I was certain I had made no deliveries to this estate today.

So why did the air feel as though I were arriving at my flower shop in the dead of dawn?

Perhaps my mind was toying with me. Come to think of it, Yaw was nowhere in sight either. He was always the first to greet me, always quick to share his master’s mood.

“Poor man,” I muttered with a humorless chuckle. “He always looked out for me. Shame he has to work in a place like this.”

Yet something was different today, starting with the air. The scent here was sharper, heavier.

“Perhaps he has already replaced me,” I said aloud, bitterness creeping into my tone. “Took him less than a day to do it.”

My stomach churned as I made my way toward his study, but halfway there, my steps faltered. My breath caught. My chest grew heavy.

Within seconds, I had to press against the wall for support.

An ominous stillness filled the mansion.

Where was everyone?

Usually, this place teemed with staff, scurrying feet, hushed voices, the clinking of dishes. Now, there was nothing.

Something was wrong.

“What are you doing here?”

The familiar voice came from behind. I turned sharply and found him standing there. He was dressed casually, a first, and he looked exhausted.

“I asked you what you are doing here.”

“You are a Recessive Alpha, aren’t you?” The words leapt from my mouth before I could stop them.

His brow furrowed, but he did not answer.

I laughed softly, though the unease in my chest only deepened. “Your silence is answer enough.”

He smirked. “So her warning was true. She cannot keep a secret, after all.”

My laughter turned sudden, strange, even to my own ears. There I stood, a Recessive Alpha before another of my kind, both of us seething with mutual loathing, and I was laughing.

Why?

This was no cause for celebration. Yet, some twisted part of me found it funny that the man I had despised for years, the man I had assumed superior, was just like me.

Weak.

An outcast.

An Abnormal just like myself.

My laughter died, and relief washed over me like a strange tide. I straightened my spine.

“Listen,” I said evenly. “I thought you were mocking me when you proposed, but now I understand. Our kind has always been the world’s favorite target. For that reason, I will overlook everything.

However,” I took a step closer, my voice low. “Stay away from Noelle and my father. If you intend to ruin me, ruin me. Leave them out of it.”

“You missed a delivery,” he replied flatly. “Why?”

“What?” My words froze. Was he even listening?

Then he smiled, and suddenly, the air grew heavy. My own body betrayed me, heat simmering under my skin.

A scent reached me, intoxicating and maddening.

An Omega.

I froze.

There were only two of us here… unless…

My eyes widened. “You wouldn’t dare,” I hissed. Forcing a staff member to work while in heat? This was exactly what I had warned Noelle about!

“The flowers you bring each day smell the same,” he said calmly.

“What are you talking about?” I rasped, barely able to stay upright.

“You lace them with pheromones, making your customers dependent on them. You keep Omegas enthralled, and you bleed Betas dry.”

So he had known. All this time, he had known.

Then why say this now? Why corner me here?

My breathing quickened. My vision blurred.

I had to get out, now.

“You’re going into rut?” He stepped closer, unaffected by the dense air.

Was he truly a Recessive Alpha? Or had Noelle been wrong?

He leaned in, shamelessly sniffing me. “Are you not ashamed?”

"I've been having my pheromones...in check the entire time..." I struggled to speak, my vision failing me fast and within moments, I felt myself hit the ground. Just then, the room begun spinning, my rationalism snapping, then everything went dark.  

When I opened my eyes, I was in an unfamiliar bed. Naked.

And he was beside me, equally bare.

My nightmare had come alive.

“No!” I scrambled backward, crashing to the floor with a loud thud. Pain shot up my spine. I clutched the sheet to cover myself, only to expose him further.

My eyes darted over his bruised body, bite marks clear as day.

“No, no, no, no—!” My voice trembled as I rushed to slap him awake, but he remained unconscious.

A knock at the door startled me.

“Master? Are you awake?”

I froze, then rushed to the door without thinking and opened it only to find Norma. She didn't seem surprised to see me at all. As a matter of fact, it was the first time she had ever smiled at me in the last two years.

Her next words froze the blood in my veins.

“So you are the Almega he made. I see why he chose you as a bride.”

Almega?

I hadn’t heard that word in decades, not since school.

“I trust you had a good night,” she said, covering her nose and giving me a slow once-over. “You reek of his pheromones… and your own. Never thought he’d allow an Alpha into his bed, let alone a Recessive one.”

I stood rooted to the spot, my hands trembling. I had hidden my identity for years. Taken hourly suppressants. Maintained perfect control.

What was she saying?

Unless—

I turned toward the bed. The man. The room.

I was the stranger here.

“If the master wakes soon, you may have breakfast together,” she said.

"Which Almega?" I asked, remembering what that word meant to me as a Recessive. Then suddenly, the image of Noelle and my father flashed my mind in an instant, and a lot of things began to fall into place, the last piece of the puzzle dangling midair as if it were mocking me.

She frowned. “Did my master not propose to you?”

My heart sank. There is only one reason why a Recessive Alpha does not react to another’s pheromones.

“I am an Alpha,” I whispered, denial choking me.

“Not anymore,” she said calmly. “Your pheromones are fragrant, harmonious. If you had not transitioned, I would be in heat right now.”

She reached out and gently pulled the sheet over me. My body shook.

This had to be a dream.

No, a nightmare!

Everything made sense now.

Noelle. My father. Their strange persistence.

It had all been leading to this.

“I hope you will treat my master well,” Norma said. “Dominance has burdened him for years. For that reason, I now formally accept your presence in this house.”

My throat constricted as I whispered, “He was the Omega in heat.”

“Do not fret,” she said lightly. “Your secret is safe with us.”