Gu Xun woke at 4:15 a.m. every day now.
No alarm. Just the bone-deep ache of five years' regret pulling him vertical like a puppet on strings.
His new apartment was a shoebox with steel-reinforced walls and a view of the dumpster. Humble. Fitting for a dog without a master.
By 4:58 a.m. he stood outside Lu Rin's penthouse door, arms loaded.
Container one: Lu Rin's matcha oats, chilled to 4°C, drizzled with rare Manuka honey sourced from a single New Zealand hive.
Container two: Beiyan's peaches, sliced into wolf fangs, paired with a boiled egg carved into a snarling pup face.
Container three: Beiyu's yoghurt-banana sludge, topped with exactly three goldfish crackers shaped like sharks.
He wore the gear.
Silver-mesh gloves, bite-resistant, custom-forged to withstand S-class toddler fangs.
Black hoodie, oversized, printed in blood-red letters: I FAILED MY OMEGA. NOW I BEG.
Lin Yuan's text last night: "Upgrade your chew toys, loser. Beiyan needs more than your weak-ass skin."
Gu Xun rang the bell at 5:00 a.m. sharp.
Lin Yuan opened, eyes bloodshot, smelling like stale Red Bull and forum admin stress.
"Two seconds early. The boss hates overeager dogs. Hand it over."
Gu Xun passed the containers. "Traffic was nonexistent. Tell Rin-rin the oats are perfect."
Lin Yuan snorted. "Pups are up. You've got four minutes before he smells your desperation. Move."
Gu Xun stepped inside. The air hit him like a drug: Lu Rin's ice-lotus base layered with warm milk and twin Alpha sparks. His own resin scent melted instantly, submissive, pleading.
The boys were in the hall, pyjama-clad, hopping from foot to foot.
Bladder emergencies at dawn.
"Daddy!" Beiyan launched like a missile, latching onto Gu Xun's thigh. Mint and mischief flooded the air.
Gu Xun scooped him up, kissed the wild cowlick. "Morning, my fierce one. Dreams of conquest?"
Beiyan zeroed in on the glove. Gnawed it with gusto. Metal clinked against tiny fangs, a rhythmic chomp-chomp that drew pinpricks of blood where the mesh failed.
Good. Pain meant progress.
Beiyu waited patiently below, silent as a shadow. Gu Xun knelt, offered the unmarked hand.
Beiyu traced the faint scars from the airport bite. Then leaned in and licked once, slow and deliberate.
"Boo-boo gone," he murmured, voice tiny thunder.
Gu Xun's vision blurred. Tears burned hot trails down his face. His chest cracked open, raw and exposed.
Five years. Five fucking years without this.
"Oh, my warrior," he choked, pulling Beiyu into a crush-hug that smelled of pine-resin desperation.
A voice sliced the moment like liquid nitrogen.
"Retract your pheromones, Gu Xun. The room reeks of your pathetic nostalgia."
Lu Rin entered, silk robe flowing like frozen silk, hand absently pressing the scar-line below his navel. Lavender eyes swept him, colder than Siberian wind.
Gu Xun shot to his feet, swiping tears, yanking his scent back to neutral nothing.
"Rin-rin. Oats are ready. Pups fed. Command me."
Lu Rin accepted the containers from Lin Yuan without a glance. "Dog bed status?"
"Installed in the lab. Memory foam. Hypoallergenic. Scent-proof."
Lu Rin glided to the kitchen, trailing frost. Over his shoulder: "Lab. Nine a.m. Sort seven thousand Alpha-vials by pack origin. Fail a single label, and you repeat on your knees."
Gu Xun's spine straightened. "Your will is my chain, Rin-rin. I'll sort until my hands blister."
No response. Just the click of the kitchen door shutting him out.
The twins giggled. Beiyan clapped the bloody glove. Beiyu pointed at Gu Xun's chest.
"Dog. Sit."
Gu Xun dropped to the marble floor instantly, ass hitting cold stone.
Lin Yuan groaned. "Boss, they're turning every Alpha into a rug."
From the kitchen: "Efficient training. Let them."
Gu Xun stayed down, grinning through the ache.
Proximity. Bites. Commands. This was victory wrapped in velvet humiliation.
Lab at 9:00 a.m. sharp.
Professor Bai fidgeted. "Freshman Gu. The vials are... potent. Residual pheromones might overwhelm."
Gu Xun knelt before the wall of glass tubes. "Overwhelm is my baseline, Professor. Rin-rin's orders."
Seven thousand vials. Each laced with aggressive Alpha stink: musk, iron, dominance that clashed with his grovel-resin like acid on skin.
He sorted. Azure Claw. Black Thorn. Crimson Veil. Fingers flew, mind numb, hours blurring.
Then the door opened. An ice wave crashed in.
Lu Rin arrived with the twins in tow. Pre-kindergarten detour.
The boys spotted the "dog bed." Charged it like wolves on prey. Bounced, wrestled, claimed the plush foam with triumphant yips.
Lu Rin knelt beside them, genuine warmth cracking his frost for three seconds. Adjusted collars. Kissed foreheads.
Pure sugar in a blizzard.
He stood, fixed Gu Xun with that lethal stare. "This is no dog bed."
Gu Xun looked up from his knees, hope flickering.
"This is the pups' throne-nest," Lu Rin corrected, voice a scalpel. "Sterile. Sacred. You touch it, I neuter you chemically."
He pointed to the bare laminate patch beside it. Hard. Cold. Unforgiving.
"Your spot. Floor only. Guard it like the mongrel you are."
Gu Xun crawled over immediately, pressing his cheek to the tile. "Thank you, Rin-rin. The floor honours me."
Lu Rin turned away. No acknowledgement. Just left with the twins, door slamming.
Gu Xun stayed prone, inhaling dust and victory.
He had a place now. Inches from his sons. Miles from forgiveness.
But closer than yesterday.
The grovel machine churned on.
Gu Xun slept on the lab floor that night, back to the nest, absorbing phantom kicks like penance.
Tomorrow: 4:15 a.m. wakeup. More oats. More bites. More ice.
He would beg until the lotus thawed.
Or until he froze solid trying.
Gu Xun claims his permanent spot on the cold lab floor beside the twins' opulent "comfort nest," solidifying the daily humiliation routine as his new reality.