Neo-Chang'an never felt darker than on that rain-swept night. The storm had carved the city into splinters of light and shadow, every neon sign blurred and refracted in puddles that stretched across the empty streets. For Zhou Yu, the rain was nothing compared to the storm inside—the ache that raked his chest, sharp as betrayal and irrevocable as the True Mate bond still burning with its phantom echo.
He moved through the penthouse in a daze, his breath shallow, fingers shaking as he thumbed through the documents left carelessly in the study. The evidence was irrefutable: his world, his reputation, had been dismantled by Li Xuan's deliberate hand. There were emails, timelines, financial arrangements—proof that the Alpha he'd come to trust, who'd claimed him so completely in body and mind, had orchestrated the fall, the isolation, the contract that bound them.Pain was a living thing.
Zhou Yu stood staring at the city beyond the rain—his city—shoulders hunched, every muscle in his body tense with the effort not to collapse. It hurt in places he didn't know he could feel: not just pride, but hope. Not just anger and humiliation, but the hollow after of comfort, intimacy, and blind trust. Each memory pooled within him; the first night, the lingering scent of Crimson Frost in Li Xuan's chambers, the subtle warmth of the Alpha's arms after one of Zhou Yu's heat cycles. Tenderness and cruelty tangled together—so fused he could not undo the knot. Behind him, the penthouse was silent, waiting for a fight that might never end.
Li Xuan's assistant—Wei Min—had left the evidence out, not from malice, but to protect. He'd known Zhou Yu deserved truth more than any contract, any carefully marshaled romance. That truth now hung between Zhou Yu and Li Xuan like a sword: every lie exposed, every twisted motive laid bare.
There were no screams, no sobs, no theatrical collapse. Zhou Yu simply left. He slipped down the marble staircase with his coat pulled tight, stepped into the storm. Head bowed, mouth a hard line, he walked through the rain. Neon splayed across his pale features—a mask for grief, a shield for betrayal. People stared; none recognized the kind of pain that held him upright.Every step felt like walking over embers. The psychic thread that bound him to Li Xuan tugged insistently—punishing, pleading, refusing to let him go. Even as anger blazed in him, Zhou Yu felt the ugly undertow of longing and need. The bond would not release him; separation was a wound impossible to cauterize.Minutes crawled by. Li Xuan returned to the silent penthouse and found the study stripped of Zhou Yu's presence.
Documents scattered, the air biting with the scent of fear and retreat. Panic seized his chest, possessive rage surging through his veins. The Alpha—always so controlled, so certain—lost all pretense, all strategy. He stormed out into the rain, heart pounding with urgency, every instinct screaming Zhou Yu's name.
The streets closed in, cold and indifferent. Li Xuan's thoughts spun: True Mate bond sickness would strike soon—physical agony, psychic breakdown. The Alpha moved swiftly, letting every note of Zhou Yu's pheromones guide him through labyrinthine alleys slick with water and regret. Crimson eyes scanned shadows for a slight figure.
Zhou Yu stumbled into the darkness of an alley, the storm beating against him, his body battered by betrayal and the cruel twist of bond sickness beginning. Dizziness washed through him, nausea rising, his hands unable to stop the trembling that wracked his limbs. The glowing Golden Crescent on his chest ached—a beacon and a torment.The city was cruelly quiet. Even the distant hum of traffic felt muted, as if the world held its breath. Zhou Yu hunched against the wall, fighting the shattering onset of agony. The bond sickness pushed through him—pain, delirium, the physical manifestation of heartbreak heightened by separation.By the time Li Xuan found him, Zhou Yu was too weak for words. The Alpha swept him into strong arms, gripped so tightly Zhou Yu could have mistaken it for violence if not for the tenderness in the way Li Xuan's head bowed to touch their foreheads together."You cannot run from this. I will not allow you to destroy yourself, to suffer because of my pride or your pain. You're mine, Zhou Yu," Li Xuan said, his voice breaking, threading command with fear and love. "Every tremor, every breath, every regret—you're mine now. I will not let you go."Zhou Yu tried to resist—pride demanded it—but the words wouldn't come. He wanted to curse, to reject, but the pain was too great, and the bond too strong."I… I can't… stay… you manipulated me… all of it…" Zhou Yu's voice was tight, choked with the tension of pain and shame."And yet," whispered Li Xuan, desperate and vulnerable, "the bond pulls us together. We are True Mates. You can't escape it, and neither can I. Not while the world is this cruel. Stay with me. We survive together, Zhou Yu. Or not at all."The rain and the city faded. Only the Alpha and Omega, trembling, the bond knitting itself through their bodies, keeping Zhou Yu conscious. The pain intensified—the Golden Crescent pulsed, psychic threads binding them tighter."I… I feel it… I can't… without you…" Zhou Yu confessed finally, the words torn out in a single gasp.Li Xuan pulled him close, each hand tracing circles along Zhou Yu's spine, grounding him with warmth and pressure—reassurance and dominance so intermingled Zhou Yu could no longer tell which he needed more."Then stay," Li Xuan commanded, and this time Zhou Yu obeyed not from fear, but from desperate hope.They remained in the alley, rain sheeting down, the city making them invisible. Zhou Yu slumped in Li Xuan's arms, exhaustion and psychic agony creeping closer to oblivion. Pride and shame warred, but the Alpha's presence, the grounding touch, the pulse of pheromones flooding the air—everything kept Zhou Yu anchored to the world, to hope, to survival.
Li Xuan pressed a trembling kiss to Zhou Yu's brow, a stake against death, a silent plea for forgiveness he would never voice. "You cannot fall apart," he whispered, "not while I'm here. The bond binds us. I'll die before I let you go."
And the bond blazed—a golden glow in the darkness, bright enough to shame the city's neon. Their hearts synchronized, pain shared, bodies merged by the psychic force of True Mates joined at the edge of devastation.Finally, just before unconsciousness claimed Zhou Yu, he surrendered to the bond, letting Li Xuan carry him through the labyrinth of rain-soaked streets. The Alpha's arms were iron, his will unbroken; every step a prayer for safe passage back to the fragile sanctuary of the penthouse.Inside, Li Xuan laid Zhou Yu on the bed, the cold sheets instantly warming as Omega and Alpha pressed together, breath and pheromones mixing in the familiar air. The Moon Mark glowed—beacon, call, promise.
Li Xuan's hand lingered on Zhou Yu's mark, waiting for the psychic pulse to settle, for the agony to subside. "You are safe now," he whispered. "But the world outside—our enemies—they're waiting. We need each other more than ever."
Zhou Yu, wrapped in blankets and memory, murmured something in sleep, the bond still flooding his senses, Li Xuan's scent permeating the room. Exhaustion claimed him, but safety—momentary, fleeting—brought relief.The Alpha watched over him, filled with remorse, devotion, and secret terror. His mind raced, calculating new defenses, new ways to shield the man whose pain he had caused, whose healing now depended on him more than any contract ever could.The storm and the night stretched thin, every heartbeat a testament to pain survived, love reclaimed, and a bond stronger than betrayal. Outside, shadows watched, but inside, Li Xuan held Zhou Yu—alive, bound, chosen.