I was sure I didn't do any deliveries to this place today. Therefore, why did the atmosphere feel as if I'd just arrived at my flower shop in the wee hours of the morning? Or was my mind playing tricks on me? Come to think of it, I didn't see Yaw either. He had always been the first to receive and inform me of his master's current mood. I chuckled. 'He always looked out for me. Poor guy had work in a place like this.'

Still, this place had a different feeling from what I'm used to, starting with the air smelling differently. 

"Perhaps he has already replaced me with another supplier; took him less than 24 hours to do it too," I mumbled as I headed straight to his study, despite the sudden uncomfortable feeling at the pit of my stomach. Just then, I began feeling lethargic and out of breath, as if someone were squeezing the air out of my lungs. Within seconds, I couldn't move further and needed to support myself to the nearest wall.

This was undoubtedly ominous. Where was everyone? It was my first time to have come here at this time of the morning. Usually, I'd pass by before sunrise, but still, this mansion is traditionally filled with many staff hurrying about their duties. Something was wrong.

"What are you doing here?"

A familiar voice spoke behind me, and I quickly turned to find my nemesis standing there. It was the first time I had seen him dressed casually, and he equally appeared exhausted.

"I asked you what you are doing here?"

"You are a Recessive Alpha, aren't you?" That had not been how I wanted to give him a piece of my mind, but I blurted out the words as they had come through my mind. He frowned a little but did not acknowledge my question. I chuckled whilst at the same time couldn't shake off the unsettling feeling and the urgent need for me to run. "Your silence confirms everything."

He smirked. "So, her warning was legitimate. She can't keep secrets indeed." 

Involuntarily, I burst out laughing, an awkward response that seemed to have surprised him as it did me. Here I was, a Recessive Alpha in front of another like myself, and we hated each other. What part of this was worth guffawing? This scene was far from it. Nonetheless, I still found it uproarious. 

There weren't many Recessives out there. Therefore, meeting one and sharing the same room required a celebration, but not on this occasion. We were both considered weaklings in this messed-up society. To think I thought him the superior sex; a Beta, when in fact, he was just an Abnormal like me.

Suddenly, a sense of relief washed over me, and then I remembered why I had come here in the first place. "Honestly, I had assumed you were ridiculing me when you made your proposal, but I'm familiar with our sexes being targets of mockery in our world. For that reason, I'm willing to let everything slide." 

Straightening up my posture, I felt the need to emphasize some things.  "Look, I'm neither your friend nor want to be one. I came here today to inform you to stay away from Noelle and my father. If it is me you are really after to ruin, leave them out of it."

"You missed a day of conveyance. Why?"

"What?" Was he even paying attention to me? He just brushed me off like what I was saying was meaningless.

Just then, a smile formed on his face, followed by an urgent need for me to let out my pheromones, and gradually, I began to feel drawn towards a particular familiar feeling...Or was it my pheromones? Couldn't be. Something smelled extremely seductive... 'The scent of an Omega!'

'B-But there were only two of us here... U-Unless he had a lover hidden somewhere here... No way!' I looked at the bastard squarely in the eye, never thinking he'd stoop that low, forcing staff to show up to work during their heat. This was the danger I'd warned Noelle about!

"The flowers you bring every day have been having the same scent."

'What is this guy mumbling about? We both had to get out of here! There was an Omega in heat, and from the smell of it, if a Recessive Alpha like me could perceive it, then there was no mistaking it. The Omega in heat was definitely Dominant!'

"That's how you've been making your customers loyal and addicted to your business, luring them to only purchase from your father's flower shop. You target Omegas, but your ultimate vendetta has been to lure Betas, emptying their pockets to addiction and financial ruin."

So, he knew all along? But if he'd known, why bring it up now? What is his true purpose? He would have done so long ago if he meant to expose me. 

"What the heck are you talking about?" I felt choked, croaking my question out, then leaned onto the wall further for support. My mind warned me to distance myself from this guy, but it didn't make sense for him to make me feel maleficent. It was almost as if I were going into an unplanned rut.  And him having an Omega staff in heat would leave us in a very compromising situation. I had to distance myself from this place, and fast!

"You're going into a rut?" He walked closer, unaffected by the density of the air, and I wondered if he really was a Recessive Alpha. Perhaps Noelle had been incorrect, or this bastard had lied to her about his gender to get information about me from her.

He shamelessly sniffed me, his expression remaining tout. "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.  

I couldn't remember what had happened afterwards, but when I opened my eyes, I was lying in an unfamiliar bed, naked, and the grouch was next to me, bare-butted as well.

My nightmares had come to life.

"No!" I yelled, retreating further away from him, then fell to the floor. I groan from the pain of my back slamming the white floored tile that I was sure the loud thud had awoken him. I quickly sprung up and almost knocked my head on the bedside lamb. 'How did I get here? In this situation?!'

I grabbed onto the sheets to cover my nakedness, only to expose his further. 

'Where are my clothes?' I turned around, feeling uncomfortable looking at him in that state. His entire body had been covered in bruises, some of which appeared to be bite marks.  

'No! No! No! No! No!' "You bastard!" I used all the strength I could to slap him awake, but he was wholly passed out. "Get up, you...!"

"Master! Are you awake?"

I 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.

A thousand questions ran through my mind, but what she said next made a cold chill run down my spine.

"So, you are the Almega he made. I see why he chose you for a bride."

What was she talking about? I looked at her, utterly perturbed and confused. I last heard of that term almost twenty years ago while in school. 

'Almega?'

"I trust you had a good night." She then covered her nose as she scanned me from head to toe. "You reek of master's pheromones...and yours I believe. Never thought he'd allow an Alpha into his premises, let alone a Rcessive one."

I looked at her, confused. I'd kept my identity a secret... I'd taken hourly suppressants whenever I visited this place... A Rcessive was just inches away from being a Beta... So what in the world was she talking about? Almega? U-Unless...

I turned to look back at the naked man in the strange bed, in this peculiar room I'd never been to since I began coming here. Wait a minute... I was the stranger here...

"If the master is awake, you may have breakfast together."

"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 seemed irritated by my question, yet could clearly see how confused I was. "Did my master not propose to you?"

My heart sank, the realisation dawning on me. There is only one reason why a Recessive Alpha wouldn't be affected by another Recessive Alpha's pheromones.  "I'm an Alpha..." I whispered, in denial of my new reality.

"Not any more. Your pheromones are quite aromatic and pleasant. If you hadn't transitioned to an Almega, I would have been in heat by now." 

She quickly reached towards me and proceeded to cover the falling sheets that prevented her from seeing my nakedness. My body shook from terror. This had to be a dream; more like a nightmare!  "No way..." It all made sense now why everyone was pushing me towards this bastard, and it shattered me to the last crumb.

"I hope you will treat my master well. Being Dominant has weighed him down for many years therefore, I now accept your usefulness to this household and my master."

'This bastard had turned me!' "He was the Omega in heat." I mumbled to myself.

"Do not fret. Your secret is safe with us."