Chapter Text
If there was any one soul who was the most confused and affected by this whole event it had to be Jiang Cheng himself. After so many years of pressing down emotion after emotion, and arguing that ones gender classification did not define or control people, here he was suddenly unable to control himself, like the monstrous creature that alphas were often portrayed as in novels and whispered about on the streets.
But what was most devastating to him was the war between the part of him that hated what he was doing and the part that loved it.
Truth to tell this wasn’t the first taste that Jiang Cheng had gotten of his darker, more dominating side growing up. But he had worked hard to push down that wilder side of him, thinking of them merely as hormonal hiccups of a young alpha, or the overzealousness of justice. A couple of unnecessary punches or kicks to a reanimated corpse, the need to lock Wei Wuxian out of their joint bedroom for a few hours despite the others whining in an attempt to pull himself together and not lash out, mediating extra long under a waterfall in winter to prevent himself from throwing his sisters arrogant fiancé over a cliff, that sort of thing.
In fact, one of the reasons that Jiang Cheng had paid such diligent attention to Grandmaster Qiren and the Lan lectures in general was because they were all about how to control and regulate oneself. And both prior to being classified and after Jiang Cheng had known that he needed to consistently keep himself in control. Before being classified he feared that he was too emotional, leading him to the idea that he was likely an Omega, but after he’d presented as an Alpha he recognized such incidences as a need for self-control. He realized that it wasn’t that Alpha’s were unemotional, it was that to others their emotions mattered more, because an alpha’s emotions could directly affect a great many people, while an omega’s emotions generally only effected themselves, at least in a negative way.
Jiang Cheng had never wanted to be out of control. No matter what happened to or around him he said his peace, but held back the dominating pheromones that would force anyone to back down or obey like sheep. He wanted to truly convince people of his side of things and win arguments by reason, but with some, like his father, it would never be. He hated the thought of taking advantage of people so despite losing a lot because of it, he held back over and over again, and luckily as it was not often that alphas challenged each other in the cultivation world, he was able to do so.
But when the top alpha of the Wen Sect and his mother unleashed their own alpha pheromones it was like breaking open a door that has been locked up for a very long time and unleashing the beast that was within. Whenever he had come close to slipping he remembered that it always helped when the right omegas were around. Call it instinct, but he knew that was what he needed, so with the last bit of will he had he told Wuxian as much as he could of what he needed, but he was unable to get out more of a description then he had.
After that for a few seconds he really had absolutely no control of himself, and that terrified him, more than the marriage proposals he had received. Words that didn’t feel like his had poured from his mouth and the gentle kind Jiang Cheng that was inside watched in horror as he stole his mother’s weapon with such little effort. His heart was wounded watching the look of anger and betrayal on her face. She was such a brave, strong woman, that it truly hurt him to see her look lost even if it was for a second.
It was the sight of this, even though his own out of control pheromones that did it. He felt as if he were possessed by something great and terrible. Having spent so much time trying to hold back this part of his very essence Jiang Cheng wracked his brain in order to control himself. The dark part of him wanted to snap the Wen sect leader’s neck and conquer everything in sight, but Jiang Cheng fought against this urge causing the undulating androstenone to double down on most of the people around them as an internal battle was going on.
It was somewhere around this time that the Jiang felt something approaching him. He looked around wondering how anyone could possibly move in such an oppressive atmosphere that even he felt it, albeit almost as if he was having an out of body experience. When he saw that it was an Omega the inner Jiang panicked slightly, possible murderer or not, he knew that if he hurt an omega he might not be able to live with himself. The growl that came next therefore was actually from the more rational side of Jiang Cheng than the emotional one. An alpha may be able to do a great many things, but resisting an omega might be the most difficult one of them. Particularly when in such a primal state of mind.
But Xue Yang didn’t back off, touching him in a way that made the rational Jiang Cheng feel somehow violated, but the other part of him curious. Then a voice like music permeated that heavily weighted dark space. A dark back was pressed against him and an angelic warrior-like princely being was before him. The Jiang closed his eyes trying to get a hold of himself as the Xue kept making physical contact with him, chin on shoulder and the whole bit. The alpha tried to stay strong, but it was unwanted and uncomfortable, and the look he was getting from the other omega also bothered him.
So, after a bit of tolerance suddenly the confusion and overwhelming emotions spilled out into a mighty roar, like that of an awakening dragon, before the angelic omega began to play a song, like the melody of his own heart. The alpha staggered back slightly, overwhelmed by emotions, but kept looking into the eyes of the musical omega, feeling as if the Lan was administering medicine and the effects would disappear if he dared to look away.
The Lan moved closer and closer, the music raising each few steps and beginning to calm him little by little. This was not to say that Jiang Cheng didn’t have to fight with himself anymore. No, the emotions had spilled out like a flood attempting to drown him, but with Xichen there playing his song so strongly and beautifully it no longer felt like just himself and his overwhelming emotions, now it felt as if it were 2 on 1, or as if a tiny leak was created in a well that one got stuck inside. It was hope and Jiang Cheng clung to it.
Lan Xichen played until he was so close that had the Jiang been in full control of himself and wanted to he could have played Liebing himself. The song was not enough to lift the suppression of the people around him, but it had been enough to give the Jiang some semblance of clarity. Being so close to the soothing omega, who had begun to emit his own powerful pheromones, like that of a warm and gentle wind began to weave their way through the alphas nostrils, causing his body to slowly take it all in, as if to melt the cold, hard demeanor of the over powered alpha.
The alpha part of him was tantalized by the connection and wanted badly to either dominate the one who dared to calm him or become one with him. But the gentleman Jiang part of him hesitated and pulled back, refusing to take advantage of the Lan, even to save himself. Any terrible act committed against anyone felt like it would be too much for him to bear.
And so though the Lan was so close the body stayed still as the two sides of Jiang Wanyin internally fought for control. Alpha pheromones fluctuated around him causing most of the rest of the room to feel oppressed one second, but free another, in a rather torturous battle. Until suddenly Lan Xichen dropped Libing, cradled the back of the Jiangs head, and called,
“Alpha.”
Both parts of the Jiang responded to the call by looking at the Lan in surprise. Then before any thoughts could pass through the Lan leaned forward, kissing him breathless.
Jiang Cheng’s body went wild and both parts of him joined together in that exact moment. There was something about the kiss that felt so perfect, like missing a piece of yourself, and finally finding it, that caused the Jiang to react without thinking, kissing back, and leaning into it gently, but powerfully. His hands as if possessed fell to the others waist and dipped him slightly to get a better hold, being slightly shorter than the other in the first place. High level alpha and omega pheromones began to join all around them, heightening the sensations they were feeling, and drawing Jiang Cheng in to that comfortable, fulfilling atmosphere as he pulled off the forehead ribbon to unleash the other’s hair before running his fingers through it, and cradling him even more preciously as he followed his emotions and instincts for once.
No one looking at him would have thought that he was a novice at kissing, if some hadn’t known better. He looked about ready to devour the Lan and frankly Xichen looked like he was going to happily let him. Jiang Cheng was just about ready to begin peppering kisses down the other man’s neck, when suddenly his elder brother really couldn’t take the shock anymore and blurted out,
“A’Cheng, where on earth did you learn such techniques?! And here I thought you’d never even kissed someone!”
Hearing such an embarrassing statement said out loud in public caused Jiang Cheng to pause, snapping a bit out of it. When he paused he pulled away from the Lan and gently settled the other before quickly pulling his hands away. He felt a little out of it, dizzy with the influx from the different pheromones, and tried to clear his head. When his eyes focused he saw Lan Xichen before him, looking slightly undone, and suddenly recalled all that had just happened.
Lan Xichen watched fascinated as Jiang Cheng went from nearly ravishing him, to looking half asleep, to beginning to turn a concerning shade of red, to tearing a little at the eyes as if he were about to cry. Wanting to console him and let him know that everything was alright, but being more concerned on whether the alpha was okay or not, he began to ask, when suddenly the great and powerful alpha who had brought Wen Ruohan to his knees in one way and had buckled his own in another, completely fainted before him.
Although he had not exactly seen it coming, the Lan was still able to catch the Jiang, before he hurt himself because they were still rather close. Jiang Cheng was surprisingly light for an alpha, causing Xichen’s protective instincts to rise as he glanced around at the chaos surrounding him. He was a bit worried that the others would come after the Jiang in revenge now that he was unconscious so he scrambled to grab his dropped flute and laid the alpha on his lap so that he’d be close.
Almost everyone looked puzzled, even as they were no longer under the alphas oppression, but one person while still shocked could not help but blurt out the name for the level of androstenone and power they had all just seen. The person who had heard rumors of such power but who had never seen it themselves said the words that some did not even dare to imagine,
“Superior alpha.”