Chapter Text
Nie Mingjue woke to his window opening.
Rain-laden wind blew the overwhelming scent of fresh blooming lotuses through his room like a promise and a threat. He felt, more than heard, the soft thud of feet landing on his floor and the window closing on the thunder and lashing rain.
He listened, ears pricked and straining as the intruder stifled a sob. One wet plop and then another. It took Nie Mingjue a long moment to realize it was the sound of sodden clothing hitting the floor.
Bare feet were padding towards his bed before he realized the intruder wasn't a burglar or an assassin. Too late. Too late his sleep-soaked brain, befuddled by that heady lotus scent, understood the situation.
The blankets drew back and a shivering body dropped on top of his.
Nie Mingjue's yelp was swallowed down. A hungry mouth, all tongue and teeth, claimed his own. Frigid limbs wrapped around his own body that felt furnace-hot in comparison. Heedless of his wishes, Nie Mingjue drew the blanket back up around them, caging himself in a cocoon of silk and cotton with this feral creature.
"I need it," Jiang Cheng mumbled. "I need it now.”
Fingers tipped with heat-grown claws raked at Nie Mingjue's chest, leaving scratches beading with blood. He felt the sting but was as helpless to stop Jiang Cheng from lapping up the blood as he had been to refuse him his bed.
Jiang Cheng rocked on top of Nie Mingjue's body, keening. He ground down, rutting in strained motions. Nie Mingjue could feel him trembling, feel the younger man’s cold flesh giving away to a feverish heat.
"Where's your nest, Jiang Cheng?"
Finally able to speak, he asked the most important question. A safe omega in heat was one that didn't stray far from the nest. Less than a hundred feet was the golden rule. But the Jiangs lived on the other side of the city from the Nies. Miles away.
Jiang Cheng was already known to be half-feral. This far from his nest, though? How many people had he slaughtered on his way across the city? What had even brought him all the way across the city?
“No." Jiang Cheng whimpered, writhing on top of Nie Mingjue. He lifted his head from Nie Mingjue’s chest, snarling despite the desperate grind of his hips, and licked blood from his teeth. “Not a dirty omega! I'm an alpha! No nest allowed."
Nie Mingjue froze, his pulse jackrabbiting wildly. What had Jiang Cheng's family done to him? Not allowing an omega a nest, denying him that basic comfort and instinctual satisfaction? That was actual abuse. It was a literal crime. Jiang Cheng’s parents could go to jail for this.
"Good alphas can control their ruts," Jiang Cheng continued, growling. "They don't need relief. Only weak alphas and omegas give in. I'm not weak.”
He began to whimper and rock against Nie Mingjue's body again. Tears and snot streamed down his face. His skin grew even warmer as the heat continued to take hold.
"Mingjue-ge. I'm not a weak alpha! I'm not a dirty omega! I'm not, right?"
Nie Mingjue's heart broke. He rumbled a deep purr, soothing the feral omega.
"Never," he promised.
He flipped them over, laying Jiang Cheng on his bed, where he had just been, and hovering over the younger male's body, caging him in without touching.
"You are perfect," he continued, leaning down to kiss Jiang Cheng's forehead and nose. "Omega, beta, or alpha. No matter what.”
Jiang Cheng stared up at him, wide-eyed, unshed tears glistening in the constant flicker of lightning and unsteady moonlight. He looked so young, Nie Mingjue thought, growing angry. So tired. So thin.
A possessive growl slipped out, around the rumbling purr. Jiang Cheng's eyes went even wider. His scent shifted to something sweeter, lotuses and cream, honey and sunshine. The promise of lazy summer days. A mouthful of juicy loquats that burst between the teeth.
Nie Mingjue bent down, salivating. He nosed at Jiang Cheng's neck, hunting the source of that scent.
His bedroom door burst open.
"Da-ge, I heard a noise, are you okay?" His younger brother, Nie Huaisang, asked sounding breathless.
Jiang Cheng growled, latching on to Nie Mingjue with all four limbs, hands scratching down the bigger man's back.
"Fine, Huaisang.”
Nie Mingjue growled to Jiang Cheng, vocalizing from the throat. Then looked over his shoulder at his baby brother, warning in his tone.
"Jiang Cheng is here and he is in heat. He says his parents denied him a nest."
Huaisang's own eyes went as wide with shock. He vanished from the doorway, closing the door behind him. Nie Mingjue turned all his attention back to Jiang Cheng.
"You know Huaisang,” he chided, still purring. “He isn't a threat. You can let go."
Jiang Cheng’s head reared back and he bared his teeth. "Mine!"
"If you want," Nie Mingjue agreed, finding that he did not mind this at all. "But he is my brother. Your friend. Pack. Not a rival mate. Behave.”
Jiang Cheng blinked in confusion. "Pack?"
His limbs went slack and he slumped back on to the bed, staring up at Nie Mingjue.
Nie Huaisang reappeared, threw a sack of clothing and another sack into the room and then closed the door again.
"Good luck, Da-ge," he called through the wood. "I let work know you won't be coming in! Zonghui-ge will be filling in for the next two weeks. I will stand guard.”
"See that," Nie Mingjue said to Jiang Cheng. "I'm yours for as long as you want me. And Huaisang helped. Like a good packmate."
Jiang Cheng blinked, then sniffed the air. "I smell food.”
Nie Mingjue grinned, revealing his teeth. "You do. Huaisang pretends he can't cook but he actually makes amazing dumplings of all kinds. Does my A-Cheng want some?"
"Y-your A-Cheng?"
Nie Mingjue growled, low and deep. "If I am yours, then you're mine."
He lay himself on top of Jiang Cheng, resting his full weight on top of the smaller man. He nosed along Jiang Cheng's neck once again, leaving a trail of kisses and little nipping bites. Jiang Cheng's body immediately went limp and slack as Nie Mingjue's body heat sank into his bones and his scent permeated the air.
“Mine.”
"Yours," Nie Mingjue agreed, switching to the other side of Jiang Cheng's neck. "Do you want a nest?"
"Don't need a nest." Jiang Cheng murmured, making only a half-hearted attempt to wiggle away.
He gave up almost instantly when Nie Mingjue sank teeth into his neck and held on.
"That wasn't the question," Nie Mingjue said, licking the bite as he let go. "Do you want a nest?"
"... yes," Jiang Cheng whimpered. "Want. Need you now. Now Ming-ge. Can't wait anymore."
He began writhing beneath Nie Mingjue, dragging delicious friction along heated flesh.
"Tell me what you want and I'll take care of you," Mingjue purred, focusing on keeping his weight heavy over Jiang Cheng to keep him still. "Anything you want."
"It burns inside. Make the burning stop," Jiang Cheng whined, pawing at Nie Mingjue's chest. He was crying again. "Ming-ge."
Nie Mingjue lowered his face to Jiang Cheng's neck and breathed deep. Jiang Cheng's scent was delicious. But that honey-sweet note that indicated a fertile omega was elusive.
He was feral, that much was obvious.
But feral omega? Or feral alpha?
"Do you trust me?" He asked, lips in skin.
"Help me, Ming-ge," Jiang Cheng moaned, turning his head to give better access. "I trust you. Only you.
"Good boy," Nie Mingjue purred, pulling back. “Such a good boy.”
He rose up on his knees and tore off his boxers. Jiang Cheng stared at his body, captivated by the evidence of just how ready Nie Mingjue was to help him. Nie Mingjue took advantage of his preoccupation to gather both Jiang Cheng's wrists in one hand and pin them over his head.
He lay beside Jiang Cheng and ran his other hand down the heat-fevered body, petting firmly as he continued to purr deep in his chest. It seemed to relax the younger man and he couldn’t have stopped even if he wanted to, at this point.
Nie Mingjue's hand found the extra flaps of loose skin where the knot would inflate, at the base of Jiang Cheng's cock. That was one vote towards alpha. The cock was impressively sized as well. Not as large as Nie Mingjue's, but far larger than any beta's.
Still. Nie Mingjue’s hand quested downwards, rolling Jiang Cheng's sack in his hand and reaching behind.
There he found what he was looking for. Jiang Cheng was the rarest of rare creatures. A true treasure. A poly-gender. He had the characteristics of both alpha and omega secondary genders.
Nie Mingjue's fingers had just found a little slit dripping with slick. He probed gently, leaning over to kiss Jiang Cheng and throw a leg over the restless man's own. Jiang Cheng panted into his mouth as his finger traced the opening then dipped inside.
Such heat!
Nie Mingjue understood what Jiang Cheng meant by burning, now. He, himself, gave off a lot of heat, as all alphas did. But this little pocket contained an inferno. He gently stroked the silky walls with his finger, exploring carefully.
Near the front and top was a hard little nub, barely bigger than a grain of rice. Farther back, on the bottom, was a rougher, spongy spot that might almost correspond to where he would expect to find the prostate if exploring Jiang Cheng's other hole. He played with both of these special spots, back and forth, until Jiang Cheng was a yowling mess and the bed sheets were thoroughly soaked. Only when Jiang Cheng was limp, wrung-out, and glaze-eyed, did Nie Mingjue stop and lick his fingers clean. The taste was unlike anything else. Tangy, sweet, musky, and the tiniest bit salty. Something in Nie Mingjue snapped to attention. Mine.
It was time to feed his mate. Then, if there was time before the next wave came, to build a nest. Maybe even take a bath with Jiang Cheng. He had yet to find a proper scent gland, after all.
Both sides of the neck were clean. That left the nape or some novel location. Perhaps under the arm? Nie Mingjue was determined to find and mark it.
Jiang Cheng wasn't going to slip through his fingers.