Chapter Text
A harsh banging on the door of the disciple’s quarters jolted everyone awake. Heart jittering, you sat up and watched wide-eyed as Wei Wuxian burst into the room, the lantern in his grip distorting the shadows with each disjointed sway.
“Everyone up,” the head disciple barked, his voice panicked in a way you’d never heard. Confusion and wariness emanated among the disciples, a tense moment passing with minimal movement. The scent of Wei Wuxian’s agitated pheromones had just reached your nose when he gritted his teeth and said, “Jiang Cheng is missing!”
Shock bolted through your meridians. Any rationalization of Wei Wuxian’s behavior was overturned by the world seeming to tilt, every ounce of yourself being called to find him. That was your sect heir, your respected omega, where had he gone, how was he missing? You covered your mouth and nose, focusing on keeping your own pheromones under control as the anxious scents of both alphas and omegas wafted into the air.
Everyone was up and out of bed in seconds, forming two neat rows for Wei Wuxian to assign to different sections of Lotus Pier. Someone had propped open the window so the room didn’t become stifling with rampant pheromones, but fortunately your collective training kept things under control.
“This group will search the docks,” Wei Wuxian commanded, walking briskly along the lineup. “This group, the area surrounding the library. The rest of you…”
Though your attention was on your head disciple’s orders, something itched inside you, something that felt more wrong than things seemed. Why were you being ordered to check around the compound? And why in the middle of the night?
“Wei-shixiong,” you said abruptly.
Everyone turned to stare at you in a cascade of jerky movements. Your hands gripped the side of your robe, resisting the urge to take your question back before you even asked. Just because you were an alpha didn’t mean you were happy to put yourself under scrutiny, especially in a tense situation.
But it was too important.
“What is it?” Wei Wuxian snapped. “We’re wasting precious time, shimei.”
Ah, something was up. He usually didn’t lose his temper.
Keeping as calm as possible, you asked, “Do we know why Jiang-gongzi is missing?”
There was a split second where Wei Wuxian froze. Most of your peers were still looking at you, so you seemed to be the only one to catch it.
After a short intake of breath, he answered, “I was about to tell you. He’s in an unstable position with his pheromones right now, so he… is trying to self-isolate. So, when we find him, do not approach, even if you’re a beta. Use a buddy system and make sure he doesn’t run off, then alert Jiang-zongzhu or Yu-furen, who are getting the senior disciples to guard the front and back exits of Lotus Pier. Shijie—Jiang-guniang is looking as well.”
As if to stop further questions, Wei Wuxian clapped his hands, a sharp, crisp sound to capture all attention. “Go now!”
Thoughts whirling, you followed your group toward the docks.
Jiang Cheng had run away. His pheromones were unstable, and he’d run away, and his whole family unit was already searching for him. How long had they been searching before resorting to asking the disciples for help? Why would Jiang Cheng leave the safety of his sect in the middle of the night?
What had happened to make him run?
Your group dashed along the docks, sword sheaths and metal clinking as your lanterns cast firefly glows under the waxing moon. Anyone could see that the wooden planks were bare. Unoccupied.
When some of your fellow disciples started checking under the docks for him, your impatience surpassed any priority Wei Wuxian’s orders might’ve had.
This wasn’t logical—an unstable omega needed safety, needed space from threats, needed a place to hide. Jiang Cheng wasn’t some weak omega who’d let himself get caught. If he ran, he’d run far. Somewhere he could navigate, a difficult place to search.
Without a single word to your group, you broke off toward the forest.
~
When Jiang Cheng awoke, it was to the bright moon through the window and a horrible fever. Chills wracked his body, a gasp squeezing from his lungs. Curling up on his side, he shut his eyes tight and willed the sensations away, annoyed by the cramps and hating how easily his pheromones responded to the slightest discomfort.
Usually he would ignore these symptoms and force himself back to sleep, but the chills ramped into core-deep nausea, and one instinct made him sit bolt upright.
Touch.
No. Oh, no, no, no, this couldn’t happen now. He wasn’t mated, didn’t even want anyone, he couldn’t go into heat, he didn’t want to—
Need touch.
Stumbling out of bed, Jiang Cheng wrenched on two layers of robes in a vain attempt to abate the cold flashes, finding himself moments later at his sister’s room. He had the wherewithal to knock, croaking out a pitiful “Jie” when she made a sleepy grunt.
A muffled rustling of bedsheets preceded Jiang Yanli sliding open the door. She blinked up at him groggily, taking in his shivering form, wrapped up in his own mismatched robes.
Jiang Yanli knew what the problem was before her brother even spoke again, another quiet, trembling whisper. “Jie, am—am I going into heat?”
“Ah,” she murmured, her energy beginning to rouse in response to this sudden problem, but another voice unexpectedly sounded further down the hall.
“Jiang Cheng?”
The siblings turned, Jiang Cheng’s whole body stiffening at the faint scent of Wei Wuxian’s pheromones.
Alpha. Wrong. Get away.
“A-Xian,” Jiang Yanli started, but he spoke again before she could warn him to approach with caution.
“Jiang Cheng, I could smell you all the way from my room,” Wei Wuxian said, his voice barely clinging to its usual joking tone. “I was gonna ask you to cut it out, whatever you were doing, but are you actually in heat? Man, that sucks.”
His attempt at playful rambling didn’t have its usual effect. All three of them could feel it—could sense that Wei Wuxian was talking, now, to fend off his urges. The ones that every alpha couldn’t help, their natural response when they smelled an omega fresh into their heat.
“A-Xian,” Jiang Yanli said, assertively this time. Wei Wuxian’s jaw snapped shut, lips twisted in a strained smile, and Jiang Cheng jerked back a step as if to remind himself his limbs could move.
Now she stepped into the doorway, her brother and her shidi standing across from each other in the moonlit hall. Her eyes flicked to Wei Wuxian, his eyes locked on Jiang Cheng. When she looked at her baby brother, he was tense like he was afraid.
Her heart ached. She didn’t want Jiang Cheng to think Wei Wuxian would attack him like any brainless alpha, but as an omega herself—mated though she was—she understood the paralyzing fear that came with encountering an alpha during your heat.
“A-Cheng just found out he’s gone into heat,” Jiang Yanli said slowly, keeping both of their attention on her, “and we were just going to discuss how to handle it. A-Xian, will you go get A-Die and A-Niang, please?”
The attempt to send Wei Wuxian out for a task didn’t work. His throat bobbed, unable to move or take his eyes off his trembling shidi for fear of losing control altogether.
“I don’t think Yu-furen will take kindly to me waking her up,” he muttered, his good humor vanished. He was visibly fighting himself, hands disappeared in his sleeves and clawing at themselves to keep his composure. His alpha instincts had never been like this before, not towards Jiang Cheng—it scared him deep down, but those same instincts wouldn’t let him show it. Wei Wuxian had to be strong in front of his siblings, his omegas.
Jiang Cheng’s whole body twitched, and Jiang Yanli was torn between moving closer and ushering Wei Wuxian away. The omega’s foot inched backwards, and Jiang Yanli rushed to placate him.
“I’ll go get them,” Jiang Yanli said, hoping the presence of their mother would help soothe him. In a moment of inspiration, she released some calming pheromones, and nearly sighed in relief when her brother relaxed a little bit. “I’ll be quick,” she promised, then hurried down the hall.
Despite the momentary comfort of his sister’s pheromones, Jiang Cheng’s marrow-deep anxiety returned when she disappeared around the corner. He didn’t like the way Wei Wuxian was looking at him, like he needed to be talked down like a skittish animal. (Or worse, like Jiang Cheng was a helpless omega, in need of rough handling from a stronger, better alpha. He didn’t really think that, did he? They were like brothers. He knew him. He wasn’t like other alphas, just like Jiang Cheng wasn’t like other omegas.)
“Stop looking at me.” Jiang Cheng’s voice wrenched from him, unable to hold back the pinpricks of fear drawing blood from every acupoint in his body.
The glare Wei Wuxian fixed him with made Jiang Cheng jerk back, hands fisted in his robe. Wei Wuxian made a concerted effort to relax, but his smile still wasn’t quite right.
“What? I’m just standing here,” he teased. “Shijie will be back in a second.”
She was getting his parents. His mother would yell and fuss, and his father would sigh and shake his head—but both would be disappointed that he’d gone into heat at this horrible, inconvenient time. Unmated, uncourted, and right before their daughter was to finalize her courtship with her own mate.
Jiang Cheng’s breathing picked up speed, and with it came Wei Wuxian’s poorly suppressed pheromones swirling in his lungs. Replacing Jiang Yanli’s.
Recoiling, Jiang Wanyin snapped, “Put those away.”
Affronted, Wei Wuxian said, “It’s not like I’m trying to—”
But he only got that far before footsteps clattered towards them and Yu Ziyuan’s voice thundered, “Wei Wuxian, what are you doing to my son?!”
They both stiffened, Wei Wuxian standing at attention and Jiang Cheng protesting, “He’s not, A-Niang…”
Just with those words of accusation, Wei Wuxian’s sour, unhappy pheromones choked Jiang Cheng’s airway, and nothing could deter Yu Ziyuan from the assumption that Wei Wuxian was acting malicious. She stormed towards them, and Jiang Cheng stumbled back another step.
“Why are you up at this hour?” she barked, more alpha pheromones flooding the hallway as she asserted her dominance over the younger alpha. “Don’t tell me you were trying to force yourself on a hapless omega just to tie him down? I bet you were waiting for this to happen!”
Jiang Cheng’s heart dropped. No, that wasn’t it at all, Wei Wuxian wouldn’t, Jiang Cheng wasn’t… but no words could form in his mouth. Too dry, too hot.
Touch…?
These pheromones that should have been soothing to Jiang Cheng—his own mother’s pheromones, the parent who gave him more attention than the man who’d actually carried him—burned his nose and clogged his lungs. Danger. Get away. He coughed, and his mother’s eyes snapped to him.
“See what you’re doing?” she berated Wei Wuxian, his eyes wide and face pale in the moonlight.
Danger.
The final two turned the corner, Jiang Yanli looking worried as she followed her father.
“Calm down, San-niang,” Jiang Fengmian said sternly, and the storm that followed made Jiang Cheng feel like he was drowning.
His parents descended into an argument, saying Wei Wuxian was a pest, no, Wei Wuxian was keeping guard just like he should—words exchanged over and over, Wei Wuxian this, Wei Wuxian that, but Jiang Cheng needed the attention, he needed it and he wasn’t getting it—
Danger.
This always happened. Anything that was about Jiang Cheng, was really about Wei Wuxian. Jiang Cheng should have been the next family alpha, a pinnacle of strength and integrity, but he was born with a womb like his father and the temper of his mother. Wei Wuxian was everything Jiang Cheng wasn’t—a better cultivator, a friendlier soul, an alpha. Wherever Jiang Cheng came second, Wei Wuxian was first. The topic of argument between his parents. The replacement alpha, because Jiang Cheng wasn’t born strong enough.
Touch… need…
Confused, worried, and angry pheromones filled the air, making Jiang Cheng’s head spin and stomach churn. The worry should be comforting, should make him feel cared for, but he didn’t, he felt nauseous, this wasn’t helping, it was bad, they didn’t care, not enough, not for him.
Danger.
Wei Wuxian’s gaze burned when he turned it on him, Jiang Yanli’s worried face was hidden behind their parents as they blocked the hallway, and Jiang Cheng couldn’t—he just couldn’t.
He turned and fled.
As he kicked off the floorboard with a quiet thud, Jiang Cheng heard Wei Wuxian cry out in alarm.
“What do you think you’re doing?!” his mother shouted—at him?—and a scuffle broke out that faded as Jiang Cheng ran.
The movement felt good, was a relief, didn’t hurt. It burned off the heat swelling inside his core, the crisp night air clearing his lungs even as his mind fogged over with the urge to leave, run, escape, find somewhere safe, somewhere far away.
Jiang Cheng didn’t look back, and when he made it to the forest on the southwest border of Lotus Pier, his heat claimed him like a leaf swallowed by flame.
~
You didn’t know where to go when you made it into the forest, but your best guesses led you better than your head disciple’s broad orders. Heading for the outermost point of the sect’s territory, you encountered a rock formation and paused. A crevice between the boulders might be a good hiding place.
Stepping lightly, you peeked around each tall wall of stone to check for movement, the surrounding leaves rustling with the wind. His scent finally caught your nose, faint and sweet enough to make your heart tingle, and that one whiff led you to a cave nearly hidden behind a cluster of trees.
Branches rustled through another patch of trees and bushes, and you had one moment to consider reporting back to your sect before the heady scent of an omega in heat nearly brought you to your knees.
Of the many missing pieces in Wei Wuxian’s story, that was a significant one.
Grabbing hold of your sanity with a white-knuckled grip, you trudged forward and shoved the underbrush out of the way, completely without a plan.
“Jiang-gongzi…?” you called, thankful that your voice was steady as it lit the quiet night.
The rustling stopped, and your lantern illuminated Jiang Cheng’s hunched form, his expression frozen as your eyes locked.
Several heartbeats thudded past in utter silence. He was crouched just inside the mouth of a shallow cave, clad in his wispy inner robes and a couple mismatched layers of outer robes. His hair tumbled down his shoulders in disheveled tresses, and his hands were occupied with a collection of branches and leaves; sharp sticks were piled beside him, while the leaves from several types of trees were scattered on the ground behind him.
In a moment of heartbreak, you realized he was trying to nest.
And as you processed the horrible fondness that filled your chest, you watched his face melt into an expression you never thought you’d see him make.
“Alpha,” he whimpered, reaching for you with shaking hands.
Mind blanking out, you answered his plea.
The lantern clattered to the ground. Surging forward, you crashed to your knees as Jiang Cheng released a cry that shook your bones, and your bodies collided in a fierce embrace. Although you were a bit smaller than him, he trembled in your arms like a newborn calf, his face buried in the plush of your chest.
“Help,” he gasped, the fabric of your robe already wet with tears that sparked a lightning bolt of protectiveness through your whole body. “Please—”
Desperate pheromones swirled in the chilly air, his skin feverish as he clung to you and sobbed. The position was awkward with your sword strapped to your hip, so you blindly flung it somewhere in the grass outside the cave. You kept your grip tight on your pheromones, testing his response with a gentle release of your scent. He shuddered, full bodied and helpless, and pressed closer. The alpha clawing at your insides preened at his acceptance, but in the end, he wasn’t yours to claim.
“Hurts,” he moaned, and you ran your hand down his back to soothe him, feeling the responding shiver.
“Shhh, shhh, I know, it’s gonna hurt, baobei,” you murmured, rocking him gently back and forth like you’d cradle a child. “Can I get your pack?”
He went rigid in your arms, making your stomach drop. “No,” he gasped. “Can’t go back, don’t make me, I don’t like it, I don’t, I don’t—”
“I won’t,” you blurted, even though it was a stupid thing to promise. It was his family. But he just sounded so scared. “Calm down, I’m here, no one’s gonna hurt you…”
It took minutes of deep breathing before he managed to follow, but it was worth the lungfuls of tempting omega pheromones to soothe him into a calmer state. His body still shivered, but you managed to coax off his outermost robe and settle it on the ground with the pile of leaves he’d stripped from their branches. The robe was thick for winter, and it made the hard ground more bearable as you settled with your back to the cave wall, a bundle of omega in your lap. Everything in you screamed to succumb to instinct, to fall into the role of the alpha and throw logic to the wind, but you resisted for the sake of answers. (He wasn’t yours. He wasn’t.)
“You don’t want to nest in your room?” you coaxed, but he shook his head violently.
“I don’t want to go back,” he begged, his arms so tight around your waist that you felt your bones creak. “Stay with me, alpha, please protect me.”
“I will, baobei, I will,” you murmured, unsettled by the near-delirious fear in your sect heir’s voice, “but I have to know what I’m protecting you from. Will you tell me?”
He was quiet for a minute, his breathing ragged, and you took a chance and cupped his cheek, nudging him to look at you.
Jiang Cheng’s eyes were wet with tears, his cheeks flushed and his pupils dilated. Meeting those hazy eyes, your heart raced, blood pumping through you with the urge to claim this desperate omega. He was already clinging to you, practically begging for it—
But deeper than your instincts was the knowledge that he would hate you for making that decision for him. He wasn’t in his right mind—you couldn’t go further than this temporary comfort.
With that sour spot spreading in your chest, you shook yourself out of it. “Tell me what’s wrong,” you whispered, keeping your voice quiet and gentle, wondering just how long his sense of safety would last. (It would hurt if this was a fluke, but you would accept those consequences when they came.)
He gazed up at you for a while longer, his warm breath joining his pheromones in your lungs. “Mmm,” he whimpered, barely coherent. “My… my A-Niang… and A-Die… always fight…” he choked out. “‘M not a good son… and… and Wei Wuxian…”
Ice flooded your veins, your thoughts racing to recontextualize Wei Wuxian’s panic earlier in the night. But Jiang Cheng wasn’t finished, something inside him wanting to release these thoughts.
“He… he’s always better than me, A-Niang hates him but A-Die hates me, a-and A-Jie, A-Jie can’t help… I…”
When he dissolved into tears, you gathered him into a tight hug and gave up on more answers. A fire had already been stoked inside you, the rage against his pack burning brighter as you felt him sob in your protective embrace.
Keeping careful control of your pheromones, you released another soothing scent, your chest loosening with relief as he nuzzled your breast and made a soft sigh between sobs.
You weren’t always good with words, so you remained quiet, just rocking him gently and stroking his back. Who knew how much he’d end up remembering once his heat was over? Could you even have a real conversation with him in this state?
But… his whimpers broke your heart. You couldn’t just let him stay like this.
“… I care about you,” you confessed, giving in to the shameful secret you’d harbored for years. “I care more than you know, A-Cheng. I’ll keep you safe even if it gets me banished.”
A muffled sound buzzed against your chest, his watery eyes blinking up at you. “Really?” he whispered, voice trembling like the surface of a windswept lake.
It didn’t take much more for you to yield. “Yeah.” You sighed quietly, resting your chin on his hair. “I’ll do anything if it’s for you.”
With another full-body shiver, Jiang Cheng finally relaxed in your arms, and the knot in your chest released. He nuzzled your soft breast, his eyes half-lidded and unfocused. After a moment you realized he was nosing up to your neck, and you jolted, arousal pooling in your gut. At this moment, you were reminded with startling clarity that he was in heat.
“Ah,” you croaked, “hey…”
He didn’t listen, lips pressing to your skin in a thoughtless nibble. You had no choice but to thread your fingers in his hair and guide his head away from your scent gland. “No claiming,” you scolded. But then you caught his expression, and your breath hitched.
Rosy cheeks, dewy eyes, and parted lips. Your sect heir looked delectable as he gazed at you, uncomprehending of your warning—and your instincts slammed into you like a shield to the ribs.
Touch. Take. Claim.
“You…” Your voice caught as you spoke. “You can… scent.” That was harmless enough… right…?
A soft breath fell from his lips, almost like relief. Heart stuttering, you loosened your grip in his hair and allowed him to nuzzle your throat. Part of you wanted to flinch at the cold touch of his nose—even if he was in heat, it was still chilly at this time of night—but much, much more of you wanted to pull him closer and stake your claim. Jiang Cheng snuffled at your scent gland, his lips brushing your skin and sending chills cascading through your nerves.
Unable to process anything but his body pressed into yours, you dipped your fingers into his hair and gently scratched his scalp. The low, keening noise this elicited from the omega nearly shattered your frayed self-control. Jiang Cheng kept pushing himself closer, his pheromones pouring out in the most shameless, unrestrained display of need, and you just couldn’t do anything but hold him.
His pheromones saturated the cave, your lungs aching with omega scent, and it became impossible to contain yourself. Your alpha pheromones trickled out, and he latched onto them with a desperate moan that surged straight down to your groin. He mashed his face into the crook of your neck, taking deep, greedy inhales while his fingers scrabbled at your back. Shifting so your arms locked firmly around his waist, you leaned heavily against the wall of the cave and closed your eyes, undoing your restraint a little bit more.
As your head tilted back, Jiang Cheng fit himself closer, needier, his flat chest pushing against your soft bust. His tongue darted out in an experimental lick on your scent glands, and your eyes snapped open, arousal flooding your system.
Digging your fingers into his hair, you wrenched his head back, a warning growl in your throat. Immediately, the sight of him softened you yet again, his mouth open to pant for breath and his cheeks flushed with his heat. He whined, weak and sad, and your growl morphed into a gentle croon. Pulling him in, you stroked down his spine and felt him shudder, guiding his face into your breast and tucking your chin atop his head.
What was left of your cognizance knew you couldn’t risk a mating bite, no matter how much you wanted it. Petting and rocking him seemed to do the trick, keeping the omega placated enough to stop his squirming. Distantly, you wondered what the endgame was—to finish his heat? To knock him back to his senses? To wait for people to find you? Any one of those could take days. Neither of you needed to eat, since your cultivation was strong enough, but you feared you wouldn’t be able to stay in control if you did nothing but inhale omega pheromones nonstop. As it was, your body was warm with arousal, and it was taking every bit of effort to keep the blood-flow from filling your cock.
A quiet, mindless whine sounded from Jiang Cheng’s throat. He was trembling too much to be falling asleep, so you unwound one arm and cupped his cheek, studying his pained expression. Nuzzling into the touch, the omega whined again, eyes brimming with tears.
Fear swelled in your chest like a tsunami, your instincts screaming to protect, protect, protect.
“What’s wrong?” you whispered, thumb brushing beneath his eye as his tears slipped out. “What do you need?”
A strand of saliva connected his lips as they parted, his pink mouth wet and shiny in the light that reached into the cave. “Hurts,” he rasped, his thighs clenching around your hips. Just as you had the thought that his heat was finally ramping up, he whispered, “Why don’t Mama and Baba love me?”
The air seemed to go still, as if he hadn’t just set off a signal flare pointed right at your heart. You stared at him, frozen, and he kept nuzzling your hand like your comfort was his sustenance.
Despite appearances, the disciples of Yunmeng Jiang weren’t blind. Everyone saw (and heard) the many disagreements between the sect leader and his wife, but there was nothing to be done between such an incompatible pair when they’d already built their life together. It was a miracle their children had made it to adulthood intact, but what you were hearing now, in the peak of Jiang Cheng’s heat…
An omega’s first heat didn’t necessarily have a catalyst. This was just bad luck for Jiang Cheng, as far as you knew. But if an omega hit their heat and their most fundamental needs weren’t met, their hormones wouldn’t balance and the heat could take all kinds of turns before the sexual urges would finally arise.
You couldn’t lie to him. And when you inevitably had to touch him, you couldn’t give him exactly what he wanted. There had to be something more you could offer him, you had to make it better.
“I don’t know how your parents feel about you, baobei,” you finally answered, alight with pure rage against those who hurt him so deeply. Taking a deep breath, you found yourself comforted by his welcoming scent, granting you the strength to find the good in the people who had done him wrong. “But… at least a part of them worries for you, and wants you to become a strong and capable leader.” You rested your forehead against his, releasing more soothing pheromones that mingled pleasantly with his earthy scent. “And you are. You’re beautiful in everything you do, A-Cheng. That’s what makes me love you.”
… Ah.
The words had just slipped out, the heat of his pheromones loosening your inhibitions, but Jiang Cheng’s eyes brightened like the sun peeking over the horizon. His lips parted, awe shimmering in his expression and making your heart squeeze until it burst.
“I’m sorry,” you said raggedly, the stroke of your hand becoming rough on his cheek. Sensations surged in your chest like tidal waves, and the words kept pouring out in a desperate attempt to restrain yourself. “I shouldn’t. I’m just the first alpha that found you, that’s all. I promise this won’t mean anything once your heat is over, you don’t have to take me seriously, I’ll leave the sect if that’s what you want, I’m—mmph! ”
His lips crashed into yours, clumsy and beyond desperate as his pheromones flooded your system. It was all you could do to kiss him back, gripping his hip and hair with a fist so tight he moaned all the way down to your ribs.
When you regained enough reason to wrench him off, his lips and cheeks flushed and damp, he released a harsh whine that rattled the blood in your veins. “Please,” he sobbed, “alpha, you’re the only one—nobody else, nobody—”
That was enough. You shoved him flat on his back, hips and chests flush, and your hand cupped the back of his head to soften the impact as you fitted your bodies together. Restraint bled from you until all that was left was the sense not to claim, not to breed, and your lips crushed against his at a bruising pace.
Pinned beneath you, Jiang Cheng keened, going loose and pliant like any good omega being dominated. He was happy to take your rough handling for a few good minutes of hungry kissing, but his needs came sweeping forth before long. First one arm curled around your neck, then the other, and then his legs wrapped around you too, all pulling and tugging you down for that intimate closeness he begged for. Dark hair spilled on the ground beneath him, woven between your fingers as you kept your bodies connected everywhere they could.
You felt his hips roll up against yours, brushing the half-hardness hidden beneath your robes. With a near-painful shudder, you pried one leg down and pinned it to the cave floor.
“Stay,” you growled, and though he moaned and spread his legs wider, he obediently went still.
Catching your breath, you pressed your nose to the sharp line of his jaw, kissing softly and tasting his sweat. His arms kept tightly around you, his eyes squeezed shut, as if he was afraid you’d abandon him now. Fierce protectiveness stoked the fire in your heart, that flame you held for him that was growing wild enough to consume you with desire.
Once you were certain he wouldn’t immediately act up, you brushed your hand down his thigh and lifted it to rub his chest through his clothes. “Relax,” you murmured, and felt his muscles loosen. “I’ll take care of you, baobei.”
That seemed to strike a chord within him, his eyes opening to a dazed, half-lidded expression. “You will?” he whispered, looking like a lost child.
Biting down on your lip to stop yourself from getting up and storming Lotus Pier to brawl his parents, you nodded wordlessly. Another kiss melted him; he believed in you so readily, you felt like crying.
Your hand trailed down the length of his body, brushing open his robes until you met bare skin. The most you could risk was the illusion that you would breed him, when in reality you wouldn’t undress yourself enough to risk pregnancy. Of course, the first whiff of his slick nearly shattered all that careful logic keeping you intact.
A breathy sigh shuddered from your lungs as you leaned down and kissed his exposed chest, his muscles soft and sculpted like a work of art. “Beautiful,” you murmured absently, fingertips following the contours of his body, bringing more into the open air. “Perfect omega. So strong for everyone.”
His hips bucked, voice warbling with barely restrained tears. Shaking your head, you moved up to quiet him with another lingering kiss. “Let everything out, Cheng-er,” you whispered, indulging yourself every time you said his name, addressed him with love. “I won’t make it hurt.”
Those words burrowed through his walls, the ones so thick they only came down when his entire being was toppled by his heat. Jiang Cheng wailed, heavy cries that wracked every inch of his body, curling and thrashing beneath you. But not to get away—to beg, to plead for your comfort. And you’d give it to him freely, with your whole heart.
He clung to you like a lifeline, arms shaking so hard you worried he’d give himself a stroke. You rested a hand over his heart, feeling the unsteady flutter of it, and sighed in resignation.
“Shhhh, I’m here…” You whispered a torrent of soft, soothing nonsense as you guided him open. His sobs broke your heart, but at the same time he was spreading his legs for you, one hand tangled in your hair and the other clawing at his own clothes.
Pressing a knee between his legs, you ran your hand down his arm, feeling the corded muscle tense and relax, until your fingers met his and threaded together. With a jerk of his fist, he dragged your head down to the crook of his neck, another plea falling from his lips. Pheromones flooded your lungs, a blunt knife against the rope holding your control intact.
“No claiming,” you managed to remind him, your voice hoarse. Inspiration struck then: biting him elsewhere was not off-limits.
“But alpha,” he begged, but you shut him up with a nip to the shell of his ear. A startled, shuddering gasp wisped against your skin, his hand in your hair gripping so tight you hissed from the pleasurable pain.
“Later,” you said, a vow and at the same time not. It was his decision who to claim, and whether it would be you. For now, you had no choice but to release the fear that he would hate you for touching him, for kissing him, for loving him when it was so far from your duty—you released it, and slipped your hand between his legs.
The scalding heat of his core pressed fiercely into your touch, his hips bucking frantically like he wanted to come, and wanted it now. Cupping the sensitive area through his underwear, you kissed him to shut him up, then pressed your lips along his jaw and back to his ear as you dragged that last layer down, leaving him loosely clad in his inner robes to warm him in the cool night.
If you drew back to look at his flushed, slick pussy, you wouldn’t stand a chance. More mental preparation was in order. So, you thumbed his clit, listening with heavy breaths to his broken moans, rubbing him until your fingers were coated with his juices.
When you slid your middle finger inside him, the tight clutch of his heat nearly undid all of your careful restraint. Miracles helped you endure the high-pitched whines and wanton canting of his hips, your teeth clenched as you buried your second finger inside him to the knuckle.
“Shhhh, shhh, I know, baobei, I know it’s a lot,” you soothed, feeling his whole body quake with sobs and overstimulation. He was blushing up to his ears, the flushed skin warm against your lips as you nibbled his earlobe and toyed with his pussy.
“Aahh…” he mewled, his voice so erotic you nearly combusted. Curling your fingers, you rubbed and massaged his inner walls until you grazed his sweet spot. Liquid gushed out until the robe on the ground was soaked with it. His voice pitched into a squeal as he spasmed beneath you, not quite a climax, but not quite something he could endure.
“Please,” he gasped. “Alpha, please, your cock—”
“Not yet,” you repeated, because you really couldn’t guarantee your own life if you bred this specific omega. To distract him, you withdrew your two fingers and plunged them back inside, marveling at the way his needy omega hole was both loose enough for easy access and so tight it audibly sucked at your digits. After probing his depths, slow and diligent, you gingerly nudged that soft spot deep inside.
Jiang Cheng howled, the cave reverberating with his pleasure until you were certain the whole sect would be drawn to his hiding spot. But the sight and sound of him were so intoxicating, you couldn’t bring yourself to care if his own parents showed up while you had three fingers buried inside their son.
… So addictive, actually, that you were starting to think you couldn’t suppress your feelings after all. How could you see his flushed cheeks and dark, damp eyes, taste his fevered skin, touch him like this, and expect to go back? How could you make him feel so good he was sobbing beneath you, then let him go off and submit to another alpha?
Ah, you were really losing it.
“A-Cheng,” you mumbled, your voice thin with strain. “A-Cheng, when—when we’re back in your room, can I knot you?”
You didn’t know what you expected in response to your half-delirious question, but it wasn’t for him to huff a petulant whine, his hand pulling your hair punishingly.
“Now,” he demanded, somehow retaining the strength to shove your face into his neck. The slender cord of his scent glands brushed your lips, and it took all your strength to wrench away.
“Later,” you snarled, because if you let him get even a little bit closer to claiming, you’d have the whole jianghu to face in retaliation for what you did next. But it was okay—all you needed was for him to say it, that was all you needed, you just needed him to want you and then you could pretend…
That one word of yours brought from him a pitiful cry, your tone and the withdrawal jolting something within his instincts. Sweet, fawning pheromones spilled into the air until you could barely inhale without choking. His limbs went loose, his breath all soft gasps and mewling pleas. “‘M sorry, ‘m sorry alpha I didn’t mean it, please don’t stop—”
You kissed him hard, his body limp and shuddering as you drove your fingers into his slick cunt. “Not leaving,” you breathed, then louder, “I’m not leaving you alone.”
Jiang Cheng shuddered, then squeaked when your fingers curled into his sweet spot. Wet noises sounded from his mouth and his slick folds, his breaths quick and raspy against your lips. Speeding up the thrusts of your fingers, you carefully lifted your mouth from Jiang Cheng’s, and replaced it below his collarbone. His fingers scratched at your back some more, nearly tearing your thin inner robes, but you would let him make you bleed before ignoring his consent to claim him.
Darkness crept at the edges of your vision, knowing with equal dread and anticipation that your cognitive functions were on their last legs. In the end, you didn’t stand a chance when faced with the most vulnerable version of your favorite omega.
“Not leaving,” you mumbled again, mouth pressed gracelessly to his chest. Each slick sound of your fingers pumping into his cunt sent a cloud of fog into your head, not much left but lust and love. “Not gonna hurt you.”
Lost in his own haze of ecstasy, Jiang Cheng’s chest convulsed against your lips, each breath bumping his soft muscle into your chin. Thoughtlessly, you licked him there, and he cried out as if you’d touched his clit. Intrigued, you glanced up, moving lower to give an experimental lick to his rosy nipple.
“Uuuhhn…” His responding gasp was almost like a pained sob, but he clung to you tighter, pulled again at your clothes, and you could only surrender to the inevitable.
You dragged your tongue over his sensitive buds, feeling them perk up under your touch. The sensation of his nipples pebbling against your tongue was intoxicating—arousing a mental image of his firm pecs plumped up with milk, ready to be fed from. A low sigh drifted from your lungs, and your eyes slipped shut, nuzzling his chest.
Grasping his waist with one hand, you pulled your fingers out of his tight clutch, both of you shuddering when that made a soft squelching sound. Moving your slick-messy hand to his thigh, you squeezed and felt his muscle, and lowered yourself to hover between his legs.
Thick, heady omega scent wafted into your nose, your mouth watering uncontrollably. His pink folds were soaked with slick, trembling with the shivers of his body as your breath drifted over his sensitive clit. Unconsciously, he spread his legs wider, dew and petals glistening in the moonlight.
He was utterly tantalizing. Your eyes flickered up to see him staring, his gaze barely focused but completely locked on you. Fingers lightly stroking his skin, you lowered your mouth between his trembling thighs and placed a kiss on the soft chub above his pussy.
Not to tease—to show your love.
A tortured look twisted Jiang Cheng’s face in a way that made your heart thud. You didn’t know what that meant, but it felt like if you broke eye contact for even a second, the earth would surge up and swallow you into the underworld. His dark, curly bush tickled your mouth, catching a drop of your saliva.
Taking a rattled breath, you moved a bit lower, the tip of your tongue brushing his clit.
Jiang Cheng moaned, high and breathless, and you were gone.
Your mouth latched onto his dripping cunt, feasting on him like he was your last meal—and even if he really was, you didn’t regret a single thing. He tasted like the nectar of a flower from the garden of the gods, like he could ascend, like you could ascend just from touching him. The only thing keeping you from making a permanent home between his legs was the desire to kiss him everywhere.
His hips bucked up into your mouth, thighs locked around your head and hands clutching into your hair like he’d be swept away by an invisible ocean if his grip loosened. Jiang Cheng pulled you in, and you went, tongue delving into his silken folds and savoring his taste. Your pace ramped up quickly, eyes falling shut as you fell headfirst into the heady sensation of eating him out.
Hands braced on his thigh and hip, your knees dug into the hard ground, and the ground dug back. The ache was barely a distraction from the growing cries of pleasure from the omega, only adding to the pleasurable pain of his hands pulling your hair.
Another harsh yank made you growl, a primal rumble deep in your throat that you’d never heard from yourself before. Emotions swelled inside your chest, and in a fit of instinct, you turned your face and bit his tender inner thigh.
A nearly violent tremor shook Jiang Cheng’s whole body. Your ears began to ring, and you realized through your brain fog that he had screamed so loud your body couldn’t process it.
Heat ignited in your loins, but you knew at your core that if you touched yourself, it was over. Each inch forward doomed you, kissing him, touching him, but that would be the point of no return. Even the temptation of ripping open your clothes and rubbing yourself over his pretty face till you came was a dangerous slope to step foot on. In a delirious attempt to stave off your urges, you ground your hips against the hard cave floor, gritting your teeth against a groan as the omega’s thick robe softened the ground against your swollen cock.
All the while, your mouth kept working his cunt. Jiang Cheng whined high in his throat and his hips squirmed unendingly, entering a type of frenzy you could only guess at. Seized with the need to please your omega, you sucked his clit with a single-minded force and let go of his leg in order to slide three fingers into his convulsing hole.
If Jiang Cheng could form words, they’d no doubt be curses. But your attention to his most sensitive parts melted him, tongue loose and moans garbled as you finger-fucked him into his orgasm. He came so hard his back arched off the floor, a shriek of ecstasy vibrating in your ears and burying itself so deep in your mind that you would do anything to do this to him again.
Your mouth clamped over his pussy, fingers driving into his sweet spot until his limbs were thrashing, legs kicking and heels digging into your back. A hiss escaped, nearly crushed by the clenching of his thighs, but you didn’t mind being trapped here.
He was feeling good. He was feeling good because of you.
It was over when sobs wracked his body, curling forward instead of up. In a flash, you were above him again, lifting him into a seated position and nestling him into your chest like before.
His cries broke your heart, consumed with a storm cloud of need to protect him at all costs. Having his first orgasm under heat had tired him out, and his energy quickly drained, leaving him a shivering mess in your embrace. Even when he tried to reach for your scent gland again, a simple redirect into your breast was all it took as deterrence.
Something vibrated subtly against your chest, and you nearly froze. Quiet, faint enough to question as a figment of your pheromone-addled mind—Jiang Cheng purred.
A fresh wave of tears rose until your eyes stung with it. His purrs were weak, punctuated with soft huffs of breath, but what little energy he had, he was using it to show his contentment.
Placing a hand on the crown of his head, you pressed your lips to his temple, a soft hum reaching deep into your chest in resonance. He chirped, quieting further until he was silent.
Breaths slowing, Jiang Cheng gradually succumbed to exhaustion. His head sank into the plush of your chest, a weak moan slipping from his kiss-bitten lips. You did your damndest not to disrupt the moment and capture his mouth once more, even if your instincts were howling at you to do everything to claim him now. Instead, you carefully neatened his clothes back to normal, wiped his juices onto your sleeve, and pulled him into a more comfortable cradle.
Of course, one orgasm wouldn’t sate him forever. It was only a matter of time before he recuperated. But once he stirred, if he wanted more, you would be right there to give it to him.
For now, while he dozed off, you shut your eyes and quietly extended your senses to monitor the area.
Notes:
Part of chapter 2 is written already but no guarantees when it'll come out. If you want a more consistent update schedule (lol), check out my other Jiang Cheng x Reader fic, Trick of the Trade. Comments feed me btw I love that shit
Thanks for reading :3
Chapter 2
Notes:
What's up, party people. No smut in this one, just the aftermath. Smut in the next chapter tho probably. Or at least Jiang Cheng trying to climb Reader like a tree lmao
I noticed while editing this chapter that this fic might seem like it's not Wei Wuxian friendly so far. Just have to clear up that this isn't the case; there's some tension bc of the Jiang family dynamics, and Reader is biased and doesn't know what exactly happened between him and Jiang Cheng, but it'll be resolved at some point. Jiang Cheng just needs to get through his heat first :')
Idk what kind of content warnings the omegaverse dictates but uhhhh cw for derogatory language against omegas, I guess
Hope y'all enjoy!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
…
……
Footsteps.
Many minutes of silence later, the scope of the sect’s search finally reached this hiding spot. You didn’t know if your sounds drew them—stars knew you’d been louder than appropriate—or if they’d noticed your absence, or if they’d simply expanded their territory. But you didn’t really care. It was you who found him, you who held him now.
The noise roused Jiang Cheng, a sleepy grumble in his throat, but you soothed him with a gentle croon, undeterred by the distant yet approaching sounds of the search. Though you hoped he might fall back asleep, his breathing didn’t taper off; he nuzzled your chest, listening to the approaching search party with a thankfully calm demeanor.
It could’ve been anyone from the sect who found you, and for better or worse, the first to show up was one of your fellow disciples. Following the scent of your mingled pheromones, she peeked through the very shrubbery you had almost a shichen ago. Meeting your eyes, she froze, taking in the sight of the sect heir curled in your lap, your fingers buried in his loose hair.
Jiang Cheng lifted his head drowsily, giving a disinterested glance to the disciple before returning his face to your chest.
Your friend looked at you with wide eyes. “What did you do?” she whispered, sounding like she was ready to scream on your behalf.
Feeling somewhat defensive, you said at a low volume, “I didn’t claim him.”
She gave up within seconds. Wordlessly, she vanished from the shrubbery, footsteps retreating to join the ambient shuffle of other searchers. For a moment you were very silent and very still, but the whizz of a signal flare didn’t ring out like you expected. A trickle of gratitude to your fellow disciple loosened your muscles, knowing she would spread it by word of mouth rather than disrupt the distant peace of Jiang Cheng’s hiding place. Resting your chin on your omega’s head, you braced for the impact of the rest of the search party being fetched.
Rustling returned soon after, and Wei Wuxian burst into the small clearing in front of the cave.
“Jiang Cheng,” he gasped—but the second Jiang Cheng heard his voice, his eyes snapped open.
Abruptly forceful hands shoved off you, making you grunt as the warm weight of your omega pushed out of your lap. Before you could process his absence, Jiang Cheng had lunged for the pile of sticks from his attempt to nest before you arrived. Purple light engulfed the jagged twigs, his qi strong and wavering in stability. With a rough, barely coordinated sweep of his arm, a cluster of sticks shot out toward Wei Wuxian.
In the same moment, Wei Wuxian reflexively deflected the twigs, Jiang Cheng fisted more of the broken sticks with the intent to shoot, and you lurched forward to yank him back by the waist.
Jiang Cheng struggled against your embrace while Wei Wuxian stared as if his qi had deviated. Tensing your muscles, you pressed your mouth to the shell of the omega’s ear and hissed, “Stop, A-Cheng, calm, shhhh, it’s okay, he’s not hurting you…”
The low, urgent whispers managed to calm him down enough that you could move him around. Falling limp, Jiang Cheng allowed you to tuck him back into your chest, his body shuddering in what hurt to think were suppressed sobs.
Wei Wuxian’s mouth worked uselessly for a minute, barely registering you. “Jiang Cheng,” he said again, hoarse and lost.
The omega tensed—you felt it in every place you and he touched—and his hands fisted so hard in the sleeve of your robe that the fabric warped. “Fuck off, Wei Wuxian,” he snarled, but he just sounded so miserable, it wasn’t quite his usual threat.
Your suspicion of Wei Wuxian ignited after all these hours of forgetting. Was he the one who caused Jiang Cheng to run away? Did Jiang Cheng feel threatened by this alpha? Did Wei Wuxian try to do something to him when his heat started?
Blood boiling, you locked your arms around Jiang Cheng in an immovable grip and glared at the other alpha. “He doesn’t want to see you,” you snapped.
A disbelieving noise scraped from Wei Wuxian’s throat. “What the hell would you know about what he wants?” he shot back.
Any of your usual, polite responses were locked behind the growing flame of possessiveness threatening to burn everyone here. You growled low, a warning rumble in your chest, and Jiang Cheng lifted his head enough to croon at you. Mellow, pleased pheromones drifted into the air, relaxing you just enough to return your attention to your omega, brushing soothing fingers through his hair.
Wei Wuxian had the gall to look shocked, eyes flitting between you and his shidi. “Shimei, you’d better not have taken advantage of him,” he threatened with a purposeful step forward.
You growled louder, indignation rising as this other alpha’s scent invaded the cave. In the past, you’d never had a problem with Wei Wuxian’s scent, not when you sparred during training and inevitably ended up under him. But this was different—he was encroaching on Jiang Cheng’s safe space, on the comfortable cocoon of pheromones you’d built together.
“I,” you said in a slow, forcibly measured voice, “haven’t hurt or claimed him. Respectfully, shixiong, get lost.”
Although Wei Wuxian rescinded his step as if to acquiesce, he dithered at the wide mouth of the cave. “Jiang Cheng,” he entreated, making the omega growl quietly, “you know you’ll have to come back to the sect soon. You can’t hide out here. Yu-furen and Jiang-shushu will want you in a safe, comfortable place.”
The mention of his parents made Jiang Cheng shudder in a way that clanged warning bells in your mind. However, the rational portion of you agreed—he should return to his own room, where he could comfortably nest and not worry the entire sect in the process. Plus, your back and ass were going to hurt like a bitch if you didn’t move to a bed soon.
Taking a steadying inhale, you nudged Jiang Cheng’s cheek, prompting him to blink up at you, his pupils still big and not quite himself. “Baobei,” you crooned, “can we move to your room?” You practically felt Wei Wuxian twitch at the sound of the endearment, but you thoroughly ignored him.
Jiang Cheng was quiet for a few long breaths, continuing to lazily scent you. When his movements slowed, nose rubbing your scent gland like the touch of a leaf on a pond, you patiently awaited his answer.
He took too long.
With Wei Wuxian right in front of you, the sounds of the other sect members in the distance had fallen out of your range of attention. But the new, determined footsteps rustling the forest floor caught everyone’s ears, and a sharp voice broke the night air soon after.
“Who found him?” Madam Yu demanded.
Jiang Cheng gasped, a small, strangled thing. One hand reached blindly for the pile of sticks, but you couldn’t let him attack his own mother—you jerked to cover his hand with your own, squeezing it until he gave up. You felt his breathing pick up speed, felt it shallow on your neck, felt it quick against your chest. His knuckles went white in your over-stretched robe, burrowing himself in you as if to crawl inside your skin and hide.
Even before your sect leader and his wife emerged, you hated them. You hated them for what they did to their son, even if you didn’t yet know what it was.
And they appeared before that secluded little cave, Jiang Cheng’s mother bearing the way while his father lingered behind. It did not escape your notice that Jiang Fengmian drifted close to Wei Wuxian right away.
Madam Yu’s eyes sharpened like knives when she caught sight of Jiang Cheng huddled up in your embrace. Wei Wuxian immediately sequestered himself to the sidelines as Madam Yu strode forward, Zidian crackling on her finger. “What do you think you’re doing?” she barked, and you thought she was talking to you until she leaned forward with a sneer. “Cowering with the first alpha you see, how unsightly! Get up this instant!”
Your eyes went wide, holding an iron grip around Jiang Cheng as he shivered in your arms like he’d been left naked in the freezing tundra.
“What,” you said, voice low and enraged, “gives you the right—”
“Shut it, alpha!” she spat, her nose wrinkling like you barely qualified as such. “The consequences will be dire for touching my son like that! Ignoring all due processes of courting—such a blatant display of indecency with a sect heir, and at your status no less!”
This was her only acknowledgement of you, her eyes fixed on her son bundled up in your arms with undisguised disdain. “Jiang Wanyin, are you listening to me? Entering your first heat does not give you leave to act like some frivolous omega! Stop this ridiculous behavior at once, and come back to your room!”
Maybe it was too small to see, or maybe she just wasn’t paying attention—Jiang Cheng curled into you, nearly fetal. The slightest whiff of anxious pheromones touched your nose, and the moment it did, you stiffened. Every bit of his body was fraught with tension, like he was trying with all his might to keep the most basic cry for help inside where no one could sense it.
But you did.
You were close enough.
He’d let you close enough.
Righteous anger swelled like a typhoon. Once again you had to cling to your sanity, but this time your instincts wanted these people dead.
In that instant, you knew why he’d run. All you had to do was see the aggression in Yu Ziyuan’s eyes, the blank, disappointed look on Jiang Fengmian’s placid face.
“Don’t tell him what to do!” you fumed, vision nearly going black from rage. “I don’t give a fuck that you’re his parents! You aren’t worried about him one bit, so you don’t get a say!”
Madam Yu began to argue, but you released a snarl so vicious she paused mid-word, visibly taken aback.
“And yeah, maybe I am just a random alpha to you all, but that doesn’t change the fact that he,” you gripped the back of Jiang Cheng’s head, keeping him buried in your chest, “trusts me more than he trusts his own family. And whose fault is that?!”
Furious tears pricked your eyes, breathing so heavily you could feel your breasts pushing into Jiang Cheng’s face. Jiang Fengmian stood just behind his wife, closer to Wei Wuxian than to her, his face frozen in an uncomprehending sort of surprise. You caught sight of the pain in Wei Wuxian’s eyes, and a bit of your heart softened toward him. And Madam Yu—well, you didn’t care anymore if she wanted you out of the sect after this. She didn’t deserve honeysuckle words after how she made Jiang Cheng feel.
“You know what he told me?” you choked out, blinking back the torrent of sorrow from the mere thought of his words.
“Why don’t Mama and Baba love me?”
It wasn’t your place to say it. Not the way he had.
Swallowing a mournful sob, you said, “He doesn’t feel wanted. And it’s you that made him feel that way. So no, I won’t move!”
A beat of absolute silence passed. You could see Madam Yu’s expression flicker between a dozen emotions, and not one of them gave you hope for your fate. Finally, she stepped forward, breaching the mouth of the cave with a snarl on her lips. “You insolent alpha—!”
The feeling of imminent threat reared its head. In a split second, you felt Jiang Cheng’s fingers dig into your back, and you shrieked, “Stop!”
Pheromones poured from your scent glands, so potent they made Jiang Cheng squirm.
You could see the moment your scent hit everyone else’s noses. Madam Yu’s eyes went wide, Jiang Fengmian covered the lower half of his face, and Wei Wuxian stiffened like he was prepared for a fight. Heart racing, you stared at all of them, wanting nothing less than for them to call your bluff, but you were in a state beyond them now.
The thickness of an alpha’s pheromones could indicate two things: the depth of their instincts, and how strong their control was over them. Your pheromones were dense and abundant, to the point that deep down you feared you would have to be locked up for your first rut. Until then, your control over them was always gripped tight.
Even if your cultivation couldn’t match anyone here but perhaps your sect leader, your protectiveness over the one you loved would more than carry you up into a fair fight. With your scent thickening the air by the second, the group surrounding you instantly knew that if your omega was threatened, you’d fight—and you’d fight hard.
It felt like the moments before a death match, you facing the sect heads, holding their son in your fierce embrace. Tension radiated off you in droves, almost too on edge to feel how Jiang Cheng was rubbing his cheek against your pounding heart. His attempts to soothe only ignited another wave of protective instincts.
When Madam Yu overcame her shock, she was livid. Looming in the mouth of the shallow cave, she began to exert her own pheromones. The usual tang of her scent was soured by her mood, a rejection in itself; unable to bear the idea of Jiang Cheng inhaling pure rejection from his own mother, you grabbed him by the hair and kept him close to your neck, just shy of your scent glands for fear he would bite. You growled low in warning, but you were dismissed with a threatening crackle of Zidian.
The night was still dark, the shadow cast by Madam Yu feeling like an omen to your execution. Adrenaline pumped through your veins, your growls rumbling from so deep in your chest that your whole body vibrated. You wound up like a coiled spring, preparing to lash out—
“A-Niang, is he in there?”
Your saving grace.
Jiang Yanli’s gentle voice, breathy from running, shattered the stand-off you’d entered. Jiang Cheng seemed to forget everyone else, crumpling and unfolding at once.
“Jiejie,” he sobbed, and Jiang Yanli hurried past their mother to answer his call.
She entered the cave and there was a small but noticeable hitch in her step. A pang made your heart bleed when you realized it was because of your pheromones—you didn’t mean it, the warning was for everyone else, she was welcome, but how were your pheromones to discriminate? You tried to calm yourself enough to dilute your scent, but Jiang Cheng was visibly shaking, and her hesitation broke within a split second.
“A-Cheng,” she murmured as she kneeled beside you, eyes fixed on her brother. He lifted his face from your chest, looking like a wreck with those big pupils and his cheeks flushed and wet with tears. “A-Cheng, are you okay?”
He shook his head, making you tighten your arms around him as if that could make him feel better. Jiang Yanli’s sweet pheromones wafted into your nose, so like Jiang Cheng’s but so not; you couldn’t help but relax somewhat. This was Jiang Cheng’s sister, who only ever wanted to help—she was simply outmatched against the dysfunctions in her family. But Jiang Cheng trusted her.
Your eyes cut to the cave entrance, where Jiang Fengmian and Wei Wuxian had joined Madam Yu in looking upon you like a spectacle. Jiang Yanli seemed to take notice of you now, following your stare to where everyone stood gathered.
“Can we give A-Cheng some space, please?” Jiang Yanli requested in that earnest tone of hers. It didn’t occur to you at all that she might’ve been talking to you as well—why would she? You needed to stay right where you were, to make sure the others did as Jiang Yanli said.
She turned back to you and Jiang Cheng, reaching out and brushing away the tears on his cheek. He nuzzled into her touch, shuddering softly.
Aching with relief, you huffed a breath of approval, then made an undignified noise when a soft hand touched your cheek too. Your eyes went round, not expecting Jiang Yanli to extend her tenderness when Jiang Cheng clearly needed it the most.
She smiled, and you noticed that she was paler than usual under the moonlight, her worry visible in the shadows beneath her eyes. “Thank you for watching over him,” she whispered, like she only meant for you to hear.
Her approval made you breathless, blinking back another wave of tears.
You did good. You protected your omega. His sister said so.
“A-Cheng,” Jiang Yanli called for his attention, stroking his cheek. “Let’s go home, okay? I’ve been getting your room ready to nest. I won’t go anywhere as long as you don’t run away again, mm? Jiejie will stay with you.”
Gazing at her, you couldn’t help but feel anxious. Did this mean your purpose was fulfilled? Would Jiang Cheng even need you anymore? Deep down, you knew he wasn’t yours, but you still…
“Alpha?”
Jiang Cheng’s fretful whisper cut through your worries and brought you back to the present.
Blinking rapidly, you responded to his call with a soft chirp, rubbing your cheek against his. Finally, your pheromones managed to seep into the air with a mellower undertone, still wrapped up in the omega like roots that had grown over each other.
A vicious crackle of electricity lit the cave, making everyone jump in surprise.
“Enough! A-Li, you really think this insolent alpha is suitable for your brother?” Madam Yu seethed. “Don’t let this clingy act of his fool you—omegas don’t know a single thing about what’s good for them when they’re in heat!”
If her insult to you had made you bristle, her insult to Jiang Cheng raised the hairs on your arms and the back of your neck. The omega himself barely seemed to register his mother’s words, only reacting to her furious tone with another hitch in his breath and a lowering of his head. It was impossible to know whether this meek response was for better or worse; Jiang Cheng’s mental state was quietly declining, but you were so dumbstruck by his mother’s degrading words that all you could do was gape.
Something about it seemed to strike Jiang Yanli somewhere deep inside. Suddenly she drew herself up and stood in front of you and Jiang Cheng. Her arm extended down and to the side, the protective stance shocking you.
“A-Niang, A-Die, A-Xian,” she stated, her voice still pleasant but now leaving no room for interruption or argument. “Please get out of the way. You’re scaring A-Cheng and making our shimei nervous.”
Silence.
Jiang Yanli’s silhouette was nearly ghostly with the moonlight hazing through her thin robes. She reiterated, firmer, “Stop crowding them in. We need to get back to A-Cheng’s room.”
Your heart thundered in your chest, but at the same time you couldn’t hear it. The small puffs of Jiang Cheng’s breaths lit your senses in the quiet aftermath of his sister’s commands. It was difficult to tell how Jiang Cheng’s headspace was in this moment, where his body was tense but not shaking, his breathing shallow but not quick. He began to nose up to your neck again, and you gripped his hair and pushed his face back into your chest. Madam Yu’s eyes followed the motion, a more complicated expression contorting her face.
Only after Wei Wuxian stepped out of view did Jiang Fengmian retreat. It took another few seconds of staring between mother and daughter before Madam Yu did the same, her scoff audible.
Cold shivers still trickled down the length of your bones, fingers dug so tight in Jiang Cheng’s hips that they might bruise. Words wouldn’t come, words to comfort your omega, words to thank Jiang Yanli for saving you. That had almost turned into a bad altercation, really bad.
No matter if Jiang Cheng’s family was mean. Your head was still clear enough to know it: you couldn’t burn bridges without his permission.
At Jiang Yanli’s gesture, you shifted to stand. Jiang Cheng didn’t relinquish his place in your lap, so you hefted him up bridal style, rumbling a quiet purr of approval as he wrapped his arms around your shoulders for purchase.
Stepping carefully into the open air, you saw the faint green hue of dawn cloak the sky where it was visible through the foliage. Other disciples from the search parties were scattered around the area, but you ignored them the same as you ignored Jiang Cheng’s pack. Jiang Yanli was the only one worth your attention.
Your sword still lay on the ground near your abandoned lantern. Jiang Cheng’s weight was already just shy of too much for you to hold for long, so you slowly approached your sword and concentrated on using your qi to pull it from its sheath. It obeyed you, coming to hover within stepping distance.
Focused on mounting your sword without jostling your omega, you froze when a light hand touched your arm. Jiang Yanli lifted your sheath for you to see, and tucked it in her grasp in a wordless gesture that she’d take care of it. Another wave of tears misted your vision, your emotions overly sensitive from the events of the night. All you could do was nod in gratitude before rising in the air to take Jiang Cheng home.
~
Once you were out of sight, Jiang Yanli returned to the cave, covering her nose as she picked up her brother’s discarded robes that he’d originally been wearing when he woke her up all those hours ago. Before she could take two steps, Wei Wuxian pulled her aside; the Jiang parents were occupied arguing in low voices nearby, but they could still overhear if he spoke too loud.
“I don’t like this,” Wei Wuxian muttered. “She had her hands on him for so long without anyone around. She could’ve done anything to him.”
Dusting off the robes she held, Jiang Yanli turned her gaze onto her shidi. “A-Xian, she didn’t claim him. They didn’t smell any different, and I didn’t see a claim mark.”
What she didn’t mention was that the faint scent of omega slick had touched her nose when she approached the pair in the cave. But she knew bringing it up would only set off Wei Wuxian’s worries, so she kept that detail to herself. She didn’t blame you for giving in, no matter how far you’d gone—she knew firsthand how all-consuming a heat could be. Jiang Cheng couldn’t have given you an easy time.
Patting her shidi’s hair, she probed a bit more to understand what exactly had put him so on edge. “What feels wrong about it?”
Lowering his head for her to reach better, Wei Wuxian was quiet for a minute, teeth gritted.
“She didn’t need to claim him to take advantage of him,” he said, quietly enough that the disciples who’d gathered in the surrounding area wouldn’t overhear. “Something feels off. I’ve never seen Jiang Cheng act like that.”
A mixture of sorrow and exasperation flitted across Jiang Yanli’s face. “I have.” Wei Wuxian jerked his head up, seeing her tired yet tender smile. “You know A-Cheng always puts his strongest self forward. But, A-Xian, have you forgotten that it’s his first heat? Have you forgotten what that means?”
Wei Wuxian’s hands curled in his sleeves. “I… I know, shijie,” he muttered. “But why would he act that way for—for a shimei he’s barely spoken to?”
It took a moment for Jiang Yanli to find the right words. The image of the usually sedate alpha holding Jiang Cheng’s curled form with an iron grip, your eyes wild with fright and protective rage, couldn’t leave her head. Your hands were on her brother, yes—but they weren’t a cage or an intrusion. Jiang Cheng had melted into you with such trust that Jiang Yanli felt herself ache deep within. Whatever had happened when no one was around, it made her obstinate, unapproachable brother trust you with his safety.
How could Jiang Yanli do anything but trust you, too?
Eyes drifting, Jiang Yanli murmured, “She wanted to protect him. That’s why.”
Wei Wuxian looked at her silently. Jiang Yanli knew even without seeing the walls constructing themselves in his heart that Wei Wuxian worried for Jiang Cheng the same way she did; the difference was, he always did his best to ignore Jiang Cheng’s secondary gender. It was his way of showing compassion for the omega’s insecurities—treating Jiang Cheng like he would another alpha, play-wrestling and jabbing at him even when things escalated to real fights. He never saw A-Cheng’s omega side, because A-Cheng didn’t want him to.
A-Cheng hadn’t shown anyone his omega side except for his sister.
And now, except for an alpha who’d always been on the sidelines of his life. There was something to it. Jiang Yanli could feel it.
She wanted to assure A-Xian that things would be okay, but the sooner she followed A-Cheng to his room, the sooner she could finish preparing it for the remaining days of his heat.
Being too weak in cultivation to fly on her own sword, Jiang Yanli had to ride with her mother or father if she wanted to get back quickly. Before she rejoined her parents, Jiang Yanli offered one more comfort to her shidi.
“When we’re reduced to our base instincts,” she said softly, thinking of her first time with Jin Zixuan, “some things become clear when they never were before.”
She waited until she saw a faint glimmer of understanding shine in the horizon of Wei Wuxian’s eyes. Then, she turned to face the arguing forms of her parents, and she got right to work.
Notes:
I hope my worldbuilding makes sense... the omegaverse I made in my head is so specific and I've never posted any of it before so idk how well it comes across T-T
Once again no guarantees for how long till the next chapter goes up. Feel free to give me encouragement via comments. Or support my other Jiang Cheng x Reader fic, idk. Jiang Cheng I love u
Thanks for reading!
Chapter 3
Notes:
Sorryyyyyy for the delay, I promise it could be way worse. I was fighting the perfectionism demons again, which I need to stop doing hdslgjlskdfj just put out the imperfect chapters, fool!!!!
In other news, this chapter is 10k words, and I've basically finished the next chapter, so it won't be too long until that goes up. Remember, enthusiastic comments feed me~
Speaking of comments tho, like half of the ones from last chapter were posted within the same few days?? Which is great and I appreciate them all, but ahaha... don't be shy, tell me who recced my fic... show me the post..... I'm just curious 0v0
Slight content warning for the inherent dubcon of omegaverse mating cycles.
Feelings and smut in this chapter... enjoy!!!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
You landed in front of the sect family’s quarters as the sun began its day. The ride served to clear your head, lungs filled with fresh morning air and the omega’s lingering pheromones. Jiang Cheng remained firmly wrapped around your body, dutifully keeping still so your flight stayed smooth. Once your feet touched the ground, he resumed nuzzling your neck; his heat was dulled for the time being, but it was still active.
Directing your sword to rest against the outer wall of the compound, you ignored the growing ache in your arms and brought him to his chambers. You’d never been inside this area, so you took an educated guess based on the scent of each room you passed.
Jiang Cheng’s room was sparse, mostly dedicated to his studies, but you couldn’t bring yourself to observe more closely when the omega was still radiating need, bundled in your embrace. Lowering him onto his bed, you began to withdraw, but his arms refused to budge around your neck.
The hunched position made a muscle in your back twinge, teeth gritted through the physical pains of carrying him so long. You weren’t the strongest nor the most skilled disciple in the sect, and feeling each motion of your muscles and bones now, you were overcome with an almost urgent desire to get stronger. No matter how powerful your omega was, he would need your strength in times like these.
Faint, scattered thumps from outside indicated the others beginning to arrive.
“Baobei, can I stretch a little?” you coaxed. “I’ll get you some water too.”
A whiny noise made your instincts prickle in apprehension, but your logic kept you steady for him. After another moment of reluctance, Jiang Cheng’s muscles loosened, and you successfully stepped back, rubbing your aches for some relief. Your fingers had locked from gripping him tight enough to not let him fall, and you flexed your hands as the omega sat up and fixed his eyes on you. The relentless stare clenched your heart like a fist, but then he looked around and began to pull together the pillows strewn on his bed—nesting, as he should.
His heat was still in effect and would be for upward of a week, and you feared for your self-control in that time. It was already a miracle that you hadn’t gone further than oral, back in the forest, but if Jiang Yanli wasn’t able to rein in her brother’s instincts soon…
She entered almost right as you thought it, her arms full of blankets and your sheathed sword perched delicately on top. Giving both of you a gentle look, Jiang Yanli placed your sword beside the stand that held Sandu—as if it belonged there—and arranged the blankets around the wall of pillows surrounding her brother. She took a moment to carefully extract two pieces of fabric from the pile and dust off the rest, and you noticed with some embarrassment that she’d also retrieved Jiang Cheng’s outer robes that you’d forgotten in the cave.
When she finished, she sat beside him on the bed. He scooted over to her right away, eyes drooping shut once she started petting his hair.
Again that feeling arose within you, both jealous and despondent. Were you really needed now? Jiang Cheng was safe, he was back in his own chambers. He was with his sister.
But Jiang Yanli didn’t dismiss you—didn’t treat you like an outsider.
“Shimei,” she called. You straightened up from where you were shifting awkwardly. “I have a couple more trips before I’ve brought everything. Will you look after A-Cheng while I finish?”
Trying not to nod too eagerly, you hurried forward and positioned yourself on Jiang Cheng’s other side for easy transference. Soft purrs were already rumbling in his chest from the affection, and they grew louder as he pulled a few of the blankets and pillows closer to cushion you. His pheromones began to leak once more, another omen of his heat’s resurgence.
Once he was nice and settled in your arms, Jiang Yanli slid off the bed and moved towards the door.
Something about this felt wrong—you couldn’t place why. The sky was a soft blue-green outside the window, and your head felt like a bubble deep underwater, trailing endlessly up toward the surface. As Jiang Cheng dozed off with his head on your lap, you called out to his sister before she left.
“Um…” you started quietly. Jiang Yanli turned to look at you, her eyes so kind it made you ache. “I’m… sorry. If this causes trouble. But…” You took a shaky breath, stroking your omega’s sleeping face.
When your words didn’t come, Jiang Yanli softened, a heavenly cloud outlined by the sun. “I understand,” she murmured. She recrossed the room to rest a comforting hand on your head. “Shimei, even if the circumstances that brought us here weren’t ideal, I’m glad he has an alpha like you.”
Tears welled in your eyes, and you tried desperately not to let them fall again. Social expectations for alphas had never been of your concern—you knew who you were and how you felt. But even if you had no qualms about showing emotion, it was still embarrassing to cry so much in front of your sect’s leading pack, let alone your omega’s closest family…
Nonetheless, the gentle brush of her thumb on your cheek melted you, the care from your omega’s sister bubbling the tears beyond your control.
“Th-thank you, shijie…” you said wetly.
She just smiled. “All I want for my didi is to love and be loved.” Pulling out a handkerchief, she continued wiping your tears. “He tries so hard and achieves so much, and for someone to see that about him and appreciate it with an open heart…” Jiang Yanli sighed softly, watching your hand stroke through her brother’s hair. “I know he’ll be okay in your care.”
Pressing your lips together to halt a blatant sob, you gave a quick, trembling nod, cradling Jiang Cheng’s face in your palm.
Jiang Yanli thought of one more thing to say before she left. “I asked that no one come into A-Cheng’s room unless he requests it.” She gazed at you meaningfully, and your heart thumped with possessive feelings. This was your omega, your little group who wanted nothing more than to protect him.
A hint of your own pheromones startled you. They’d changed slightly, subtly.
Ah.
You didn’t mean to form a pack bond. It just… started happening.
Caution was necessary. Jiang Yanli was a mated omega, even if she was Jiang Cheng’s sister, and your interactions with Jin Zixuan had always been from afar. Not to mention the pack that she and Jiang Cheng already belonged to. Thinking about it made your heart tug painfully, and you tried not to let the resentment fester.
If Jiang Yanli noticed your pheromones reaching out for her, she didn’t comment. She summarized, “Nobody will bother you. I’ll take care of it. Just stay with him.”
At your murmur of consent, Jiang Yanli slipped out the door.
Lost in thought, you combed the tangles from Jiang Cheng’s hair and scratched the tips of your nails over his scalp, eyes trained on the door. There were still voices and movement outside, but it all felt more distant, like a bubble had enclosed around this room, keeping you both safe.
When your gaze drifted down to your omega, his eyes were open to little slits, looking up at you lazily. A wobbly smile formed on your lips, so overcome with affection that you wanted to cry again. Silently, you brushed a few wayward strands of hair out of his face, contemplating braiding it out of the way for him. But he just looked so pretty with it loose… ah, but he always looked good no matter what…
Heat pheromones were collecting in the air, and you noticed when your body took a deep, sinful breath, mouth watering with desire. The timing wasn’t great; Jiang Yanli was set to return before long, and you still weren’t sure how exactly to proceed without doing something he might regret once his heat ended.
Holding it in as best you could, you continued to stroke his hair until he made his own move. It would be much more bearable if he simply fell back asleep, but…
Rough, nimble fingers threaded in your hair and suddenly pulled you down. Tensing up, you resisted for a second on principle, but you yielded to his insistent tug.
The angle was awkward, but you forgot your aches when his lips met yours. Jiang Cheng kissed you in short, needful bursts, pushing himself up one kiss at a time until he was straddling your lap, both hands gripping your skull. Your hand fell to his waist, securely holding him there as you kept yourself propped up with the other. It was a bit too easy to lose yourself in his kisses—a lot too easy, his warmth surrounding you and his weight comforting your most primal instincts. Without realizing, a deep, rumbling purr reverberated in your chest, and Jiang Cheng responded beautifully with a soft sigh and a purr of his own.
Being in his own room made him bold. He pressed his hips down on yours, stirring back and forth as if to search for your arousal. Heat radiated from his core, nearly scalding you with the fires of temptation. You could already feel his wetness making damp spots in your robes, his lips getting hungrier until you could barely keep up. It took considerable effort to circulate your qi and keep all your blood flowing in the right places.
When he pulled back, you gasped for air, and all that met your lungs was another blast of omega pheromones. Squeezing your eyes shut, you pressed your forehead hard against his shoulder, trying, trying, trying not to lose your careful control.
But Jiang Cheng pulled your head back, fingers tight in your hair and arms taut with strength. Unwittingly, your eyes met his, pupils dilated into twin whirlpools. Deep, dark. Hungry.
“Knot me,” he demanded, arms winding around your neck. His eyes were hazy but sharp, that unstoppable storm you knew and loved. “You promised.”
Breaths heavy, your eyes fluttered at the onslaught of his pheromones. You did ask, you did imply… but the risk. But his needs. But the aftermath.
Compromise.
“Ah… ah, A-Cheng, let’s… get you some medicine before I do,” you wheezed through a tight throat. Every fleck of your skin and bone revolted against the idea of suppressing his fertility, but there was no other choice if you were to tend to his needs and keep his body safe.
“Hmph…” Jiang Cheng leaned in and huffed a lungful of your scent, licking your neck to encourage your pheromones.
Shivering, you allowed yourself to relax a bit, kissing his temple as your pheromones drifted into the air and mingled with his.
His purrs gradually found their confidence, warming you all over with soft rumbles buzzing from his chest into yours. Mind melting a bit, your eyes slipped shut and you ran your hands down his body. You felt his thighs part under the slightest touch, and your sense came back up for air.
“Baobei,” you tried, which was a bad way to start since it only made the omega double down on his plaintive touches to your hips and neck. “Ah… stop, your sister will be back soon…”
That did manage to make him pause. Then he pushed you onto your back, crawling halfway off your sprawled form to pull the blankets and pillows practically on top of you, first on one side, then the other, until you were surrounded by fluffy cushions steeped in his scent.
Perhaps you were too preoccupied to notice earlier, but some of the cushy items that had been here when you entered held the noticeable smell of Jiang Yanli. Unconsciously, you turned your head to the side and inhaled; something inside your chest slipped down with the aroma of your favored omegas, feeling a hint too greedy. Your inner alpha urged you for more, to take and to bond, but the desire to keep your omega satiated didn’t quite eclipse your need to avoid trouble.
With all the soft things piled around your bodies, Jiang Cheng flopped on top of you with no care for the consequences. A grunt squeaked out as his weight abruptly squashed the air from your lungs, but you wrapped your arms around him anyway, tilting your head back to make room for him to seal his lips around your scent gland.
Wait, no.
“Jiang Cheng,” you scolded, but it came out more like a groan. You gathered his hair into a ponytail, the loop of your fingers keeping his bountiful tresses in place, and you pulled his head back for what felt like the hundredth time tonight.
(… Today. The sun was well above the horizon, if the pale light filtering through the window was any indication.)
The reprimand earned another whine from him, but he sounded frustrated now. Heart jolting, you surged to reassure him.
“We just—have to be fully prepared first,” you fumbled, loosening your grip and shifting so you could look into his eyes. “Please don’t be upset.”
But your tenderness toward him was a weakness. Jiang Cheng latched onto it without hesitation, his eyes widening into a sweet, pleading expression, his lower lip tucked into his teeth as if this was causing him great anxiety.
“You promised,” he repeated, voice low and mournful. Head sinking down, he rested his chin on your chest and pinned you in place with his eyes. “I need your knot, alpha…”
You didn’t doubt that he could feel your thundering heartbeat as he rubbed his cheek on the curve of your breast. A half-formed thought flitted across your mind—could you distract him by baring your torso? Just the top half? How would he react?
Throat working, you ran one hand down his spine and felt his hips buck. Even if you managed not to get a raging hard-on in this position, the stimulation still felt good. Your knee lifted in an attempt to keep his weight off your dick, but his thighs clamped around your leg, rolling in a sinful grind. Suppressing a moan, you started to move with him, rubbing your knee into his heat.
Steps approached the room again, and you tensed, ready to push Jiang Cheng off… but in the spare seconds before the door opened, you thought things could be fine as long as he wasn’t actively trying to mate with you. So, you flattened your hand over the center of his back and forced him to collapse on top of you, bodies flush but not scandalously so.
Jiang Yanli knocked before she entered. In her hand was a cup of water, and draped over her arm was one of her own robes, her scent mingling with her brother’s as she slid the door shut.
The sight of you holding Jiang Cheng on top of you didn’t seem to perturb her, simply approaching to lay down her robe. Arranging it near the head of the bed, she stood back and just watched you for a moment. Your lips turned in an awkward smile, a flurry of thoughts and anxieties and hormones clouding your mind.
Humiliatingly, your mouth said, “Is it okay if he takes contraceptives?”
While your face burst into flame, Jiang Yanli’s eyes went round, and Jiang Cheng didn’t so much as stir. Suddenly you realized your earlier movement had pushed him directly against your throat, and his mouth was all the way open over it, just resting there as if savoring a fine dish.
“Ah…” Jiang Yanli visibly suppressed a burst of laughter, having to delicately cough into her sleeve before she answered. “It would be prudent if he did. I’ll fetch some next.”
Feeling hot with discomfort, you subtly redirected Jiang Cheng’s mouth onto the junction of your shoulder that peeked out from your disheveled robe. “Should I take some too?” you asked sheepishly.
It wasn’t conventional for the mate outside of their cycle to take contraceptives—the treatment was fully effective during heats and ruts, and only somewhat necessary otherwise. More than anything, it would be a symbol of surrender to your higher-ranked mate.
Jiang Yanli hummed in consideration, and agreed to bring you the tonic as well.
“Thanks,” you managed, making a tiny, strangled sound as Jiang Cheng nibbled at your skin.
Shaking her head fondly, Jiang Yanli leaned forward and hauled her brother up to sit. The display of strength surprised you, and you nearly slapped yourself for underestimating a Jiang.
Jiang Cheng’s irritated whine was dismissed by his sister, who pinched his cheek with loving fingers and retrieved the water cup to force it into his hands. “Stay hydrated, didi. You’ll thank me later.”
He obediently drank, some of the fog clearing from his eyes as he did. You silently thanked the necessity for food and water for dampening the effects of mating cycles; without those brief moments of lucidity, alphas and omegas would single-mindedly fuck each other to death.
“Sorry for making you run a bunch of errands,” you murmured, pushing down your shame that you couldn’t assist the main family like you were supposed to. This was so different from how you were trained. Even if it was natural for a pack to take care of one another when their cycles hit, there must have been something you could do…
“No,” she replied, hands soft on her brother. “I’m happy I could do this for A-Cheng before I move to Lanling.”
Now, Jiang Yanli paused, something like nervousness crossing her expression. She waited until Jiang Cheng finished his water and handed back the cup, then held his rosy cheek.
“I wanted to ask before doing this,” she murmured, a careful tread. “But… do you want something of A-Xian’s for your nest?”
Jiang Cheng froze; even his pheromones stopped their flow for a second. As for you, the question was logically sound—Wei Wuxian was his closest alpha—but after everything that had happened over the past few hours, your instincts fought to break through the surface.
This omega was yours. No other alpha was suited for him. His pack’s alphas let him down. Keep away.
A tense moment passed. Ultimately, Jiang Cheng shook his head; when he turned to fold into your chest, you welcomed him with a comforting embrace.
Seemingly resigned to this outcome, Jiang Yanli nodded without protest. Then she glanced between you and him, and asked in a voice like petals after a rain shower, “Would it be okay to bring one of your robes for A-Cheng’s nest, shimei?”
Your jaw nearly tumbled through the bed and hit the floor.
Was she allowed to approve of you so fast? Wouldn’t her other pack members be pacing just outside the building for the chance to tear you away from their son and shidi? After all, you were a disposable alpha, a cannon fodder disciple who would support the sect but be replaced just as well when you inevitably gave up your life for it.
… But today, you had chosen whom exactly you would give up your life for.
Paralyzed with a thousand thoughts, you almost didn’t return to reality in time to hear Jiang Cheng say, “Yes please, Jiejie.”
Aside from the fact that Jiang Cheng was being more demure than his normal personality would ever tolerate, he wanted your clothes as part of his nest.
“You—” The word choked from your throat and fell, a husk of itself.
The Jiang siblings looked at you quizzically, their expressions so alike that you nearly crumbled to dust. Was this really your life? They’d accepted you just like that?
You were confused. You were tired. You were still angry about the hurt your omega had faced.
But you were happy.
Swallowing down more tears, you mumbled, “Please take what you need from my closet.”
Jiang Yanli acquiesced with a fond glance over her shoulder, and she was gone again as soon as she’d come.
Running your hand absently over Jiang Cheng’s back, you pondered how to keep him distracted until his sister returned with the medicine that would let you breed him without risk. Since he’d had something to drink, his mind was a bit clearer, though he was still groggy as he rested his cheek on your breast.
Now that you had a moment for your thoughts to catch up to the present, your heart latched onto an hours-old worry, pounding uncomfortably in your throat.
“A-Cheng,” you called, voice a hush.
He grunted in acknowledgement without lifting his head.
“… Did something bad happen with Wei Wuxian? I just need to know you’re okay,” you hurried to add, anxious that you’d set him off. A kernel of guilt lodged in your heart, knowing you were asking selfishly, but you reasoned to yourself that it would help fulfill your duty to protect him.
His breathing dimmed, becoming shallow as your words hung unanswered in the air.
“… No,” he mumbled after a long while, voice almost too quiet to hear.
It felt too soon to let relief sweep you away, even if it was notably a good thing that Wei Wuxian hadn’t done anything to him. Jiang Cheng’s face pressed deeper into your bosom, arms too tight around you to move. Louder, he said, “He just doesn’t… feel right anymore. A-Die likes him better…”
Jiang Cheng’s breath choked, and your heart crushed like fruit in a squeezing grip. The omega’s full weight on top of you was the only thing keeping you from walking out and fistfighting his father. At least Madam Yu cared about her son in some capacity; Jiang Fengmian blatantly favored another boy.
A soft hitch hooked his breath into shallow waters as he tried to control himself, but you didn’t want him in control. Chests pressed flush, every movement felt, you breathed slowly, guiding him in gentle silence.
“Nn…” Jiang Cheng whimpered as you held him tenderly. “Even A-Niang agrees… Wei Wuxian is better… he’s just better than me, and no m-matter how hard I tr-ry, he’s a s-step ahead of m-me without an-ny effort!”
Your throat closed as he dissolved into tears. Leaden, defeated tears.
It was undeniable that Wei Wuxian was insanely talented. Even if he worked hard—which he did—hard work was like breathing to him. That intrinsic drive was unfathomable for someone like Jiang Cheng, burdened beneath all the pressures in the world to become the best… or for someone like you, whose purpose began and ended with dedication to your sect.
“A-Cheng,” you called quietly. Just saying his name helped calm something deep inside you, but you didn’t know what words would come next. His only response was to sob, and your whole heart swelled with the need to comfort him.
“He’s not perfect,” you said. “Nobody is. And nothing—nothing can take away what you’ve accomplished.”
You thought of his public spars with Wei Wuxian, of how long they lasted, of all of Jiang Cheng’s almost-wins that the pair of them laughed off; you thought of his high rankings in skill, strength, and desirability within the jianghu, thought of how many alphas of lower ranks would kill to claim him as their own.
But as property. That thought made you dig your fingers into his flesh, a subtle mark and a way to keep him with you.
“A-Cheng, no matter how many cultivators are powerful, you are one of them. You’re strong, and you will be the sect leader. Not Wei Wuxian.” Forehead pressed to his hair, you gave him a squeeze to ground you both. “And so many of us want to follow you. We want to. Because we trust you.”
A shudder ran through Jiang Cheng’s body. He was quiet for a long while, your chests rising and falling—out of sync, but together.
“You…” he whispered, unable to lift his voice further. “You mean it?”
Heart bleeding from a hundred needlepoints, you squeezed him tighter. “Of course, baobei. I’ll never lie to you.”
With his face hidden in your chest, it was hard to tell if he really accepted your reassurances. Even so, you knew it would take more than one conversation during his heat to unravel the webs of insecurities woven into him over the years.
But now, picking apart those hurts was becoming the single path forward—branches by the dozen just a day prior, shivering and converging into your most dedicated purpose. Before, you weren’t even in a position to offer those reassurances at all.
You stroked your fingers from his temple to his cheek, cupping it for a moment before you nudged his face so you could see it. His nose was flushed, his eyes teary as he opened them. You gazed down at your omega, aching at how fragile he’d become—and yet swollen with pride that he’d turned to glass in your hands, trusting you to keep him from shattering.
This type of faith was profound beyond your comprehension. Your body reacted on its own.
Pheromones drifted from your scent glands, and you nearly gasped when you saw him melt right then and there. A gentle, shuddering sigh fell from his lips, pupils expanding to fill the pretty gray of his irises as his lashes fluttered like butterfly wings. His lips curved in a small smile, slight on anyone else, but from him it was heart-stopping.
Every piece of you gravitated into him, all worries of your worth as a disciple getting sucked into the earth as you pulled him up and kissed him. Jiang Cheng opened up for you instantly, his moan buzzing into your mouth so deeply you felt it in the roots of your teeth. Fisting a hand in his hair, you pushed yourself up with one leg firmly planted in the bedding, craving the feeling of him in his entirety. The length of his body was warm and solid atop yours, but it was rapidly becoming far from enough.
And yet the time still wasn’t right. How long would you have to wait?
“Give me,” you gasped between hot kisses, “a few minutes—”
It was you who kept smothering him with your lips; you felt him smile against your mouth, and your stomach fluttered.
“Sorry,” you mumbled, pulling away and physically shaking your head to clear it. The pheromones thickening the air were yours, even if he was the one in heat. Damn it, you better not be going into your first rut…
Jiang Cheng leaned his head in, kissing your scent glands but obediently refraining from a bite. “Jiejie’s coming back,” he murmured, voice slow and heavy as if reciting a mantra.
You breathed a sigh of acceptance, resignation. “That’s right… your sister will be here… then after you take your meds, we can…”
Chewing on your bottom lip to ignite some grounding pain, you ran your fingers through his hair, tugging at the snarls that had formed from all the rough handling. He looked back at you with that hazy smile, an aching reminder that he wasn’t fully acting like himself. The persistent, intrusive thought that he could reject you after his heat passed made you ache in places nothing had ever reached before.
But that was his decision. And yours was to see things through no matter what.
With determination buoying your heavy heart, you touched his face, watching how he relaxed into your tenderness. A lump formed in your throat; he surrendered so easily now, defenses toppled by his heat. Part of you thought Madam Yu was right—he would never have given you a second glance if his heat weren’t influencing his instincts.
It didn’t matter, though. The reality was, Jiang Cheng was nestled in your arms, relaxed and pliant, taking your touch, smiling. What you wouldn’t give for him to feel safe like this all the time.
“A-Cheng,” you whispered, savoring every moment you were permitted to speak his name.
He responded beautifully as always—a gentle parting of his lips, a soft breath to answer your call.
Gentle fingers stroked down his cheek like a trickle of water. “A-Cheng, I know it’s not my right to love you, but I do. I’m—”
You paused. Telling him a second time was almost harder, telling him on purpose, saying it straightforward. The next words you fed him needed to be careful, with all your intention.
A shaky sigh, your lips to his forehead. “I don’t regret how I feel about you. But… I’m sorry I’m not more important. I’m sorry this is going to cause you trouble…”
Whatever may happen next, you wanted him to know this.
“When your heat is over… I’ll do whatever you ask of me. No matter what it is.” Your lips moved against his skin, too afraid to pull back and see his expression. “Even if you never want to see me again…”
A whine so loud it approached a growl ripped from Jiang Cheng’s throat, startling you badly. Eyes wide, your head jerked back to see him scowling, a familiar expression on his handsome face.
“You said you’re not leaving,” he accused, tears glittering in his stormy eyes. Your heart pounded, instincts scratching up your insides for upsetting your omega. “You’re not allowed to leave me, alpha!”
“Ah…” you choked, wanting to both laugh and cry. Taking a shaky breath, you tried to smile. “That’s right. I’ll only leave if you want me to.” The smile that twisted your lips was painful. You rested your hand on his crown, stroking him. “Of course I don’t want to leave you. But if your heat ends and you become unhappy with me…”
“Won’t.” His gaze was bright and demanding, like the summer sun through a volcanic sky. “You’re not leaving me.”
Your lips quivered. “I’m not leaving,” you agreed, but the promise was empty only for the big unknown that was the end of his heat.
Satisfied, Jiang Cheng buried himself back into your neck, giving you a warning nip on your clavicle as he pressed kisses along a path only he knew. There was nothing you could do but surrender to him, fingers digging into his soft skin as you dragged your hands down his body, feeling him wholly.
The scent of your mixing pheromones became so strong that when Jiang Yanli returned some time later, she had to cover her nose to enter the room. To her credit, she was very polite about it, but the flush in your lips from kissing her brother so much did not help your case.
Aside from that, the lingering tears in your eyes pushed you ever closer to exiling yourself from mortification. None of this was about you—you were hardly more than collateral—yet you couldn’t stop the emotions from swelling in endless waves.
You did your best to rein in your stray feelings as Jiang Yanli handed you one of the two contraceptive tonics. Pushing yourself to sit against the wall with a pillow cushioning your back and a blanket covering your erection, you lifted the cup to your lips and downed the bitter medicine. From the corner of your eye, you watched Jiang Cheng drink his; inside your head, you imagined your arms linked, throats working in tandem, a bond sealed.
In a time like this, those thoughts couldn’t contain themselves. As you licked the final drops off the rim of the cup, your body twinged in certain inappropriate places. Discreetly, you peeked down at your chest, and relaxed when you saw that the fabric was smooth. The aches in your breasts were a dark omen for when you were well and truly alone with your omega.
As for the clothes Jiang Yanli had brought from your wardrobe, you wore the sect colors same as everyone else. But when she passed them over to Jiang Cheng to snatch them up, the robes laden with your scent touched your nose—seeing them laid among your omega’s nest hit you in a way you didn’t expect. Like this was what set it in stone, what made it serious.
Suddenly unable to rip your eyes from him, you watched Jiang Cheng fuss with the additions to his nest, trouble broiling in your gut. It was only Jiang Yanli’s presence that kept your pheromones intact.
You couldn’t let anything go. You needed to be alone.
“Thank you,” you said again when Jiang Yanli gave the pair of you a long look.
Anxiety made your stomach feel overfull, as if she could see the images painting themselves in your mind.
“Are you sure it’s okay if I…” You trailed off, eyes trained on Jiang Cheng’s nimble hands as they meticulously arranged his nest—funny, since it wouldn't stay neat for long, would it? “Um… I know you wanted to stay with him, but…”
Jiang Yanli sighed, feeling around the blankets until she found your shin and gave it a squeeze. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous. He didn’t expect to ever want an alpha, but now I don’t think he’d tolerate a peaceful heat.”
Your heart clenched. Heats and ruts could be comforting if it was with the person’s immediate family, a reinforcement of their pack bond; whatever vitriol his parents had met him with, it had robbed him of that calm experience. Yet another thing that made you angry on his behalf.
Seeing your expression, Jiang Yanli gave a soft but strained smile. “It really is a surprise that he’ll be braving his first heat without me. I know A-Cheng can be a handful.”
(Your handful.)
“But I can be flexible,” Jiang Yanli said with conviction. “If my didi wants me, I’ll come. We’ve set up some guards outside the building; just call for one of them.” She patted your leg. “I’m sure he’ll make it clear if he doesn’t like how you handle things.”
Another swell of embarrassment made your face irredeemably flushed. Her tacit approval wasn’t quite enough to assuage your shyness.
“But… the noise, shijie…” you mumbled. It was normal to accidentally overhear the lewd sounds that came with a biannual mating cycle, but still…
Parts of you wanted everyone to know Jiang Cheng was yours. The rest of you was mortified.
She laughed, and your pheromones wavered. Keep it together. “They’re not standing that close. Besides, a few of these guards oversaw my heat with A-Xuan. You’ll be fine.”
That last part didn’t help as much as she thought it did. But, not wanting to offend her, you murmured another thanks.
When you finally managed to fully avert your stare from the nesting omega, you noted that the shadows beneath Jiang Yanli’s eyes had darkened, and she was still too pale. “In that case… I hope you can rest, Jiang-guniang.”
The more formal address mellowed her smile, a visible mixture of relief and worry. “I’ll do that. But please don’t hesitate to send for me if you need anything.”
Inclining your head in acknowledgement, you saw Jiang Yanli off, heart shivering with her blessing. You listened to her footsteps fade down the hall, set aside your pillow and blankets, and held your breath.
Rustles. The bed dipped beside you.
Jiang Cheng didn’t pounce. He hugged you from the side, arms stubborn and sticky like an octopus as he bore his weight into you.
Refusing to go down, you tipped your head to face him and pressed a long kiss to his forehead. Purrs erupted from his throat, high and lighthearted.
Heat and rut medicine was fast-acting; you didn’t need to wait to knot him. But something inside you was afraid. Not of consequences—of him.
For him.
“You really want,” you started, but Jiang Cheng kissed you with no tolerance for questions.
Fingers curling in his inner robe, you kissed him back and tried to soothe him into a slower rhythm. Stubborn thing he was, his mouth only opened up to you more, tongue prodding at your lips for entrance.
“Damn it,” you murmured, the words garbled as Jiang Cheng devoured your mouth.
There was no room to do anything but surrender to your omega. You let Jiang Cheng return you to your back, tangling himself in your body without separating from your lips. Kissing him was sloppy, saliva slick between your mouths, but the carnal desires deep inside you loved it. Would drink him like water if you could.
It became clear the longer you kissed without interruption that neither of you were experienced. The sect heir was disliked by all potential suitors, and everyone knew it—the rumor mill had gone nuts the month Jiang Fengmian had tried to negotiate his marriage to a number of high-ranking alphas. If the merciless and unending rejections from those alphas hadn’t been enough deterrence from finding a mate, the swarm of rumors following the situation shut the walls of Jiang Cheng’s heart altogether. He withdrew.
As for you, the isolation wasn’t intentional. You hadn’t meant to stay so quiet and controlled that you only gave your heart to someone outside your reach.
But that was how it had gone, and this was where it had brought you. Not only was Jiang Cheng within your reach, but he was pressed up to you skin to skin, tongue so deep in your mouth it nearly hit your throat, nails tearing at your robes like he hated them for separating your bodies. He was fierce and demanding, everything you expected and more than you dreamed.
Pheromones seemed to spill directly from his scent glands into your lungs, lips parting messily to gasp for air only to be met with each other’s scent. Heart full to bursting, you couldn’t handle the shrieking instincts to mark him—and in an instant of dizzy delirium, you flipped your positions, licked down to his shoulder, and bit him there.
Jiang Cheng keened as your teeth sank into his flesh, writhing to escape yet clawing at your back to draw you closer. Breathing heavily through your nose, your jaw didn’t unclamp for a long time, lips sealed around the bite mark until his fight weakened, needy hips the only part moving.
It was when his pheromones turned sweet that you opened your eyes and realized you’d unintentionally given him a submission mark. Shame started to overtake your senses, but Jiang Cheng purred to soothe it into satisfaction, his pheromones mellowing dramatically as he laid limp on the bed. He arched his head back as if to plead for a claim mark too, but you did still have some sense.
Gently running your tongue over the deep bite you’d left on the omega’s shoulder, you felt his purrs rumble into your own chest. Never in a hundred years did you think he’d let an alpha dominate him like this—but he’d allowed it when you touched him out in the cave, didn’t he?
It was because of his heat. You had to remind yourself.
Suddenly Jiang Cheng moaned, and your attention was drawn to your hand that had slipped between his legs without you realizing. An apology rose to your tongue and promptly died when you felt the damp heat of his core radiating through his clothes. Tongue wetting your lips, you disrobed him with plenty of cooperation, and the moment he was bare beneath you, he began to rip at your clothes in return. Again you moved to stop him, then released the urge because you could see yourself reflected in those big, black pools and you just wanted him so badly.
Leaning down as he occupied himself with removing your robes, you took a deep, shameless inhale of his scent. You kissed the junction of his neck and shoulder, and Jiang Cheng shuddered.
“My omega…” you murmured, clouds collecting in your head as you rubbed your nose against his bare skin.
Another soft shudder wracked him, and he finally managed to pull off the last of the offending fabric. Having been in a hurry when you left the dorms earlier, your chest was unbound; the excess fat spilled out, swaying as you hovered over your omega.
Jiang Cheng’s eyes locked onto your exposed breasts. His mouth opened in a breathless gasp, and he hauled you in just enough that his face planted in your bust. A surprised jolt traveled through your body, nipples pebbling against his cheeks. With his lips and nose nudging the valley of your breasts, Jiang Cheng clutched at your shoulder blades from underneath, rubbing his face back and forth with a curious purr.
A dry smile crossed your expression. It wasn’t like you’d been so intimate with anyone yourself, but this was incredibly telling of Jiang Cheng’s inexperience. His movements were clumsy and he was taking his time, less hungry than exploratory.
Then he turned his head and bit the swell of your chest, and you yelped in surprise. Jiang Cheng jerked back, his eyes round and pupils shrunk with shame, but you drew him close, flushed and flustered.
“Ah, ah… careful, I wasn’t… I didn’t expect that,” you stuttered.
“Hmph…” Jiang Cheng rubbed his cheek on your breast, gazing up at you dolefully.
“Aiyah, you’re gonna be the death of me,” you mumbled, letting him bury his face back into your bosom.
The omega rubbed his face in your plush breasts for a while, nipping lightly and making you twitch and jump in a confusing mingle of pleasured stings. Your arms shook from holding yourself up, strength not yet recovered from carrying him earlier—though the newfound sensations from his attention on your breasts wasn’t helping your stability. Fingers curling in the bedsheets, you pressed a knee between his legs and groaned as he rutted his hips into it, his slick smearing on your skin. Legs interlocked, you swayed back and forth with him, simulating what you were soon about to do.
It didn’t take long for him to lose patience, the slow indulgence of your body blossoming his heat with another spill of pheromones. He pulled at your shoulders with a plaintive grumble, and you slowed him with a hand on his cheek.
Lifting yourself to your knees, you gazed upon your omega’s body, finding that your mouth had begun to water in anticipation of having him all to yourself. Reverence filled your heart, and you splayed your hand over his chest as if to relay it to him. Palm to heart, pulses thrumming as you commenced a slow exploration.
Looking, touching. Seeing, feeling. Loving, wanting. You touched the smooth expanse of his muscles, feeling him stretch out in surrender and tense wherever your hand lingered, like he was afraid to receive the attention.
Eyes finding the submission mark on his shoulder, a quiet rumble left your throat, indulging a bit of self-satisfaction for his compliance. But there were other marks you'd left, too—fingerprints on his hips and thighs, where you’d clutched too tightly when…
Your eyes drifted lower, finding and drinking in the pink slit between his legs, wet and glistening.
Something in your gut gave an insistent tug, and you mindlessly followed. Running your hand up his body and down again, you felt the bumps of his abs, the curve of his belly, the soft tangle of his bush. You cupped his heat, two fingers easily burying themselves inside Jiang Cheng’s needy hole to a gentle buck of his hips. Except this time, your body’s reactions were on full display, and you had a permission that you’d never been given before.
Blood flowed into your aching cock, and you slid your fingers out of his tightness to rub his juices over your shaft. Groaning in possessive pleasure, you slumped on top of your omega with a deep sigh, enjoying a moment of reverie. Your face was on his chest, your breasts squished against his abs, and your hips laid just below his own. Jiang Cheng had already spread his legs for you, granting a comfortable position that you’d just barely slotted into. The length of your member nestled against his slit, your leaking tip just barely brushing the sheets below you, and you wondered if this moment would be preserved when you were inevitably torn apart from him.
No matter. You placed kisses on his chest, left, center, right, ran your fingers up the expanse of his side, rested your lips under his chin, breathed, lingered.
“Alpha,” Jiang Cheng muttered, obedient to your whims but nonetheless impatient.
Another sigh slipped out. “Sorry.” After one more apologetic lick to his submission mark, you gripped your cock for the first time today and had to clutch it tight. It pulsed in anticipation, and you gritted your teeth, closing the ring of your fingers tighter, tighter, until you were sure you wouldn’t explode the second you touched him. A bump had already begun to form at your base, the prelude to your knot, and it took much, much too long to keep it from expanding.
“Almost,” you said, breathless and faintly embarrassed.
Jiang Cheng only huffed, but he waited. Although obedience was expected of omegas, it unsettled you to see him behave like a conventional omega.
(Part of you wished you hadn’t given him that submission mark.)
Kneeling back, you brought your flushed tip to his wet folds, and your vision instantly tunneled. Madness closed in as you watched your cockhead disappear into the omega’s pudgy labia. Even though you didn’t push in quite yet—you knew enough to avoid hurting him—his slick began to coat the end of your length, and you could already feel his entrance closing around your tip as if to suck you inside.
“Ah—” you choked, nearly crumbling right then. Jiang Cheng’s legs were tense, toes curled as if to cling to the sheets like his fingers. He stared up at you unwaveringly, lips parted to pant for breath.
Lungs heaving, you sank deeper into his pussy and were overcome with your instincts like they’d been waiting to ambush you.
An awful, pathetic noise fell from your throat, and your hips snapped forward, burying yourself inside his tight, soaked heat. You sobbed again, collapsing forward while your strong, beautiful, dangerous, perfect omega clawed at your back and moaned his heart out.
This was what heat-stricken omegas wanted: alpha cock inside them, a knot bulging at their base, ready to breed fast and hard.
It wasn’t what Jiang Cheng wanted.
“Alpha,” he cried when your hips thrusted sharply into his slick entrance. “Don’t—”
He was cut off by another bite on his shoulder—softer, on the opposite side—the responding slick gushing around your cock and making it even easier to rut into him.
“Mmmf… sorry… sorry, baobei,” you slurred, drunk on the delicious clutch of his pussy. “Don’ wha’?”
“Don’t pull out,” Jiang Cheng sobbed. “Stay inside, alpha!”
Flames raced through your veins, your instincts roaring in triumph. He wanted you. He needed you. He needed you inside.
What higher praise was there for an alpha than an omega begging for their union to be permanent?
Parts of your body craved to continue that carnal dance, of course. But when you slid yourself as deep as you could go, nestled within your omega’s folds, the warm heat of his body and his shuddering mewls settled your need to move.
Jiang Cheng hooked his arms around your shoulders and pulled until you surrendered. Being a bit smaller than him, you landed in his chest, automatically kissing the soft muscle until you reached his flushed nipples. Taking a perky bud between your lips, you lightly sucked and rolled it with your tongue, drawing out a keen of pleasure. His inner walls constricted around your cock, making you groan as your hips pressed flush to his; the bulge of your fledgling knot probed at his entrance, and he gasped wetly upon feeling it.
Pheromones thickened and merged into something wholly new and yours as you lay together, never parting, slowly rocking as if you’d become a wave and the shore upon which it lapped, over and over. You learned the fluttering thrum of his heartbeat, the pulsing squeeze of his cunt, the soft warmth of his skin against yours—and with what was left of your mind as you succumbed to his heat, you hoped he would remember this of you, too.
A flicker of energy emitted from your core, breaching the fog for just a moment. Brow lowering, you paused your movements until you could understand this new feeling.
When you realized, every part of you throbbed—your heart, your cock, your qi.
This was almost dual cultivation.
Dazed to the point of mindlessness, you brought your hand to his lower dantian. It was warm, protected by smooth, rippling muscle that tightened whenever your length nudged his tender insides. A small wave of your qi probed him, and his golden core swirled in response.
Quickly, you retracted your touch. Instigating dual cultivation was almost as dangerous as a mating bite—exchanging your energy in ways you couldn't take back.
Flustered, you distracted yourself with exploring his muscles, lowering your head to lick experimentally at the taut planes of his torso. Your lips and tongue touched him all over, leaving faint, glistening trails of saliva over his abs and pecs. You rocked again, lips sealing around his nipple, then again on the other side. Jiang Cheng whimpered, desperate hands exploring your back almost the same.
Eyes closed, you sucked on his chest until the tightness in yours became unbearable. It twinged like an overdrawn guqin string, discordant with the instincts that never ceased their urges to mate him.
Grasping his hips, your forehead pressed to his chest and you began, slow, slow enough that he didn’t notice until you'd withdrawn halfway.
Suddenly panicked, Jiang Cheng’s arms constricted around your shoulders, crying again for you not to pull out. You shushed him with tender croons, straining up to kiss his cheeks, his lips, his neck.
“Please,” you whispered, desperation so raw that you couldn’t push it down any longer. “Please just let me…”
When you moved your hips again, Jiang Cheng tensed but didn’t complain. Running your hand down the slope of his leg, you lifted it to your own hip, encouraging him to wrap himself up in you. Once his legs were locked around your waist, he seemed to relax, assured that you couldn’t separate from him.
Placing a steadying kiss on his lips, you savored the gentle pull of his mouth against yours, then finally started to move.
Shallow thrusts satisfied you for maybe ten seconds, getting accustomed to the addictive drag of his silken walls against your most sensitive flesh. Soon you were rolling your hips in long, even strokes, inhaling deep breaths to keep yourself from crumbling into blind lust.
Glancing up at your omega, you saw Jiang Cheng’s eyes half-lidded, his face slack as if in a trance. Your heart squeezed; this was what his heat had reduced him to, a pliant doll to be used by an alpha. Anxiety rose like a flood in your chest, unable to be quelled by the logic behind his omega instincts. It didn’t feel right.
Your hips slowed, fingertips touching his cheek. “A-Cheng…”
The quiet call of his name caused a small reaction, a fluttering of his eyelashes. “Mmm…”
His moan was sweet to your ears, spilling through your nerve endings like trickles of honey.
“Do you feel good?” you asked softly, holding his cheek until his eyes managed to focus on you.
“Feels good, alpha,” he slurred.
Too obedient. It just wasn’t right.
A frustrated growl rose in your throat, startling both of you. Damn it, your head was so fogged from inhaling his heat pheromones nonstop, it was hard to keep yourself in check.
The growl seemed to activate Jiang Cheng’s fawning instincts, his hands stroking circles into your shoulder blades, glassy eyes round with worry.
Aching to soothe him in return, your instincts fed into each other until the best thing you could do was kiss him again. You leaned down and captured his lips, knowing in your head that this was his heat and it wasn’t the time to be fussing over his pleasure—but your heart, your instincts, your soul wanted your omega to feel good.
Your thrusts became shallow again, pushing your hips in gentle little shifts until finally—
The tip of your cock nudged that spot.
“Aah—AAAHH!” Jiang Cheng cried, tears collecting at the corners of his eyes as his back arched off the bed. “Fuhh, fuck, AH!”
A desperate whimper tore from your throat, hips bucking right back into his pussy. Senses frayed, you kissed him again only to feel a sting as he bit your upper lip. Iron-tanged blood trickled into your mouth, smudging both your lips as you tried to kiss him more—but Jiang Cheng thrashed, overwhelmed by his first time being mated by an alpha.
Heart breaking anew, you tried to grab his wrists to keep him from hurting himself, but even taken by his heat, the sect heir was stronger than you.
Guilt clawed cold into your chest, but you knew what you had to do. Steeling yourself, you targeted his submission mark and sucked hard on the indents your teeth had left. No matter how pained Jiang Cheng’s responding howl was, no matter how his nails dug and scraped into your skin, you didn’t let go—and sure enough, he melted again, insides spasming around your cock.
“Mm sorry,” you mumbled into his shoulder, tears streaming down your cheeks and falling to join the sweat on his skin. “It’ll be okay, shhhh, it’s okay, ’m helping…”
Sobs shuddered through Jiang Cheng’s prone body, but you didn’t detect any fear in his pheromones as they continued their steady flow into the air. He still needed you.
Through your jerky breaths, you raggedly said, “I’m not… I’ll never hurt you, baobei. I’ll make you feel good. I will.”
You rolled your hips again, probing into his tight pussy, and he yielded.
Even as your omega sobbed, you held him close and held him down—kissing his jaw, biting it, moving your body with all the pent-up energy of resisting him for hours on end. Within seconds your hips were pounding against him, locked in a carnal embrace as you drove relentlessly into his tight channel.
The omega’s pussy seemed to cling to your cock as you railed him, the harsh suction sparking stars in your every nerve and synapse. Grunts of mindless exertion huffed from your lips, fucking him harder as his limbs flailed and clung to you with all his strength. Jiang Cheng’s nails scratched down your back, and you tossed your head up, gasping hoarsely. Pain mingled erotically with your alpha instincts, buzzing with aggressive approval that he was beneath you and taking your cock.
His pheromones only became more enticing with each wet slap of your skin on his, pulling your head down with irresistible gravity until your lips touched his scent gland. Jiang Cheng jolted, a gurgling whine erupting from his throat. More pheromones poured into the muggy air, an endless smog drifting and swirling and choking you into a needful frenzy.
Insanity taking hold, you redirected to kiss his jaw, teeth scraping the sharp contour. Bruises blossomed beneath his smooth skin as you bit and sucked him everywhere but the spot that would claim him. A desperate curse tumbled from deep in your throat, swallowing his pheromones by the lungful.
“You’re so good,” you moaned, helpless as a leaf swept downstream. “No one is as good as you, no one in the world. Mmf…”
His pussy seized around your length, the choked gasp that fell from your lips drowned out by his wail of pleasure. Gripping his slender waist, you rammed your cock so deep his legs jerked.
“Love you…” you mumbled into his fevered skin. “Perfect omega… my A-Cheng…”
Again his pussy squeezed, and you ran your hands up and down his flank to soothe him. His arms only clutched tighter around your body, openly crying with each note of praise.
“Perfect, strong, beautiful… no one’s like you… don’t want anyone but you… best omega in the world…” you rambled, not caring to be articulate in the throes of railing Jiang Cheng in his nest. His juices splattered all over his thighs and your pelvis, making your heavy thrusts even louder.
The sound drilled into your head in a ceaseless torrent, unable to stop moving for even a second, unable to stop pleasuring him. Teeth clenched, you felt your knot swell as your balls hit his pert ass, the wet smacks rhythmic and lewd.
“Gonna fill you,” you panted, barely conscious at this point, but his responding whimper drove you to fuck him harder. “Gonna pump you full, baobei. You’ll take my knot. I know you’ll take it so well.”
“Yes,” he gasped, his eyes unfocused and expression sloppy as he scrabbled at your back, “please, please knot me—!”
An omega’s plea was irresistible.
Stars sparked in your vision. Waves of pleasure rolled through you, swelling in your gut until your whole body was enveloped in an explosive orgasm. Balls pulling taut, cum burst from your tip, flooding his cunt with warm, sticky spend. The omega’s cries grew in pitch, babbling to near incoherence as the heat blossoming in his womb made his pussy contract around your throbbing dick. He tumbled into his own climax, intense, rhythmic pulses of his cunt wringing your orgasm out of you. The pleasure fed into itself the longer your respective climaxes lingered, dizzying and addictive. Burying your face in his neck, you moaned out another curse as you thrust once, twice, pop—!
Your knot took.
A sharp, high-pitched sound squeaked from Jiang Cheng’s throat, his body shaking as the bulbous flesh stretched his inner walls. His fingers trembled as they scraped harsh red lines into your back, but you didn’t care about that, didn’t care that it hurt, didn’t want to be anywhere else but inside your omega. His spasming pussy sucked you deeper, nature’s perfect plug to keep his womb full to the brim of your seed. Every breath rattled in his lungs, shaking his whole body. His pheromones grew richer, and in your daze, your nose lowered to his throat, taking deep inhales of him.
The tip of your tongue touched his scent gland, and it felt like a bolt of electricity struck you down where you lay.
Tears swelled in your eyes and poured onto his skin, a head-spinning concoction of joy and self-loathing turning your body into a whirlpool on course to implode. The only thing keeping you grounded was Jiang Cheng’s arms wrapped around you, his body shaking beneath yours.
His chest rumbled in worry as you cried, barely lucid himself; gentle pheromones mingled with the satisfied scent of his heat being fulfilled, but you could only press a weak, tremulous kiss to his collarbone.
As if you needed any more proof he wasn’t himself, the omega’s hand lifted to cup your head as you pressed your face to his chest. “Why are you sad?” he asked, voice soft and worried.
You laughed wetly, unable to help yourself. How could you deserve to even witness him in such a tender state?
“I’m sorry,” you choked, wiping your tears with the back of your hand. “I’ve always wanted this—being close to you. It doesn’t feel real. And I keep coming so close to ruining your life.”
Though his insides continued to stretch and pulse around your knot, the rest of him went still.
Wiping your messy face again, you tried to explain while your thoughts seemed to be drained into your swollen knot, the lingering euphoria muddling your oversensitive emotions. “I can’t claim you, A-Cheng. It’s not my right to claim you. I wish I could, but I can’t. Ungh…” More tears swelled, making you a blubbering mess on top of your omega. “I’m already causing you so much trouble—I’m scared,” you confessed, “of what Yu-furen will do when your heat ends.”
His eyes were hooded as he listened, a note of displeasure in his hazy expression.
Overcome with shame, you hid from him in the warm muscle of his chest. As his alpha, you were supposed to be the strong one in the face of his heat-induced weakness, but you could never present yourself quite right. Even with the knowledge that he always had to exert a face of boundless strength to combat his doubters, it wasn’t until now that you were faced with the necessity to be that strength for him. Here, in his bed, in his arms—out there, as his loyal follower.
Could you do it, if he chose you?
Jiang Cheng’s fingers threaded in your hair, stroking it without a word. Breathing shakily, your eyes drifted shut, and you murmured, “I don’t know how much you’ll remember. I just hope you don’t hate me.”
The omega didn’t speak for a while, but you somehow knew he rolled his eyes. “Shut up,” he muttered finally, and through your tears, you smiled.
Trailing your hands down his sides, you lifted yourself up with caution for the place you were connected. Jiang Cheng grumbled as your knot bobbed inside him, fresh cum sloshing in his womb. Kissing his cheek in apology, you helped swing his leg around your body so you could settle behind him without forcing your knot out of his tight clutch. You nestled up to him and felt him relax into your embrace, the curve of his back so warm against your breasts.
As your hand came to his belly, your heart fluttered and your cock pulsed inside him. He was already full with your essence… if he hadn’t drank the fertility suppressing tonic, then right now, his body would be…
Your forehead pressed against his hair. It wasn’t your right. It wasn’t…
“I love you…”
Turning his head at the sound of your whisper, he only curled his fingers around your hand.
That was enough.
Notes:
Yearning for more Jiang Cheng x Reader? My other fic updates weekly, and it just hit 100k words! It's also nowhere close to finished!!! :'D Give it some love too, if u desire~ Comments are always welcome :3
Next chapter: more smut, then Jiang Cheng's heat ends... and the consequences begin.
See you soon~~
Chapter 4
Notes:
... Ok it wasn't 3 months this time but I rly didn't intend it to take this long shgdljsfd what else is new T-T added at least 2k more of the smut and tenderness along the way tho so I hope it's worth the wait.
TRIGGER WARNINGS: referenced/perceived nonconsent, strangulation, angst
(Bonus tw: Madam Yu)
Please enjoy! I'm begging!!!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The remaining days of Jiang Cheng’s heat passed in a haze of sex and a distant sort of happiness. The only rest either of you got was sleep, and much of the time, you’d be woken up by his body burrowing into your curves, scalding like the sun and expectant as a raincloud. Every so often you’d come up for air and check his meridians, ensuring he wasn’t spiritually overwhelmed and could continue mating. If this was a test of your cultivation, you passed with flying colors—you kept yourself from coming more than twice a day, circulating your blood flow with precision, and easily ignoring the beginnings of hunger and thirst until your golden core began to supplement for energy.
He didn’t ask for your knot again. You wondered if somewhere in his subconscious, he was satisfied with the one time for the intimacy, and didn’t really want to be bred. That was fine by you; it should be up to him whether he took you as his real mate once his heat ended. And, to ensure extra caution, you regulated your qi whenever you felt the telltale ache at the base of your cock, preventing your knot from making an unwelcome appearance.
Jiang Cheng seemed to gain a fixation with your chest. When he rode you, he often planted his hands over your breasts and squeezed them, watching in glazed fascination as they squished and bounced with his movements. It was cute, if a little childish, but those thoughts vanished with each increasingly skillful roll of his hips.
Whether you were flat on your back or resting against the wall, Jiang Cheng held and tugged at the swell of your bust with an unusual shamelessness. Sometimes he bent down to capture your nipple in his mouth, greedy and searching. His eagerness made you wince, sharp, bubbling stings of pleasure-pain sending pulses of desire into your cock, so often nestled inside him. The way he gazed up at you with those huge, dewy pupils, you couldn’t resist giving him the same treatment once he had his fill.
His nipples were even more sensitive—rosy pebbles that responded to every touch of your tongue and fingertips. Even your breath was enough to make him bend with need, impatiently pushing his chest right into your face. The omega’s heat channeled every bit of allure inside his body to the surface, exposing it raw for you to see and take advantage of. At times you tried to hold back, feeling that it wasn’t your place to be rough with him, but at other times, he begged for it and you just couldn’t say no.
Belly to the bed, he presented himself to you—his back arched in a perfect curve, ass in the air and hips swishing in impatience. You stared at him dazedly, wondering how you even got here. But you had an omega to please, so you placed your hands on his bottom and squeezed experimentally.
Jiang Cheng moaned, pushing his backside into your touch. Lips forming a small, somewhat consternated smile, you fondled him for a minute, rolling his asscheeks in your palms in soothing circles. The aroma of his heat was extra bewitching in this position, and thickened as you leaned forward and gave his clit a good suck. You felt his thighs quiver as you ran a hand down his muscular leg and back up, trailing through the coarse hairs that covered it.
As nice as it would be to spend forever worshiping his sweet pussy, you could see his hole fluttering when you spread him open, begging to be filled with alpha cock. So, you rubbed your tip into his pudgy vulva, then sank inside to the root. You received a shudder and a shrill whine, and you rubbed your hands over his arched back to soothe him, though you knew he was only drunk on pleasure.
“Shhh, A-Cheng, it’s okay,” you said breathlessly as you bottomed out, always gratifyingly unaccustomed to the vice grip of his cunt. “You’re doing so good, taking me so well.”
The omega wiggled his hips as if to show his happiness, and you bit your lip so hard it split open with an iron tang. This minor misstep meant you couldn’t kiss him for a minute, so you draped yourself over his back, arms wrapped around his waist, and pressed your forehead to his spine as you began to thrust.
This position made it easier to ramp up to a satisfying pace. Your omega held steady on his hands and knees, stray fabrics from his nest cushioning him enough that you didn’t worry about sacrificing his comfort as you thrusted harder. He was somehow even more docile and cooperative than before, keeping his position stable for you to find a rhythm that made him clench. Pleasured moans mingled with your panting breaths, undercut by the persistent smack of your hips against his pert ass.
Head tipped down, your hands wandered over his hips and then lower to grope him. You squeezed and spread his cheeks, watching your shaft disappear into the tight suction of his cunt, your connected parts glistening with slick and precum. Squeezing again, you felt his glutes tense, and saw how deep your fingers sank into his cheeks. He really did have a nice butt.
Temptation arose to tease him with a light spank, but he was in no state to talk through any kinks. Instead, you fondled his asscheeks to your liking, and your hips worked until his inner walls clutched you in the telltale sign of an oncoming orgasm. Rocking deeper, you draped yourself over his back and peppered kisses down his spine, arms wrapped around him bodily as you began rutting into him. The loud plap-plap-plaps of your hips hitting his bottom rang through the room until he sobbed in an all-consuming climax, allowing you to slow into rolling thrusts, milking his orgasm for all its worth.
You kissed his shoulder appraisingly. “Good boy.” The weak pulses of his cunt granted you an extra spark of satisfaction.
When he rolled over to his back, making grabby hands, you hesitated as your eyes roamed the marks you’d left.
Every day, you painted a fresh landscape on each other’s bodies—kisses, bruises, and love bites in pretty purple and verdant green. Red flushed to the surface of his skin, and you were in no better state. Selfishly, it felt like something precious and personal, an ever-deepening intimacy that you shared with your omega and him alone.
“Alpha,” he complained, taking initiative when you lingered too long. He snagged your shoulder and hauled you right on top of him, blindly feeling between your legs until he pulled your dick back inside his greedy hole.
His pussy seemed to suck you in, making you groan as you buried your face in his warm, damp skin. Just like this, Jiang Cheng coiled his arms around your waist and fell asleep, content to use you as his personal blanket.
You sighed. At least this was something you were happy to do.
~
Jiang Yanli slid a note through the door at one point, which you noticed upon waking up that morning. Lifting yourself blearily from the bed and Jiang Cheng’s sticky embrace, you picked up the lone paper and read it.
On top of informing you about the fresh towels and generous basin of water she left for the two of you, she’d requested a response placed outside, specifying whether you needed food, water, or a bath. When you cracked the door, you found just what the note had said, and brought the supplies inside for later use. Now that you thought about it, your body did feel moist past the point of comfort, and at this point Jiang Cheng’s thighs were a complete mess of dried juices and crusted semen. Licking him clean just couldn’t measure up to good old soap and water.
As you pondered whether a mid-heat refreshment was worth the trouble, a thump sounded from behind, and you turned to discover Jiang Cheng stalking towards you.
“Where are you going?” he demanded, grabbing you and dragging you back to the bed. The genuine anger in his voice took you by surprise, needing an extra moment to realize there was fear hidden within the harsh notes of his pheromones. “You said you wouldn’t leave.”
“Your sister left a note,” you tried to explain, but Jiang Cheng yanked you onto the disheveled sheets and pushed you down, getting even stickier despite your attempts to show the note. Allowing your omega to arrange you as he pleased, you resigned yourself to fucking him until he actually listened to you.
Once he’d been fingered into a stupor, you tucked yourself behind him and slid your soaked digits in his mouth, letting him lick up his juices in a mindless haze. “Your sister left a note,” you repeated, kissing his bruised shoulder. “Do you want food, water, and a bath? Any of them?”
Jiang Cheng grumbled and sucked harshly on your fingers; you weren’t really sure what that meant. Finally he pulled back and twisted his head, biting your ear in punishment. “Don’t need anything.”
You sighed. “Okay, A-Cheng.”
After a bit of coaxing, you managed to strongarm him into using the supplies that had already been delivered, under the stipulation that you did all the work. You were happy to oblige, dipping the towel into the full basin and running it down each plane of his body. He stretched out with a luxurious groan, sore muscles rippling with water as you cleaned him.
The towel dragged over his nipples, pink and swollen from your frequent attention. He shuddered at the stimulation, a cute mewl falling from his lips. Helpless but to smile, you kissed circles around his chest and continued wiping him down. The water and gentle back-and-forth of the soft cloth seemed to soothe him, the stings of your bite marks and bruises dulled into pleasant aches.
His leg hairs dampened beneath the stroke of the towel, flattened for no longer than a breath before curling back to their natural state. You watched with hooded eyes, fascinated by the small details of his body, the pieces and perfections that could only be found in the strongest cultivators. As you moved to his feet, you couldn’t resist thumbing his arches through the washcloth, offering a small massage that made his toes curl.
Inevitably, your eyes were drawn between his legs. His pussy was damp, clit peeking out beneath his bush, but you had to maintain composure. Running the cloth over one foot, then the other, you discarded it and planted a small kiss on his inner ankles. In all the rounds of sex you’d provided for him, you’d persuaded your anxieties to take a rest; you could afford such small indulgences as showing him your affection.
Playfully, Jiang Cheng nudged his big toe against your cheek, and you glanced up at him, basking in his tiny smile.
He looked like a mess from this angle, skin littered with bruises and hair beginning to resemble a particularly drenched bird’s nest. You looked around, but didn’t see a comb among the visible surfaces.
“Can I brush your hair?” you asked, rising to your knees.
Blinking slowly, Jiang Cheng rolled his head to one side and vaguely waved in the direction of a drawer set. You left the bed to rifle through the storage until you found a beautiful jade comb that had a tangle of long, black hair ensconced within its teeth. After picking out the floaty mass of strands and discarding it in the trash bin beside his desk, you returned to your omega’s nest and settled behind him.
Jiang Cheng leaned back into your chest, rubbing himself against you so aggressively that you had to pinch his earlobe to get his attention. “Stop moving, baobao.” He obeyed reluctantly, but soon the gentle tugs of the comb untangling his mussed hair had him relaxing like he was ready for a nap.
After many minutes of careful work, the comb swept through his hair in one seamless stroke. Using your fingers to brush his inky tresses over one shoulder, your lips touched his temple, and you gave the comb a cursory pass through the bangs that framed his jaw. A drowsy sigh fell from Jiang Cheng’s lips, every piece of him a temptation you didn’t know how to indulge.
Reaching for a clean towel where they’d toppled among his nest, you dampened it and wiped at his pussy. He squirmed in your lap, hips rolling into the towel’s bulk. Heat raced through your veins, the sight of your omega humping your hand through the cloth lighting the wicks of your desire in ways you’d forgotten existed. With Jiang Cheng so hypersensitive, you couldn’t resist servicing him.
Hand firm between his thighs, you hooked your chin over his shoulder and watched as you encompassed his sloppy cunt with the towel. Slick matted the fibers, drenching the cloth in an alluring display of his fertility. You bit his shoulder, and he moaned, getting even more breathy as you circled the towel on his clit. Jiang Cheng’s lashes fluttered, head tipping to the side until his moans buzzed into your cheek, as if he wanted to fuse them directly into your body.
Left with no choice, you captured his lips and drank his moans like morning dew. The omega kissed you back fervently, his abs flexing beneath your hand as you gripped him and ground the towel into his leaking mound. Jiang Cheng’s hips worked even when he didn’t have to—you wanted to bestow his pleasure, but he just didn’t stop. His orgasm was a tremble of his thighs, a wet gasp into your mouth, a loosening of his muscles as he went boneless with his tongue still entangled with yours. Though you weren’t inside him, you closed your eyes and held his belly as if you could feel yourself there.
Warm, stuttered breaths drifted over your lips, and you opened your eyes to slits, simply watching him, his pretty head tipped back in bliss, looking at you. Pressing your lips to his cheekbone, you breathed in his pheromones and sighed them back out.
“I’m going to wash myself now,” you murmured. Jiang Cheng didn’t protest, letting you place him onto the bed, but his eyes darkened when your body departed. Smiling wryly, you promised, “I’ll be quick.”
Jiang Yanli had the foresight to place a talisman on the water basin to keep it warm, so even when you proceeded to wipe your own body, it was the towel’s friction rather than the temperature that made you shiver. Your body was overly sensitized after just a couple of days, even with your attempts to be careful. It felt like your dick had become more accustomed to being inside a tight omega pussy than without, making the light scrape of the towel’s fibers almost painful.
Pleasurably so. You weren’t sure how to feel about that.
The omega sat up as you finished briskly cleaning yourself, not giving nearly as much care and attention to your own body. Crawling closer, Jiang Cheng took the dirty cloth and chucked it to the floor so he could monopolize your attention.
As you were smothered with kisses, you tried asking again, “Are you sure you don’t want a proper bath?”
“No,” he said obstinately, and sat himself right on your cock.
An hour later, with him clinging to your free arm, you wrote a response to Jiang Yanli’s kind offer. Answering that no, her brother refused any basic hygiene, you rubbed Jiang Cheng’s hair and sketched an exasperated face at the bottom of the note as an apology. Then you added a request to put a cup of water outside the door for when you inevitably wanted it. You slipped the paper under the door, then allowed your omega to pull you against the wall and hop up onto your waist.
Sinking your fingers into his asscheeks, you helped him bounce on your member, needing most of your concentration to keep yourself standing and him upright. Jiang Cheng wasn’t the most graceful in this new position, mostly just clutching you as close as possible. His arms were locked around your shoulders, his legs around your waist as he growled and moaned into your neck, dangerously close to your scent gland. You were on high alert even as he humped your cock, nervous that you might drop him if he tried to give you a mating bite. Fortunately, though he writhed and bounced as he hung off you, he remained well-behaved.
Juices dripped to the floor as he came with a whimper. You kissed his forehead and helped him stand on wobbly legs, ushering him back to bed. He clambered onto the sheets and tossed up his nest a bit before sprawling in the center. For a moment you just watched him, aching at the tired, peaceful look on his flushed face. Then Jiang Cheng cracked an eye open, a wrinkle forming in his brow. Obediently, you joined him, unresisting as he strongarmed you into being the little spoon.
His hands rubbed your torso, not to try and fuck you again, but exploring. He squeezed your breast, blindly prodding the soft flesh as he buried his face in your nape. Feeling a bit lazy from all the sex, you released some calming pheromones. Jiang Cheng sighed, a soft puff of air tickling your neck, and went still with his hand cupped over your chest.
Your eyes slipped shut.
When you took a chance and threaded your fingers between his, over your heart, he gave it a squeeze.
Sleep fell, and so did you.
~
It rained on the third and fourth days of his heat. The cloudy dim and gentle pattering of water on the roof of the building lulled you into a sleepiness you couldn’t shake even as you pleasured your omega.
Being used sexually was draining your energy more than you anticipated—not that you had a point of reference. After a while, you needed some time to recuperate. Jiang Cheng was drowsy with the incoming rain as well, and he was easily sated for a few hours by sitting on your lap, his needy pussy speared by your cock. You lazily dragged your lips all over his skin from the chest up, eyes closed, feeling him sway and tilt to guide your path where he pleased.
The earthy scent of petrichor emanated through the propped window, and you occasionally had to get up to close it when the rain washed into a pour and trickled into the room. During times like this, your golden core ached to push to the next level and dual cultivate with him. Even when you held him, bodies joined intimately, your moments of meditation dipped too close to reaching out to his qi.
To distract yourself, you started to sing to him. First as quiet, melodic hums, then soft murmurs of your voice.
When you first began to sing, Jiang Cheng went still, listening passively with his face pressed into your rising and falling chest. It was a simple lullaby, one you only half-remembered from when your parents were still alive. Time had worn their memories, and so, too, had it worn the notes of this song. You made up for it with improvisations, taking it note by slow note, even as your voice wavered at times.
When you came to the end of the song, your voice quieted, and the room succumbed to the lulling patter of rain.
Jiang Cheng’s head lifted, and he watched you. Feeling a bit shy, you tried to nudge him back into your chest, but he refused.
“What?” you said after a while, face prickling self-consciously.
Finally Jiang Cheng’s chin lowered between your breasts, resting at the tender center of your ribcage. “Your voice is nice,” he said. Sleepy and matter-of-fact.
A million times this week, your heart squeezed in agonizing fondness. “Do you like music?”
He hummed noncommittally. Like any sect heir, he’d mastered the Six Arts, but that didn’t necessarily mean he had a passion for it all.
Now you were curious. Running your fingers through his hair, you asked, “Is it okay if I sing?”
As your nails scratched his scalp, his eyes drooped. “Mhmm.”
You wanted to kiss him. Instead you kissed his forehead. Jiang Cheng’s next few breaths vibrated with faint purrs, and you smiled, eyes drawn to his handsome face.
This time, you consciously chose a song he would recognize—a common instrumental any good entertainer knew, light but somber. You mostly followed the melody, but occasionally dipped into the more interesting harmonies. The instruments jived in your head and danced together, and whichever notes rose to your lips, you didn’t care if they made perfect sense.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Cheng’s voice joined yours. Blinking in surprise, you faltered, then proceeded with the song while looking at him curiously. His eyes were half-lidded, his humming lazy but harmonious. Your voices blended just like your pheromones, and you couldn’t help but get choked up as the sound resonated through the warm, dimly lit room. A space for you and him.
For a few seconds after the song’s conclusion, Jiang Cheng continued to hum. You couldn’t quite place the tune, but before it became recognizable, he stopped, brow furrowing as if things weren’t going his way.
Hand running down the curve of his spine to preemptively soothe him, you wrapped the other around his waist in a hug. “I like your voice,” you offered.
With his whole body pressed to yours, you felt the way he shivered at the smallest compliment. Even his pussy fluttered around you, making your teeth grit from the oversensitive throb of your length.
If you were cornier, you might’ve said something like, I like the sound of your moans, too. But just the thought made you cringe, even if it was true—so you wordlessly slid your hands to cup his bottom, then helped him grind on your lap until he came, juices leaking all over your pelvis.
(His moans really were the prettiest.)
~
It was another lazy day of pushing Jiang Cheng to his limits so you could get a bit of peace. Admittedly, since you weren’t in rut, boredom had begun to encroach. The only reason you weren’t going stir-crazy was because every time Jiang Cheng looked at you or even breathed in your direction, your chest surged with love and longing, and that made it easier to stave off the doldrums of endless sex.
The best you could do to keep things interesting was to try as many positions as you’d seen in your fellow disciples’ porn booklets. Mating was instinctive, and your libido was somewhat below average, but it was nothing a bit of creativity and the presence of a needy omega couldn’t fix.
Legs folded and back against the wall, you held Jiang Cheng’s hips as he rode you. His heat must finally be catching up to him, because his movements were slow, his arms draped over your shoulders and his forehead pressed to yours. You looked into his half-lidded eyes, watching them gaze vacantly at your lips. If you held your breath, you could imagine this lovemaking was mutual—he was settled in your lap voluntarily, his heat irrelevant, arms wrapped around you because he really, truly wanted you to stay.
But there were truths you couldn’t ignore, no matter how badly you wanted to.
“A-Cheng,” you murmured, because you sensed this would be one of the last times you could taste his name with the intimacy you held so dear.
A quiet hum buzzed from his lips. Tipping your head, you placed a soft kiss on that mouth, tongue touching his for the briefest moment before you withdrew. Your hand dipped between his legs, fingers slipping back and forth around the stretch of his pussy, just feeling the way he took you, wet and warm and perfect. Gently thumbing his clit, you brushed your mouth along his collarbone and felt his climax swell, a shudder of breath and a squeeze of his cunt.
“Are you tired?” you asked.
His head drooped on your shoulder. “Mmh…”
An odd sensation welled behind your eyes, damping your lashes as you kissed his forehead. “It’ll be over soon, baobei,” you whispered. It was just a feeling. “You’ve done such a good job. You’re perfect.”
As praise always did, Jiang Cheng whimpered, his overused pussy leaking another flood of slick.
Gripping the narrow curve of his waist, you lifted the omega from your lap and laid him on his back. The lack of resistance made it clear just how much his heat had drained him over its relentless course. Settling between his legs, your tongue met his slit, and he mindlessly hooked his ankles around your center back.
Kisses met every part of his lovely pussy—the chub of his outer folds, his curly, glistening bush, the quavering muscle of his thighs for good measure. You licked the crook of his inner thigh where it met his groin, hands stroking up the planes of his body to squeeze his hips, then trail back down. Watching a dribble of slick leak from his folds, you slipped two fingers inside, marveling at the hot, tight suction.
“Pretty…” you sighed, barely thinking about your words. Everything about him was pretty. You would tell him again when his heat ended, if he let you.
His clit peeked out from its hood, the nub reacting to your breath. Teasingly, you probed it with the tip of your tongue. Hips bucking up, Jiang Cheng clutched the sheets, then grabbed your hair, pulling you deeper into his pussy.
You obliged without a fight, tongue slipping into his sloppy hole and tasting the cum you’d left behind. Possessive instincts stirred again—they’d been sated as you bred your omega in blissful seclusion, but it was impossible not to feel proud at the reminder that his body had become a home for your essence. Yours.
Nosing at his clit while you ate him out, your hand unconsciously came to his navel. Warm, smooth muscle, the ridges of his hipbones, the subtle swell of his belly. You felt yourself drifting, too enamored with the feeling of his womb beneath your fingertips, his body entangled with yours. It was difficult to shake yourself out of it, but you managed.
Jiang Cheng squirmed between passes of your tongue over his clit and vulva, chest rising and falling in shallow heaves. His whimpers were quieter, his movements weaker than they had the past several days. Time was trickling away, the final grains of sand lingering.
Flattening your hand on his belly, you hooked your other arm under his thigh and around to pull yourself close. Your lips met his folds, kissing and licking in a penultimate act of worship. His thighs closed on either side of your head, pinning you in place and squeezing while you plunged your tongue inside his heat.
Being here with him wasn’t a cage or a trap, because you would always go willingly. If anything, you wished he would grab you with full force and lock you to him so tight you could never part.
Hips rolling up into your mouth, Jiang Cheng whined, thin and tremulous. His bush nudged your forehead and nose, the musky scent of his soaked cunt swirling in your lungs. A bit delirious from your own sexual exhaustion, you wondered if you should just give up the fight and have him sit on your face.
You worked at him for longer than usual, his pink pussy simultaneously numb and oversensitive from the extensive fucking. It allowed you to slow down a bit, to savor his thick earthy scent and the feverish heat of his skin. Every touch was a comfort to your repressed system, and as you watched your omega with hooded eyes, you felt the consequences lose their power over you.
Jiang Cheng was yours. Even if you died for this, he’d been yours for a few days. Nothing could negate that.
With slick drooling from his sloppy hole, you made him come again, fingers curled in the meat of his thighs as he squirted into your mouth. His back arched, a shrill whine vibrating in the air as he resisted the pleasure. You felt his pussy clutch tight around your fingers, and you rubbed his sweet spot just to feel him try to wriggle away.
The euphoria subsided quickly, as did his energy. While Jiang Cheng panted for breath, you allowed yourself a moment—closed your eyes, pressed your cheek to his inner thigh. Breathed him in.
As always, his fingers dug into your hair, and you yielded to their demand without resistance. You pressed a kiss to his hipbone, then rose to meet his embrace. Sitting up together, Jiang Cheng folded himself in your arms, trembling faintly in a way that made you feel both proud and worried.
“Too much?” you murmured as his face tucked into your naked chest.
Jiang Cheng only grunted. You thought he might’ve shaken his head in denial, but he could have just as easily been rubbing himself in your breasts.
Sighing to yourself, you kissed his forehead and wrapped your arms around him.
“I love you,” you whispered, though he never said it back. You didn’t need him to—you only needed him to know that you did.
He pressed closer, and that was enough. Unconsciously, your hand came to his navel, your mind filled with intrusive thoughts of him round with your cum, then plump with your child.
Overcome with emotions you didn’t want to face, you pulled him into a kiss. He grumbled a bit as you tugged him from your bust, but he melted with ease, lips molding to yours. Relief washed into your chest, instincts settled by his acceptance.
Finally sated, Jiang Cheng clung to you like an octopus, impossible to disentangle. You welcomed it, hugging him fiercely and pouring your love and adulation into every point of touch.
After it all, you held him so nothing could rip him from your embrace.
~
You slept.
You awoke.
At first, it was a stirring, barely enough to bring you into the conscious world. But next there was a jarring movement that tossed up your arm and threw you onto your back, and with that warning and none else, you could no longer breathe.
Eyes flying open, you instinctively thrashed, clawing at the two hands that had closed around your throat. A heavy weight bore into you, pinning your legs and thwarting your resistance. Blinking through the panicked tears, your vision focused enough to see—
Jiang Cheng kneeled over you, his face wild with rage and hysteria. His grip only tightened when your eyes met, choking a strangled breath from your aching lungs and making your neck creak from the pressure. Your heart screamed and knocked against every corner of your ribcage, feeling like you were drowning at the sight of your omega in distress. In a fit of desperation, your pheromones drifted into the air, an attempt to soothe him, but…
The moment he smelled you, Jiang Cheng jolted, and he squeezed. A feral snarl burst from his lips, and a flicker of rationale pierced your rushing ears like a needle through the brain.
Of course he responded like this. He didn’t know you would be here before his heat began. He barely knew you, period. For all intents and purposes, you were an intruder—an unwanted alpha in his bed, manipulating him with your pheromones.
You never wanted him to feel like that.
So, with all the conviction in your aching heart and soul, you went limp. Surrendered to the force of his defense. Completely accepting of your fate.
This was what your omega chose. It was okay. You’d helped him when he needed it, and now he was safe. Strong.
So strong.
Through your fading vision, you saw Jiang Cheng’s eyes widen. His hands shook, a vice that willfully crushed your throat, and just as suddenly—they tightened, then released.
Your body convulsed, gasping and coughing for breath in frantic bursts. Staggering with urgency, you clutched your neck and used all your focus for a few agonizing seconds to direct your flow of qi into the injury. It was enough to heal your warped windpipe, a phantom imprint of his hands doubtlessly blossoming sour green bruises.
Curling onto your side, you blinked away the tears and desperately searched for your omega. Irrational.
He’d shoved himself as far away as possible, sheets pulled haphazardly over his naked body. His hair was a tangled, exquisite mess, spilling down to his ruined nest as he stared, wide-eyed and traumatized, from the foot of the bed.
“Who,” he croaked, then shook his head.
“Rotten shimei,” he spat. You only looked at him with red-rimmed eyes, unable to know if your hurt showed on your face. “Why are you in my bed?! What did you do to me?!”
It was just as you feared.
Grief welled in your heart, rising into your throat until you were forced to swallow it down.
“What… do you remember?” you asked quietly, your voice a fragile rasp.
Jiang Cheng clutched the sheets to his chest, glaring at you with the ferocity of a cornered animal. “You were on top of me like a fucking beast,” he snarled. “You—you stole my first heat!”
Your breath hitched with each inhale. He was being selective; you knew he was scared and his memory must be addled, but that didn’t make it any easier.
Among the knives of his accusations, your instincts were clawing at you to comfort him. You bled.
But it was no longer your right.
“… I didn’t claim you,” was all you could say to defend yourself. After all, you had taken his purity.
A hoarse, angry laugh punctured the air. “No, you didn’t. You did everything but!”
It was so hard to speak. He might not realize it, but his bitter, distressed pheromones were clogging the air, clouding your mind with the need to provide comfort you weren’t allowed to give.
“I did what I could to help you,” you whispered, tears blurring your eyes, but not quite escaping. “… Jiang-gongzi.”
He shuddered, and it hurt that you didn’t know why. “Am I supposed to thank you?” he sneered. “I could’ve spent my heat alone, with my sister, and instead you—you—!”
There was nothing you could say. It was your own instincts that had yielded to this omega in his heat, causing you to become his heat partner instead of handing him to Jiang Yanli.
“I’m sorry.”
Jiang Cheng stopped short, taken aback by your solemn, subdued words.
Head lowered, you slowly shifted into a prostrate, placing your forehead on the rumpled bedsheets.
“I’m sorry,” you repeated, “and I’ll accept any punishment.”
The room filled with his harsh breaths, the sharp, anxious note of his pheromones wavering when they hit your nose a few seconds later.
“Yes,” he muttered, voice distant. Already miles away from you. “As you should.”
Your heart cracked in your chest, but you didn’t allow it to split just yet. Lifting yourself to your knees, you allowed yourself one more look at the omega. Faint tear tracks shimmered on his handsome face, hair tumbling down his shoulders like inkfalls.
Always beautiful, in every state of being.
Your eyes drifted shut.
“I expect,” you said, mouth faintly curving, “your mother will want me banished… or executed.” The words were numb on your lips, the reality so distant despite looming in front of you. “I understand if that’s what you want as well. My…” Your throat snagged on itself, the caught thread pulled too loose. “My only request… is that the punishment is of your choosing.”
After all, you could accept anything if it was from the one you loved.
As you fell back to a bow, you heard a choked sound come from him. It took all your might not to look up, not to see what face he was making.
“Why,” he croaked. “Why would you accept death? Just like that?”
Your breath shuddered in your ribs. “It’s been an honor to serve you, Jiang-gongzi.”
He grabbed your bare shoulder, yanking you up to stare into his enraged face. Eyes wide, nostrils flared, breaths heavy. His pupils were pinpricks, and you realized with a start that you’d grown accustomed to the sight of those pretty irises swallowed by a melt of black. “Answer me! Why aren’t you putting up a fight?!”
Your throat hurt as you gazed at him. You’d already accepted defeat, that was why.
Instead, you murmured, “It’s not my place to put up a fight.”
And you felt your tears begin to fall.
Jiang Cheng’s hand trembled. He jerked you away as if he wanted to throw you off the bed, but he didn’t release his grip. More bruises to call your own, from him to you.
“… What kind of alpha are you?” The flat tone of his voice was an attempt to hide his confusion, but you heard it. He’d dropped a stone in shallow water, and you were peering straight down just above the surface.
Despite yourself, the question made you smile. A teardrop hit your upper lip and trickled to the corner of your mouth. Of everything you wanted to tell him, the logic and feelings alike that you wished to explain, you knew trying at a moment like this would only deepen his resentment.
All you could do was shake your head.
Now he did let go. His lips wouldn’t hold his frown, like it weighed too much to bear. You almost betrayed your careful self-control at the sight of him, the omega clutching the sheets around himself and unable to make eye contact.
“Get out,” he whispered.
Even though you knew it was coming, chills spread in your chest.
But you couldn’t hesitate. It was his comfort on the line.
Swiftly, feeling a piece of your heart detach and linger there as you did, you vanished from the bed. The nearest robe happened to be yours, so you removed it from his nest and covered your naked body.
Before you finished tying the sash, your hands slowed. Every instinct clawed beneath your skin to refuse to leave, to protect him, to complete your claim on the omega.
You couldn’t. You couldn’t.
Without turning around, you called, “Jiang-gongzi.”
The room was quiet. He was paying attention.
You closed your eyes. “Whatever you remember of your heat… I meant everything I said to you.”
It would all be left unsaid now. Before he could respond, be it consciously with his words or instinctively with his pheromones, you strode through the door and closed it behind you.
~
No matter how badly you wanted to linger outside Jiang Cheng’s room—listen in case he still needed you, collapse and succumb to your despair—you needed to prioritize his comfort. And he’d only be comfortable if he knew you’d given him space.
Forcing your feet forward, you walked aimlessly until the compound opened up to the sunny outside.
Within seconds, there were a dozen swords pointed at you.
Sharp blades glinted, the glare piercing your eyes before metal could touch your skin. You blinked the spots out of your vision in time to hear the familiar crackle of Zidian approaching from your left.
“Finally,” Madam Yu barked. She emerged around the corner as if she’d been waiting for this, flanked by Jinzhu and Yinzhu. You barely met her eyes, letting them drop as she produced the coiled length of her spiritual whip and grasped it in an implicit threat. “This must mean my son is back to his senses.”
A dull pain arose from deep within your skull, making a thick molasses of your mind and body. Not answering your sect madam, your gaze trailed up the length of the frontmost sword to lock eyes with one of your fellow disciples. He looked away uncomfortably, then steeled himself once more.
Feeling underwater, you turned your head one way, then the other. Taking in the faces of your revered sect members, absorbing the hesitation and vitriol alike which varied person to person. None of them lowered their swords, but you wouldn’t either, in their place.
Standing on the other end of an ambush, wearing nothing but your outermost robe to cover the proof of your intimacy from the past week, you’d never felt so small.
Receiving no response from you, Madam Yu scoffed. “Capture her.”
Two of the disciples behind you grabbed your arms and restrained them. Dully, you allowed it, and watched as Madam Yu stepped up to observe you with disdain in her proud face.
Her eyes flared when she took a glance at your neck, but then they widened, and she released a sharp laugh. “You have no idea what you look like right now, do you, little alpha?”
Apprehension spun a dense stone in your gut.
Now Madam Yu was smiling. Zidian dissolved in a stream of purple light, and she used her freed-up hand to touch your neck. Instinctively, you jerked away, but she grabbed your chin and pressed into a patch of skin at the base of your throat.
“A-Cheng didn’t take kindly to your presence,” Madam Yu deduced, revelry in her voice even though she spoke it quiet enough to be a taunt. “It’s only a shame he didn’t finish the job himself.”
Through the weak stream of adrenaline and the thickening fog in your head, you realized there must still be bruising from when Jiang Cheng had strangled you. Trapped in place, your restrained fists squeezed until they trembled. Only the thought of all the other bruises he’d left on your body allowed you to fall back into neutral posture.
With one last punishing squeeze to your chin, Madam Yu relinquished her grip, then flicked her sleeve and moved past you.
“Lock her up,” she said dismissively, her steps brisk toward the building you’d just departed.
Panic seized your lungs.
“Don’t go in yet,” you pleaded, twisting your head to watch with rising agitation as Madam Yu entered the sect family quarters. “Don’t—Yu-furen, he needs space!”
“You forget your place, alpha,” Madam Yu said coldly over her shoulder. “It’s my right to see my own son.”
Your body reacted on its own. Muscles tensed, you began to struggle against the disciples holding you. Their grips slid nearly enough for you to pull away, but they held fast. Two more appeared on either side, and you tripped and collapsed to your knees, barely feeling it. As you continued to strain, your wide eyes were locked on your retreating madam. “Yu-furen! Stop! Don’t stifle him! Stop!”
But it was too late.
At least, now that Madam Yu had gone inside with Jinzhu and Yinzhu, everyone lowered their swords. One of the disciples who shared your dormitory even approached and patted your shaking shoulder.
“It…” She trailed off, hesitant to say that it would be okay. You only looked at her, eyes empty. “… Jiang-guniang is making soup, so she’ll be here soon,” she finished lamely.
That did manage to make you feel a bit better, though your ears were still trained on the building. You didn’t hear any yelling, but your heart didn’t stop its anxious, throbbing race.
Distracted, you nearly stumbled when you were urged to begin walking.
“Sorry,” one of your reluctant captors mumbled as they pushed you into step.
You didn’t respond.
Unable to act in defense of your omega, the fog collected in your heart, and you became numb.
Notes:
Next chapter is gna be rough, folks. I promise we're working toward a happy plot, there's just gotta be angst first :')
Thanks for reading! Screaming in the comments is welcomed~
Chapter 5
Notes:
Sorry for the 3 month wait again ahaaaaa longer chapter than ever tho at 12k words!!!! I have a clear picture of the resolution of this conflict, aside from one or two elements, so I'm really hoping that the wait won't have to be this long again :') not to mention I was struggling with the last arc of my other Jiang Cheng x Reader fic and had to cut the upload schedule in half for over a month... it's fine lol
There's a bunch of text in this chapter with strikethroughs, and all of it is intentional, so don't skip those sentences! (God it took so long transferring the formatting.) I hope there's no trouble reading it 😅
TRIGGER WARNINGS: perceived sexual assault*, violation of boundaries, discussions of sex, anguish, emotional breakdowns, pretty much anything Madam Yu says and does
*I've labeled it as Perceived SA because of the dubcon elements of Jiang Cheng's heat—before he fully recovers his memories and reconciles with them, most of him views his sexual experiences with Reader as assault. He won't feel this way forever, but his tumultuous feelings are valid, and they are explored in detail in this chapter. This is not intended to reflect real life situations, where heats and ruts do not exist and therefore don't interfere with people's consent. Stay safe, friends
Without further ado, the angst continues, and the seeds of resolution begin to grow!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The air in the room was different the moment Jiang Cheng saw you shut the door.
Shivers wracked his body, but those had been jolting him before his—before the alpha had left. He was already feeling cold, his skin too bare and littered with stinging bruises that he was too afraid to look at. (He’d seen the marks on you—the scratches when you turned your back.) The scent of his own pheromones (and yours) only grew staler with each breath he struggled to control. This room was too quiet, the world was too quiet; he hadn’t heard the sound of his sect since he awoke, and they should be outside and well into their training at this hour.
Now, with you gone, everything was still.
Empty.
Jiang Cheng fought a rising sense of panic in his chest. He felt numb, his body ached in places he didn’t know could hurt, his memory was spotty—
Your hands were gentle on him, your eyes worshipful.
Pulling the bedcovers tighter to cover himself didn’t warm him.
He’d pulled you closer, needed you closer. Needed his alpha.
Heart knocking against the walls of his chest, Jiang Cheng burrowed into the sheets and cried.
This wasn’t fair. Every thought of you made his senses revolt and at the same time yearn, his lungs desperately gulping down the swells of nausea so he wouldn’t succumb to despair.
His first heat shouldn’t have gone like this. His sister should’ve been there, comforting and familiar. It shouldn’t have been an alpha, he didn’t want an alpha, he could do everything on his own as long as he had A-Jie, this shouldn’t have been any different.
Alphas were rude, and brutish, and only acted for themselves. They hated strong omegas like him, and reveled in breaking them like a stallion in need of taming. Jiang Cheng didn’t need one, didn’t want one, he was better than them, he was violated, he never wanted to see an alpha again—
His skin ached in each place you kissed him. You only touched where he wanted you to. Only fucked him when he demanded it. Did it all with eyes that never left him, full of heartache as if you knew how it was going to end.
Jiang Cheng cried so hard his throat caught on itself in great, heaving retches.
It hurt to wake up next to someone he barely knew. It hurt to know he’d spent his heat out of his mind with lust he didn’t want. It hurt that his instincts clawed him up inside for sending away the stranger in his bed.
It hurt to be alone.
Alpha…
Another sob echoed in his bedroom, and Jiang Cheng was nearly overcome with the vicious urge to slash himself with Sandu.
It must be because of his heat. Never would he voluntarily feel such things about an alpha. But you were just a heat partner, someone he barely knew, you didn’t matter, you couldn’t matter.
“I love you,” you’d said, tears streaking down your flushed, sorrowful face. Every day, you’d said it.
Suddenly, there was yelling outside. Body tensing, Jiang Cheng uncovered his head and assessed whether it was a real threat. The task, though brief, felt good; familiar.
It was muffled, but he recognized your voice. The voice that had praised him, moaned for him, cried over him. Heart thudding, he listened closer, but your voice was replaced by his mother’s.
Jiang Cheng sat bolt upright. Was A-Niang getting in a fight with his—with you?
Holding his breath was easier than trying to keep it even, and he listened, pulse thundering in his ears. Footsteps approached, an unrelenting gait that could only belong to Yu Ziyuan.
His heart seized. It felt like his whole body was filled with blinding, paralyzing white light. Jiang Cheng had just enough time to drag the disheveled bedsheets over his chest before the door snapped open and his mother strode inside, Jinzhu and Yinzhu to follow.
In Jiang Cheng’s whole life, in all his trials and tests and assessments of skill and comparisons to his peers, he had never been more afraid of his mother’s judgment than right now, as her eyes scanned his body in the direct aftermath of his heat. Terrified of what he would find in her expression, Jiang Cheng busied himself with pulling over the nearest robe and shakily putting it on as best he could with the sheets still covering him.
“Stop right there,” his mother snapped.
Jiang Cheng froze.
What had he done wrong? Why was her tone so harsh? Was she going to punish him? Would her pheromones come, stinging Jiang Cheng’s nose and burning him from the inside out—?
The residual rejection of his pack, which Jiang Cheng had nearly forgotten about while you had been so gentle, so adoring with him, had not ended with his heat.
Resentment welled in his throat, but even feeling so raw and brittle, Jiang Cheng couldn’t show weakness in front of his mother. She might forgive him for being fragile in this moment alone, but he couldn’t bear it if she knew the conflict that roiled within him.
He shouldn’t be conflicted. He should want his A-Niang’s comfort. He should hate that alpha.
“I expect your mother will want me executed.”
Jiang Cheng’s insides revolted at the thought.
“There’s no point in being chaste,” Yu Ziyuan stated, approaching the bed where her son sat. “Let me make sure that alpha didn’t harm you.”
Breathing shallowly, Jiang Cheng fought to keep his pheromones inside and his hands very, very still. His mother stood at his bedside, and she seemed to interpret his wide-eyed stare with a different type of desperation, because her eyes softened in that way she rarely expressed.
“Don’t worry,” she soothed, reaching out to tuck a frayed lock of Jiang Cheng’s hair behind his ear. He did not flinch. “That alpha is long gone. A-Niang’s here now, it’s all over.”
It should have been a comfort. Jiang Cheng felt something within him convulse, instincts he didn’t want tearing him apart.
“Gone?” he blurted.
Yu Ziyuan smiled. “In the dungeons. Your father and I have yet to concur on her punishment, but it’ll do for now.”
Stunned, Jiang Cheng only stared at his mother as she smoothed his tangled hair. His breaths were still shaky, his lungs quaking with the thoughts he couldn’t get rid of. His mother’s scent reached his nose, and a dull knife punctured his chest.
“I’ll make sure she doesn’t come near you ever again, my son,” she said, still smiling that uncharacteristic smile. “Even if she doesn’t pay with her life, she has no place in this sect after what she did to you.”
Made me feel wanted? a part of him whispered. Told me I was enough, and meant it?
Jiang Cheng opened his mouth—he didn’t know what for—but no sound could escape before Yu Ziyuan yanked the sheets down his sternum and tilted his chin with a firm hand to inspect him.
Her eyes traced along his scent gland, relieved for the briefest moment upon confirming no sign of an impulsive claiming. Then she noticed another bruise scored into his exposed skin, and her expression flared with disgust. This time, Jiang Cheng couldn’t hide his flinch.
“You let that alpha give you a submission mark?” she snarled, furious.
“I-I…” Jiang Cheng stammered, heart racing to explain, but tongue tripping over the feelings he couldn’t begin to understand. “I, I didn’t, I didn’t mean to, A-Niang…”
Yu Ziyuan tutted, the sound sharp against Jiang Cheng’s frayed nerves. “Of course you didn’t. You just couldn’t help it, could you?” She clamped her hand on Jiang Cheng’s shoulder, and tremors wracked his body before he became paralyzed by her pheromones. “Hush. Once this situation is fully taken care of, we’ll teach you how to defy an alpha without losing. I’m healing this accursed mark; you’ll feel much better.”
It was worse, inhaling his mother’s calming pheromones and feeling nausea swell in equal part to relief. Now that his heat was over, he could control his reactions, but only just. The guilt of feeling so small and pathetic in the face of his mother’s care threatened to consume him, but he couldn’t bear to crumble in front of her.
Still, he recoiled both inside and out at the thought of erasing the marks you’d left on him.
No—no. His instincts were resisting it, but he wanted the submission mark gone. That was what was influencing his feelings in this way. These feelings weren’t natural. Submission wasn’t natural to him. He wasn’t like other omegas.
You gazed at the mark you left in his shoulder, shame mingling with disapproval as the warmth of surrender washed through him. But it had felt so good… why was his alpha looking at him with frustration? Why did you obey when he was the one feeling so docile?
His shoulder burned.
“A-Niang,” he rasped, desperate to find an excuse that wouldn’t incite his mother’s wrath, “please not yet, I… I want some time to, to think about all of this…”
Scrutiny filled Yu Ziyuan’s expression, and the subsequent disappointment had Jiang Cheng swallowing rocks.
“Don’t tell me all it took for my son to yield to his omega instincts was to sleep with a single alpha.”
Her harsh words drove a stake through Jiang Cheng’s heart. More than any omega instinct, the parts of him that yearned to bring pride to his mother wanted to hide, hide until the marks faded, hide until he could make up his mind.
Frustrated by his unwillingness, Yu Ziyuan yielded her grip but pulled at the edge of the sheets while her son resisted. “What else did that alpha do to you? Did she knot you? A-Li said the contraceptive tonic was her idea, and if so, it was the only good one to come from that audacious mouth. I can’t have you carrying a common-born alpha’s pup.”
Jiang Cheng’s nose began to itch, his shaking hand lifting the sheets higher to swipe at it. Something in him wanted to defend you, but everything else knew the explosive reaction his mother would have if he did.
Pushing down the rattle in his bones from each insult thrown at you, Jiang Cheng tried to assure her. “I wasn’t claimed, and I’m not pregnant, A-Niang. She—”
She didn’t do anything I didn’t want her to do.
The words stuck in his throat like a boulder wrought with spines.
“… She didn’t hurt me,” he choked out.
Yu Ziyuan scoffed. “Surely you’re not that dense, A-Cheng. She forced herself on you while you were utterly helpless.”
It was true, and yet it wasn’t. There hadn’t been enough time to think or process what had happened at all, and Jiang Cheng’s whole body still pulsed and burned with foggy memories—but that mysterious something inside him wanted to say no. You had only done what he…
…
“It wasn’t like that,” Jiang Cheng mumbled, but his mother dismissively ripped at the sheets again, and he fell silent.
“Jinzhu,” Yu Ziyuan ordered, “retrieve a bath. Yinzhu, summon the healers.”
Her attendants mobilized right away, and Yu Ziyuan didn’t soften again even after the door closed.
“Now, calm down,” she demanded, continuing to fight him on keeping the blankets over his naked body. “We’re going to get you clean, then make absolutely sure that alpha didn’t do anything uncouth toward you.”
Sensing a loss in the fight, Jiang Cheng resisted for another moment, but he really did feel better without Jinzhu and Yinzhu prowling just behind his mother. The blankets were pushed down to his hips, and Yu Ziyuan released a harsh breath of disapproval.
“Unsavory,” she murmured, scrutinizing each shadow of your teeth on the omega’s skin. “She was much too comfortable in your bed.”
It took all of Jiang Cheng’s strength not to snap at his mother as she began to press her fingers against each mark, the buzz of her qi joining her waft of pheromones to envelop him in her presence. The lingering stings intensified for a moment before they began to heal, and as the healing qi deepened, he had to keep himself from shouting.
He wasn’t ready to erase the memory of you.
“I don’t need to see the healers,” he said instead of begging her to stop.
“They’ll be able to tell better than anyone whether your body has been compromised.” Firm fingers dug into a thumb print on Jiang Cheng’s hip, making him grit his teeth against the pain. “I wouldn’t put it past such a disrespectful girl to sabotage you somehow. She’s delusional if she thinks she can force us to keep her around.”
Jiang Cheng stared at his mother, and his focus gradually began to shift.
He looked at her. Really looked at her.
That angry furrow in her brow—he always felt warm when it lightened for him and his sister. The frown that seemed default, only tipping opposite when her daughter said the right thing at the right time. The swift, decisive way she moved as she continued to heal him against his wishes. Her harsh voice and how, after over two decades of Jiang Cheng’s life, it failed to soothe him when speaking words of protection.
You’re paranoid, A-Niang.
If he allowed such thoughts into the world, he would hurt his own mother.
That was worse than letting her clear his body of all traces of you.
But just the ones on the outside.
Nausea rolled over Jiang Cheng, littering him with goosebumps.
Remaining on her single track, Yu Ziyuan began to push down on the sheets once more, but Jiang Cheng snatched the edge and refused to lower them another inch. Mercifully, she didn’t force it this time, and busied herself with dismantling his nest. He watched her mutely as she folded each robe into their own piles, and didn’t protest each time she snatched one of your few robes in disgust and tossed it to the floor.
His heart thudded and felt like it bled. Inside. Only inside.
Just as Jiang Cheng began to debate asking again to not see the healers, Yu Ziyuan’s gaze locked on something propped against the wall.
Something that didn’t belong.
Her expression, which had evened out as she tidied the room, morphed back into a sneer. “Of course that impudent alpha didn’t have the decency to take her sword.”
Jiang Cheng’s eyes snapped to where his mother was looking. Settled beside Sandu’s stand was another sheathed sword—plain, but sturdy. Dread began to pool in his belly along with the urge to run after you and return your sword.
Too reckless.
You deserved consequences.
You didn’t deserve to be in the dungeons.
As his thoughts swept him out of his mind, Yu Ziyuan snatched up your sword and clasped it like a stick to be snapped. Gathering your abandoned robes in her other hand, she dropped them in a haphazard pile by the door. A soft schink seemed to slice the room’s peace, and Jiang Cheng looked up in time to see his mother peering at her own reflection in your half-drawn sword.
“I’ll destroy these alongside her clothes,” she said brusquely, sliding the blade back into its sheath.
“No,” Jiang Cheng gasped before he could stop himself.
His mother went still.
He fucked up. He fucked up.
He was still too raw, and he fucked up, and he didn’t have you to shield him.
He wanted you here.
He didn’t need you. He couldn’t care about you.
As Yu Ziyuan turned, her expression became chillingly neutral. Heart squeezing in his chest, Jiang Cheng shook his pounding head, trying to deny his own intention, but it was futile.
She came to his bedside, and clamped her hand on Jiang Cheng’s shoulder—on his half-healed submission mark. His whole body tensed, biting back the pain of it being touched, but tears sprang to his eyes unbidden.
“If you’re going to defend that alpha,” said Yu Ziyuan, “it’s not going to be because she forced you to.”
Jiang Cheng felt his qi being drawn to the mark, the telltale heat of a healing spell pooling in his shoulder. His nose itched harder, and Jiang Cheng fisted the bedsheets covering his bare body to fight the agony of having the submission mark removed.
It burned. It burned, it burned so bad, Jiang Cheng thought he could handle it but he couldn’t, it wasn’t fair, he didn’t want this mark, he wanted it to stay, he wanted it gone, he wished he’d never seen you—
“No,” he cried, hands shoving Yu Ziyuan, but she didn’t budge. “No, please, no, no, no…”
Breaking down in front of his mother was humiliating, but Jiang Cheng’s omega instincts were howling as she wiped his body of the most important mark you’d given him. His head spun, flailing to grasp why he couldn’t accept ridding himself of a submission mark of all things, but tumbling and slipping and dropping the reason time and time again.
Yu Ziyuan did not yield, and as the imprint of your teeth faded from his skin, Jiang Cheng wept.
“I hate this… I hate this, A-Niang, I hate it, please stop…”
Leave me alone.
Jiang Cheng didn’t know what he was saying anymore, and Yu Ziyuan interpreted his pleas as they suited her.
“There,” she murmured once the bruise returned to his natural skin tone. Smoothing her hand along his freshly healed shoulder, she paid no mind to the way he shuddered in humiliation. “Now that alpha has no power over you.”
You didn't. He was your superior.
“I’m not being forced to do anything,” Jiang Cheng croaked, because he couldn’t keep his fucking mouth shut.
Chilly gemstone eyes locked onto him, and he felt his aching body petrify. Though Yu Ziyuan rubbed him with a soothing touch, the motherly effect was lost in the mountain-cleaving scrutiny that bore into Jiang Cheng through those eyes.
“Just like your father,” she muttered. “Don’t know what’s good for you.”
Jiang Cheng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. When in his entire life had he ever been compared to his father? Always his mother, always his mother, always his mother; why couldn’t he be like his father, why not his father, why not like his father? And now that he finally had that unobtainable comparison, it was still to insult him.
Perhaps because of the constant inundation of her pheromones, or perhaps the stress after his heat had broken him, Jiang Cheng’s head numbed. For the first time since he awoke this morning, he felt normal.
His normal had changed beyond recognition.
When the healers arrived, he sat pliant in his bed as they gave him a full-body checkup. They set up a medical partition as they always did, and his mother supervised just on the other side, unfazed by his sudden cooperation. Jiang Cheng lay motionless as the team of betas examined his remaining bruises and pressed on his tender womb. His body twitched at the initial touch, but the one omega representative crooned and massaged his belly until the swelling went down.
“His vitals are normal for a post-heat omega,” the leading healer reported as the partition was removed and the bathtub was hauled in. “His meridians are healthy and fully functioning as well. Quite healthy, actually.”
Yu Ziyuan’s gaze sharpened. “Did that rotten alpha dual cultivate with my son?”
Leaning back against the wall, Jiang Cheng regulated his breathing to avoid any stray reactions. Being surrounded by people outside of his family was strangely comforting.
The healer shook their head. “No signs of dual cultivation, Yu-furen. Most importantly, the heat tonic worked perfectly, so our gongzi’s fertility will remain suppressed for another one to two weeks—long after any remaining semen will be absorbed.”
Seeing Yu Ziyuan’s lips purse, the omega healer stepped forward and bowed deferentially. “We do not recommend sexual contact with an omega directly after heat, even to remove excess alpha semen,” he said, keeping his voice soft and placating. “There is zero risk of pregnancy regardless of those extra measures.”
During the examination, he had noticed Jiang Cheng slipping into a dissociative state; the youth’s cheeks were flushed and streaked with drying tears, and though he was cooperative, his movements held none of the usual power and grace he exhibited as the sect heir. Something else felt wrong, too—symptoms he recognized but couldn’t confirm, when neither Jiang Cheng nor Yu Ziyuan were forthcoming about it. In the end, this was all the healer could do if he wanted to avoid further provocations of the younger omega’s fragile mental state. And for a boy with so much pressure on him already, the healer would speak up, even at the risk of doing so out of turn.
However, the assurance seemed to appease Yu Ziyuan without any of the expected overbearance. When she dismissed them, the group of healers took their leave with minimal worry for the omega they left behind.
Eyes cast to the bath as Yinzhu and Jinzhu poured in bucket after bucket of steaming water, Jiang Cheng didn’t think he had to worry, either.
A good, hot bath would burn away his aches, inside and out.
~
Off in the kitchens of Lotus Pier, Jiang Yanli was stress-cooking.
It had been six days of her brother’s heat, and this whole time, the sect had been on lockdown. Jiang Yanli’s parents didn’t agree on much, but they came together for this one decision: No one outside Lotus Pier could know that their son had undergone his first heat with a low-status alpha, completely unplanned. The sect was only to open back up when the situation had concluded and an official statement could be issued.
Jiang Yanli chose to be optimistic. Of course, she hoped that weathering her brother’s first heat would prove you to be an ideal mate for him—but it was A-Cheng’s decision, and she would support it no matter her own opinions. Even if Yu Ziyuan wanted to take the drastic measures she’d been threatening since Jiang Cheng’s heat began, Jiang Yanli was confident that she held enough sway to stop her mother from taking a life. As for your proposed banishment, Jiang Yanli’s work was still cut out for her, but at least her father was receptive thus far.
You had been a supporting part of Yunmeng Jiang for long enough that Jiang Yanli’s faith in you was firm. She may not remember the day you joined, and may not have paid active attention as you milled among your fellow disciples, but she remembered your parents’ funeral. She remembered sitting with you, barely on the cusp of adulthood herself, drying your tears as you wept sporadically. She remembered keeping an eye on you for a few months after, relaxing when your devotion to the sect didn’t fall too deep into avoidance of your grief. When Jiang Yanli ran through the memories she had of you, days of swimming and dining and training, they were… normal.
Normal, in a way Jiang Yanli and her little brothers weren’t quite accustomed to.
It would be good for A-Cheng, she thought—having an alpha at his side who could be a steadying hand. If you didn’t want to become his mate after all, then maybe you could remain his heat partner until he accepted a mate. (Or until you and A-Cheng really fell in love…)
Of course, there was the likely matter that you would go into rut before Jiang Cheng ever accepted another mate…
Perhaps serendipitously, Jiang Yanli was placing the finishing touches on her soup when a disciple came running. She was told her brother’s heat had ended, and that their mother had ordered the insubordinate alpha to be locked up in the Lotus Pier dungeons.
Feeling like her heart was sinking into the steaming broth, Jiang Yanli thanked the disciple and acted as quickly as she could. She ordered a pair of kitchen staff to take the soup and follow her (carefully!) to Jiang Cheng’s room so she could remain unburdened in her hasty travels.
Even as she moved, her instincts felt divided. Of course she needed to be there with her brother for his post-heat symptoms, and she feared how her mother would handle things in her absence—but it wasn’t fair to you that A-Niang had torn you from A-Cheng as if you were a criminal.
But Jiang Yanli simply couldn’t be in two places at once. When it came down to it, her priorities had been set the day her baby brother was born.
Still, she thought as she hurried past the disciples’ dorms to reach her family’s quarters, she would use all her power to free you from your imprisonment. It was the least she could do for the alpha who’d kept her didi safe through his heat.
~
They took you to the dungeons. Madam Yu hadn’t exaggerated with her order—you were placed in a stone-enforced cell with an array that suppressed spiritual energy. You felt your golden core dim as you stepped inside, and you simply stood there for many, long minutes as your two escorts took up a sentry post to guard your cell.
After feeling that your qi wasn’t completely removed, but rather muted to the point of uselessness, you sat on the cold, hard floor and began to meditate. The alternative was to lose your mind with worry over the omega you were ripped away from and the knowledge that you likely would never see him again. There were too many unknowns—whether your sect leader had an opinion on your fate, whether Jiang Yanli would advocate for you.
Whether Jiang Cheng remembered when you told him you loved him. Whether that meant something to him.
A sudden, horrible sound choked from your throat, and you clapped a hand over your mouth, wide eyes staring at the blurry floor. Heedless of your input, your body couldn’t handle the situation, overburdened and alone. Tears burned your eyes, and burned your cheeks too as they fell. Your raspy, shuddering breaths echoed too loudly in the barren cell, and you had to be grateful for the lack of response from your guards, and for the otherwise empty dungeons.
But even if you weren’t locked behind three layers of imprisonment, you wouldn’t want to break out and taste the freedom you used to have.
Where could you go that would feel the same again? Where could you go that would give you comfort in this new, bone-deep cold—that would absolve you of the memories, flashing between the sight of your omega sleepy and sated, and Jiang Cheng lost and full of fear? How could you return to your bed with a body full of these memories and expect to sleep surrounded by your fellow disciples?
Wherever you would turn, you no longer belonged.
No, you wouldn’t fight your fate. A cold, unforgiving cell was what you deserved for the damage you’d done.
Now, your body needed to recognize what your heart had accepted.
…
Wei Wuxian appeared long after your tears had dried.
Sitting listlessly in your cell, you opened your red-rimmed eyes to the sound of the dungeon doors opening with a great, heavy creak. Unsure who would come through, your heart didn’t react much, hardly stirring when Wei Wuxian stepped into view.
You didn’t expect visitors, but certainly not the alpha you’d stood against when Jiang Cheng’s heat began.
Wei Wuxian stared at you for a while, but you didn’t meet his eyes. Didn’t have the courage. You’d never been so rebellious until your—until Jiang Cheng had chosen you. How could you face your da-shixiong, or anyone for that matter? Especially after Jiang Cheng had turned you away.
“Can you leave us for a few minutes?” Wei Wuxian asked the guards. His voice was uncharacteristically subdued. Then, a bit more jokingly, he said, “I won’t do anything that gets you guys in trouble, don’t worry.”
The shuffle of retreating footsteps echoed through the dungeons, then faded as the doors creaked open and shut once more.
Slowly, you lifted your head.
Wei Wuxian looked tired. Not his usual tired, where he was merely sleep-deprived from working all night: The bags under his eyes were shadowed, and his eyes were weary. As if he hadn’t slept since Jiang Cheng’s heat began.
Sympathy hurdled your heart against the cage of your ribs. You knew the heartbreak of being rejected by an omega you cared for; Wei Wuxian wasn’t anywhere near being Jiang Cheng’s mate, but he was part of his pack. They’d been close since they were children. And Jiang Cheng hadn’t even wanted Wei Wuxian’s clothes in his nest.
In the end, Wei Wuxian broke the leaden silence.
“Sorry you’re in jail,” he said with a smile strung thinner than a laundry wire. “On the bright side, I can at least give you a little bit of good news. I’m probably not supposed to say anything, but I figured…” He interjected his words with a desert laugh. “I’m not supposed to be visiting you, either.”
All you could do was give him a slow blink.
Wei Wuxian rubbed his face, eyes not quite able to focus on you. “You’re not gonna get executed. I’d love to take the credit for that~ but it was really Jiang-shushu who got through to Yu-furen about how bad it would look.” Shaking his head, he feigned another smile. “’Fraid you’re still getting banished, though. Sorry. Not even shijie could change Yu-furen’s mind on that.”
The relief you felt didn’t quite reach the center of your chest, and with Wei Wuxian’s final words, it froze solid in your veins. No part of you could move.
He watched you quietly for a moment. You weren’t sure what he saw, but when Wei Wuxian’s smile faded, his energy seemed to follow suit.
Eyes almost as dull as yours, Wei Wuxian opened his mouth, then closed it. Bowed his head, turned it to the side. His gaze returned to you, and you met it with the same solemn sorrow.
“Does he really not want to see me anymore?” he asked brokenly.
Your heart squeezed your blood into motion. Instinctively, you shook your head, but the complicated truth crawled its way out of your memory.
“That’s not really it,” you murmured.
The sound of Wei Wuxian’s lungs emptying made you curl into yourself. Giving up on meditation, you unfolded your legs and pulled your knees to your chest.
Jiang Cheng’s vulnerable moments weren’t yours to share—they were yours and only yours, your alpha instincts insisted with bared teeth—but you couldn’t forgive yourself if you let his relationship with Wei Wuxian crumble through no fault of their own.
“Wei-shixiong…” you said, hand pressed to your heart. Self-soothing, with sincerity. Wei Wuxian gazed at you, reflecting that hollowness you felt in your own chest. “He doesn’t hate you. I can’t say how exactly he feels about you—that’s something you guys need to talk out together—in fact, I don’t know if he knows how he feels, either.”
Swallowing, you blinked the emotion out of your eyes. “If anything, it’s because of how Yu-furen and Jiang-zongzhu raised both of you. I… I mean, Jiang Cheng… Jiang-gongzi told me something like that. Jiang-zongzhu doesn’t view the two of you equally, and… you know how Yu-furen feels.” Bitterness was another stone to swallow, but it didn’t push down far enough. “… So, his heat brought out those feelings… against his will.”
Understanding was a slow-rolling boulder creaking along a cave floor. Wei Wuxian’s lips parted, thoughts rushing through his head, but they were incomprehensible to you. In your own time of soul-deep exhaustion, it was an impossible task to discern his emotions.
“It’s not your fault, shixiong,” you rasped.
You hoped it wasn’t a mistake to say nothing more.
As always, Wei Wuxian smiled. The crescent moons of his eyes didn’t reflect the sun.
“Much to ponder,” he sighed. “Much to think about. Thanks for answering my questions, shimei. I’ll even forgive you for the insubordination last week.” He gave an exaggerated wink, and you helplessly mirrored his smile even when it dropped.
After a few more moments of lingering, Wei Wuxian drifted away. You watched him vanish from your limited view. The guards’ footsteps approached their post, but your head weighed down until it rested on your knees, lacking the strength to spend on anyone else.
You couldn’t get that faraway look in Wei Wuxian’s eyes out of your mind.
~
“Niang, I’m not a baby,” Jiang Cheng protested to deaf ears.
He would’ve thought his mother would be apathetic toward hovering so close—he couldn’t remember the last time she’d done it. Even when he was a little kid, it was always “Stand up and learn to heal yourself! How else do you expect to strengthen your golden core?”
But now, she stood in his doorway and refused to leave or even turn around for him to get in the bathtub. Even the healers had allowed him to remain covered down below as they examined him—there was no way Jiang Cheng was going to reveal himself until she was completely out of sight.
“You’re my son,” snapped Yu Ziyuan. “What does your age matter to me? Hurry up, I need to confirm what the healers said. They worked much too quickly for my taste. Too dismissive of any damage that alpha might’ve left.”
“A-Niang!” Jiang Cheng’s face burned.
“What? It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”
“Still—”
“Jiang Wanyin! You were never this argumentative before.” Eyes severe, Yu Ziyuan scrutinized him, and Jiang Cheng suppressed the urge to shrink back. “This better not become a habit.”
Instinctively Jiang Cheng shook his head, but his mother continued.
“That alpha has influenced you in such a short time. Who knows what horrible things she whispered in your ears this whole week? I never should have let your sister convince me to leave you alone with that alpha. She may be part of our sect, but she so willingly spurned her own leaders—pah! She’ll never have the chance to poison anyone again.”
Jiang Cheng’s hands shook in the bundle of twisted blankets. This was wrong, it was wrong, she was wrong. A-Niang was wrong about you, wrong that you spoke ill of anyone, wrong that you wanted to turn him against his parents.
It was him who was a bad son. Him who doesn’t believe in his own parents’ love.
“I’m scared of what Yu-furen will do when your heat ends.”
Whispers, like his mother insisted.
“A-Cheng, stop being obstinate!” Yu Ziyuan demanded. Her patience broke, and she stormed right up to Jiang Cheng’s bedside and seized the sheets. “Your pack alpha wants to clean you, and you will let her!”
A flicker inside Jiang Cheng startled his fear, the urge to obey making him loosen his grip on the covers.
As Yu Ziyuan ripped them away from his torso, the prospect of her catching a view of his ruined privates redoubled Jiang Cheng’s terror.
“A-Niang, please let me wash myself,” he outright begged.
No matter what she thought she would see, Jiang Cheng knew better. He could still feel the stickiness between his legs where his slick had dried, and a strange sensation in his dantian that made him nauseous. The knowledge of what it was, of what had been done to him, of what his instincts had him crave… He hunched over, trying to repel those memories, trying to repel his mother.
She couldn’t know. Don’t let her see.
Clicking her tongue in furious disapproval, Yu Ziyuan began to project her pheromones. Surely that would make her stubborn son see reason. She was in charge of this pack, for crying out loud! If she wasn’t going to protect her own, then no one was!
Jiang Cheng’s breaths were short and shuddering. Thoughts and memories clashed in his whole being, contradicting and dissonant, wrong and right and wrong. His nails nearly tore the sheets for how tightly he clung to them, and on top of it all, this imposing alpha’s pheromones collected in his lungs—
He stopped breathing—
Footsteps hurried up the hall, and the door opened.
“A-Niang,” Jiang Yanli said, summoning all the composure she’d mustered on her way here. “A-Cheng…”
She took in the sight of her mother, paused in her fight with Jiang Cheng over the rumpled sheets, and her brother, curled in on himself and visibly suppressing panic. Panic of her own was a flash bomb in her chest, and with it, a shocking wave of anger.
Why was Yu Ziyuan touching A-Cheng like that? She knew how fragile omegas were right after their heats! No doubt, she made things worse by sending away his alpha—every step she took was willfully pushing an already fragile omega into a distressed state!
Vicious words rose to Jiang Yanli’s tongue, but she knew not to levy them against her mother of all people. Swallowing her fury, Jiang Yanli stepped inside and purposely left the door open.
“A-Niang, is he refusing a bath?” she asked carefully, addressing her mother first as a distraction.
Yu Ziyuan straightened up, at last releasing the blankets that covered her son’s body. “He isn’t, but he is refusing to let his mother help bathe him.”
Irritation, derision, and scorn. Three poor tones to direct toward a cowering omega.
“I see,” Jiang Yanli murmured. “I suppose it’s normal for any adult to feel embarrassed being undressed in front of their parents.”
Close enough to touch them both, Jiang Yanli laid a hand on Yu Ziyuan’s arm, but didn’t reach for her brother quite yet. “I’m sure he’s just overwhelmed. He hasn’t eaten all week, either—some servants are bringing a pot of my soup, so would you mind standing guard outside to make sure they don’t enter before A-Cheng is done with his bath?”
To sweeten the request, Jiang Yanli put on her best smile. “I put several bowls on the tray. You should have some too, A-Niang. It’s been a tough week for all of us.”
She was trained better than to hold her breath as her mother pondered the offer. Knew better, too, than to relax when Yu Ziyuan nodded in acceptance, though a knot of tension did loosen in her chest.
“Make sure every part of him is clean,” Yu Ziyuan said lowly, her orders not to be disregarded.
Jiang Yanli bowed her head. “Yes, A-Niang.”
Finally, when Yu Ziyuan was stationed outside and the door shut, Jiang Yanli turned to her brother. His eyes were wide and red-rimmed, his expression utterly, childishly lost.
“Oh, A-Cheng…” she sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed and opening her arms.
Trembling, Jiang Cheng went immediately, burrowing himself in his sister’s chest as he gasped for breaths that would no longer come. She soothed him with gentle strokes up and down his bare spine, lips pressed to his temple and pheromones joining the mix until they swept away the others. Warm tears wetted her breast, but she paid no mind. Rocking him softly, Jiang Yanli didn’t say a word, only holding him until his sobs subsided.
Even as he went still in her arms, the occasional shudder wracking his body, Jiang Yanli was patient.
Voice thick with tears, Jiang Cheng pressed into his sister’s chest and croaked, “Why did you let her stay with me?”
Jiang Yanli’s heart sank. Though her brother didn’t sound accusatory, his voice was full of despair. Confusion. Helplessness. He didn’t understand why she’d done it.
Carding her fingers through his hair, Jiang Yanli answered him with a question. “How’s your memory, didi?”
He tensed. “What do you remember?” “I did what I could to help you.” “I meant everything I said.”
Against his will, Jiang Cheng remembered. Hands on him, hands protecting him. Lips kissing him, lips defending him. His own pleas for help, for love, for an alpha’s knot.
For your knot.
Shudders clawed through his body, and Jiang Yanli crooned in sympathy.
“Don’t force yourself to remember,” she whispered, thumbing the hollow of his cheek. “It was all so unexpected. Every part of it. I don’t want you to hurt even more, A-Cheng.”
There, Jiang Yanli hesitated. She needed to gauge exactly how deep this situation had affected him.
Taking a small breath, she finished, “And neither does she.”
Jiang Cheng’s heavy breaths picked up speed, head shaking as if to reject the notion. Quick to act, Jiang Yanli lifted him straight and began to get off the bed. “Up, didi. Let’s get you clean.”
On shaky legs, he went. Jiang Cheng trusted his sister not to look as he left the sheets behind and lowered himself into the bath. A trembling moan was expelled from his lungs as the steaming water seeped into his muscles, almost enough to forget the aches that had wormed into his soul.
The damp towel left cool trails on his sweaty skin, following the paths your hands had traced first.
“Damn it,” he whispered, unable to withstand the onslaught of regret and shame that threatened to drag him underwater. He covered his eyes, but the tears still fell. “A-Jie…”
Kneeling on a towel beside the tub, Jiang Yanli picked up a bowl from the stool holding the bath supplies and began to pour water over his hair. “Yes, A-Cheng?”
After a moment of words failing to escape his parted lips, Jiang Cheng glanced at the door, his frown etching deeper into his weary features.
She understood.
Taking a steadying breath, Jiang Yanli set down the bowl and dried her hands. Then, she went to her brother’s desk and painted a silencing talisman, line by careful line.
The moment she put it up, Yu Ziyuan would know. Even the simple splashing of bath water would vanish, let alone their hushed conversation. Yet, Jiang Yanli couldn’t regret it when she hung the talisman on the door, its cinnabar markings shimmering gold in activation.
Jiang Yanli resumed her place beside her brother and proceeded to wash him, even as he remained silent for minutes more. Their mother didn’t come barging in, so Jiang Yanli hoped she indeed took up the offer to eat some soup instead of interrupting A-Cheng’s bath.
Eyes fixed on the rippling water and the suds that began to saturate the surface, Jiang Cheng’s mind dulled with each sway of his sister’s fingers in his hair.
Gentle fingertips brushed his shoulder, and Jiang Cheng was struck by lightning.
His flinch caught Jiang Yanli by surprise, water sloshing over the lip of the tub and wetting her shoe.
“A-Cheng?”
Gasping for breath, Jiang Cheng clutched himself, arms wrapped tightly around his chest like he wanted to lock up every beating thing inside. “Jie, I—I—that alpha—she—”
Every word was another bristle rolling up his throat. All Jiang Yanli could do was hover as her didi panicked, reluctant to interrupt him when he was so desperately trying to communicate.
“She—she left a—a sub, subm-mm…” Jiang Cheng stammered, the word protruding spikes through his throat.
Jiang Yanli’s eyes widened, darting to his shoulder. The skin glistened with bathwater, but it was smooth, visually untouched.
Jiang Cheng’s words shrunk and shrunk, until finally he choked out, “She bit me… and—and… and A-Niang took it away!”
His hands surged from the water to claw at his eyes, curling in on himself as the fierce desire to drown suffocated him. Horror washed into Jiang Yanli, jerking forward to pull at Jiang Cheng’s wrists when she saw the pink marks his nails left in his skin. Her mind raced to connect the pieces, and the image they formed left her speechless for the few long minutes it took to calm her brother down.
Sobs robbed him of coherence, but Jiang Yanli no longer expected that of him. It felt like she needed to gasp for breath too, but she had a duty to her brother.
“She didn’t give you a claiming bite,” Jiang Yanli said slowly, rubbing wet circles into his back. “She bit you… here.” She very carefully touched his shoulder, heart aching with her brother’s flinch. “And it wasn’t just a… a regular bite. It was a submission mark?”
The water sloshed with Jiang Cheng’s nod, humiliation turning the soapy bath into sludge.
Releasing a soft breath, Jiang Yanli murmured, “And A-Niang healed it. Oh A-Cheng, I’m so sorry.”
“I hate it!” he burst out—his head jerked up, eyes suddenly wild as his voice.
He grabbed the nearest thing—the bowl for washing his hair—and threw it hard. The ceramic shattered and water sloshed to the floor, but the sharp noise merely marked his response finally rising to meet Jiang Yanli’s expectation. She watched with patience and so much hurt as her brother fumbled for more words, the frustration bubbling up to a volcanic boiling point.
“I hate this!” he screamed. “I don’t want any of this! Why can’t A-Niang leave me alone?! Why—” He choked, feeling like he was bleeding somewhere. “I hate alphas. I hate them.”
The dripping pieces of the bowl trickled dangerously close to the base of Jiang Cheng’s wardrobe, but Jiang Yanli couldn’t bring herself to leave his side. His body shook with distress, but there was nothing he could direct his anger toward but himself. As his hands scratched at his face and shoulder, Jiang Yanli bent and grabbed his wrists—not strong enough to pull them away, but slipping into his grasp, fingers threaded tightly to halt this madness.
And he gripped her tight enough to make her wince, but Jiang Yanli would never let go.
His sobs were vicious, hands tugging her forward until her elbow dipped in the water and the tips of her hair mingled with his. “H-hate it… f-feels s-so fu-ucking h-horrible…” Jiang Cheng’s throat was scratchy; his sister’s hands holding his were the only things stopping him from clawing there, too. “Jiejie… why… w-why did this ha-appen…?”
This path she needed to tread with more care than ever. Squeezing his shaking hands, Jiang Yanli picked through the words that wouldn’t place the blame on him.
“I,” she said, bringing their entwined hands to his cheek, “wouldn’t have let that alpha near you if I didn’t think she was going to treat you well… nor if I didn’t see proof that you wanted her to stay.”
The gray eyes reflecting hers were dull—rain clouds that wouldn’t shed their burdens. Things he had known and trusted were slow to well to the surface, but they did.
Relief washed through him when he saw A-Jie replace A-Niang at the mouth of the cave. He could finally go back to his room and nest. When he looked at you, there was a glimmer of resignation that sent anxiety spiking through him.
Weren’t you coming, too? Didn’t you want to stay with him?
“Alpha?” he called, and relaxed when you did.
When you held him tighter, he breathed in your scent with a sigh. It mingled warmly with A-Jie’s, strong but mellow.
He wanted to bury himself in this, in you, together.
You carried him home, even as your arms shook. He held on to you.
Jiang Cheng shook his head, but what his sister said was true.
“It’s my fault,” he keened, and Jiang Yanli was quick to shush him.
“No, xiao-di, no.” She searched his eyes, squeezing his hands tighter. “Did someone tell you that?” It took a great deal to corrode Jiang Yanli’s patience, but if Yu Ziyuan had placed blame on A-Cheng, that patience just might snap.
To her relief, Jiang Cheng mumbled a tiny “No.”
“That’s good,” she soothed with a hand in his wet hair. “Because it’s not your fault. You did absolutely nothing wrong.”
Inside, Jiang Cheng still searched for someone to blame.
He couldn’t bring himself to place it on you.
He didn’t know why.
Staring sightlessly at the wall, Jiang Cheng allowed his sister to resume rinsing his hair. Her fingers rubbing gentle circles in his scalp soothed him, eyes drooping and head tipping back until the ceiling consumed his bleary vision.
“I want to hate her,” his mouth whispered.
Jiang Yanli’s acknowledgement was a soft thumb over his cheekbone. Tears mingled with bathwater until they were indistinguishable.
Quiet settled over the room, calming and at the same time a heavy reminder that the silencing talisman sat bright on the door. Still, Jiang Yanli didn’t rush, washing her brother piece by piece, hands caring and unhurried.
She had to place her tumbling thoughts to the back of her focus. As hopeful as she was that his conflicted feelings about you would level out into positive ones—and as necessary as it was to strategize in case they didn’t—she needed to prioritize the present moment.
Once his hair was washed clean, Jiang Yanli stood and did her best to scoop the broken bowl into his wastebasket. The sun filtered through the propped-open window, indicating mid-morning, but Jiang Cheng felt like he was suspended far deeper in the water than where it rested at his throat. Resentment welled up like another, thicker liquid, but with his mind so scattered, he could only hate himself for not helping his sister pick up his own mess.
“Jie, you’ll get cut,” he croaked.
Instead of stopping, Jiang Yanli laid the final large piece of the bowl in the wastebasket, then slipped one of her own robes from the pile their mother had left at the foot of the bed. She spread it carefully over the remaining small shards of ceramic, and returned to her brother’s side.
“No cuts,” she said, holding out her unblemished hands with a smile. “See?”
With near-childlike uncertainty, Jiang Cheng lifted one hand from the tub, water tumbling down his skin as he brought his sister’s hands close to his face, one and then the other. The bath dulled his scent, but Jiang Yanli took the opportunity for a deep inhale while he tugged her close. He wasn’t suppressing distress anymore, but his scent still held an agitated tang.
Seeing firsthand that she was unhurt, Jiang Cheng relaxed enough to resume soaking in the bath. Thoughts and feelings continued to churn inside him, swelling too wide to escape his lips.
Jiang Yanli waited beside him, and would wait forever if it meant he felt safe.
The sun traveled. Jiang Cheng never found the words to speak.
It came time that the silencing talisman posed a risk. Their mother would no doubt barge in any minute now.
“I need to check on A-Niang,” Jiang Yanli said as she combed the wet straggles of her brother’s hair. “I’ll only be a minute. But, before I go, I want to ask you something.”
A drop slid down Jiang Cheng’s chin. He watched it plip down to the bath, its ripple distorting his cloudy reflection. “What?”
Jiang Yanli chose her words carefully. “What do you want to happen next?”
For a fragile moment, Jiang Cheng stopped breathing.
“My only request is that the punishment is of your choosing.”
His hands curled into fists so tight, they shook.
“I’m already causing you so much trouble.”
“I'm scared.”
“I just hope you don’t hate me.”
“I don’t…” He choked, a sob wrenching from his throat. “I don’t know.”
Jiang Yanli thought this might be the case. In the meantime, she would continue with her own plans.
Midway to touching his shoulder to comfort him, she paused. Which side had held the submission mark…?
Redirecting to his arm, Jiang Yanli rubbed the tender skin soothingly. “You don’t have to choose now, A-Cheng. I know it’s overwhelming. A lot happened.” She began to towel off his hair. “I’ll be right here, okay?”
But Jiang Cheng shook his head again, a lock of hair spilling from the towel and back into the water. Even the gentle weight of his sister’s gaze was crushing.
Jiang Yanli paused. If her brother wanted space, she understood… but she couldn’t be sure of his protection if she wasn’t there.
(She didn’t know what she would do when her whole life transitioned to Lanling.)
“A-Cheng,” she murmured, reaching around to cup his wet cheek. “I will always give you what you need from me. But A-Niang…” They heaved a small sigh in tandem. “You know how she is. I don’t want to leave you alone if you don’t think you’ll be able to handle her.”
Feeling strangely assured, Jiang Cheng opened his mouth:
“My alpha can—”
My alpha can keep me safe.
—and froze.
Those words, simple but telling, had Jiang Yanli rooted in place as well.
Breaths hitching, Jiang Cheng stared at the sliver of blue sky outside the window without really seeing. That gaping feeling in his chest wouldn’t stop growing, impossible to ignore.
He knew how to fill it. He wanted you. He didn’t want to.
Your body wrapped around his. Your words a tearful dagger, your flesh a heavy shield. Folding into your embrace, assured for once that someone else will bear the burden of his mother’s vitriol.
His shaking hand lifted, curling on his shoulder—the place your teeth had sunk in, where your lips had later kissed with so much tenderness.
Watching her brother lapse into memory, Jiang Yanli barely breathed.
He had never felt this type of bliss, with an alpha’s teeth sunk into his flesh, the need to fight wrung so thoroughly out of his body. Mouth clamped on his freshly marked shoulder, you tensed, and your jaw began to slacken, pheromones thickening with bitter shame. Breathing shallowly in this new relaxed state, Jiang Cheng rumbled with a lax, appreciative purr.
No more stress. No more worries. He was with his alpha, and it felt good.
Abruptly, Jiang Cheng stood, scattering drops of water on the wooden floor. Jiang Yanli averted her eyes, but listened to make sure he didn’t slip as he climbed out of the tub. Upon hearing the rustle of the bigger towel wrap around his body, she went to his closet and picked a clean, comfortable outfit to present to him. Not their full sect garb, but a few layers to keep him suitably clothed.
After he dressed, Jiang Yanli cupped his cheek again, searching his face. “Are you sure you can handle A-Niang?” she repeated, needing that reassurance before she went to see you.
Absently twisting his hair out of the damp towel, Jiang Cheng allowed himself a moment of indulgence in his sister’s comfort. He turned his face into her hand and leaned into the warmth, breathing deep as her calm pheromones wrapped around him like a blanket.
This was all he needed. Not some alpha he barely knew. With his sister at his side, he could weather any storm—even if it came from within himself.
“I’ll be fine,” Jiang Cheng said, determined to make it so.
What Jiang Yanli saw in his eyes was more stubbornness than anything. “And you’re alright with our shimei being banished from the sect?”
His gaze flickered. “Yes.”
Ah.
Arranging her expression carefully to conceal her disappointment, Jiang Yanli nodded.
Watching her, a shadow of fear shifted deep within Jiang Cheng.
He knew what that reticence meant when it was his sister wearing it. This was her last resort to hide her true feelings, when she really couldn’t bring herself to smile.
Why did Jiejie disapprove? Didn’t she want what was best for him? Why wasn’t she cursing you for stealing away her first and only chance to dote on him during his heat? Didn’t she agree that alphas were no good for an omega like him?
Did she like you? After what you’d done to him?
Bitterness clogged his heartspace, swollen rivers in his veins. What was so special about you that Jiang Yanli would ignore everything he’d been through and feel disappointment when he was happy to see the natural consequences of your actions?
You bowed to him instead of retaliating. Apologized instead of shouting.
“I understand if that’s what you want,” you said. “It’s not my place to put up a fight.”
Sad eyes. Loving words. Gentle hands that pinned him down and held his cheek and touched him between his…
Jiang Cheng turned away from his sister, jaw clenched.
The decision to punish you wasn’t up to anyone but himself. Even you agreed. If for once he went along with his mother’s harshest ways, then so be it.
~
They removed the talisman from the door, and the second Jiang Yanli opened it to peek through, Yu Ziyuan came striding right in. Unsurprised even as she jerked back a step to make way, Jiang Yanli resealed the room and hovered close to the other two.
“I trust you’ve calmed down by now,” Yu Ziyuan said crisply, eyeing her son up and down.
Jiang Cheng stood straight, hair pulled in a high ponytail to finish drying. “I’m fine, A-Niang.”
Yu Ziyuan‘s scrutiny was as unyielding as ever, but this time, Jiang Cheng didn’t shy away.
“Good,” she said finally. Her eyes flashed between her two children. “We have much to do to tie up this disaster.” Jiang Cheng’s fists clenched, but he kept his gaze steady. “I don’t know where your useless father is lurking, but we can reach a consensus without him.”
“We were close to agreeing on our shimei’s sentencing,” Jiang Yanli said, coming to stand beside Jiang Cheng facing their mother. She was hesitant to call it punishment when there was still a chance that A-Die would take her side—and especially when A-Cheng’s feelings were mixed worse than one of A-Xian’s “creative” alcoholic cocktails. “I think this is important enough that we all support the solution.”
“Tch. It’s only because you and your father are so soft-hearted,” Yu Ziyuan said icily, but Jiang Yanli’s convictions had only solidified since receiving the news of how you’d been treated.
“I propose a pack meeting,” she stated firmly. She would not allow her mother to pounce on the opportunity to surpass the sect leader’s authority in his absence. “I’ll go find A-Xian. A-Niang, could you please go find A-Die? Let’s meet in—”
“Right back here,” Yu Ziyuan interrupted. “As soon as we retrieve them.”
The two women’s eyes met, one gaze searing and the other assessing. After a beat, Jiang Yanli decided it was better that Yu Ziyuan agreed to the pack meeting at all.
“Yes,” Jiang Yanli acceded, glancing at Jiang Cheng to see him nodding as well.
“Quickly,” said Yu Ziyuan, her nimble hand already sliding open the door.
The pair of kitchen staff were standing with the soup ready to go, seemingly in a silent stare-off with Jinzhu and Yinzhu who framed the doorway. Quickly, Jiang Yanli gestured for them to feed her brother, and they obeyed almost eagerly.
After one last glance at Jiang Cheng as he accepted the bowl of soup being ladled for him, Jiang Yanli followed Yu Ziyuan into the hall and set off to the dungeons. When she heard Yu Ziyuan instruct her attendants to guard Jiang Cheng’s room even in her absence, Jiang Yanli’s heart clenched, but she didn’t have a single second to spare.
~
You had long since surrendered to the oppressive silence when the dungeon doors opened once more. Half your mind thought it was your fate come to bargain, but when the quickening steps revealed Jiang Yanli in their wake, you couldn’t summon the strength to be surprised.
The guards stationed before your cell stood vigil as they would for any common criminal, and this sight urged Jiang Yanli’s feet forward, faster. Thick iron bars hashed her view of you in sturdy vertical lines. Her presence did not stir the guards, save for their eyes trailing her approach.
In her view, your appearance was unkempt and weary. Your hair was down in straggles, though tame in a way that she could tell you’d used your fingers to comb it. The clothes you wore couldn't consist of more than a single layer, the peaks of your breasts unsupported and ever-so-slightly visible where your robe collar drooped. Even though you sat straight-backed and cross-legged against the small cell’s wall, you reacted almost as little as the guards.
In your view, she was exhausted. The embers of her kindness which usually danced within that gentle smile had dimmed, the events of the week drizzling too much rain to keep her alight. Pieces of you that had scattered to the ground began to claw themselves back together, yearning to become whole enough reach for her.
But you remained captive to your burdens, at the mercy of the consequences you deserved.
For a few dragging seconds, not one person moved.
In her disbelief at just how little dignity you had been afforded, Jiang Yanli couldn’t help but stare at the guards. Why on earth were they just standing there? Now that she arrived, shouldn’t they be letting you free? Not even that—since Yu Ziyuan wasn’t looming over them like a stormcloud that could strike them at any moment, shouldn’t you at least be moved into a cell that wasn’t suppressing your energy? Just looking at your listless posture, her instincts urged that you needed to be doted on just as much as Jiang Cheng did.
“What are you doing?” Despite herself, frustration seeped into Jiang Yanli’s tone. “Open the cell—please.”
Your heart stuttered, and you unsteadily pushed up to your feet. Did this mean you were free? Did you really have permission?
The guards glanced at each other uncomfortably. “Jiang-guniang, it’s on Yu-furen’s orders…”
Jiang Yanli had to take a deep breath. “Yes… I understand. I don’t want any of you to get in trouble, really, I don’t. Please just… wait outside. You can return once I’ve finished speaking with her.”
You couldn’t help but smile a bit. Jiang Yanli and Wei Wuxian had the same idea, wanting privacy without inviting Madam Yu’s wrath.
Perhaps with more enthusiasm than she expected, the guards ushered outside, pausing only to hand Jiang Yanli the key to your cell.
Jiang Yanli very nearly jammed it into the lock in her haste, but as the barred door creaked open with a piercing ache, you only stood there.
Did you deserve to go free? Was there a life that still awaited you out there? Did you have enough control not to seek your omega out the moment your feet touched soil? (Yes, you did. But wouldn’t it hurt more, being able but knowing it wasn’t welcome?)
Treading forward, Jiang Yanli left the door as far open as it went, checking over your condition with a worried crease in her brow.
“I’m so sorry you were sent here,” she said softly, a bed of grass when your feet were met with thankless stone. “You should’ve been fed, at the very least. I’ll send for food and a bath after we’ve talked.”
You couldn’t manage to drag your concrete jaw open, let alone accept her kindness.
Once she was close enough, the dreadful moment happened: her eyes landed point-blank on the most jarring bruises on your whole body.
Jiang Yanli gasped, fingers touching the mottled marks smeared into your neck. You stayed still for her, but had to stop your pheromones from reaching out for comfort.
“Is that—? Oh, shimei,” she said in horror, “you didn’t deserve that. I can’t believe Mother would resort to something so crude…”
A faint, agonizing smile curved your chapped lips, feeling no humor. “No… it wasn’t her.”
She paused, palm warm on your sensitive neck.
You swallowed. “Shijie… Jiang-guniang. Your brother doesn’t want me.”
Unable to look, you didn’t see the way her eyes went wide with realization, then softened in pity.
“No,” she murmured, hand stroking up to hold your cheek, though she didn’t force you to meet her eyes. You couldn’t bear it. “He does, shimei.”
Hope was a dying bird in your chest, and her words made it flap its feathered wings. “Did he tell you that?”
She hesitated. The fluttering wings weakened and went still.
“He didn’t have to,” said Jiang Yanli. “Of course, he was shocked to find out what he’d done…”
More like what you had done. Guilt made you nauseous, the world glossy through a layer of tears that wouldn’t quite fall.
“… but he isn’t well without you.”
As much as you wished and yearned and wanted it to be true, you just couldn’t take her words as she said them.
“I’m sorry, shijie,” you whispered, trembling down to your fingertips. “He isn’t well because of me. I’m sorry… I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
You dissolved into tears, and Jiang Yanli folded you into her embrace, her chest nudging just below yours. Unable to withstand the weight of your own sorrow, you gave in, burying your face in her shoulder and weeping a fresh swell of tears. She rubbed your back with the perfect, soothing pressure to make your knees buckle, but you refused to go down. Sobs shuddered from your lungs as you hugged her in return, more clingy than you had any right to be, but one whiff of her pheromones had you aching for this comfort.
Head lowering, you pressed your nose to her warm scent gland. Jiang Yanli at her base was earthy and floral, where Jiang Cheng’s notes were woodsy, like fresh soil in a crisp autumn forest. The thought of him made you shudder, wracked with guilt and memories you would never shake until you were dead and gone.
You felt her freeze when your skin touched hers, and you managed to come back to yourself enough to wrench away—but just as you were apologizing again, Jiang Yanli’s hand cupped the crown of your head and pulled you in.
Shudders traveled your limbs like waves chopped by the wind. No matter how inappropriate this was, holding a mated omega of such a higher status as if she was your lifeline, you couldn’t pull away. Jiang Yanli’s hand was firm on your head, insistent and welcoming in ways that simply melted you.
It wasn’t until your lungs were full of her pheromones that you realized what she was doing.
For a pack bond to form, there only needed to be an emotional connection for the alpha-omega instincts to act upon.
A muffled gasp escaped, but she purposely rubbed up on your scent gland, and you wept anew.
“Shimei,” she murmured, pulling back just enough to look into your eyes. Your cheeks and nose were flushed from the endless cascade of tears; you felt ugly, but Jiang Yanli’s gentle gaze saw straight through it all. “Do you love A-Cheng?”
Through another wave of tears, you nodded. “I do… I’m sorry.”
“Never apologize for loving my brother.”
You shut your mouth.
Holding your cheek, Jiang Yanli looked at you seriously. “Then… is this okay?”
Her pheromones seeped out with careful control, perhaps as much as you’d exerted in days past. Deep inside, you felt that this would have the opposite consequences than the ones Jiang Yanli hoped for—and you would only be hurting her more when those consequences came—
But at your core, you just wanted a pack of your own before you died.
Tears streamed down your face as you croaked, “Yes. Please.”
She held you closer, almost supporting your weight as your legs grew shaky. “This is the best I can do for you,” she apologized, but you wouldn’t stand for it.
“It’s more than I deserve.”
“Anyone who has cared for my brother as much as you have deserves my support.” Her tone brooked no argument.
Surrendering to her decision, you bowed your head and allowed her to complete the bond.
More than the subtle shift in both your scents, you felt the change when an unstoppable tide of emotions washed through you—and with them, another flood of tears. Choking on a gasp, you buried your face in her shoulder and sobbed. It felt so good to have a pack bond, someone who would always make you feel at home on the most primal level, but it reminded you of the one person you wanted to claim as your own.
Shivering, you mumbled, “Shijie…” and she stroked your hair soothingly.
“If you really don’t want to leave the dungeons, I won’t force you.” A small sigh fell from her lips, gaze distant in thought. “I’ll talk it over with A-Niang again.”
Heart still buzzing from the new bond, your stomach suddenly lurched. “What if my scent on you makes A-Cheng agitated? What, what if—”
“He will not be upset with me for welcoming you into my pack.” Jiang Yanli cupped your cheek, lifting your face to meet eyes. “It’s my decision and my judgment. He’s not sure how he feels right now, but I know how I feel.”
You reached for a handkerchief you usually kept in your pocket, but finding none, you miserably lowered your hand. “With as much respect as possible… shijie, you don’t know me that well.”
Jiang Yanli produced a cloth from her own pocket and pressed it into your hand. “It’s like I said to A-Xian,” she said knowingly. “Sometimes your cycle shows you at your base instincts. That goes for those around you, too—and your instincts wanted to protect my brother. And you are part of Yunmeng Jiang, shimei—I’ve watched all of our disciples grow up.” She cupped your cheek, her smile sad. “I remember things.”
Your heart fluttered; she could only be speaking of the loss of your parents. Those days where she sat with you and offered gentle words and her scent for comfort stuck in your mind, building your affection for her like water behind a beaver’s dam. Over the years, there had been myriad times you would look at her and long to bring it up again. Just to see if she remembered. To know if she knew what that kindness had done to you.
“Besides,” Jiang Yanli added with a smile like a soft breeze, “I like to think I’m a good judge of character.”
Holding the used handkerchief absently, you nuzzled your shijie’s scent gland, feeling the mark left by Jin Zixuan so many months ago. His crisp, metallic scent influenced the undertones of Jiang Yanli’s, and now yours did, too.
It hadn’t been an accidental claiming—rather, an unexpected one. Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan had only recently begun to speak after their betrothal ended as teens, an amicable relationship tentatively forming through letters and infrequent visits. Then, Jiang Yanli went into heat without warning during last year’s discussion conference at Lanling, and Jin Zixuan had nearly gone feral fending off the nearby alphas. Word was, Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian had paced the halls of Jinlintai without rest until their sister’s heat ended, but were not allowed to interrupt the pair’s spontaneous mating. When the two emerged from her guest chambers a week later, their throats bore each other’s mark, and the betrothal was set anew.
The memory of the news at the time was now bittersweet; though you always held a fondness for your sect leader’s firstborn, now that she saw you the way she did, you couldn’t help but feel a looming sense of loss for when she moved away. Always a steady presence within the sect, a level head when everyone needed it, and now the pillar that kept you from collapsing beneath the weight of despair.
All the thoughts crowding your head fought to move past your throat. But in the end, you just couldn’t say anything.
Jiang Yanli kept rubbing your back comfortingly, melting you into a puddle like you were a kid again, with parents who could hold you and help you and encourage you.
“You’ll be safe,” she said firmly. “A-Niang won’t do anything that will damage the sect’s reputation, especially when it comes to me or A-Cheng.”
A shudder passed through your body. You wished you could believe her with your full chest. “Wei-shixiong told me I’m still getting banished.”
“… I’m working on it,” she murmured. “I don’t want—”
The doors to the dungeons abruptly opened, cutting Jiang Yanli off as you both separated to look at the senior disciples who hurried in.
“Jiang-guniang, Jin Zixuan is here!” one disciple said in a fluster. He looked anxious in a way that made you want to pull Jiang Yanli back into your arms, but you couldn’t tell why. “He’s waiting at the gate with his entourage…”
Beside you, Jiang Yanli was very still.
“Thank you for informing me,” she said, her voice polite and at the same time pensive. “Have they been greeted yet?”
The disciples shared an oddly nervous glance. “Not yet. The lockdown hasn’t been lifted, so they’re being held at the gate. Your parents are, ahem… unavailable. Jiang-gongzi is being guarded in his room. And da-shixiong isn’t allowed to talk to the Jins…”
Feeling confused, you looked to your shijie for guidance, but she seemed just as confused by her parents’ absence.
“Alright,” Jiang Yanli said, hiding her apprehension with a smile. “I’ll be right over.” She turned to you and clasped your hands. “I’ll speak to A-Niang the moment this is sorted out. I promise.”
Lump in your throat, you nodded, trying to smile reassuringly. “It’s okay, shijie.”
Looking like she wanted to argue, Jiang Yanli only sighed before sweeping off with the two senior disciples at her back.
You stood still for a while, the bars of your prison open, and remained even as the guards who’d been sent away returned. They took their posts silently and didn’t force you back inside.
When you turned and stepped into your cell, it was of your own will.
No one commented when you shut the door yourself.
Notes:
Well I didn't mean for the first and last sentences to mirror each other, but uhhhhh let's just say... I'm a Writer ;)
Part of this fic that's rly important to me is to show that other people in the sect care about Jiang Cheng and are looking out for him 🥹 and for Reader too, but Jiang Cheng needs it way more than we do ahahah even in an AU, he's been through enough
The broken bowl is a metaphor, you see, where Jiang Cheng smashed the bowl in his distress and Jiang Yanli picked up the biggest pieces because she knows what will cause her to be cut and can avoid the hurt by asking for help— *cough cough cough hack hack*
Now... Jin Zixuan enters the fray! How will he react to the situation he's haplessly stumbled upon? Tune in next time for more angst and more drama~
(... I want to spoil my own fic SO BAD rn to reassure u guys but let's just hope I update quicker instead 😅😅😅😅 I love hearing your thoughts though~~~ comments feed me~~~~~~)
Pages Navigation
Jiang_Yelang on Chapter 1 Tue 04 Feb 2025 05:36AM UTC
Comment Actions
WIGGIS on Chapter 1 Wed 05 Feb 2025 02:31AM UTC
Comment Actions
screamingbees on Chapter 1 Fri 14 Feb 2025 08:25PM UTC
Comment Actions
WIGGIS on Chapter 1 Sat 15 Feb 2025 12:31AM UTC
Comment Actions
Jiang_Yelang on Chapter 2 Tue 04 Feb 2025 05:56AM UTC
Comment Actions
WIGGIS on Chapter 2 Wed 05 Feb 2025 02:31AM UTC
Comment Actions
screamingbees on Chapter 2 Fri 14 Feb 2025 08:51PM UTC
Comment Actions
WIGGIS on Chapter 2 Sat 15 Feb 2025 12:34AM UTC
Comment Actions
sugargege on Chapter 2 Sat 15 Feb 2025 05:14AM UTC
Comment Actions
WIGGIS on Chapter 2 Sat 15 Feb 2025 06:46AM UTC
Comment Actions
Zebramix on Chapter 2 Sun 16 Feb 2025 03:50AM UTC
Comment Actions
WIGGIS on Chapter 2 Sun 16 Feb 2025 05:47AM UTC
Comment Actions
lu_writes on Chapter 2 Sun 16 Feb 2025 07:54PM UTC
Comment Actions
WIGGIS on Chapter 2 Sun 16 Feb 2025 09:06PM UTC
Comment Actions
lu_writes on Chapter 2 Mon 17 Feb 2025 11:21AM UTC
Comment Actions
WIGGIS on Chapter 2 Mon 17 Feb 2025 04:17PM UTC
Comment Actions
winterpersimmon on Chapter 2 Thu 13 Mar 2025 05:47PM UTC
Comment Actions
WIGGIS on Chapter 2 Thu 13 Mar 2025 08:27PM UTC
Comment Actions
Autopilotas on Chapter 2 Wed 19 Mar 2025 12:20PM UTC
Comment Actions
WIGGIS on Chapter 2 Wed 19 Mar 2025 04:58PM UTC
Comment Actions
Autopilotas on Chapter 2 Wed 19 Mar 2025 05:08PM UTC
Comment Actions
sugargege on Chapter 3 Sun 27 Apr 2025 01:37AM UTC
Comment Actions
WIGGIS on Chapter 3 Sun 27 Apr 2025 03:13AM UTC
Comment Actions
Autopilotas on Chapter 3 Sun 27 Apr 2025 03:20AM UTC
Comment Actions
WIGGIS on Chapter 3 Sun 27 Apr 2025 04:12AM UTC
Comment Actions
winterpersimmon on Chapter 3 Sun 27 Apr 2025 11:59PM UTC
Comment Actions
WIGGIS on Chapter 3 Mon 28 Apr 2025 02:03AM UTC
Comment Actions
screamingbees on Chapter 3 Fri 02 May 2025 04:59PM UTC
Comment Actions
WIGGIS on Chapter 3 Fri 02 May 2025 08:22PM UTC
Comment Actions
UnluckyAlpaca on Chapter 3 Tue 13 May 2025 06:55PM UTC
Comment Actions
WIGGIS on Chapter 3 Wed 14 May 2025 02:12AM UTC
Comment Actions
Jiang_Yelang on Chapter 3 Fri 30 May 2025 01:27AM UTC
Comment Actions
WIGGIS on Chapter 3 Sat 31 May 2025 05:37AM UTC
Comment Actions
Autopilotas on Chapter 4 Thu 05 Jun 2025 07:28AM UTC
Comment Actions
WIGGIS on Chapter 4 Thu 05 Jun 2025 03:40PM UTC
Comment Actions
UnluckyAlpaca on Chapter 4 Thu 05 Jun 2025 07:55PM UTC
Comment Actions
WIGGIS on Chapter 4 Thu 05 Jun 2025 09:14PM UTC
Comment Actions
sugargege on Chapter 4 Thu 05 Jun 2025 08:13PM UTC
Comment Actions
WIGGIS on Chapter 4 Thu 05 Jun 2025 09:22PM UTC
Comment Actions
sandontsengshou on Chapter 4 Thu 05 Jun 2025 09:32PM UTC
Last Edited Thu 05 Jun 2025 09:33PM UTC
Comment Actions
WIGGIS on Chapter 4 Thu 05 Jun 2025 09:50PM UTC
Comment Actions
Zebramix on Chapter 4 Thu 12 Jun 2025 02:23AM UTC
Comment Actions
WIGGIS on Chapter 4 Fri 13 Jun 2025 06:23AM UTC
Comment Actions
Pages Navigation