By Zephyria 
Even though it had happened to me personally, it was hard to believe. If the pain hadn’t been so visceral, I might have thought I was dreaming. Frowning, I brought my hand to my throat, only to realize belatedly that I was naked from the waist down. All I was wearing was a crumpled white shirt. I lay there in silence, waiting for Nathaniel to exhale his cigarette smoke before I spoke.
“Did you rape me while I was asleep?”
If so, it made sense that the man had moved me to the bed. Though I still didn’t know why he hadn’t left yet.
Nathaniel said nothing under my steady gaze. He simply stared back at me with narrowed eyes. He took one last drag of his cigarette, let it go, and asked with a thin smile.
“What do you think?”
Returning a question with another question is a coward’s move. However, it seemed this man’s objective lay elsewhere.
For instance, amusement.
“Can I really believe that nothing happened when I’m facing the man who almost raped me?”
I pointed it out coldly. The thought that it was a mistake to let such a person into my house in the first place crossed my mind, but the milk was already spilled. As I waited for an answer, he chuckled and spoke.
“My, I missed a good opportunity.”
I looked at him without a word. In truth, I felt no foreign sensation or pain below. If I had taken something that massive inside me, I would have known it through my body, no matter how relaxed I was while unconscious. It was possible he really had done nothing more than move me to the bed. Unbelievable as it was.
“……Really, nothing happened?”
Even though I knew there was no eerie foreign feeling inside my body, I asked once more as if to confirm. By now, he should have been offended or angry, yet his demeanor remained unchanged.
“Didn’t I say I wouldn’t put it in?”
I was taken aback by the amusement in his voice. How could I be so shaken, forgetting what this man had tried to do to me? Moreover, this man was no different from a leech sucking the blood of the weak. Hadn’t he just defended that heinous criminal in the previous case?
To avoid weakening before the unexpected side of the man before me, I recalled every single reason why I hated him, engraving them into my mind. I deliberately ignored the thought that the very act of making such a resolve was already a losing game.
“I don’t know you well enough to believe that.”
When I spoke with intentional bluntness and sarcasm, he replied leisurely.
“I tend to keep my promises.”
Suddenly, silence fell. Only the occasional chirping of birds beyond the sound of the rain drifted through the air. I absentmindedly gazed at the man standing leaned against the window frame, smoking. Suddenly, the image of him from the day we first met overlapped with his current figure.
I never imagined I’d end up letting this man into my home.
Having thought that far, I quickly snapped back to reality. What happened before I lost consciousness was merely an accidental occurrence. It was something that would never happen again and wasn’t worth dwelling on. Above all, this man was someone I would have to oppose in the future, just as I did now. What more was there to think about?
Steeling my heart, I sat up in bed and said,
“If you have something to say, say it now. I need to get ready for bed.”
Nathaniel cast a glance at me as I stood up straight, then crushed his cigarette against the window frame.
“I was planning to wake you up by force if you didn’t get up by the time I finished my cigarette.”
Then, pointing to the side table, he continued.
“Take that medicine if you don’t want to transition. Sometimes showering isn’t enough.”
Where Nathaniel pointed lay a smoothly packaged capsule. I had never imagined in my life that I would ever have to take such a thing, so this was my first time seeing the medicine in person.
But there was something else that was surprising.
“You don’t happen to carry this medicine on you, do you?”
“Do I look like I’d carry it?”
Nathaniel repeated my words and added,
“I simply told my secretary to bring it. I have plenty of employees who will rush to my side for my convenience at any time.”
Yes, of course you do.
He spoke as if it were a mundane matter, but for me, a mere ordinary person, it was absurd. However, it didn’t end there.
“Why did you bring this to me?”
I asked, not letting my guard down. Nathaniel answered smoothly, as if he had already anticipated such a question.
“I figured you wouldn’t want to transition……”
He trailed off intentionally, creating a pause before adding, “If you want to become an Omega, just throw the medicine away and go back to sleep.”
“No way, I absolutely do not want that.”
I denied it instantly. I am a Beta. I will never transition.
The idea of becoming an Omega and being killed.
Never.
As if to prove it, I grabbed the medicine and headed to the bathroom. Only after swallowing the capsule and drinking two glasses of water did I return to the room. Nathaniel was still standing in the same spot, waiting for me. I deliberately faced him with the bed between us.
“You wouldn’t have waited for me just to give me this.”
I asked, crossing my arms defensively.
“What is it that you want from me?”
Nathaniel narrowed his eyes. As expected, I was nervous deep down, but I pretended not to be, lifting my head and waiting for his reaction. I resolved to respond with composure, without being surprised or flustered, no matter what he said. Without even imagining what words would come out of Nathaniel Miller’s mouth.
“A sex partner.”
“What?”
Despite my resolve, my mind froze instantly. What did I just hear?
“What did you just say?”
To my half-doubting question, Nathaniel replied slowly in his usual languid tone.
“If you become my sex partner, I’ll buy you a mansion overlooking Central Park instead of this rat hole.”
I froze on the spot, my eyes wide with shock.
What did I just hear?
I doubted my own ears, but I also knew I hadn’t misheard. The first thing that came to mind was that this man was a Dominant Alpha. I spoke seriously, with a grave expression.
“Your pheromones must have built up and done something to your head. Go to a hospital.”
“Hardly. I am perfectly normal.”
Surprisingly, Nathaniel let out a short laugh. But I didn’t believe him. Perhaps noticing my expression full of distrust, he added in a casual tone.
“I release my pheromones periodically. It’s a strict rule in my family that pheromones must be purged by any means necessary.”
Even if that were true, it was still nonsense.
“Did you forget that I’m a Beta?”
I threw out the most fundamental question, but Nathaniel responded nonchalantly.
“It doesn’t matter.”
He countered the question casually.
“Is it a problem for you that our traits are different?”
Unexpectedly, Nathaniel seemed sincere. He immediately noticed my momentary predicament.
“I’m glad you’re gay.”
I was startled and flustered by his teasing words.
“What… what are you talking about right now?”
I ended up stuttering. I thought it was a disaster, but I couldn’t take the words back. Memories of the previous day flashed quickly through my mind.
He knew after all.
This man knew from the beginning why I was at that shop. He had simply played dumb. Come to think of it, it was obvious. Whether it was true that I went to meet a client or there was another reason, he must have known what kind of place that shop was before going.
Though I felt a bit shaken, I had no intention of showing weakness before this man. Instead, I lifted my head proudly and snapped back.
“Just because you’re a man doesn’t mean I’ll sleep with anyone. I’m picky about my partners.”
It implied that he was not the type, but the reaction I got was somewhat lukewarm. He didn’t look offended or disappointed, but rather looked at me with a strange expression and spoke slowly.
“Ah…… you’re picky about your partners……”