Before she could react, his arms slid around her waist, pulling her closer. Her breath caught but she didn't move.

"Or... am I dreaming?" he whispered.

Elara didn't give herself time to think about it.

Thinking was dangerous and thinking meant remembering.

And remembering right now would be a mistake.

"The passcode," she repeated, more firmly this time.

He hummed faintly, his head dropping briefly against her shoulder.

"I missed you..." He mumbled, the words barely coherent.

Her expression hardened slightly. He's completely out of it.

"Silas," she pressed again. There's no point speaking to him in this state, she should hurriedly take him to her room. 

As she turned away heading towards her own private space, she heard; 

"1812," he said faintly forcing himself to breathe as if regaining consciousness for a brief moment. 

"That's... the code..."

His grip loosened slightly as his head tilted, voice fading.

"1812..."

The numbers lingered in the air like something fragile. 1812 

"It was that day...Elara..." He whispered, "You were eighteen...and I was twelve years old...do you remember?" 

Elara didn't give time to think about what he said, that's murder on her side. She didn't waste another second as she shifted her weight slightly, keeping Silas steady against her as she reached for the keypad. Her fingers moved quickly, pressing into the cold. A soft click followed and the door unlocked. 

She pushed it open with her shoulder, guiding Silas inside before kicking the door shut behind them.

The room was dimly lit, clean, precise, everything in its place. It felt like him, smelt like him, a man's room smelt so pretty. 

She barely made it two steps in before his weight gave out again. 

"Silas-"

He sagged against her, his grip tightening weakly around her waist as if she was the only thing holding him together.

"Don't..." he murmured, his voice barely there. "Don't let go..."

She was increasingly getting annoyed, dangerous and she ignored it as she tried to push towards the bed. 

"You're not in a position to make requests," she said, her tone firm, though quieter now. She guided him towards the bed, her pheromones barely anchoring her strength as it seemed to be draining out of her, his omega pheromones had seeped into hers so much that she was on the verge of losing control. 

But she managed, lowering him down carefully. The moment his back hit the mattress, he exhaled sharply, as the contact grounded him, if only a little. She looked at his shoes and began to take them off. 

But it didn't last before his body tensed again almost immediately, a low, strained sound slipping past his lips as his hands fisted into the sheets.

"Hot..." he breathed. "It's too much..."

Elara stood there for a second, watching and assessing him. Her own breath hitching...she could feel the pull in between her legs. Her pheromones are slowly turning against her. 

She looked away and when she looked back, he was already moving, tearing at himself like he was trying to escape his own skin. His bow tie came loose, discarded. Buttons followed, one after another, until his shirt fell open.

Don't go there, she turned away slightly, dragging a hand through her short hair, trying to think past the scent that was still wrapping around her like a trap. Or the exposure of skin in plain sight. 

Focus.

"What did they give you?" she asked, her voice sharper now as she looked back at him. She proceeded towards his drawer, to find anything...just any drug that could quell him.

"Silas."

That got something.

His gaze shifted, slowly finding her again. Locking onto her like instinct instead of thought.

"You're here..." he whispered.

Not answering the question, she wasn't even trying to, she was trying to save them both from something that's about to happen if not curbed. Her irritation grew as she ransacked through and increasingly found nothing.

She turned to him, her own sweat detailing how much wrong has started to take hold of her, "Listen to me," she said, her voice dropping, more controlled now. "You need to tell me where your suppressants are. My pheromones can't help you anymore, not now." 

"Why? They helped twelve years ago..." He said his lips parted slightly. "Do it as you did it last time, make it go away..." He said, while her eyes trailed the line on his neck, following the sweat that kept soaking into his chest and straight down to his abs. 

Her brows drew together sharply, her breathing cutting. 

"Your suppressants..." she insisted trying to create a distance but his hand whipped forward and gripped hers, pulling her towards himself, she landed on his body before she could even blink.

She seized. 

Silas's grip tightened instinctively around her wrist, like he was afraid she would disappear if he let go. The heat coming off his body was suffocating now, burning through the thin space between them.

"Elara..." he breathed, her name rough against his lips.

It wasn't just the way he said it. It was how his body reacted to her. Like she was the answer to something he couldn't fight anymore.

Her jaw clenched, "Let go."

But he didn't budge. Worse, she wasn't moving either.

Their pheromones had tangled somewhere between them, thick and volatile, feeding off each other in a way that made the air feel too tight, too charged to breathe.

Her Alpha roared beneath her skin, feral, aggressive, fighting to take over what little control she had left.

This wasn't good, it was dangerous. She could feel herself slipping. Melting into his grasp instead of resisting it.

Her breath hitched.

"No."  Elara shook her head sharply, as she could physically throw the feeling off, and grabbed his wrist, trying to pry his hand away from her.

"Let go," she repeated, more forcefully this time.

But Silas, who could barely stand minutes ago, didn't move, even an inch. His grip held unyieldingly firm. 

Her eyes flickered, something unsettled flashing through them.

"You heard me," she started, her voice tightening as she pulled harder, her strength pressing in now. "I said let..."

She didn't finish before his lips crashed into hers.

For a second, time stopped. Elara's mind went completely blank. She wasn't thinking, control gone, just impact mixed with heat and shock. 

His lips were hot, burning against hers like he was trying to anchor himself, like she was the only thing keeping him from completely losing it. 

"Please Elara...save me..." He murmured into her mouth, his hands suddenly beginning to leave their position on her waist, trailing over her back, sparks and ignition flying everywhere across her skin, dragging upward over the silk of her dress, leaving a trail of static electricity in their wake.

And for that dangerous second, she melted into her want, her lips suddenly moving against her will, grinding against his, flaring their senses. Her heart was beating out of proportion. 

Her fingers tangling in the damp hair at the nape of his neck to tilt his head back. She let her lips slide from his mouth, tracing the hard line of his jaw until she found the pulse point in his neck. It was hammering, a frantic rhythm that matched her own. She pressed her face there, inhaling the raw, unmasked scent of his distress. 

"Ugh...there right there..." he whispered, his head falling back against the pillow. She sucked his neck, loving the scent, loving the way her heart jumped at each suck...she placed her palms on his hard bulky chest, rubbing gently against the hard nipples before she pulled down and let her tongue whip around one nipple.

"Augh...Elara!" Silas let out a wrecked moan, gripping the sheets, his eyes closing.

The sound of his voice, raw, broken, and desperate, sent a fresh wave of heat through Elara's veins. It wasn't just the physical reaction; it was the power of it. To hear Silas reduced to a panting, trembling mess under her touch was a drug she hadn't known she was craving.

She didn't stop. Her tongue flicked across the peak of his nipple again, slower this time, savoring the way his entire body jolted beneath her. She could feel the heavy thud of his heart against her palms, a wild rhythm that mirrored the storm breaking inside her.

"Is this what you wanted?" she murmured against his heated skin. 

Silas couldn't answer with words. His breath was coming in jagged hitches, his head thrashing slightly against the pillow as he fought for air that was saturated with her scent. His hands finally broke their grip on the sheets, reaching for her. They didn't go for her waist this time; they slid lower, his large palms cupping the silk-covered curve of her glutes.

He squeezed, his fingers digging in with a possessive, grounding strength that pulled her flush against the hard ache of his thighs. The friction was a revelation. Even through the layers of her gown, the contact was electric, a spark that traveled straight to the junction of her legs.

"Elara... please," he gasped,  "I can't... I can't breathe without you."

He surged upward, driven by a sudden, primal need to reclaim her mouth. He didn't wait for her permission. His lips crashed into hers again, messy and fevered, his tongue seeking hers with a starved intensity. 

As they kissed, Silas's hands moved with a newfound urgency. He didn't have the patience for the intricate boning of her dress or the delicate silk ties. His frustration peaked as he felt the barrier between his skin and hers. With a low, guttural sound of effort, his fingers hooked into the neckline of her corset.

Rip.

The sound of tearing silk was loud in the quiet room, a sharp punctuation to their heavy breathing. The bodice gave way, falling open to reveal her breasts to the dim, amber light. For a heartbeat, Silas froze, his eyes wide and glazed with a mixture of reverence and raw hunger.

"You're... perfect," he whispered, his voice trembling.

He didn't give her a chance to respond. He leaned in, his mouth seeking one dark, aching peak. He didn't just touch her; he feasted, his tongue swirling in slow, deliberate circles before his teeth grazed the sensitive skin.

"Uhhh..." Elara threw her head back, her fingers digging into his shoulders as a loud, uninhibited moan broke from her throat. It was the sound of her control finally snapping, the last of her reservations burning away in the furnace of his heat.

"More," she hissed, her Alpha nature finally taking the reins. "Don't you dare stop, Silas."

He didn't stop, there was no way he was going to stop, every bit of Elara plus his scent was melting him further, driving him saner.

He crawled down to the center of her legs, where the pheromones smelled stronger, where her heat and horniness mixed lured him in. 

Elara spread her legs apart for him, watching him as he lay on his stomach, his mouth to her center, and then delved, his tongue hitting against her raw flesh. 

"Ugh..." She moaned loudly, new sparks of pleasure spreading over her skin. 

The sound of her own voice should have bruised her pride but it didn't. She reached down, her fingers tangling in Silas's hair as he continued to suck her, knead her before pushing his fingers in. 

He crouched lower, and as he moved, the scent from his back began to leak out, thick and heavy. It was floral, like crushed lilies and sun-warmed honey, a cloying sweetness that spoiled her senses even further. It was the unmistakable mark of an Omega in peak heat, and it triggered something primal in her Alpha biology.

Driven by a sudden, frantic curiosity, Elara tore him away from her lap. She gripped his shoulders and turned him around, forcing him to present himself to her. She leaned in, inhaling the warm, concentrated scent of his behind. As he shifted, she heard the faint, screeching sound of his hole as it stretched under the pressure of his heat and then pulled back to its original size, elastic and primed.

She was more dumbfounded than riled up in that moment.

Elara had truly never seen a male Omega before, let alone witnessed how their bodies transformed when they were in heat. The way his skin seemed to pulse, the sheer physical readiness of him, was a biological marvel she wasn't prepared for.

Twelve years ago didn't even show this side of him. 

Her hand reached out, trembling slightly, to touch the flushed, tight skin of his hole. The moment her fingertips made contact, Silas winced, his entire frame shuddering violently. He let out a broken whimper, his muscles twitching under her touch as if the mere brush of her hand was an electric shock.

"You..." Her voice seized, the words dying in her throat..