The Beta Wife Claimed by Competing Alphas

Mu Yan was an utterly ordinary beta. The only thing in his unremarkable life he could be proud of seemed to be having an alpha lover who was the cream of the crop.

In their rented apartment in the big city, the light was dim and yellow, and their gasps mingled. As sweat dripped down Lu Chong's face, Mu Yan gazed at his handsome, familiar features and got lost in thought, secretly wondering how long it would take them to buy an eighty-square-meter home in this city.

He was stewing pigeon soup for Lu Chong when a creditor of his adoptive father called. Lu Chong hadn't been sleeping well lately, and pigeon soup was supposed to help with that.

Back then, Mu Yan didn't know that Lu Chong was a young master who had run away from home after a fight with his family. The debt the creditor was demanding was no more than the cost of a night's drinking for him.

*

Meeting Shang Qiyue was an accident. When Mu Yan woke up, he was already in the man's bed, weak all over and feverishly hot.

Shang Qiyue seemed to take his resistance for an act and ignored his pleas.

When Mu Yan woke the next day, his waist was aching badly. His long, pale neck bore violent bite marks, and his whole body was covered in signs of the alpha.

It was only when the man saw Mu Yan crying as he cleaned himself in the bathroom, even reaching for his phone to call the police, that he seemed to understand what had happened.

Shang Qiyue wasn't used to comforting people. Usually, people were the ones going to great lengths to get into his bed. But today, for once, he reached out and wiped the beta's tears.

"Stop crying. I didn't know you were forced into it. Stay with me. I'll handle your family's problems, and I'll make sure you have enough money."

Through his tears, Mu Yan said something in a small, sobbing voice.

"Boyfriend?" Just then, Mu Yan's phone lit up. Shang Qiyue looked at the lock screen, where Mu Yan was smiling shyly beside another man, and gave a mocking laugh.

*

The next time Mu Yan saw Lu Chong was at the engagement party of the eldest daughter of the Lu family. The man stood tall in a white suit, surrounded by several Omegas of exceptional looks and bearing, like a flock of beautiful swans.

Shang Qiyue leaned close to Mu Yan's ear and said, "I bet you didn't expect that the young master of the Lu family in S City wouldn't even help you with that little favor."

Lu Chong's gaze seemed to sweep over them casually. It was just as cool and distant as it had always been, as if nothing could ever catch his attention.

But when Shang Qiyue looked at him triumphantly, the veins stood out on the hand gripping his wineglass, as though he were about to crush it.

Then red wine, like blood, spilled across the floor.

Shang Qiyue didn't wait for the party to end before leaving with Mu Yan. In a good mood, he was gentler than usual, but Mu Yan trembled even more violently.

"Why are you crying so pitifully, baby?"

*Content warnings are in the author's note for Chapter 1.

Theme: After struggling with myself for so long, I'd rather be myself.