Chapter 6: Scent

Chapter 6: Scent

The car sped through the still rain-soaked night, leaving behind an apartment now filled with unconscious bodies.

Jhonatan sat stiffly in the passenger seat, his hands still gripping his own arms, trying to hold back a shaking that was no longer just from the cold.

"Do you feel strange?" Glenmorrin asked, his eyes glancing occasionally toward Jhonatan between focusing on the road.

"Hot," Jhonatan answered, his voice slightly hoarse. "But also cold. I don't understand it."

"That's normal for the early phase," Glenmorrin said, his jaw tightening slightly. "How long until we reach our destination?"

"You're asking me?" Jhonatan looked at him, confused. "You're the one driving."

"I was talking to myself," Glenmorrin answered shortly, speeding up the car.

Jhonatan noticed Glenmorrin's knuckles turning white on the steering wheel. "You're feeling it too, aren't you?"

Glenmorrin didn't answer for several seconds.

"An Omega's scent in the pre-heat phase," Glenmorrin answered finally, "is hard for a nearby Alpha to ignore. Especially in an enclosed space like this."

"Is that... dangerous?" Jhonatan asked, worried.

"Only if I were someone without self-control," Glenmorrin answered, his eyes staying on the road ahead. "And I always have self-control."

Jhonatan wanted to believe that sentence, but something in Glenmorrin's tone made him doubt it.

The car finally stopped in front of a small house tucked among the trees, far from the city's noise, almost invisible from the main road.

"Is this the place?" Jhonatan asked, studying the simple building—so different from the luxury apartment before.

"Simplicity matters if you want to disappear," Glenmorrin answered, getting out of the car, opening the door for Jhonatan. "Anything flashy draws attention."

The moment Jhonatan stepped out of the car, the heat in his body intensified, making his knees buckle slightly.

Glenmorrin caught his arm quickly before he fell.

"Jhonatan," Glenmorrin called, his voice sharp, full of concern. "How fast is this developing?"

"I don't know," Jhonatan answered, his breathing starting to quicken. "I've never experienced this before. I just differentiated yesterday."

Something shifted in Glenmorrin's expression—a flash of worry quickly replaced by sharp focus.

"First heats often hit harder than the ones after," Glenmorrin said, half-guiding, half-carrying Jhonatan inside. "Especially when triggered by heavy stress like tonight."

"What should I do?" Jhonatan asked, his voice starting to panic, his body growing hotter with every passing second.

Glenmorrin laid him down on the living room sofa, then stepped back several paces, deliberately keeping his distance.

"You need an Alpha to get through this safely," Glenmorrin answered, his voice sounding like he was holding something back. "Or a suppressant. I don't keep suppressants in this house."

"Why not?" Jhonatan asked, curling up on the sofa, clutching a pillow to his chest.

"Because I've never brought an Omega here before," Glenmorrin answered honestly. "This place wasn't designed for a situation like this."

Jhonatan looked at him from the sofa, his eyes clouding from the heat starting to overtake his body. "So what happens without a suppressant or an Alpha?"

"Your body will keep searching," Glenmorrin answered quietly, his eyes avoiding Jhonatan's gaze. "And it can be very tormenting if left unresolved."

"You're an Alpha," Jhonatan said, the words out before he could think them through.

Glenmorrin tensed. "Jhonatan—"

"I didn't mean—" Jhonatan quickly explained, his face flushing, whether from embarrassment or the heat in his own body. "I just... I don't know what else to do."

"Listen," Glenmorrin said, crouching in front of the sofa, keeping a safe distance, "I'm not going to touch you just because your body's asking for it. You were just thrown out of your home, nearly killed twice tonight, and your mind right now isn't even fully your own. If something happens between us tonight, I want it to be because you truly want it, not because circumstances forced you into it."

Those words made something in Jhonatan's chest feel warm, separate from the heat burning through his body.

"So what do you suggest?" Jhonatan asked, his voice weakening, his body starting to shake hard trying to withstand the unbearable heat.

"I'll go find a suppressant," Glenmorrin answered, standing quickly. "There's an emergency pharmacy open 24 hours, twenty minutes from here."

"Don't leave me," Jhonatan said suddenly, his hand instinctively grabbing Glenmorrin's wrist.

Glenmorrin froze in place, staring at Jhonatan's hand gripping him tightly.

"I'm scared," Jhonatan continued, his voice breaking. "I don't know what's happening to my own body, and I don't want to face it alone."

Glenmorrin let out a heavy breath, then slowly sat back down at the edge of the sofa, far enough to keep his distance, but close enough for Jhonatan to feel his presence.

"I'm not going anywhere," Glenmorrin said finally, his voice softer. "I'll call someone to bring the suppressant. I'll be here until it arrives."

"Thank you," Jhonatan whispered, his eyes starting to well up, whether from relief or the increasingly tormenting heat.

Glenmorrin took out his phone, calling someone with a low, quick voice, giving brief instructions about the location and what was needed. After ending the call, he looked back at Jhonatan curled up in pain on the sofa.

"How long?" Jhonatan asked weakly.

"Fifteen minutes," Glenmorrin answered. "Hold on."

Jhonatan nodded, trying to steady his breathing, but every second felt like his body was burning from within.

"Tell me something," Jhonatan said suddenly, his eyes looking at Glenmorrin, pleading. "Anything. I need a reason not to think about this."

Glenmorrin fell silent for a moment, looking surprised by the request.

"I'm not good at telling stories," Glenmorrin said.

"I don't care," Jhonatan answered, his voice weak but insistent. "Say anything."

Glenmorrin sighed, then began speaking, his voice low and flat, as if reciting facts rather than telling a story.

"I was thrown out once too," Glenmorrin said quietly. "Not because of differentiation. Because I refused to kill someone my father ordered me to kill."

Jhonatan looked at him, a little surprised by the sudden confession.

"Who was that person?" Jhonatan asked quietly.

"It doesn't matter who he was," Glenmorrin answered, his eyes drifting far away. "What matters is I learned something that night—that a family who forces you to choose between conscience and loyalty isn't a family worth fighting for."

"That's why you understand how I feel," Jhonatan whispered.

"More than you know," Glenmorrin answered, looking at him directly.

For a moment, the pain in Jhonatan's body seemed to fade, distracted by that moment—two strangers who'd only just met last night, but somehow felt like they understood each other in a strange way.

The sound of a car stopping outside broke that moment.

"That must be my man," Glenmorrin said, standing quickly. "Wait here."

He hurried outside, leaving Jhonatan alone on the sofa, his body still burning with heat, but his mind for a moment filled with the image of Glenmorrin's face while telling his story—the only moment he'd looked like an ordinary human, not the cold, dangerous figure he'd first met at that old warehouse.

When Glenmorrin returned a few minutes later carrying a small box, his expression changed drastically—his face tense, his eyes sweeping over Jhonatan with a worry he no longer bothered to hide.

"What's wrong?" Jhonatan asked, trying to sit up despite his weak body.

"This suppressant," Glenmorrin said, opening the box with a slightly trembling hand, "only works if taken at the very start of the heat phase."

"And now?" Jhonatan asked, though he could already guess the answer from Glenmorrin's face.

Glenmorrin looked at him for a long moment before answering, his voice heavy.

"Your phase has already gone too far," Glenmorrin said quietly. "This suppressant won't work anymore."