"I'm going to kill him. I am actually going to kill this author."
Arin slammed his phone onto his pillow so hard it bounced once before landing face-down. His chest rose and fell dramatically, pure Omega rage burning through his veins.
He had just finished the final chapter of what was supposed to be a harmless pass-time novel. Emphasis on supposed.
The ending?
A complete dumpster fire.
The protagonist—also named Arin, because of course the universe hated him—had been publicly executed. His crime?
Falling in love.
Falling in love with the one person he was explicitly forbidden to love.
The Demon King. Zephan.
A one-year contract marriage. One single rule: do not fall in love.
And what did the idiot protagonist do?
He fell in love.
Zephan hadn't hesitated. Not even for a second. He plunged a sword straight through Arin's chest, ending the contract and his life, in a spray of blood and heartbreak.
"Who in their right mind kills someone for falling in love?" Arin yelled at the ceiling. "Isn't that actually insane? Love is a thing of the heart! You don't just stab people for it!"
His fingers clenched into the bedsheets as the execution scene replayed vividly in his head.
'You are really going to stick to the rule of the contract and kill me?' the protagonist had asked, voice shaking.
Zephan's cold, inhuman eyes had narrowed.
'Of course. I am a demon. Unlike humans, demons keep their words. You broke the rule I set. Did you really expect mercy?'
The demon king had even smiled. Cold. Beautiful. Cruel.
'Alright… go ahead then,' the protagonist had said quietly.
And just like that—
'Any last words?'
Before Arin—fictional Arin—could even answer, the blade pierced his heart.
And he was killed just like that!
"He was just a human mage!" Arin shouted. "All he wanted was to be loved, you heartless, scaly bastard!"
He groaned, rolling onto his side and burying his face into the pillow.
Why did he even read something like this?
Why did he do this to himself?
With a tired sigh, Arin pushed himself up. He still had work. Bills didn't care about tragic fictional deaths.
But the moment his feet touched the floor, the world spun.
Hard.
His vision blurred. His body swayed. A sudden, overwhelming heat flooded his veins, sharp and unforgiving, crashing into him like a wave.
Arin fell back onto the bed with a gasp.
"Oh no."
Oh no no no.
"Please don't be heat," he muttered frantically. "Please don't be heat. Anything but heat."
But, the burning ache spreading through his body answered him mercilessly.
And then came the urge.
Overwhelming. Suffocating. Impossible to ignore.
"…Fuck."
This was bad.
No—this was terrible.
This was an actual nightmare.
How was he supposed to deal with his heat when, unlike every other lucky Omega, he didn't have an Alpha?
Yes. You heard that right.
Arin did not have an Alpha.
Alphas were nearly extinct, while Omegas were everywhere. The imbalance was ridiculous. Alphas got to choose the Omegas they wanted, and they always chose Omegas with soft features, pretty faces, and gentle personalities.
Arin?
He was stubborn as hell.
Sharp-tongued. Blunt. Definitely not soft.
Every time he tried to seek help during heat, the Alphas rejected him outright.
Pitiful, right?
Left with no other choice, Arin had resorted to helping himself. At first, it worked. Barely. But as time passed, his heats grew stronger, and even his self-employed method stopped working.
Desperation eventually drove him to a doctor. The man had sighed heavily before handing him a bottle of pills. 'Heat suppressants,' the doctor had said. 'But you can't rely on these alone. Long-term use is dangerous. You need to find another solution.'
Another solution?
Arin had brushed it off immediately.
"For god's sake," he had thought. "What solution is he talking about that I haven't already tried?" Didn't the doctor understand his predicament?
He had no Alpha.
So he ignored the warning. Once. Twice. Three times.
Now, staring at the oddly dark-colored pill in his hand, Arin hesitated.
Just a little.
But then he scoffed.. "I've taken it three times already," he muttered. "And nothing happened. What's the worst that could happen now?"
He swallowed it instantly.
Then he jumped up, pacing the room, testing himself.
No dizziness. No pain. Arin smirked in triumph. "See? I told you nothing would hap—"
His words were instantly cut short when a sharp, blinding pain tore through his body.
Arin's breath hitched as his knees gave out.
He collapsed instantly.