Chapter 124
“Why?”
The fact that Xiao Xiao was always trying to buy pheromone neutralizer was both infuriating and exhausting to Gu Qian. He suppressed the agitation rising in him and asked, “Why do you have to buy that stuff again?” He remembered destroying a bottle just a few days ago. Why did Xiao Xiao want another one?
Xiao Xiao’s eyes were a little red, and he looked like he was about to break down. “I don’t want you leaving your scent on me. This isn’t your company. They won’t be nice to me or tolerate me just because you’re the boss. They don’t know me. I’m a beta, walking around with an alpha’s pheromones on me. What do you think people will think of me?”
Before, Xiao Xiao had wondered why everyone at the company was so nice to him. Even though he didn’t know anything, they were still kind, willing to help him, willing to explain things he couldn’t understand. Even when he had Gu Qian’s scent on him, they would frown in distaste but still smile and talk to him, acting friendly.
It was only recently that he understood. They weren’t being nice to him; they were being nice to the man standing behind him. They couldn’t afford to offend Gu Qian. Without him, their attitudes would be exactly like the strangers in the restaurant just now.
“It doesn’t matter what other people think. What matters is that you’re mine. Isn’t it only right that you carry my scent?” Gu Qian’s face was serious. “Or is it just that you hate my scent? You don’t like me?”
Xiao Xiao choked back a sob. “You—you’re talking nonsense. Don’t you know whether I like you or not? It’s just that leaving your pheromones on me is too much. I don’t like it. Other alphas don’t do this to their omegas. Why are you doing it to me?”
In the past two years, he hadn’t made a single omega friend, let alone an alpha one. The only people he could call friends were his few roommates, with whom his relationship was lukewarm at best, and An Le. But from what his colleagues had said, and from An Le’s reactions, it seemed Gu Qian’s scent had always faded by the time he went to see him. So An Le had never smelled it.
“Who told you other alphas don’t do this to their omegas?” Gu Qian grabbed Xiao Xiao’s arm and started pulling him toward the car. “They do. They do things far worse than what I’ve done. They inject their pheromones into an omega’s bloodstream so that the omega will carry their scent forever, for the rest of their lives. The scent will never fade. The moment an omega sees them, their legs will go weak, and they’ll spread their legs on their own. You? Do you do that?”
Gu Qian didn’t like this Xiao Xiao. He didn’t like the Xiao Xiao who resisted him, who questioned him. He liked the Xiao Xiao who cried beneath him, begging him to be gentler, to go slower. He liked the Xiao Xiao who looked up at him with tear-streaked, innocent eyes.
He wanted to lock Xiao Xiao up. He wanted to watch him cry forever, wanted him to tremble in fear. He wanted Xiao Xiao to be able to look at only him, to depend on only him, to love only him.
The more Gu Qian thought about it, the more agitated he became. His gaze grew more and more savage, and his grip on Xiao Xiao’s wrist tightened.
The pain in Xiao Xiao’s wrist intensified. He grabbed Gu Qian’s hand, struggling. “It’s not that I wouldn’t! It’s that I can’t!”
“Haven’t you left your pheromones on me? Haven’t you bitten my gland? Haven’t you injected your pheromones into my body?”
“It’s only because I’m a beta that no matter how many pheromones you leave on me, they always disappear! It’s me who can’t hold on to your scent! So it’s not that I wouldn’t, it’s that I can’t! If I were an omega, you would have permanently marked me by now, and I would never be able to escape!”
Enduring the pain in his wrist, Xiao Xiao grew more and more agitated himself. “Gu Qian, I’ve always thought you were a lunatic. One minute you act like a normal person, and the next you’re acting like a psychopath. Your desire for control is terrifying. I can’t even leave the house without you personally taking me. This is only our first day living together, and you’re already treating me like this. Are you sick?!”
As soon as the words were out, Xiao Xiao violently shook off Gu Qian’s hand and turned to leave. But Gu Qian wouldn’t let him. In a few strides, he was in front of him, grabbing his wrist again. “What do you mean?” he asked in a low voice. “Are you saying I’m sick?”
Gu Qian’s eyes were red, as if he was both furious and trying to suppress it. The viciousness in his gaze made Xiao Xiao tremble. He instinctively tried to back away, but with his wrist held tight, he couldn’t move. He looked at Gu Qian in terror, his head bowed. After a few seconds, he summoned his courage and looked up. “You know what I mean. I—I think I should move back to the dorm. We can talk after you’ve had time to think.”
“You want to move out?” Gu Qian’s eyes grew redder, his expression more ferocious. “You… you want to move out, Xiao Xiao? You were the one who agreed to live with me. You were the one who agreed to be with me. Now you want to move out. What’s next, are you going to break up with me?”
Xiao Xiao didn’t know what was wrong with Gu Qian, only that he was terrified of him. He regretted it. He regretted not listening to An Le and staying away from him. But now… he really couldn’t handle this anymore.
With red-rimmed, terrified eyes, he said, “I—I’m not trying to break up with you. I just think I should move out for now so we can both calm down. I want you to think about this. I think you should respect me. At least don’t leave so many of your pheromones on me when I go out. I… I— Ah! What are you doing?!”
Before Xiao Xiao could finish, Gu Qian pulled him into his arms, grabbed his chin, and bit down hard on his gland. The scent of mint once again flooded Xiao Xiao’s senses. He was terrified, his legs going weak as he collapsed into Gu Qian’s embrace, crying and struggling feebly.
“No… don’t bite…”
“Sob… you promised you wouldn’t bite me…”
“Don’t bite me, please… I’m begging you, please…”
He didn’t know how much time had passed, but eventually, Xiao Xiao heard sirens. He saw a crowd of people rush forward and pull Gu Qian away from him. He saw Gu Qian, like a furious lion, his eyes red, his fangs bared, roaring at him as if he wanted nothing more than to lunge forward and devour him whole…
In the hospital, a police officer stood by the bed for a moment before turning to the doctor. “The patient is awake. If he’s doing okay, please give us a call. We’d like to come by and take his statement.”
“Of course,” the doctor replied.
The police left.
An hour later, Xiao Xiao opened his eyes. His last memory was of fainting. When he woke up and remembered what Gu Qian looked like, he shuddered involuntarily.
Seeing that Xiao Xiao was awake, the doctor hurried over. “You’re awake. Are you feeling any discomfort?” If it were any other patient, a nurse would have been enough. But this patient had been brought in by the police, so the doctor was paying special attention.
Xiao Xiao looked at the doctor, confused. “Doctor?”
The doctor was an alpha, but his profession had given him a gentle gaze and a kind smile. Mindful of the trauma Xiao Xiao had endured, he did his best to soften his alpha presence. “Yes. You’re safe now.”
“I… I… Where’s Gu Qian?” As he spoke, Xiao Xiao instinctively touched his neck, which was wrapped in a thick layer of gauze.
The doctor smiled. “Are you talking about the alpha who bit you? The police have already taken him away. Your gland has been treated. The bite was quite severe, so it needed to be bandaged. Even though your gland isn’t fully developed as a beta, this will likely leave a scar.”
Xiao Xiao nodded distractedly. He didn’t care about a scar. What he cared about was, “The police took him away? Did someone call them?”
The doctor nodded. “Yes. That alpha was likely in his susceptibility period. He wasn’t in his right mind. He was releasing his pheromones on the street to try and induce your heat while attempting to mark you. It affected a lot of other alphas, and some omegas nearly went into heat prematurely because of his pheromones. So, someone called the police.” As a doctor, he had seen many patients who had been abused by alphas, but most of them were omegas. This was the first time he had seen a beta. And this beta had been bitten more brutally than any omega he’d seen before.
“Oh, right,” the doctor said, suddenly remembering something. “The officer who took the alpha away said to call him when you woke up. He wants to take your statement. Do you feel up to it right now?”
Xiao Xiao didn’t speak, just pressed his lips together and nodded. The doctor immediately left with his phone. A short while later, two police officers arrived.
“That alpha said you’re his partner. Is that true?” they asked. They knew who Gu Qian was. Even though he’d been taken into custody, Gu Shen had already come and gotten him out. Their visit now was just a formality. Although they wanted to help this beta, who clearly had a difficult life, their positions meant there was little they could do.
Xiao Xiao nodded. “Yes.”
The officer’s eyes filled with pity. “Then… did he bite you with your consent?”
Xiao Xiao hesitated. After a long moment, he asked, “If… if I say it wasn’t consensual, will he get in trouble?”
The officer paused for a few seconds before replying, “If it wasn’t consensual, perhaps… we could do our best to protect you.”
That one sentence was all Xiao Xiao needed to understand the situation. The officer had evaded his question, not telling him whether Gu Qian would get in trouble, because Gu Qian absolutely would not. He was probably already out of the police station. And the officers’ purpose in coming here was likely just to get a statement from him saying it was “consensual.”
Xiao Xiao was tired of fighting. He said wearily, “It was consensual.”
The officer was stunned. “But there were witnesses who said you were begging him not to bite you. You…”
“It was consensual.” Xiao Xiao felt exhausted. He gave a bitter smile. “Really. We’re together. We’re partners. So… isn’t it normal for him to bite me?”
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