They went into a hotel.
The door closed. An embrace. A kiss against the wall beside the door.
The refined, noble-looking young man easily trapped the other—an equally tall but cool and composed man—against the wall, claiming his lips with a dominance that allowed no refusal.
It should have been a jarring, incongruous scene—two tall men kissing passionately—yet it somehow looked natural, like a pair of lovers.
Their breaths mingled, hot and heavy. Even the cold, sharp outlines of their faces seemed to soften in the dim light, and in the fleeting meeting of their eyes, there was a trace of lingering tenderness and pleasure.
But instinctively, as an Alpha, Zuo Shihuan’s sharp canines showed faintly, his pheromones stirring restlessly, chasing the urge to mark an Omega.
His hazy, enticing light-brown eyes carried an innocent persistence; his arms around Gu Heng’s neck as if wanting to bite down—like a predatory Alpha instinctively reaching for his mate, exposing those fine, pointed teeth ready to seize his prey.
Only, unfortunately for him, the one he encountered was an even more skilled hunter.
Gu Heng’s pupils narrowed slightly, a surge of Alpha competitiveness flashing through him. His dark, noble eyes turned deep and dangerous, revealing his own sharp, gleaming canines.
He was ready to tear apart any Alpha daring to compete for his “mate.”
But in this struggle, the Alpha he was competing against—and the “mate”—were one and the same.
The desire for battle and lust were aimed at the same person. He wanted to tear him apart, yet also—because of that intoxicating pheromone scent—he wanted to consume him whole, to merge him into his very bones.
The two Alphas’ pheromones clashed violently, boiling in the air, yet amid that chaos, an impossible thread of resonance appeared—igniting Gu Heng’s own pheromones into a frenzied storm. His black eyes deepened into something wild and out of control.
Gu Heng gripped the back of Zuo Shihuan’s head roughly, his long, strong fingers tangling through the man’s damp black hair, forcing his chin upward, exposing his neck, the vulnerable spot where the gland lay.
Slowly, he bared his sharp white teeth and bit down toward that unguarded spot—****—the pain making Zuo Shihuan’s eyes fly wide open, his lips parting in ragged gasps.
He wanted to escape.
But how could anyone escape from the grasp of a cold, merciless Alpha?
Gu Heng’s hand pressed against Zuo Shihuan’s spine, the other gripping his waist even tighter. His black eyes remained unwavering, biting deeper as if to mark him completely, to make him his—every trace of his pheromone imprinted onto Zuo Shihuan.
No one else’s—only his.
Until the blood that welled up carried a faint, overripe scent—like sweet, fermented apple wine.
At that moment, the suppressant Gu Heng had taken earlier lost its effect completely, and a surge of cold, powerful whiskey pheromones burst from him.
Their scents intertwined in the air—tangling, merging endlessly.
Overwhelmed by possessiveness, Gu Heng’s gaze turned feral, as if he wanted to force his pheromones into Zuo Shihuan’s gland—to brand him to the bone, so that even his blood would carry that exclusive scent.
Gu Heng’s black eyes burned with restrained, terrifying desire as he held the trembling, whimpering Zuo Shihuan tightly against him. His sharp teeth grazed the pale skin of the man’s neck, and as the sweet, corrupted scent of blood dripped down, his cold lips followed, kissing over each drop—his tongue tracing and swallowing it whole.
If not for that last shred of rationality Gu Heng still held onto — the voice in his head warning him not to mark Zuo Shihuan — then Zuo Shihuan wouldn’t just be bleeding a little right now. He would’ve been marked like a true Omega.
But Gu Heng couldn’t afford to reveal that he was an Alpha. The last time, back in the staff break room at the bar, he had already almost lost control — lured by Zuo Shihuan into letting his carefully hidden pheromones slip.
If Ji Shenwen hadn’t barged in at that exact moment and reminded him to restrain his Alpha pheromones, and if Zuo Shihuan hadn’t been unable to tell the difference between the scent of liquor and pheromones, then in that bar filled with overlapping smells, Yu Lizhu would never have realized that the faint trace of Alpha pheromones dissipating in the air actually came from the “Beta” she so despised.
Gu Heng would’ve ended up, all for the sake of an Alpha he’d barely met, destroying his own self-control — like a beastly Alpha who couldn’t control his own lower body, recklessly releasing his pheromones and exposing his true identity.
But now, things weren’t much better.
Gu Heng’s brows knitted tightly, his pupils dark and fathomless. He fought with intense agony to suppress the overwhelming urge to mark the Alpha in his arms — Zuo Shihuan — and forced his fangs back.
The tip of his nose brushed against Zuo Shihuan’s soft neck — like a beast restraining its hunger, inhaling the hot scent of blood flowing beneath his prey’s skin, Adam’s apple trembling with the effort to hold back.
He finally sank into that open, honest, sweetly enticing pheromone scent — the scent that told him this man before him, who exuded the aroma of apple cider, was someone who couldn’t even tell the difference between ordinary smells and pheromones.
A man as straightforward and guileless as a fool who didn’t know how to hide himself.
Among Alphas and Omegas, couples would often conceal the subtle fluctuations in their pheromones, so as not to let their partner sense their true feelings or thoughts.
Yet from the drunk Alpha in his arms, Gu Heng smelled something he had never experienced before — pheromones so genuine and unguarded, clinging to him like soft, translucent clouds. Tender, yet yielding like the inner flesh of a shell that cracked open only for him, fragrant and sweet — full of open joy and unreserved affection, showing every vulnerability without the slightest defense.
And instead of stirring the beast of greed inside Gu Heng, it filled that beast — leaving him strangely satisfied, holding his prey in his arms with an almost affectionate possessiveness.
From neck to collarbone, he left his marks.
As though claiming territory.
Until his gaze fell upon Zuo Shihuan’s arm — and he remembered that scene at the mall. That female Omega, clinging to Zuo Shihuan’s arm, calling him “Brother Shihuan” in that intimate tone — the image stung Gu Heng’s eyes with irritation and disgust.
With cold fingers, he tugged Zuo Shihuan’s jacket off his shoulders. Venting his anger, he gripped the sleeve where that female Omega had touched — a little too forcefully — and tore one side of it. Then, as if disgusted, he threw the jacket to the floor like a piece of trash.
It looked like he might step on it next.
Gu Heng stared at the half-conscious Zuo Shihuan — his light brown eyes half-lidded, his breathing calm and shallow, as if he might fall asleep any second.
Gu Heng’s dark eyes flickered with resentment. He bit down on Zuo Shihuan’s shoulder, a little too hard, leaving a deep bite mark.
The pain roused Zuo Shihuan slightly. He opened his eyes, still dizzy and dazed, feeling the strong arm wrapped around his waist, holding him up so his feet couldn’t touch the floor. When he looked up, he met Gu Heng’s thick lashes and those dark, noble eyes; tilting his head down, he saw the patterned luxury carpet beneath them.
He reached up and brushed his fingers against Gu Heng’s cool lower lip.
Looking up at those dark eyes staring at him, Zuo Shihuan instinctively smiled — the dimples at the corners of his mouth showing, sweet and intoxicating.
“You’re awake?”
Gu Heng’s expression returned to its usual cold composure, as though that childish, jealous act from moments ago had never happened.
“No,” Zuo Shihuan answered with a smile, still looking at Gu Heng, not sensing anything wrong at all.
Gu Heng gave a low chuckle — clearly not believing that the man with open eyes was still “asleep.”
But it was just as well that he’d woken up. Gu Heng had no interest in doing anything with someone unconscious.
He tugged slightly at his collar, revealing the elegant line of his collarbone and his firm chest — the wet bar uniform clinging faintly to well-defined muscles.
He had been on the battlefield, fought against the Zerg. How could a sculpted Alpha with a physique like that — an Apollo in flesh — be compared to ordinary men?
At the very least, it made Zuo Shihuan stare blankly, his cheeks flushed with a red haze that might have been drunkenness — or something else entirely.
Gu Heng took off his shirt, revealing his flawless upper body. Seeing Zuo Shihuan freeze, he smiled faintly and raised a brow in suggestion. “Not going to take yours off?”
Zuo Shihuan’s face turned crimson, his ears burning. Deep down, he only grew more certain — this had to be a dream. A spring dream.
“What, you don’t want to?”
Gu Heng looked at the way Zuo Shihuan lowered his head, unable to read what was on his mind — assuming that after waking, Zuo Shihuan was regretting it.
That he preferred that Omega from the mall instead of him, the supposed “Beta.”
Gu Heng’s face darkened. He asked, “You’d rather go find that Omega from the mall, wouldn’t you?”
If Zuo Shihuan dared to say yes, the chill radiating from Gu Heng’s body made it clear he’d turn and walk away the very next second.
But Zuo Shihuan only smiled. Boldly, he reached out to touch Gu Heng’s darkened face and countered, “Then what about you — that widow Omega you’re with?”
Gu Heng gave a cold laugh. “She’s merely my subordinate. She’s not qualified.”
His unrestrained tone carried no fear that Zuo Shihuan might expose him.
Zuo Shihuan frowned. “You’re lying. Since when do you have subordinates?”
Gu Heng replied, “What, you don’t believe me?”
Zuo Shihuan lowered his gaze, biting his lip as he said, “Don’t lie to me. I’ve looked into your background — you’re the descendant of a fallen noble house, no degree, working in some downtown bar to make ends meet. If you’ve become that widow Omega’s lover, I can pay you more — to make you leave her.”
Gu Heng immediately understood what Zuo Shihuan meant. He thought Gu Heng had been kept by Du Manning, that widow Omega.
But that misunderstanding was exactly what Gu Heng wanted outsiders to believe — that he’d caught the eye of a wealthy widow Omega who took him along to all kinds of high-society banquets and social events.
Otherwise, with the identity he showed on the surface — a penniless, fallen Beta — how else could he enter those elite circles, how else could he gather information?
Normally, this kind of intelligence work was handled by Ji Shenwen. But ever since Ji Shenwen found himself a rich Federation Omega girlfriend, he could no longer flirt around for information the way he used to.
At that thought, Gu Heng’s expression faltered—then soured.
He felt he should never have been lenient with Ji Shenwen’s mistakes back then. He ought to have broken up that irritating couple from the start. But since things had already gone this far, he could only double Ji Shenwen’s workload when they returned and forbid him from wasting time indulging in his little romance game.
When Zuo Shihuan saw that Gu Heng didn’t deny anything, he more or less understood that those rumors were true. A wave of bitterness and unwillingness rose in his chest, and he went on speaking.
“I can give you money. A lot of money. But you must leave her.”
Gu Heng’s interest was instantly piqued.
“Give me a lot of money and make me leave her—are you trying to keep me?”
Zuo Shihuan gazed at the striking Beta before him. That noble, beautiful face was like the finest porcelain antique, something meant to be displayed at the very center of a museum—admired by all, meticulously and luxuriously maintained.
To “keep” him would likely drain every last bit of his wealth, until he was exhausted and penniless, unable to support such an arrogant, precious creature.
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