well suited to the noble task of preserving the human race.”
His lips pressed into a thin line. He leaned over, fastened my seat belt for me, then walked around to the driver’s side and got in.
“Who said Alphas can’t?” he said flatly. “The odds are just very low.”
I did not touch that statement with a ten-foot pole.
I quietly scooted as far toward the passenger door as I could.
He was out of his mind. Actually out of his mind. Going into rut had apparently made him set his sights on me—a fierce, fully capable Alpha—and that was deranged on a level I didn’t even have words for.
The drive passed in silence.
By the time my townhouse finally came into view, I was genuinely close to tears of relief.
Once tonight was over, I was never seeing Damian Sterling again.
I was just wondering if I should talk to my father about leaving town for a while when the passenger door opened.
“You sober yet?” Damian glanced down at me.
I considered it and decided that whether I was sober or not, I needed to become sober immediately. Leaning on him any longer felt objectively dangerous.
“Mostly,” I said through gritted teeth. “If you want, pinch me once and that should finish the job.”
He lifted a brow. “You sure?”
“Yeah.” I shook my head, trying to clear the dizziness. “I think I’m—ow! Where the hell are you pinching, asshole?!”
He’d caught the tip of my nose between his thumb and forefinger and gave it a few merciless tugs, his gaze flicking down over my chest as if by accident.