The hour between sending the message and Tianyu's arrival felt eternal. Yifan paced his guest room, unable to sit still, his body humming with anticipation and fever. His temperature had reached 102.5°F, and every nerve ending felt like it was sparking with electricity. The pre-heat symptoms were intensifying rapidly now that he'd made his decision, as if his body knew relief was coming and was preparing accordingly.
Mo Ran knocked on his door frame. "He's at the ward line. Are you ready?"
Was he ready? To spend seven days in heat with an ancient Alpha who claimed to have loved him for a thousand years? To be vulnerable and desperate and needy in front of someone he barely knew but somehow recognized in his bones?
"Yes," Yifan said, because ready or not, his body was already making the choice for him.
Mo Ran led him to the courtyard. Through the shimmering wards, Yifan could see Tianyu standing in the gathering dusk, perfectly still, waiting for permission to enter. The Dragon King's eyes glowed in the dimness, fixed on Yifan with an intensity that made breathing difficult.
"The wards recognize his intent as protective, not hostile," Mo Ran said. "But you need to invite him in. Sanctuary law. The Phoenix must consent."
Yifan stepped closer to the barrier, close enough to see Tianyu's expression clearly. The Alpha looked different than he had yesterday—less controlled, more raw. His hands were clenched at his sides, ice crystals forming and melting on his fingers in continuous cycles. He was barely holding himself back.
"You can come in," Yifan said, his voice shakier than he'd intended. "I... I choose you. For this."
Something blazed in Tianyu's eyes—triumph, relief, hunger, devotion, all mixed into an expression so profound it took Yifan's breath away. The Dragon King crossed the ward line in two strides, and suddenly he was there, close enough to touch, his cold scent washing over Yifan like winter wind.
"Thank you," Tianyu said roughly. "You won't regret this. I swear it."
Up close, Yifan could see the toll the last two days had taken. Tianyu looked haggard despite his supernatural constitution, shadows under his eyes, tension in every line of his body. He'd been suffering too, Yifan realized. Watching, waiting, unable to help, fighting every instinct to simply take what he wanted.
"Your guest quarters are prepared," Mo Ran said briskly, breaking the moment. "Food and supplies are stocked. Wards around those rooms are reinforced—nothing gets in or out without my permission. I'll check on you both twice daily, but otherwise, you'll have complete privacy." She looked at Tianyu seriously. "She's trusting you with her most vulnerable state. Don't make me regret allowing this."
"I would die before I'd harm her," Tianyu said simply.
"Him," Yifan corrected quietly. "I use he/him pronouns. I'm... I'm not her. Not exactly."
Tianyu's expression flickered with something—surprise, then understanding, then a determination that seemed to firm something inside him. "Him. Of course. Forgive me. You're right—you're Yifan, not just Phoenix returning." He said it like a vow. "I'll try to remember that."
The guest quarters Mo Ran had prepared were in a separate building, connected to the main house but isolated enough for privacy. Inside was a bedroom with a large comfortable bed, a bathroom with a deep soaking tub, a sitting area, and a small kitchenette stocked with water, tea, and simple foods.
"Heat usually comes in waves," Mo Ran explained. "Periods of intense need followed by windows of relative clarity. During the clear periods, make sure he eats and drinks. During the waves..." she looked at Tianyu, "you know what to do. Keep him safe, keep him comfortable, and remember—no bonding bites unless he explicitly asks with clear consent. Understand?"
"I understand," Tianyu said.
After Mo Ran left, closing the door behind her, Yifan and Tianyu stood in awkward silence. The reality of the situation was settling in—they were alone, Yifan was going into heat, and they were virtual strangers despite the weight of past life memories between them.
"How do you feel?" Tianyu asked, maintaining careful distance.
"Hot. Restless. Like my skin doesn't fit right." Yifan rubbed his arms, trying to ease the sensation. "Scared, if I'm honest."
"Don't be. I'll take care of you. I promise." Tianyu gestured to the bed. "You should rest while you can. Heat will hit harder soon, and you'll need your strength."
But Yifan didn't want to rest. Despite his exhaustion, despite the fever, he felt wired, unable to settle. His mind was racing with questions he'd been too overwhelmed to ask before. "Tell me something," he said. "Something about yourself that has nothing to do with being Dragon King or waiting for the Phoenix. Something that's just you."
Tianyu looked surprised, then thoughtful. He moved to sit in one of the chairs, carefully keeping distance between them. "I paint," he said after a moment. "Landscapes, mostly. Mountains and water, the way ice forms on lakes, the patterns frost makes on windows. It's... peaceful. Helps me think."
"Really?" Yifan couldn't picture the imposing Dragon King with a paintbrush.
"I had to find ways to fill time. A thousand years is long, even for an immortal. I learned many arts—painting, calligraphy, music. I'm terrible at music," he added with a slight smile. "But adequate at the visual arts."
"What else?" Yifan pressed, fascinated by this glimpse of the person beneath the legend.
"I read voraciously. History, philosophy, fiction when it became popular. I've watched human civilization evolve from a distance, seen empires rise and fall, technologies transform the world. It's been... humbling, actually. Humans accomplish so much in such short lives."
They talked for another hour, Tianyu sharing stories carefully chosen to reveal himself rather than impress. He told Yifan about learning to use the internet and being baffled by social media. About accidentally causing a snowstorm in July because he'd been upset about a book's ending. About the small courtyard garden he maintained at his estate, growing plants that had been extinct for centuries.
Yifan found himself relaxing despite the fever, despite the situation. This was what he'd needed—to see Tianyu as a person, not just as the overwhelming force of destiny and power.
"Thank you," Yifan said. "For this. For talking like we're just... people."
"We are just people. I may be ancient and powerful, but I'm also someone who gets absorbed in books and makes terrible tea and sometimes talks to my plants because I'm lonely." Tianyu's ice-blue eyes were warm with something Yifan couldn't name. "I want you to know me, Yifan. Not the legend, not the King. Me."
Before Yifan could respond, a wave of heat crashed over him so suddenly it stole his breath. His fever spiked dramatically, his vision blurring, his body flooding with need so intense he gasped and nearly fell.
Tianyu was there instantly, catching him, supporting his weight. The Alpha's cold touch against his burning skin felt incredible, and Yifan heard himself whimper, pressing closer, seeking more of that soothing chill.
"It's starting," Tianyu said, his voice tight with control. "Let me get you to bed."
The next hours blurred together in a haze of fever and need and relief. True to his word, Tianyu took care of him—cooling his burning skin with careful touches, providing relief without demanding anything in return, whispering reassurances when Yifan cried from the intensity of it all.
But he didn't bite. Didn't mark. Didn't try to form the permanent bond that Yifan's heat-addled body begged for. He held back, exercising control that must have cost him dearly, because Yifan could feel the Alpha's restraint like a living thing between them.
When the first wave finally eased, leaving Yifan exhausted and clearer-headed, he found himself wrapped in Tianyu's arms, the Alpha's cold aura surrounding him like a cocoon. The bite mark on his neck was shallow, temporary—it would fade in days rather than lasting forever.
"Why didn't you?" Yifan asked drowsily. "Complete the bond? I would have let you. I wanted you to."
"I know. But heat wanting and real wanting are different. When you bond me—if you bond me—it needs to be a choice made with a clear head and full understanding of what forever means." Tianyu's fingers carded through his hair gently. "I can wait. I've proven I'm very good at waiting."
Yifan wanted to argue, but exhaustion pulled him under. He slept deeply, dreamlessly, cocooned in ice and safety.
He woke to Tianyu pressing a glass of water into his hands. "Drink. You need to stay hydrated."
The water tasted like heaven. Yifan drained the glass and accepted a second, his body desperate to replenish after the intensity of the first heat wave. His fever had dropped to a more manageable 100°F, and he felt almost normal, if exhausted.
"How long was I out?" he asked.
"Three hours. The waves will get closer together as heat progresses, with less recovery time between them." Tianyu offered him a plate of sliced fruit and cheese. "Eat something. You'll need your strength."
As Yifan ate, he noticed details he'd been too overwhelmed to register before. Tianyu had changed the sweat-soaked sheets at some point, had cleaned him up gently, had made sure he was comfortable. The room smelled like winter and ice—the Alpha's scent—rather than the overwhelming sweetness of Phoenix heat.
"You're taking care of me," Yifan said, surprised by the realization.
"Of course. That's what mates do." Tianyu caught himself. "What partners do. What anyone who cares does."
"But you barely know me. This me, I mean. Shen Yifan, not the Phoenix from before."
"I'm learning you." Tianyu's expression was soft. "Every moment, I'm learning who you are now. How you like your water cold but not ice-cold. How you unconsciously curl toward coolness when you're overheated. How you make this small sound when you're content. You're not her, Yifan. You're you. And I'm finding I like you very much."
The admission made Yifan's chest tight with emotion he couldn't name. Before he could respond, his phone buzzed on the nightstand—somehow Tianyu had thought to bring it from his room. The screen showed a text from Qingqing:
"Fanfan, I'm really worried. It's been three days. At least tell me you're okay? Please?"
Three days. Had it really been that long since he'd left campus? The time had blurred together—archives, revelations, Mo Ran's sanctuary, and now this.
"I should answer her," Yifan said. "She's my best friend. She deserves to know I'm safe, even if I can't tell her everything."
"Go ahead. I'll give you privacy." Tianyu moved to leave the room.
"Stay," Yifan said impulsively. "I'd... I'd like you to stay."
Something warm flickered in the Alpha's expression. He settled back in the chair, giving Yifan space but remaining present.
Yifan texted back: "I'm safe. I promise. Going through some family stuff that's complicated. I'll explain everything when I can, but right now I just need you to trust me. Are my professors angry?"
Qingqing's response came quickly: "I covered for you, said you had a death in the family and needed bereavement time. They're allowing extensions on your assignments. But Fanfan, you sound different. Not bad different, just... different. What's happening to you?"
"I'm figuring out who I really am. It's scary and exciting and overwhelming. I wish I could tell you everything, but I can't yet. Soon, I hope."
"Okay. I trust you. But I'm here when you're ready to talk. Love you, weirdo."
"Love you too."
Setting the phone aside, Yifan felt the weight of the normal world he was leaving behind. Qingqing, classes, his thesis, the life he'd built—all of it felt distant now, separated from him by an unbridgeable gap. He was stepping fully into the supernatural world, and there might not be a way back.
"She means a lot to you," Tianyu observed.
"She's the best friend I've ever had. The only person besides my grandmother who really knew me. Or thought she did." Yifan's laugh was bitter. "Turns out she didn't know me at all. Nobody did. I didn't even know myself."
"You knew the parts that mattered. Phoenix or not, supernatural or not, you're still the person who cares about ancient history and defends his friends and questions everything. Those parts are real."
Before Yifan could respond, another heat wave began building. This one came on slower, giving him time to recognize the signs—rising temperature, increasing sensitivity, the empty ache low in his belly that demanded filling.
"Tianyu," he gasped, reaching for the Alpha.
"I'm here. I have you."
And he did. Through that wave and the next and the next, as day blurred into night and back to day again. Tianyu was constant, reliable, providing everything Yifan needed while asking nothing in return. Between waves, they talked—about Yifan's life, his studies, his dreams for the future. About Tianyu's millennia of existence, the things he'd seen and done and regretted.
On the third day of heat, during a clear period, Yifan asked the question that had been nagging at him. "Why haven't you tried to convince me to bond you? You have the perfect opportunity—I'm vulnerable, dependent on you, my defenses are down. You could be using this time to manipulate me."
Tianyu was quiet for a long moment. "Do you remember what you told me, in our past life, after I asked you to bond me?"
"No. The memories are still fragmentary."
"You said, 'I'll choose you when I'm certain it's me choosing, not Phoenix responding to Dragon. Give me time to separate my own will from cosmic pull.'" Tianyu's smile was sad. "It took you three months to decide. Three months of me courting you, proving myself, showing you that I could respect your autonomy even when every instinct screamed to claim you. When you finally said yes, I knew it was real. It was you choosing me, not destiny forcing your hand."
"And now?"
"Now I'm doing the same thing. Proving I can care for you without demanding payment in the form of a bond. When you choose me—if you choose me—I'll know it's because you want to, not because I coerced you during vulnerability."
The integrity of that stance made Yifan's eyes sting with tears. How many Alphas would show such restraint? How many would respect an Omega's autonomy over their own desperate desire?
"I'm starting to understand," Yifan said softly, "why I chose you before."
"Only starting?" Tianyu's tone was teasing, lighter than Yifan had heard before. "I'll have to work harder, then."
By the fourth day, Yifan's heat had intensified to the point where the clear periods grew shorter and shorter. He was barely coherent between waves, his world narrowed to need and relief, fever and ice, Tianyu's presence as the only anchor in the storm of sensation.
But through it all, he felt safe. Cherished. Cared for in a way that had nothing to do with his Phoenix nature and everything to do with Tianyu seeing him, knowing him, choosing to protect him not because destiny demanded it but because he wanted to.
During a brief moment of clarity on the fifth day, Yifan noticed something he'd been too overwhelmed to register before—Tianyu looked exhausted. The Alpha's control was costing him significantly. Ice kept forming and melting on every surface he touched. The temperature in the room had dropped at least ten degrees from his constant effort to cool Yifan's fever.
"You're suffering too," Yifan said, touching Tianyu's face. Even that simple contact made him shudder with need, but he forced himself to focus. "Helping me through this is hurting you."
"I'm fine."
"You're not. I can see it. Your control is fraying."
"I'll hold." Tianyu caught Yifan's hand, pressing a kiss to the palm. "I've held for a thousand years. I can hold for three more days."
"Why? Why torture yourself when you could just... bond me? Complete it? I can feel that you want to. Every time you bite me, every time you're inside me, you're fighting not to mark me permanently. Why fight so hard?"
Tianyu's eyes burned into his. "Because you deserve better than a bond formed in heat. Because I want you to choose me when you're yourself, not when you're driven by biology. Because love without choice isn't love at all—it's possession, and I won't do that to you. Not again. Not ever."
The words hit Yifan like a physical blow. Not again. Because in their past life, their bond had been formed freely, but then politics had tried to take that choice away. Tianyu wasn't just giving him autonomy—he was correcting a cosmic wrong, ensuring that this time, nothing would taint Yifan's choice.
"You really do love me," Yifan whispered. "Not the Phoenix. Not the power. Me."
"Yes," Tianyu said simply. "Though I didn't realize how completely until these past few days. Watching you, learning you, seeing who you are beyond the legends—I'm falling in love with Shen Yifan. If you never remember your past life, if you never connect with those memories, it wouldn't matter. I'd still love this version of you, this brave, questioning, stubborn person who demands to be seen as himself."
Yifan wanted to respond, wanted to say something equally profound, but another wave was building, stronger than before. The fifth day waves were the worst, Mo Ran had warned—the peak of heat intensity before it began to gradually decline.
"Help me," Yifan gasped as fire consumed him from the inside out.
"Always," Tianyu promised.
The next thirty-six hours were a blur of intensity that Yifan would only remember in fragments. The heat at its peak was overwhelming, all-consuming, reducing him to pure need and sensation. But through it all, Tianyu was there—constant, reliable, providing relief and care and safety even as his own control frayed to breaking point.
Yifan would remember Tianyu's voice, hoarse from talking him through the worst moments. Would remember the Alpha's cold hands on his overheated skin, soothing and grounding. Would remember being held through the fever dreams, Tianyu's presence keeping the worst of the disorientation at bay.
And he would remember the moment on the sixth day when Tianyu's control finally cracked.
Yifan had begged—incoherent, desperate pleas for the Alpha to bite, to mark, to complete the bond and end the maddening incompleteness. And Tianyu had growled, "No," through clenched teeth, ice exploding from him in waves, the room temperature dropping so fast that frost formed on the windows. "I won't take that choice from you. I won't."
The sheer force of will it took for Tianyu to refuse what they both desperately wanted made something inside Yifan crack open. This Alpha, this ancient powerful being, was choosing Yifan's autonomy over his own desire. Was protecting Yifan's right to choose even from Yifan himself.
That was love. Real, profound, sacrificial love that put the beloved's needs above one's own wants.
By the seventh day, the heat was finally breaking. The waves grew gentler, farther apart, less consuming. Yifan's temperature began to drop, his mind clearing like fog burning off in sunlight.
He woke on the morning of the eighth day to find himself clean, comfortable, wrapped in fresh blankets. Tianyu sat in the chair across the room, head tilted back, eyes closed, clearly exhausted. Ice covered half the room—the walls, the floor, parts of the furniture—evidence of how hard the Alpha had been fighting for control.
"Tianyu," Yifan called softly.
Those ice-blue eyes opened immediately, focusing on him with concern. "How do you feel?"
"Better. Clearer. The heat's broken, hasn't it?"
"Yes. You made it through. Seven days, as predicted." Tianyu's smile was tired but genuine. "You did well."
"You did well," Yifan corrected. "You took care of me through all of that, gave me everything I needed, and didn't take advantage once. Do you know how rare that is?"
"I only did what anyone who cares should do."
"No. You did more than that. You loved me enough to protect me from my own heat-driven decisions. That takes incredible strength."
Tianyu stood slowly, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. Up close, Yifan could see the toll it had taken—the shadows under his eyes, the tension still coiled in his muscles, the way his hands trembled slightly with exhaustion.
"Come here," Yifan said, opening his arms.
Tianyu went into them with a sound that might have been relief or surrender, letting Yifan hold him for the first time. The Alpha was larger, stronger, but in this moment, he curled into Yifan's embrace like he'd been waiting centuries for permission to be vulnerable.
"Thank you," Yifan whispered into Tianyu's hair. "For seeing me. For respecting me. For loving me enough to wait."
"Always," Tianyu murmured. "I'll always wait for you. As long as it takes."
They stayed like that for a long while, holding each other, both recovering from the intensity of the past week. Outside, Yifan could hear birds singing, could see sunlight streaming through the windows. The world continued on, but in this room, time felt suspended, peaceful.
Eventually, Mo Ran knocked on the door. "Heat's broken. You both need proper rest, food, and medical checks. Give me twenty minutes, then come to the main house."
After she left, Yifan and Tianyu helped each other clean up. It felt intimate in a different way than the heat had been—gentle, domestic, caring. Tianyu helped wash Yifan's hair, his cold fingers massaging his scalp. Yifan returned the favor, marveling at the length of Tianyu's dark hair, the surprising softness of it.
"What happens now?" Yifan asked as they dressed in clean clothes.
"Now you recover. Rest, eat, regain your strength. And then..." Tianyu hesitated. "Then you decide what you want. The Council will demand a formal presentation of you to the supernatural community. Other Alphas will claim the right to court you. Politics will intrude whether we want it to or not."
"And us?"
"That's entirely up to you." Tianyu's expression was open, vulnerable in a way Yifan suspected he rarely allowed himself to be. "I meant what I said. Heat changes nothing about your choice. If you want to explore other options, other Alphas, you're free to do so. If you want time to yourself, to figure out who you are without anyone's influence, I'll give you that space. And if you want to pursue what we have, what we're building... I'll be here."
Yifan looked at the Alpha who'd cared for him so thoroughly, who'd protected his autonomy even at great cost to himself, who was even now offering freedom rather than demanding commitment.
"I want to know you better," Yifan said. "The real you, not just the Alpha helping me through heat. Can we do that? Take time to actually build something before making permanent decisions?"
Relief and happiness transformed Tianyu's features. "Yes. Yes, we can do that. Whatever pace you need, whatever you want—I'll match it."
As they left the guest quarters to join Mo Ran, Yifan's hand found Tianyu's. The Alpha's fingers were cold as always, but they curled around his with gentle certainty. It felt right, natural, like pieces fitting together.
But Yifan wasn't naive enough to think the path forward would be easy. The supernatural world was waiting, full of politics and power plays and other Alphas who would claim rights to court him. His life had been irrevocably changed, and there was no going back to the simple existence of Shen Yifan, university student.
But looking at Tianyu, seeing the way the Alpha looked at him—like he was precious, worthy, chosen—Yifan thought maybe the complicated future ahead wouldn't be so terrible. Not if he faced it with someone who loved him enough to let him choose freely.
The Phoenix inside him stirred, content for the first time in a thousand years. And Shen Yifan, the person he was now, felt the first stirrings of hope that maybe he could have both—could be the Phoenix and himself, could honor the past while choosing his own future.
Together, they walked into the sunlight, ready to face whatever came next.