"Scritch, scritch, scritch."
The sound of Darling constantly scraping at the table with its paw while sniffing the air made Dein turn his gaze bitterly toward his coffee. The scent of coffee, which would be delightful to people, seemed to be something else entirely for a cat.
It couldn't be helped.
Reluctantly acknowledging this, Dein continued to watch the cat scrape the table with its paws, as if it were digging in a litter box, before getting up. He picked Darling up and placed it on the cat tower. After confirming Darling had settled down, he returned to his seat and sat back down.
He thought he might finally enjoy a quiet tea time, but suddenly, a lightning strike flashed outside the window. Fortunately, Darling, whose sight and hearing were poor, merely pricked up one ear at the sound of thunder that followed and did not react much.
Dein sat in the chair by the window, sipping his coffee while looking outside. The view that had captured his heart when he first entered the room now exuded a completely different atmosphere under the gloomy weather.
Dein looked through the window at the pouring rain. Although he wasn't used to such heavy rain, since it was rare in this area, he couldn't help but feel a sense of relief.
It looks like it will be a quiet day...
He thought idly while drinking his tea.
"Tch."
He clicked his tongue briefly. He should've had a shift on a day like this—just wasting time until quitting time. But of course, it was his day off. His luck had been miserable lately.
As he emptied his coffee cup in frustration, he suddenly heard another sound mixed with the rain. It didn't take long to figure out what it was. He saw Grayson's car driving off in the distance.
Where is he going in this rain, that guy?
He thought momentarily, but then dismissed the thought. What did it matter?
A few days passed. Grayson seemed to have given up trying to persuade Dein, as things grew quiet. Dein, too, continued to treat him as if he were invisible, and they lived in the same mansion, but it was as if they were in entirely different spaces, thoroughly ignoring each other.
Dein planned to spend the remaining time idly and then leave. From the start, everything had been wrong. He couldn't understand why Grayson Miller might have expected anything from him, but for Dein Striker, a relationship or deep connection with someone was simply impossible. In the end, the inevitable conclusion had come earlier than expected.
Now only a month remained. After that month, Dein would leave this place, and Grayson Miller would, as he always did, go out looking for a new partner. And they would never meet again, for the rest of their lives.
That was enough.
Dein thought as he brought his coffee cup to his lips. He only realized the cup was empty ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) afterward.
Sitting there for a moment, he then picked up the empty cup and headed for the snack bar. He washed the cup and placed it back before returning to his seat to kill some time until bed.
Once again, a blinding flash of light lit up the world, followed by a deafening sound. The unsettling sound of rain continued outside.
In the farthest room from the ongoing party, despite lying down, the pheromone scent still lingered heavily in the air.
Grayson lay in bed, eyes closed, gasping for breath. His heart, excited against its will, kept pounding against his ribs, and now, he even had a headache. A low moan escaped him as the host of the party asked from above.
"Are you okay, Grayson? What happened? Why is there so much pheromone buildup?"
"Forget it. Where's Stewart?"
Grayson gasped between breaths as he asked.
"Where’s Stewart?"
The host looked down at him with a puzzled expression.
"He didn’t come today."
At that moment, Grayson’s brow furrowed. The host seemed flustered but could not lie.
Norman Stewart.
He was the doctor they sought whenever there was a problem with extreme alphas. No one knew more about their condition than he did. Especially when it came to research on extreme alphas, no one could match Stewart. As a result, all consultations and solutions for physical issues involving alphas became a customary practice to go through him.
But the man was particularly useful when it came to dealing with pheromones. When a pheromone party was held, hosts often called in Norman Stewart just in case of any accidents. That’s why there was a high chance of meeting him whenever they came here.
"He said he’s on vacation, so I came here instead..." Grayson muttered to himself.
The host replied, "Yeah, he said he's on leave. But he did leave staff on standby to handle any emergencies, so..."
"Call him."
Grayson interrupted, not waiting for him to finish.
"Call him, now."
"Grayson..."
The host sighed before suggesting another method.
"Why don’t you just let a few omegas in? It’ll be much easier and safer, don’t you think? Why go through all this trouble of calling in a shot to remove the pheromone?"
He then added, frowning.
"Chase did the same thing, now it’s your turn?"
"‘If I don’t like the person, I don’t want to have sex.’"
Suddenly, the words he had forgotten came to mind. Grayson faintly recalled the face of his younger sibling, who had tearily said those words. He let out a weak smile.
"I guess I’m a bit of a pervert."
"Ha."
The host shook his head as if he couldn’t stop him, then left the room. As Grayson felt his mind go hazy, he closed his eyes. His body felt light as if floating. His heart raced wildly, but his body felt limp. What was this strange feeling? His whole body felt as if it was burning with fever, but his fingertips felt numb.
"Ha," Grayson sighed softly. A faint image of someone flashed in his foggy mind.
"I'm sorry, Dein."
He murmured again, and then heard a reply in his mind.
"Enough, idiot."
Unbelievably, Dein smiled and wrapped his arms around Grayson’s neck. Ah. Grayson’s nose tingled.
"I love you, Dein."
"You are mine..."
"Grayson Miller!"
At the sudden shout, Grayson barely lifted his heavy eyelids. His vision was blurry, and he couldn’t focus. Just as he was about to close his eyes again, the same voice called him once more.
"Miller, wake up! Grayson Miller, damn it!"
The mixture of curses in the shout slowly brought Grayson back to his senses. Only then did he vaguely realize that he had been lost in a dream.
Reluctantly opening his eyes again, Grayson was momentarily bewildered. He had clearly woken up from the dream, but there was Dein, right in front of him. What was going on?
Damn it.
Dein, looking at him with unfocused eyes, made Grayson uneasy. What had happened? He couldn’t understand. The pheromone scent was overwhelming, and it was clear he had come from the party, but what was with these symptoms?
Just moments ago, Dein had been deeply asleep. Grayson’s return to consciousness had been triggered by the strong pheromone scent. When he woke up, the sweet scent had filled the room. He thought maybe Grayson had entered, but the room was just as it had been before, with only Dein and Darling.
So...
The answer came to him. The pheromone was coming from the connecting room. Given how strong the scent was, it had to be Rut.
Dein sat there for a moment, the choice was clear. He had to leave the mansion.
Grayson’s pheromone scent was already stirring his instincts. His face flushed, and he felt his pulse quicken as he distorted his expression. There was no time to think any longer. He immediately picked up Darling and left the room.
But as soon as he stepped into the hallway, he realized he had misjudged. The hallway was already filled with pheromone scent. It would’ve been better to stay in the room. How had this strong scent spread so far down the hall?
Soon, he discovered the reason. Grayson had collapsed, leaving the door open. The moment he saw that, Dein set Darling down and rushed toward Grayson.
"Grayson! Grayson Miller!"
He called his name repeatedly, but Grayson barely seemed to come to his senses. How had it gotten this bad? Even with Rut, would he really be in this state? It was like...
He had become addicted to the drug.
