Chapter 65….
Cycle
The heat boiling deep in her stomach was spreading throughout her entire body. Aileen, breathing in short gasps, scanned her surroundings. She had to hide somewhere—anywhere she could be alone.
Otherwise, someone would notice her condition. An omega’s cycle strongly attracted nearby alphas; her dense pheromones would spread quickly. If she couldn’t suppress them right away, she needed to be somewhere no one could enter.
She didn’t even have the luxury to think about the searing pain the cycle would bring. With trembling hands, Aileen braced herself against the wall and forced herself upright. Hot breaths slipped past her lips as her gaze darted around.
Soon spotting a storage room, Aileen moved without even wiping the sweat that had gotten into her eyes. Step by step, she advanced—slow but steady.
Once inside, she fumbled blindly but firmly locked the door. Her consciousness was already on the verge of fading, yet there was no one she could rely on. So Aileen bit her lip and endured.
After locking the door, she let out a deep breath and leaned her back against it. She still needed to hide deeper inside, but at least it felt like she had one layer of safety.
But the relief didn’t last long.
“Isn’t this an omega’s pheromone?”
At the sound of someone’s voice, Aileen’s whole body froze. There hadn’t been a single person around while she was walking here. At the sudden presence, her body stiffened. If they had already sensed her pheromones, it would only be a matter of time before they found her.
No. No. Please.
Even as helplessness washed over her, Aileen dragged her feet backward. She didn’t want to relive that nightmare again.
“The door’s locked.”
With eyes full of terror, Aileen stared at the door. It rattled with a dull thud as someone outside tried to open it. The lock looked ready to snap at any moment, and tears welled in her eyes.
If she shouted for them not to come in, she’d only be announcing that she was here. Aileen hugged herself tightly and squeezed her eyes shut.
She tried to control her pheromones somehow. If she could just rein them in, maybe things would be different. But despite her urgency, her newly awakened body had no intention of suppressing them.
There was nothing Aileen could do now. With the telltale signs of the searing heat beginning, it would be nearly impossible to fend off any man.
Lloyd.
Strangely, the person who came to mind wasn’t her family—it was Lloyd. If only he were here beside her. Even knowing he was on the battlefield, a futile hope rose within her. Aileen tried desperately to steady her blurring vision.
The moment the door opened and she saw the man’s face, Aileen felt as if her world collapsed. It was a face she had never seen before, his curious eyes roaming over her.
“You’re in heat, aren’t you?”
Aileen took another step back, wary of him. Even if the searing pain tormented her, she didn’t want to accept a stranger. No—not just any man. Even now, there was only one person she wanted.
She wished it were the one who immediately withdrew whenever she was afraid—the one who made her feel even more apologetic because of it. It was all a futile wish, but still.
Just as the man was about to step inside, a familiar voice sounded from behind him.
“Move.”
Aileen’s eyes flew wide as she looked at the man entering. She couldn’t tell whether she was dreaming or if the unbearable pain was making her hallucinate.
“What are you doing here?”
But hearing the man’s voice—just as it always was—she knew he was real.
“Lloyd…”
She murmured in disbelief as Lloyd entered with a serious expression.
“Weren’t you out with Chloe? Why are you alone—and in this storage room…?”
Sensing the pheromones pouring from Aileen’s body, Lloyd’s words trailed off.
“Why… are you here?”
Instead, Aileen asked, her trembling lips barely moving.
“We’ll talk about me later.”
At Lloyd’s worried tone, Aileen lifted her head. The moment her eyes met his dark gaze, the intense pheromones stimulating her senses and a wave of relief hit her at the same time.
The moment she saw his face, the tears she’d been holding back spilled freely. At Aileen’s suppressed sob, Lloyd removed his cloak and wrapped it around her. Then he lifted her into his arms and turned.
“Everyone, step back.”
Leaning into him, Aileen drew in a breath. His surging pheromones wrapped around her. It wasn’t just where his chest or arms touched her—her entire body felt enveloped in a deep sense of stability.
“Where’s the cycle stabilizer?”
At Lloyd’s question, someone approached and quickly left.
“Aileen.”
She lifted her head and met Lloyd’s eyes.
It’s really Lloyd. Lloyd saved me.
As she only stared blankly, his lips twitched as if he were holding back a stream of curses.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
Aileen tried to ask why, but no voice came out. As she could only pant, Lloyd sighed.
“The corners of your eyes are flushed. Your cheeks are red, your lips are red—you look just like an apple.”
An apple? At a time like this? she wanted to protest, but all Aileen could do was gaze at him desperately. The moment she realized it was him, all her wariness vanished, and she accepted his pheromones with relief.
Thanks to that, Aileen felt her pain ease slightly—but at the same time, the thirst she’d been suppressing slowly began to rise. The way his pheromones steadily wrapped around her wasn’t enough. Even knowing she shouldn’t, Aileen wanted more from him.
“What am I supposed to do when you look at me like that?”
Holding the stabilizer in one hand, Lloyd brought it to his mouth. He bit off the cap with his teeth and poured the stabilizer into Aileen’s mouth.
“Drink this first and get a hold of yourself. We’ll talk after that.”
Aileen gulped down the stabilizer he fed her. The cool liquid coated her tongue and slid down her throat. The refreshing sensation made her want more, and she lifted her hand—but nothing more came.
“That’s all.”
Lloyd tossed the empty container aside and pulled her body closer.
“If it’s still not enough, at least drink some water… ha.”
Seeing Aileen’s hand clutching and tugging at his clothes, Lloyd let out a sigh.
“Don’t do something you’ll regret just because you’re out of it right now.”
“Lloy…d. Lloyd.”
Her voice calling him was hoarse and pitiful. She felt embarrassed, yet she couldn’t stop calling him, hoping he would look at her.
As her reason gradually blurred, Aileen could only desperately call Lloyd’s name.
“Lloyd… Lloyd, please look at me…”
“I am looking. So don’t cry.”
With her mind growing increasingly distant, Aileen couldn’t fully understand his words. The heat of her rut kept scraping at her sanity—it felt like a sandcastle ready to collapse at any moment.
“Lloyd, I… I…”
She muttered without even knowing what she was trying to say. In her flickering vision, her body at its limit was pouring out seductive pheromones toward Lloyd.
“Why isn’t this stabilizer working?”
Thinking his irritated words were directed at her, Aileen clutched his clothes tighter. She had no strength left now—if he left, she would be helpless.
“Lloyd…”
Her voice had grown so faint it could be lost in the passing wind. The hand that had been gripping him lost sensation, and his face began to blur. As if giving up on everything, Aileen slowly closed her eyes. Having experienced the onset pains before, maybe the best solution now was simply to lose consciousness completely—
“Mm—”
A low moan escaped her. The first thing she noticed was the cool sensation against her lips. As she turned her head seeking the coolness, something soft slipped into her mouth. It wasn’t water, but something refreshing flowed in with it, gradually easing the fever of her heat.
It was like throwing a single bucket of water onto a burning house—but for Aileen, it was enough to finally breathe a little.
“…Ha.”
Before she could ask for more, his lips came to cool her again. In the brief moments when their lips parted, she vaguely felt as though they had entered the villa—but she forgot as she sensed his pheromones. She only wished their lips wouldn’t separate. She wanted to be filled with his pheromones, wanted him to soothe her pain.
Without even noticing the soft surface beneath her back, Aileen chased Lloyd’s lips and drew in his pheromones. When his hand moved from her back toward the front, her body trembled as if struck by electricity.
It was merely a natural reaction of pleasure, but misunderstanding, Lloyd spoke against her lips. The ticklish sensation of his moving lips even made Aileen let out a faint laugh. Perhaps because of the cool yet heavy pheromones entering whenever she parted her lips, a sliver of her distant reason returned.
“I’m only going to kiss you until the stabilizer kicks in. So you don’t need to worry about anything else.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than he captured her lips deeply again. Because of that, Aileen couldn’t tell Lloyd—
That she was a late-awakening case, and the heat she experienced at the beginning was far more intense than usual… to the point that a single stabilizer would never be enough to calm it.
