Part 2
His fingertips touched the hot gland. No matter how he pressed, he couldn’t guide the pheromones out. He had to wait slowly for them to dissipate, or let a higher-level Alpha overwrite them with their pheromones.
These were secondary. The most important thing was this feeling of losing control. Tang Xingye couldn’t stand his plans being disrupted.
He had clearly arranged to go out to eat with Senior Sister Shen Qing, yet another Alpha had come out to provoke him and deliberately release pheromones.
He loathed this feeling of his body betraying his will. The self-control he had meticulously built over eighteen years crumbled under the invasion of a stranger Alpha’s pheromones.
“Soothing agents can only provide temporary relief.” The doctor handed him a new prescription. “In the long run, you still need a stable partner’s pheromones for regulation.”
Find a partner.
Tang Xingye closed his eyes slightly. Having witnessed his parents’ chaotic marriage, he had no fantasies or pink bubbles regarding matrimony.
A strong scent of pheromones hit his nose again. Amidst the exclamations of people around him, Tang Xingye’s vision suddenly went black. Many people rushed over to support him, preventing him from hitting the ground heavily. Voices buzzed in his ears like a swarm of bees.
“Should we call an ambulance?”
“Is it hypoglycemia?! Who has candy in their pocket?”
“Don’t crowd around here!”
The noisy voices drifted in and out, seemingly separated by a thick layer of frosted glass. Tang Xingye’s consciousness felt like it was suddenly drowning; the people on the shore were calling for help, but it didn’t sound real enough.
The surrounding people were agitated, causing even more pheromones to spill out. Cedar, leather, musk—various Alpha scents mixed together, forming a suffocating vortex that made him even dizzier.
Pei Lian smelled the scent of his own kind of Alpha mixed with Omega pheromones, making his temples throb.
He wanted to squeeze out of the crowd, but someone rushed out faster than him.
“Everyone back off!”
Lu Zhi’s face was dark. His spiritual power was released unceremoniously, like an unsheathed sharp sword, instantly slicing through the chaotic pheromone field. The people around instinctively retreated a few steps.
Tang Xingye only felt his body lighten, the dizziness dissipating. He lifted his eyes slightly and saw Lu Zhi’s figure blocking the front.
“Can you stand?” Lu Zhi didn’t look back, his voice suppressed very low, as if afraid of disturbing something.
Tang Xingye wanted to stand up by himself, but curling his fingertips took effort.
Lu Zhi saw Tang Xingye drenched in sweat, a faint, sickly flush on his face. His long eyelashes held water droplets, looking like a butterfly beaten by rain, exuding a sense of fragility.
Lu Zhi didn’t know Tang Xingye’s specific situation, but he knew Tang Xingye definitely didn’t want to be stared at.
He ground his canine teeth, switched on the electric shock of the inhibitor ring on his neck, bent down, hooked his arm under Tang Xingye’s knees, picked him up, and grabbed the medicine bag from the ground.
Tang Xingye’s consciousness floated up and down. Being held in these arms reminded him of summer nights when his grandmother would hold him, waving a fan and telling stories.
He rarely recalled the past. He felt that surviving by relying on happy memories of the past was a bit pitiful.
Now, there was just a faint, familiar sense of security.
Lu Zhi looked at the plastic bag printed with the school hospital logo. Tang Xingye had just come from there. The dorm wasn’t far, so he took him directly back.
Lu Zhi placed Tang Xingye on the bed and rummaged for the medicine kit.
Tang Xingye looked like he had a low-grade fever. His eyes were covered with a layer of mist, and the tails of his eyes flushed with an unnatural red, like peach blossoms wet with rain.
Lu Zhi had never seen Tang Xingye in such a fragile state.
He felt a fierce, shameful throb in his heart. His canines itched, ready to move, but reason held him back.
The inhibitor ring sensed his impulse to mark and shocked him ruthlessly. In pain, Lu Zhi grimaced, wanting to cry out, but afraid of waking Tang Xingye, he bit the soft flesh of his cheek, forcefully swallowing the cry of pain.
“Lu Zhi… get out.” Tang Xingye’s voice was weak, like a cat’s paw scratching gently.
Although sick and weak, he was trying hard to chase people away, his refusal carrying a stubborn bravado.
How could Lu Zhi feel at ease leaving Tang Xingye alone in the dorm? He probably couldn’t even get up to drink water.
The Alpha stood by the bed without moving, looking at Tang Xingye’s red-rimmed eyes and slightly trembling fingertips. His Adam’s apple rolled unconsciously, and then he was hit by the inhibitor ring’s shock again.
“I can handle it myself.” Tang Xingye tried to prop himself up, but a wave of dizziness hit him when he lifted his head.
The gland at the back of his neck was faintly visible between strands of hair, glowing with an abnormal red.
Tang Xingye felt the heat in his gland was no different from a fever. When his parents were absent during his childhood and he had a fever, he would stand on a stool to cook for himself to avoid starving to death.
Of course, if his parents saw, they wouldn’t let him die, nor would they send him to the hospital. They still needed to keep him, using him as an excuse to scam living expenses from his grandparents.
“Cough, cough…” Tang Xingye coughed suddenly as if choked by hot rice gruel. He heard Lu Zhi’s footsteps approaching hurriedly, followed by a large hand pressing against his forehead.
“Still acting tough when burning like this?” Lu Zhi’s voice was low, as if afraid of startling something. “Did the school doctor not give you fever reducers?”
He rummaged for a thermometer. “Open your mouth.”
Tang Xingye didn’t want to answer and turned his head away.
“It’s not a fever.” Tang Xingye barely opened his eyes, his vision blurring as he focused on the slender electronic thermometer in Lu Zhi’s hand. He frowned, turning his head away instinctively, his voice hoarse: “…No need.”
“Then what is it?”
Lu Zhi knew he didn’t want to talk again. “Is there a problem with your gland? It’s very red.”
Tang Xingye wanted to retort but was hit by dizziness.
He felt Lu Zhi’s palm move to the back of his neck. The moment it touched the gland, a strange comfort shot down his spine and spread through his body. The refusal he almost blurted out turned into a soft whimper.
Suddenly, a phone rang. Pei Lian’s name flashed on the screen. Lu Zhi clicked his tongue, “Tsk.”
Damn it, what’s the use of calling when the person is sick like this?!
“Who…?” Tang Xingye struggled to open his eyes.
Lu Zhi wanted to hang up directly, but he announced the caller’s name and asked, “Do you want to take it?”
Tang Xingye shook his head slightly, his hair making a soft rustling sound against the pillowcase. “I want quiet.”
He had no mood to pay attention to outside concern, curiosity, or mockery. Those noisy voices only reminded him of the family affection act his parents performed only in front of the elderly, forever calculating the amount of living expenses.
Lu Zhi obeyed his wish, hung up the phone, and turned on Do Not Disturb.
When Lu Zhi hung up the phone with a movement crisp to the point of rudeness, Tang Xingye’s eyelashes trembled. Without any superfluous questions, this Alpha, who usually annoyed him the most, had become the most peaceful one at this moment.
Lu Zhi rummaged through the bag but couldn’t find anything like fever medicine. He had to put a fever-reducing patch on Tang Xingye first, then took out an unopened towel, wet it, and wiped his face.
The cold patch suddenly sticking to his forehead made Tang Xingye flinch instinctively.
Lu Zhi immediately lightened his movements, his fingertips carefully avoiding the burning temples.
The towel then wiped across his cheek. This experience of being properly cared for was too rare; Tang Xingye’s eyes widened abruptly as the towel passed over the corner of his eye.
Lu Zhi’s brow furrowed into a tense arc, his face tight, as if facing a dangerous enemy.
“Which one is your medicine?” Lu Zhi picked up an injection. “This one? Or…”
Tang Xingye looked at Lu Zhi’s focused profile, suddenly realizing he couldn’t smell any cocoa pheromones. His gaze landed on the inhibitor ring flashing blue light on the neck, and he could even hear the muffled groan suppressed to the extreme after the other was shocked.
Realizing the reason for Lu Zhi’s tight expression, his fingertips curled slightly.
Just as Lu Zhi’s fingers touched the soothing agent, Tang Xingye reached out gently, resting on that wrist. The pulse under his palm was beating fast and heavy.
“Lu Zhi,” he called out. His voice was hoarser and softer than usual, falling as lightly as a feather, scratching at the heart with a tiny hook.
Tang Xingye raised his wet eyes to look at him and suddenly smiled.
The thin red at the corners of his eyes spread with the smile, like cinnabar dripping into clear water, carrying a hint of temptation.
“Let’s make a deal.”
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