Designed to Love

"The number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Please try again later." At 4:30 PM on a Friday, the main artery into Monaco was a clogged vein. An impatient driver honked, setting off a chain reaction. The blaring symphony of car horns was enough to make anyone's head throb. Leona irritably pushed her hair back and redialed the familiar number. The ringtone echoed endlessly in her ear, met only with silence. As evening approached, the traffic only worsened. The car had barely moved ten meters in as many minutes. Even the driver had surrendered, pulling a newspaper from the glove compartment to read. Watching the sky darken, Leona felt a spike of anxiety. She wanted to urge the driver to go faster but knew it was pointless. Her only hope was that Jamie would finally pick up. "First time here?" the driver asked, catching her worried expression in the rearview mirror. "Monaco has an airport, but it's miles from the city center. If you'd taken the high-speed train, you'd probably be checked into your hotel by now!" Leona sighed in frustration. "A lesson learned for next time. Is this the only road into downtown? Any shortcuts?" The driver shook his head. "Every road's a parking lot today. It's Valentine's Day. That hotel you're headed to is right by the plaza hosting the lantern festival. Place is swarming!" Leona groaned inwardly. Crawling along like this, when would she ever arrive? She unlocked her phone again, hoping for a missed call or message from Jamie. Her phone vibrated in her tight grip. Her heart leapt—only to plummet when she saw it was just spam. "Ah, great. An accident up ahead," the driver said, pulling his head back inside. "We won't get there before six or seven now." He rummaged in his compartment, pulling out a bag of bread and kindly offering a slice to Leona. "Want some?" Leona declined with a shake of her head. How could she possibly eat at a time like this? She'd received the call that morning and immediately booked the earliest flight from Nice, France. Yet here she was, hopelessly delayed. They were still about fifteen kilometers from the hotel. Could she walk? Her eyes caught a row of shared bicycles by the roadside. "Stop here, please. I'll get out here." "Walk? It's still so far! You won't get there before dark!" "It can't be helped. Thank you." Ignoring the driver's astonished look, Leona jumped out, scanned a bicycle, and set off towards the hotel, GPS guiding her way. The February wind carried a sharp chill. In her rush, Leona hadn't even gone home to pack, just grabbing an old coat from her university dorm. Sheltered in the car, she hadn't noticed the cold, but now, riding into the wind, it cut into her face like a blade. She cycled on the sidewalk. With the roads gridlocked, electric scooters and other cyclists had the same idea, making the pedestrian path nearly as crowded. At 6:20 PM, nearly an hour and a half later than planned, Leona finally reached the hotel entrance. "Sorry, miss, bicycles aren't allowed inside the hotel." Abandoning the bike by the curb, Leona dashed into the grand lobby and straight to the front desk. "Hello. I need to find an omega guest named 'Jamie.' I'm his spouse." She presented a digital copy of their marriage certificate. "His heat came early. I need to get to him." The receptionist gave the beta woman before her a slightly odd look but dutifully checked the system. "We do have an omega named Jamie registered. However, he hasn't requested any heat-cycle assistance from the hotel. Are you sure you have the right information?" Heat-cycle assistance was a standard hotel service. If an omega guest experienced an unexpected heat or other emergency, they could press a button by the bed. The hotel would promptly provide suppressants and notify their designated partner or family. "Wait, you didn't call me?" Leona was baffled. If not the hotel staff, then who had phoned her that morning? Regardless, Jamie's safety was paramount. Yet from morning until now, there hadn't been a single message or answered call from him. The receptionist shook her head, unsure. "Then please give me a key card. I need to check on him." Leona's urgent request was denied. After considerable pleading, the receptionist finally agreed to send two staff members to accompany her and knock on the door. Two male beta employees followed Leona upstairs. They knocked several times at the room door, but no response came from within. "Maybe he stepped out?" one beta suggested. "You could wait in the lobby?" He and his colleague made a move to usher Leona away. Silently, Leona pulled out her phone and called Jamie again. The familiar ringtone sounded clearly from inside the room. Leona's spirits lifted. "He's in there! Please, open the door!" The two staff exchanged a glance, then quickly used a master key card to unlock the door. ------ That morning, when the call came, Leona had been in her lab. The news of Jamie's premature heat sent her into a panic. She didn't even stop to formally hand over her work, just shoved it at a junior colleague, grabbed her coat, and ran. Jamie's situation was unusual. Humans undergo a secondary differentiation around age 18. Most omegas find an alpha partner within two to three years after differentiation to help them through their monthly heats. Those without partners rely on inhibitor injections, but rarely beyond age 22. Yet Jamie had relied on inhibitors past his 24th birthday. He was married, but his wife, Leona, was a beta—incapable of marking an omega or providing the relief of a bond. For years, Jamie had managed with specialized inhibitors, but their effectiveness had been waning with each use. This was precisely why Leona had dedicated her research to developing a permanent suppressant after committing to Jamie. Leona knew Jamie's heat was due in about a week. Lately, due to drug tolerance, it might come a day or two early. But a full week early was unprecedented. Her permanent inhibitor was still in development; even under the best conditions, it would take at least five more years to reach the market. Given Jamie's current state, she didn't know how much longer ordinary inhibitors would hold. ------ The door swung open. The ringing phone was charging on a coffee table nearby. It was a suite. The living area was empty, save for a few used takeout containers on the table, evidence of occupancy. Leona set her backpack on the nearby sofa and pulled out several vials of high-potency inhibitors. She'd had a senior colleague mail them from abroad recently, hoping they might help Jamie. A sudden thud from the bedroom drew the attention of all three in the living room. "Jamie!" Leona's face palmed. She snatched up the inhibitors and rushed to the bedroom door first. It wasn't locked from inside; the knob turned easily under her hand. A pungent, musky odor wafted out. The two male betas behind Leona froze, instinctively trying to peer past her, but she swiftly blocked their view and pushed them back. She locked the bedroom door behind her and turned to face the scene inside. Her eyes burned. In the center of the room was a massive bed. Two naked, pale bodies were still entwined upon it. Moans of pleasure drifted through the air, grating against Leona's ears. The cloying scent of strawberries and cream was locked in a suffocating embrace with a domineering, smoky alpha pheromone, mirroring the entangled figures on the bed—one assertive, one yielding. The room was saturated with their scents. Fortunately for the intruders, all three were betas, immune to the intoxicating allure, registering only the underlying musk. And the person pinned beneath the alpha… Leona would have recognized him even if he were ashes. The sound of the door opening and closing finally pierced the lovers' haze. Jamie, mid-passion, his eyes glazed with lust, used the alpha's shoulder for leverage to prop up his boneless body. He squinted towards the figure by the door. "Leona?!" Jamie jolted awake. It was like a bucket of ice water dumped over his head, chilling him from scalp to heel. Every trace of heat fled his body, replaced by a cold dread. His face lost all color. "Ah!" The alpha on top of him gasped, his body convulsing once before collapsing heavily onto Jamie. "You… what are you doing here?!" Jamie was deathly pale, the fever of his heat chased away by shock. He frantically shoved the alpha off and scrambled to pull the duvet from the foot of the bed, trying to cover his marked body. Leona stood frozen, a cold numbness spreading from her limbs to her core. The bag full of inhibitors slipped from her trembling fingers and hit the floor with a soft thud. "I love you for who you are. It has nothing to do with pheromones or gender. I just love you. Do you love me too?" "Leona, from now on, it's just you and me, forever. I gave up so many great alphas for you. You have to love me, cherish me, care for me always, promise?" "It's okay, it's just a heat. I can endure it! We're human, not animals. We… we can't be controlled by pheromones!" Jamie's past promises replayed in her mind like a taunting film reel. She had believed him. She believed he loved her. Why else would his words have sounded so sweet? But reality had slapped her hard. The sordid scene before her became fist after fist, pummeling her heart. Rage, disappointment, betrayal—they all warred within her. She wanted to rush forward, shake Jamie, and demand an explanation. But then her eyes landed on the fresh, vivid bite mark on the back of Jamie's neck. It was too late. Everything was already too late. All that turbulent emotion drained away in an instant, leaving behind only a crushing weariness. Leona took a deep, shaky breath and slowly closed her eyes, trying to project a semblance of calm. It was a futile effort; her hands, clenched into white-knuckled fists, trembled violently, betraying her shattered composure. "Get dressed. I'll be waiting for you in the lobby downstairs." Without another glance, Leona turned and walked out of the room.