CHAPTER 22
After a while, when Rayne’s eyes slowly opened, he saw he was lying on the bed in their bedroom. He blinked a few times, trying to remember what happened.
When he glanced beside him, he saw Lucian sitting on the bed. There was a bandage wrapped around Lucian’s head, and he was wearing clean clothes now.
Lucian had a laptop resting on his lap and was busy typing, focused on whatever he was doing.
As Rayne moved, Lucian noticed it and glanced at him.
"Oh, you’re awake?"
Lucian closed his laptop, set it on the table, and turned toward Rayne again.
Rayne had sat up by now, his fingers nervously fidgeting while he kept his gaze lowered instead of looking at Lucian.
"I’m sorry, Lucian… I’m really sorry. Because of me, you got hurt."
Rayne’s voice was low, heavy with sadness and guilt.
Lucian’s hand wrapped around Rayne’s shoulder and pulled him closer. “Didn’t I tell you before? It wasn’t your fault, so don’t blame yourself. And it’s just a scratch, don’t worry.”
Rayne glanced up at Lucian, and the soft lemon-scented pheromones entered his nose. After inhaling it, he felt calm because Lucian was releasing soothing pheromones.
“Wait… what about Lin and Ren? They must still be waiting for us at the restaurant, right?”
“Nope. Ren already dropped Lin home. And when I talked about marking, I wasn’t pitying you. I genuinely want to mark you and make you mine.”
Rayne stayed silent after hearing that, giving no response. The quiet made things awkward for Lucian. He felt like he had asked something he shouldn’t have again.
Rayne pulled back a little and met Lucian’s eyes. “Lucian… I’m sorry. I misunderstood you. And I’m not against it, you can mark me. After all, we’re married. I’m just… afraid of the pain, that’s all.”
Lucian’s face brightened. He had thought Rayne was going to reject him, but when he heard Rayne had no problem with the marking and was only scared of the pain, he felt overwhelmingly happy.
After ten minutes, Rayne was sitting on Lucian’s lap with his back facing him. His eyes were closed, and Lucian’s arms were wrapped tightly around his waist.
Lucian leaned in, gently licking the back of Rayne’s neck where his glands were.
“Rayne, I’ll only give you a temporary mark for now, so it won’t hurt as much. Once you get used to the pain, I’ll give you the permanent one next time.”
Rayne nodded, and seeing that, Lucian released a wave of his pheromones. The moment the scent touched Rayne’s body, warmth spread through him, making him feel hot.
Rayne unconsciously began releasing his own pheromones in response.
Rayne was scared now. He had always been afraid of pain since childhood, so much that even small injuries used to make him sick.
He was even worried about having sex, because the first time always hurt a lot. Fortunately, he and Lucian hadn’t done it yet, but now… the marking.
It sounded simple, but for Rayne, it was far more terrifying. Lucian’s teeth would pierce into his skin like he was about to devour him.
Just imagining it was enough to make him shiver. But because of Lucian’s pheromones, Rayne felt a little different, calmer, warmer.
Lucian’s tongue kept licking the spot where he planned to bite. Then, without warning, his teeth sank into Rayne’s skin.
He bit down.
“A–aaaargh…! It hurts…..Lucian, stop! I don’t want to get marked now, please stop!” rayne screamed in pain.
But Lucian didn’t stop. He continued biting while releasing waves of soothing pheromones.
With one final hard bite, he finished. As he pulled back, he realized Rayne had gone completely silent.
Rayne suddenly leaned back, his back bumping into Lucian’s chest.
“I… I was so scared. So now that you marked me temporarily, how long will this mark last?” Rayne asked, still panting.
His eyes stared ahead, glossy with tears. He hadn’t expected he would actually get marked today, or that he would feel what it was really like.
When Lucian’s teeth touched his skin, a shiver had run down his entire body, goosebumps rising everywhere.
But… it wasn’t that he hated it. He liked it. His heartbeat was proof of how much he liked the marking, especially because it was done by his husband, Lucian. That made it even more intense.
“Rayne.”
Hearing his name, Rayne blinked, realizing he had drifted off into his thoughts. “S–sorry, what did you say? Can you repeat it?”
“I said the temporary mark will last for three or four days. So I’ll have to keep marking you. And… what about your heat cycle? When does it come?”
Hearing that, Rayne glanced back nervously. His heat cycles were abnormal, they only came once a year, but when they did, the pain was unbearable.
Elite Omegas were different from dominant or normal omegas. They were rare, special, and their heat cycles only came once a year.
But it wasn’t that every Elite Omega’s heat cycle came once a year, this was something unique to Rayne. His heat cycle had been abnormal for years, yet every doctor he visited said nothing was wrong.
Because of that, Rayne never paid much attention to it. But now he had to answer Lucian… and he didn’t know whether he should tell the truth or lie.
In Rayne’s mind, one thought kept repeating: What if Lucian makes fun of me? Who has a heat cycle that comes only once a year?
Every normal omega had their heat every month.
And back when Rayne used to date Losif… Losif never asked about his heat cycle. He never questioned anything like this at all.
“Actually… Lucian, my heat cycles are abnormal. They only come once a year.”
Rayne clenched his eyes shut tightly. He didn’t want to see Lucian laughing at him or making fun of him.
A few seconds passed, and when he didn’t hear any laughter, he slowly opened his eyes.
And when he opened his eyes, he saw Lucian leaning forward. Lucian pressed his nose against Rayne’s shoulder and began to sniff him gently.
Meanwhile, on the other side, a week ago.
After Rayne had left Losif at his villa, early in the morning, Losif woke up. Just then, the doorbell rang.
Losif left his room and went to open the door. A man in a black suit stood there.
“Boss! It’s good you’re safe. But don’t you think you should come back now?” the man said.
At first, Losif looked confused, like he didn’t recognize him at all. But within seconds, his expression changed, cold and sharp.
“I’m coming,” he said.
He left with the man. As soon as he sat in the car, only one person came to his mind, Rayne. Even if Rayne had gotten married, Losif was sure Rayne still hadn’t forgotten him.
After all, Rayne was unmarked. That fact made everything fall into place for Losif. In his mind, he still had a chance. And the way Rayne helped him when Losif pretended to have amnesia… it was obvious.
Losif was certain Rayne still loved him. And he would take Rayne back, at any cost.
Losif was a mafia boss, someone who no longer cared about anyone. Since childhood, his own family treated him harshly under the excuse of “educating the heir.”
In reality, they were simply punishing a helpless child. At that time, Rayne had been the only warmth in his life.
But during middle school, things fell apart.
One day, Ken followed Losif home. Losif’s father was waiting there with a man he wanted killed. He handed a knife to Losif and forced him to stab the man. He even held Losif’s hand and pushed the knife in until the man died.
After it was over, his father beat him with a stick for “not having the courage” to kill on his own.
Ken recorded everything. And he blackmailed Losif, threatening to show the video to Rayne, knowing Rayne would hate him forever.
Losif, terrified of losing Rayne, agreed to anything Ken demanded.
Ken demanded to sleep with losif and he had no choice but to agreed and since then he was listening to Ken.
That’s how Ken ended up forcing Losif into making out with him at the hotel where Rayne’s blind date was arranged.
Losif was devastated. He loved Rayne so much, but everything collapsed. He became a cheater in Rayne’s eyes,a partner who betrayed the person he loved most.
The guilt tore him apart. And he knew he couldn’t live like that anymore.
So he kidnapped Ken. Ken became nothing more than a prostitute, since he enjoyed sleeping with alphas, Losif made him sleep with everyone. That’s how he erased Ken from his life.
As for the video of him killing someone… it no longer scared Losif.
He had already killed so many people by now that the fear had vanished entirely.
“Boss, did you sort things out with the person you liked?” the driver asked.
Losif kept his gaze on the window, but at that question, he looked forward.
“Well… that person still has feelings for me. I just need to try harder, that’s all,” he said.
A small smile appeared on Losif’s face as the car drove away.
For the whole week, Losif had been busy with his work. In the end, he was a mafia boss too, so he knew everything about Lucian very well.
Lucian was the Yakuza boss of the Japanese Black Panther group that operated in this country now.
Everyone knew Lucian was dangerous, extremely dangerous. But Losif hated him even more.
Because in Losif’s eyes, Lucian wasn’t good for Rayne at all.That’s why he had made up his mind: he would take Rayne back at any cost.
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Current day
Rayne arrived at work, still feeling strange after everything that happened yesterday.
As soon as he reached the company entrance, his assistant, San, came running toward him.
“Thank God, boss! You’re here. You won’t believe what happened!” San said, breathless.
“Alright, what happened? I wasn’t feeling well yesterday, that’s why I didn’t come,” Rayne replied.
As they walked inside, Rayne focused on San, waiting to hear the details. But when they reached Rayne’s office, he froze on the spot.
Because right in front of his office door,
Losif was standing there.
Rayne’s eyes widened. His whole body stiffened like stone, and his heart began to race uncontrollably.
‘What was Losif doing here?’ rayne thought.
“What are you doing here?” Rayne asked, then turned his eyes toward San. “How can you let anyone inside like this? This is our company, not some kind of hotel.”
By then, Losif was already standing right in front of Rayne.
“Rayne, I came to meet you. Don’t you want to meet me?” Losif said softly.
Rayne felt his confusion deepen. Seeing Losif dressed properly in a suit made it obvious, his memories had returned.
But along with confusion, a slow burn of anger rose inside Rayne.
He couldn’t forget what Losif had done.
He couldn’t forget that Losif had cheated on him.
And now, hearing Losif talk in the same warm tone he used back at the hospital… Rayne couldn’t tell whether Losif remembered everything or not.
It made everything even more confusing.
“Losif, I don’t understand why you’re here. And I don’t remember ever telling you my company’s name,so how exactly did an amnesia patient remember this?”
Rayne’s eyes stayed fixed on Losif, sharp and accusing.
“I swear I didn’t remember anything when I woke up,” Losif said. “But that night, when you left me in your villa… I remembered everything as soon as I woke up. That’s why I left.”
“So you’re saying you remember everything now?” Rayne asked, his voice cold. “Then if you remember everything, what are you doing here? Just because I showed you some kindness before, did you think I would forgive you for what you did?”
Rayne took a step back, jaw tight.
“And let me remind you, I’m not single anymore. I am a married man.”
Hearing that, Losif’s expression changed instantly. His jaw tightened, and he began grinding his teeth, like he was struggling to hold back his anger.