When Shen Qiqi opened his eyes, he expected to see his cramped apartment, maybe the glow of his laptop still on Chapter 136 of The CEO's Omega is a Little Wild. What he did not expect was a glaring white ceiling, a strange sterile scent in the air, and a robotic voice in his head chirping:
"Welcome, Host! You've successfully bound to the 'Survive the Omegaverse' System! Initializing your Omega body—"
"Wait, WHAT?"
He shot up in bed, only to be immediately hit with a wave of dizziness and... sweet, sweet sugar cookies?
No. Not cookies. That scent was coming from him.
"Alert: Host's first heat will begin in T-minus 4 hours. Please find a safe, secure environment. Pheromone inhibitors not detected."
"Why would you put me in a body without inhibitors?! What kind of bootleg system are you?"
"Beginner difficulty: Realistic mode. Good luck, Host!"
And just like that, the voice disappeared. Shen Qiqi stared at the unfamiliar room—sterile white walls, a window with automatic blinds, and a sleek panel by the door. This wasn't a hospital. It was… a treatment room?
And then it hit him: the original Shen Qiqi had collapsed in the city's Omega Health Center for pre-heat evaluations. That was all he could gather from the fragments the system reluctantly shared.
He had transmigrated. Into an Omega. In an Omegaverse. During heat.
He was so doomed.
Two hours later, Shen Qiqi stumbled out into the bustling city streets. The inhibitors at the clinic were out of stock (OF COURSE), and his pheromones were starting to leak. His skin tingled, his limbs felt boneless, and strangers were beginning to glance at him with suspicion—or worse, interest.
He turned a corner, pressed a hand to his burning neck, and whispered, "System, do something. Anything."
"Locating nearest safe building… Alert: You are near Pei Corporation Headquarters."
"I'm not walking into a CEO's office mid-heat! Are you crazy?"
"Scent compatibility with CEO Pei Yuchen: 98.7%. System recommends contact."
Shen Qiqi didn't get to argue.
Because just then, the doors to Pei Corporation slid open, and a tall figure stepped out—sharp black suit, broad shoulders, a face carved from cold marble. The moment their eyes met, something snapped in the air.
A clash of pheromones. Heat and frost. Sugar and spice.
And Pei Yuchen stopped in his tracks.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then Shen Qiqi—half delirious from heat, half horrified at what was happening—muttered, "I swear, if you bite me, I'm biting back."
Pei Yuchen raised a brow. "You're in heat," he said coolly, though his voice was already husky.
"And you're not helping."
Shen Qiqi's knees buckled.
And Pei Yuchen, expression unreadable, caught him with a single, strong arm.
Pei Yuchen had never believed in fate.
He built his empire with logic, precision, and cold strategy. Emotions were unreliable. Pheromones? Biological noise. Every Omega he'd ever met wore perfume-laced inhibitors and fluttered their lashes, but none of it stirred anything in him. He thought he was immune.
Until now.
The stranger in front of him scent's hit him like a drug—no, like war. Sweet wasn't the right word. It was decadent, heady, like warm vanilla cream laced with a sharp, citrus tang that burned at the edges of his self-control.
It slid past his mental defenses, wrapped around his brainstem, and pulled something ancient and primal out from the locked cage of his instincts. A low, possessive growl built in his throat before he swallowed it down.
This was no ordinary Omega. And this scent wasn't something he could ignore.
Shen Qiqi, dazed and flushed, looked up at him with wide eyes—eyes that shimmered like glassy black ink. His skin glowed with a faint flush, and the scent rolling off him was dangerous. Addicting.
Pei Yuchen's pupils contracted.
"Get inside. Now," he said, voice tight, clipped, already dragging the smaller man through the private entrance of the building.
Shen Qiqi leaned against him, his limbs shaky. "You smell like sandalwood and steel," he mumbled, half-lost in his own heat. "So cold… but it makes my bones feel like they're melting…"
Pei Yuchen's hand flexed around the Omega's waist. Every breath he took was like pouring kerosene on fire. The scent clung to his clothes, soaked into his lungs. His Alpha instincts were screaming—mark him, claim him, take him.
He grit his teeth. "You don't know what you're doing."
"Don't I?" Shen Qiqi tilted his head up, hair sticking to his damp forehead. "Because your eyes are glowing."
And they were.
Pei Yuchen was losing control—and he never lost control. His mind, usually so sharp and composed, was going blank. All he could think about was getting Shen Qiqi somewhere safe, somewhere private, somewhere—
His office.
No. Not safe enough.
His penthouse.
He swept Shen Qiqi off the ground, strong arms carrying him effortlessly. "Hold on."
"Huh—? Where are we—?"
"The penthouse," Pei Yuchen said, already striding to the private elevator. "I'm the only one who can suppress this."
The elevator ride felt like a dream — or a fever.
Shen Qiqi clung to Pei Yuchen's chest, barely aware of his surroundings. Everything was heat and scent and the thrum of his own heartbeat in his ears. The Alpha's pheromones pressed into him like a cooling balm — a temporary relief, but not a cure.
Pei Yuchen didn't speak. His expression was carved from stone, but his hold was careful, as if the man burning in his arms was made of silk and smoke.
When the elevator opened directly into the penthouse, Shen Qiqi barely registered the gleaming marble floors or the skyline beyond the glass walls. He was trembling again, skin too hot, fingers twitching with instinct he didn't recognize but couldn't resist.
Pei Yuchen lowered him gently onto the edge of a vast bed, his voice still clipped but quieter now. "You need relief. If I stay close, I can suppress it."
Qiqi reached out blindly, grabbing his wrist. "Then don't go far."
Their eyes met.
Pei Yuchen's composure fractured—just a hairline crack—but enough. He sat beside Qiqi and loosened the collar of his shirt, letting more of his scent into the air. The effect was immediate: Shen Qiqi's body arched faintly, a soft whimper leaving his lips.
"Breathe with me," Pei Yuchen murmured, one hand resting gently over Qiqi's chest. "Match my pace."
Qiqi nodded shakily.
Inhale. Exhale.
Their breaths synchronized. The tension in Qiqi's body softened with every inhale of sandalwood and steel. The fever dulled, no longer a scream but a slow, pulsing throb. He felt like he was floating—still hot, still needy, but anchored.
"Better?" the Alpha asked quietly.
"…No," Qiqi whispered, fingers curling into the bedsheets. "But I want to be."
Pei Yuchen hesitated for a single breath.
Then he leaned down, his voice like velvet and gravel. "Then let me help you."
Their lips met — not hungry, not rough, but slow. Measured. Each kiss melting into the next, like Pei Yuchen was tasting him, mapping him, memorizing him. The Alpha moved with patience and reverence, touching as if trying to soothe rather than stoke the fire.
It wasn't just instinct anymore. It was connection.
And just as Pei Yuchen slid a hand to cradle the side of Qiqi's face, pressing his forehead to the Omega's, that familiar chirp echoed inside Shen Qiqi's mind:
"Ding! Congratulations, Host!"
"You have survived your first heat AND initiated a high-compatibility scent-bond with a Dominant Alpha! System Rating: S-tier!"
The system voice rang inside his head but Shen Qiqi was too tired to respond, not long after his eyes closed shut and slept to dreamland.
Light filtered through sheer curtains, painting soft gold across the bed sheets.
Shen Qiqi blinked awake slowly, head pounding with the dull echo of exhaustion. His body felt wrung out but calm, like the eye of a storm had passed and left him intact — barely.
It took him a second to realize the bed wasn't his. The room wasn't his.
Everything smelled like cedar and cold linen and—
Alpha.
He bolted upright.
Big mistake.
The soreness in his limbs reminded him exactly what his body had gone through.
Before he could spiral, a low voice reached him from across the room.
"You're up."
Shen Qiqi turned his head, heart climbing into his throat.
Pei Yuchen stood by the window, backlit by morning sun, sleeves rolled up and cuffs damp — like he'd just washed his hands. His expression was unreadable, but his tone wasn't unkind.
Qiqi tried to summon sarcasm, a joke, anything, but all that came out was, "…That wasn't a dream?"
"No," Yuchen said, turning to face him. "But you were delirious through most of it."
A silence settled. Qiqi tugged the sheets higher, trying to hide the vulnerable way his shoulders trembled.
Pei Yuchen walked toward him, stopping beside the bed, then quietly placed a glass of water on the nightstand.
"You should drink," he said. "You lost a lot of fluid."
Qiqi stared at the water. Then at Yuchen. "You didn't—"
"No," Pei Yuchen interrupted. "I didn't mark you. Or claim you. Or take advantage."
Qiqi exhaled, relief and confusion tangling in his chest. "Why?"
Pei Yuchen's voice was soft, but cool. "You didn't ask me to."
Qiqi blinked.
Then, more quietly, Yuchen added, "I only helped you through the heat. Everything else was your choice. And now…"
His gaze sharpened slightly.
"I want to know who you are."
Qiqi's heart skipped.
Pei Yuchen sat down on the edge of the bed, not too close, but close enough that his scent still wrapped gently around them.
"What's your name?" he asked.
Qiqi hesitated, then muttered, "Shen Qiqi."
"Your age?"
"Twenty-three."
Pei Yuchen gave a short nod. "And your address?"
That one made Qiqi flinch.
"I… move around a lot," he said carefully. "Didn't really have a stable place. Was crashing with someone. I left."
Pei Yuchen studied him, and for a moment, Qiqi felt like a loose thread being tugged by very skilled hands.
"You're not registered in the city's Omega index," Yuchen said. Not accusatory — just observant. "You don't show up in any network. No ID. No job record."
Qiqi's fingers twisted in the sheets. "That's a little creepy."
"You're in my penthouse," Yuchen replied smoothly. "Creepy is relative."
A beat passed. Pei Yuchen leaned forward slightly, resting his forearms on his knees.
"You're not from here, are you?"
Qiqi's mouth opened, but no sound came out.
Pei Yuchen didn't press, didn't move. His gaze remained calm.
"I won't force answers," he said. "But I need to know if you're in danger."
That surprised Qiqi.
And it made his throat tighten.
"I don't think I'm the dangerous one," he said quietly.
Pei Yuchen tilted his head, and for the first time, a faint smile ghosted across his lips.
"Then you'll fit right in," Pei Yuchen said, voice calm and final.
The words made Qiqi let out a breathy chuckle—half amused, half disbelieving. The man in front of him was huge in every sense of the word—broad-shouldered, all cold control and quiet dominance, with sharp, devastatingly handsome features that looked like they belonged in a magazine, not sitting beside him on a bed.
And his scent—it was everywhere.
It clung to Qiqi's skin, nestled in his hair, soaked into his bones like a quiet claim.
Next to him, Qiqi felt... small. Not just physically, but like a spark beside a wildfire.
Yet somehow, that made him feel just a little safer.
Pei Yuchen stood and walked to the windows, backlit by the hazy morning sky. He was silent for a long moment, hands in his pockets, gaze locked on the city skyline like he was weighing every word before letting it leave his mouth.
Shen Qiqi sat still on the bed, the sheets twisted around him like a cocoon. His body was calmer now, no longer overwhelmed by heat, but the scent in the room—the Alpha's scent—still pressed around him like warm, invisible silk.
Then Pei Yuchen turned.
"There's something I want," he said, voice measured, smooth. "And something you clearly need."
Qiqi raised a brow. "If this is about last night, I already said thank you. I'm not an Omega who expects a ring just because I melted in your lap."
Pei Yuchen didn't smile. But there was a flicker in his eyes—interest. Maybe even amusement.
"I want to register you."
That made Qiqi freeze.
"…Excuse me?"
Pei Yuchen stepped closer, deliberate. "Your scent is too strong. Too compatible with mine. You're unregistered and unprotected. If anyone else catches your pheromones during another heat—especially after what happened last night—you'll become a target."
Shen Qiqi's mouth went dry. "You make it sound like I'm an untagged wild animal."
Pei Yuchen didn't deny it. "You're undocumented. No inhibitors. No Alpha bond. And worst of all—" he paused, voice lowering slightly, "—you smell exactly like someone made for me."
That last sentence came out almost reluctantly. But it hit like a strike to the chest.
Qiqi's lips parted.
"...So what, you want to keep me? Put your name on my collar or something?"
Pei Yuchen's gaze didn't flinch. "No."
That surprised Qiqi.
But then the Alpha continued, tone firm:
"I'm offering you protection. I'll register you under my name temporarily—on paper, only. It gives you legal rights. Safety. In exchange, you stay here. With me. Until we figure out exactly what this scent compatibility means."
Qiqi stared at him. "And what do you get out of it?"
Pei Yuchen looked at him like the answer was obvious.
"You."
Qiqi's heart stumbled.
Not just the words—but the way he said them. Not romantic. Not possessive. But intentional.
He meant every syllable.
Pei Yuchen stepped even closer now, until the heat of his presence filled the space between them.
"I want intimacy," he said, low. "You triggered something in me that I haven't felt in over a decade. You're not a plaything. But I'm not going to lie and pretend I don't want to touch you again. Scent you. Be near you."
Qiqi swallowed hard, his body betraying him with a subtle shiver. He hated how much he liked hearing that.
"And if I say no?" he asked quietly.
A surge of possessiveness coiled in Pei Yuchen's chest before he could stop it. He felt it like a fire under his skin, instinctive and irrational—the kind that made his pupils sharpen to gold, his jaw tense.
He barely knew Shen Qiqi. But the thought of him being anywhere else, surrounded by other Alphas, unclaimed and unprotected—it made something primal rise in him.
It wasn't logical. It wasn't reasonable.
But he didn't want Qiqi out of his sight. Not now. Not ever.
But he suppress this thought as he doesn't want to scare him. "I'll let you go," Pei Yuchen said, simply. "But you'll be out there. Unregistered. Vulnerable. And someone else might not be so careful next time."
The room went quiet again, save for the thrum of city life far below.
Shen Qiqi looked away, biting his bottom lip, thoughts spinning in every direction.
He hated being cornered.
But maybe... being cornered by this man wasn't the worst place to be.
"…And you're sure it's only on paper?" he asked, finally.
Pei Yuchen's expression was unreadable—but something in his eyes warmed.
"For now," he said.
Before Shen Qiqi could respond, a sudden soft chime echoed inside his mind.
"Ding! Congratulations Host! Being together with a Dominant Alpha will make your journey in this world more easy to navigate."
Qiqi's lips curved just slightly. "Alright," he said. "I agree."
Pei Yuchen's eyes darkened, glowing with the faintest glint of gold. He reached up and brushed his knuckles against Qiqi's cheek with a gentleness that didn't match his towering presence.
"Good," he murmured.
But just as Qiqi began to relax, his tone shifted. Steadier now. Serious.
"But I have a condition," Qiqi said, holding his gaze.
Pei Yuchen's hand paused mid-motion.
"When you're with me," Qiqi continued, voice soft but unwavering, "you're only with me. I won't do contracts or fake arrangements. And I won't share."
His fingers curled into the sheets beneath him. "If I ever see you with someone else—if I ever feel like I'm being treated like an option—this deal ends. I walk."
There was a beat of silence.
The kind that made the air feel dense. Charged.
Then Pei Yuchen leaned in, slow and deliberate, his voice low and smooth against Qiqi's ear.
"I don't do half-measures," he said. "And I don't do anyone else."
He pulled back just enough to meet Qiqi's eyes—gold against black.
"I already chose you."
Qiqi swallowed, heart fluttering, caught between disbelief and something dangerously close to trust.