The apartment was quiet, but the air felt heavy with memories neither had spoken aloud. Gao Tu sat on the edge of the sofa, hands folded tightly, Omega instincts twisting every thought into knots. Wen Lang leaned against the doorway, eyes sharp, piercing, yet carrying a subtle softness that betrayed concern beneath the Alpha dominance.
"You still think about it," Wen Lang said, voice low, not accusatory but knowing. "About the past. About… us."
Gao Tu flinched, his ears reddening, scent spiking subtly. "I… I try not to," he murmured, eyes avoiding the Alpha gaze that always cut to the truth. "But it… it doesn't leave me alone."
Wen Lang stepped closer, deliberate, the Alpha energy pressing against him. "It shouldn't," he said softly, voice commanding yet intimate. "Everything we've felt, everything we've lost… it shapes us. And it's not gone. Not for either of us."
Omega vulnerability surged in Gao Tu. His chest tightened, and he struggled to catch his breath. "I… I hated how powerless I felt," he admitted quietly, voice shaking. "And I… I hated myself for it."
Wen Lang's expression softened, but the Alpha dominance never wavered. He reached out, brushing a stray strand of hair from Gao Tu's face—light, intimate, but impossible to ignore. "Powerless? You forget," he murmured, voice darkening, low and intimate, "that even in your Omega moments, you are… mine. Always."
Gao Tu's breath hitched. The words were both comfort and claim, igniting every nerve in his body. "I… I never wanted to… be yours like this," he whispered, torn between defiance and surrender.
"You already are," Wen Lang said, stepping closer, letting the magnetic pull of his Alpha dominance envelop them both. "Even when you fight it. Even when you pretend you're not."
The tension hung thick, every glance, every half-step, every unspoken word pulling them closer. Omega desire and Alpha control coiled together, simmering beneath restraint. And in that charged moment, Gao Tu realized—no matter how deeply he tried to hide it, the past, the longing, the desire between them, was impossible to deny.