By day three Leo could walk without limping, though he still favored his right hind leg when he thought no one was watching.
Naga hunted, Leo scouted the temple perimeter under cover of night (returning each time with increasingly detailed sketches scratched into flat stones), and Alex… tried to keep two territorial apex predators from turning the situation into a blood feud.
He failed spectacularly at that last part.
"That is MY fish," Naga hissed, coils bunching defensively around a string of silvery catches.
"You have SEVEN fish," Leo pointed out, tail lashing. "I merely suggested that perhaps Alex would enjoy the largest one, which you are currently hoarding like a dragon."
"I caught them for MY mate. If he wants to share with YOU, that is HIS choice, not YOURS to suggest!"
"I was being THOUGHTFUL—"
"You were being PRESUMPTUOUS—"
"BOYS!" Alex shouted from where he'd been trying to organize their meager supplies. "It's FISH. We can SHARE the fish. There is ENOUGH FISH FOR EVERYONE."
Both beastmen looked appropriately chastised.
"...Fine," Naga muttered.
"...Acceptable," Leo agreed.
This had been the pattern for days. Tiny arguments that escalated into territorial posturing until Alex intervened. It was exhausting.
But the real problem arrived on the evening of day four.
Alex had been feeling... off all day.
At first, he'd thought it was just residual soreness from everything his body had been through. Or maybe it was the weird purple fruit he'd eaten too many of yesterday—they'd tasted like grape starbursts, but who knew what they actually were in this world.
But as the sun set and the twin moons began their slow rise into the darkening sky, the sensation grew worse.
It started as warmth. Uncomfortable warmth, like he'd sat too close to a fire. Then it became heat—actual, fever-like heat that made his skin feel too tight and sensitive.
He tried to hide it.
He really did.
He sat cross-legged near the fire pit pretending to study Leo's stone sketches while pressing his thighs together so hard his muscles trembled. Sweat gathered at his temples, his breathing grew shallow, and every time either beastman moved too close his whole body clenched with shameful, involuntary want.
" What is happening to me? " He asked voice ragged.
[ Uh oh, host I forgot to mention a important piece of info. Your code was designed to be a recessive omega in the ABO world.]
" What is that supposed to mean? " Alex asked panting and fanning himself with his hands.
[ It means your heat will be irregular. It will occur anytime and anywhere just like now. ]
Alex's hands stilled mid-fan. "I'm sorry, WHAT?!"
[System: Yeah, recessive omegas have unpredictable heat cycles! Could be days apart, could be weeks! It's like a surprise party, but instead of cake, you get uncontrollable horniness! Fun, right? :D]
"FUN?! YOU CALL THIS FUN?!" Alex's voice cracked as another wave of heat rolled through him, making him double over slightly. "We have a HEIST in TWO DAYS! How am I supposed to—"
He cut himself off with a whimper as the fever spiked, the hollow ache in his abdomen growing from uncomfortable to desperate in the span of seconds.
Leo's head snapped back from where he'd been patrolling at the cave mouth. His nostrils flared, ears going flat against his skull as the scent hit him like a physical blow.
"By the First Beasts," he breathed, his voice dropping to something rough and dangerous. His golden eyes dilated until only thin rings of color remained. "What is this scent? It smells like..." He inhaled again, deeper, and his entire body went rigid. "A female in heat?!"
But that was impossible. Alex was male. Leo had SEEN that he was male, there was no question, and yet—
The scent was unmistakable. Rich, alluring, designed by nature itself to drive male beastmen into a frenzy.
Leo leaped back into the cave, moving faster than thought, his instincts screaming at him that something was WRONG, that his—that ALEX needed—
He skidded to a stop.
Alex was curled on the fur bed, drenched in sweat. His brown curls stuck to his forehead in dark spirals. His shirt—the simple linen one from the system mall—was soaked through, clinging to his trembling form. His beautiful blue eyes were glazed and unfocused, pupils blown wide, and his breathing had become a rhythmic huffing of short, desperate gasps.
"Little mate," Leo cried out, his voice mixing haste and panic in equal measure. He dropped to his knees beside the furs, reaching out instinctively. "Are you alright? Does anywhere hur—?"
Before he could finish the question, before his hand could even make contact, a fresh waft of that sweet, citrusy, absolutely intoxicating scent hit his nose like a hammer to the skull.
Leo's vision actually blurred.
His knees buckled completely, and he collapsed from kneeling to sitting, one hand flying up to cover his nose and mouth in a desperate attempt to block out the scent.
It didn't work.
Nothing could block out something that potent.
"Why do you smell like a female in estrus?" Leo managed to gasp out, his voice strained beyond recognition. His whole body was trembling now, muscles locked in a battle between instinct and conscious thought. "You're—you're male, I know you're male, but this scent—it's impossible—"
Alex, hearing Leo's deep and raspy voice cut through the haze of fever, slowly lifted his head.
His eyes were completely glazed now, rational thought buried under layers of biological imperative. He looked at Leo—at the massive white lion trembling on his knees—and something in his heat-addled brain recognized him.
Strong. Powerful. Alpha.
"Are you an Alpha?" Alex's voice came out slurred, desperate, nothing like his usual tone.
Leo's brain stuttered to a halt. "Al...pha?"
The word confused him. There were no "Alphas" in the beast world—there were only strong males and weak males, leaders and followers. But the way Alex said it, with such desperate need...
Before Leo could process what was happening, Alex was moving.
He crawled across the furs with surprising speed for someone who'd collapsed moments ago, driven by pure instinct. Within seconds, he'd closed the distance between them.
Leo's whole body trembled violently as the scent drew closer, intensified, became almost painful in its allure. He had never smelled anything like this before in his entire life. The scent felt too stimulating, too overwhelming, attacking every shred of control he possessed.
"Stop—stop..." Leo gasped out, pressing his hand harder over his nose even though it did nothing. His other hand came up in a warding gesture. "Don't come near. Or—or I might... I might not be able to control—"
But Alex was already there.
His arms wrapped around Leo's neck with desperate strength, his smaller body pressing against the white lion's muscular frame. He leaned in, and before Leo could react, their lips met in a kiss that tasted syrupy like honey and desperation, and that cursed sweet scent that was driving Leo absolutely insane.
"Please help me," Alex whimpered against Leo's mouth, pulling back just enough to speak. Pearly tears were dripping from those big blue eyes, tracking down his flushed cheeks. "I can't... I can't take it anymore. It hurts. Everything hurts and I need—I need—"
Leo's control shattered like glass.
A deep, rumbling growl tore from his chest—purely instinctive, purely possessive—and his arms came up to wrap around Alex's trembling form.
From across the cave, there was a sharp, violent hiss.
Naga had been out hunting, but he'd returned at some point during the exchange. Now he stood at the cave entrance, a string of fish forgotten on the ground, his emerald eyes blazing with a mixture of territorial fury and... something else.
Concern. Fear.
"What is HAPPENING?!" Naga demanded, slithering forward at frightening speed. But then the scent hit him too, and he froze mid-motion. "Alex—his scent—it's like before but stronger—"
[System: CRITICAL HEAT ALERT! Host's pheromone output: 300% of normal! Both mates are currently experiencing extreme biological response! Recommendation: STOP OVERTHINKING AND LET THEM HELP YOU BEFORE YOU LITERALLY COMBUST.]
Another wave crashed through him, and he actually cried out, the sound high and broken and absolutely devastating to hear.
Naga reached them in an instant, coils already wrapping protectively around both Alex and Leo in an instinctive attempt to shield them from...
everything. His rational mind was screaming about territory, about his bonded mate being touched by another male, but his instincts—those deep, primal things that had nothing to do with reason—were screaming louder.
Mate in distress. Mate needs help. HELP MATE.
"Hey lion," Naga bit out, his voice shaking with the effort of remaining calm. "Can you—are you able to—"
Leo didn't replied but his ears perked up in response.
" Do you want to mate with him? "