Chapter 206

Chapter 206

…Stay here and don’t move.

His glasses had fallen off somewhere during the struggle just now, and Xue Ji couldn’t make out the face of the person beneath him. He heard only a low murmur, then was grabbed by the shoulders and shoved aside. The next moment, the figure beneath him charged out like the wind, tangling with the relentless leopard in a fierce struggle.

Xue Ji quickly sat up, his blurred vision only able to see two intertwined shadows, unable to tell who had the upper hand. It was an utterly primal struggle—fought with limbs, fangs, brute strength, and agility.

The beast’s roars echoed in his ears, his heart leaping into his throat. He squinted, straining to see clearly, but could only make out a blur of moving colors. He cursed under his breath, for the first time finding his nearsightedness inconvenient, and crouched down to feel around for his glasses.

But soon after, a loud gush of liquid erupted, followed by the heavy thud of something massive hitting the ground, and then silence fell abruptly. Xue Ji’s heart clenched. Before he could lift his head, he heard the rustle of grass and heavy breathing drawing closer.

A thick, suffocating stench of blood hit his face. A pair of military boots trampled through the low grass and came to a stop in front of him. Then, a hand covered in hot blood extended to Xue Ji, holding the glasses he’d been desperately searching for.

Xue Ji quickly took them and put them on, finally seeing Asuer clearly in his current state.

He was bare-chested, wearing nothing but a pair of military trousers that were still intact. His chest, heaving violently, bore three recently healed, gruesome claw marks that stretched from his left shoulder to his heart—darkened now, but his features had grown more resolute. His long blonde hair, perhaps for convenience, had been braided into a single side braid that hung over his chest, exuding a wild aura.

Mixed with sweat and the beast’s blood, he was incredibly alluring.

Xue Ji swallowed at the wrong time: “Your Maj…” But before he could finish, the man before him shot him a deep look, then abruptly turned and walked away.

Xue Ji was stunned by his reaction, then watched as he picked up speed, eventually breaking into a run toward the jungle, as if Xue Ji were more terrifying than the leopard he’d just fought. By the time Xue Ji stood up, Asuer was nowhere to be seen.

He activated his optical brain, and the tracking program showed Asuer’s red dot moving rapidly. Xue Ji stood for a moment, then quickly returned to the spaceship, packed a bag and came back out, and before zipping it shut, remembered the smell he’d caught earlier. He stuffed in two suppressants, grabbed a handgun, closed the ship’s hatch, and set off in the direction Asuer had disappeared.

On his way, he passed the leopard’s corpse and glanced down. Half of its skull was caved in.

With the tracker, finding Asuer wasn’t hard. Xue Ji stood at the entrance of a cave, checked the optical brain to confirm the location, turned on the optical brain’s light, and ducked inside.

The cave was winding but not long, soon Xue Ji saw a faint glow of fire. He turned off the light and walked in, only to be slammed against the wall by a sudden force.

His glasses flew off again, and his backpack fell. Xue Ji’s back hurt, and he quickly said, “It’s me!”

In fact, Asuer had already recognized him before he spoke. He released the arm pressed against Xue Ji’s chest and retreated without a word.

Xue Ji caught his arm quickly: “Why are you dodg—”

But Asuer flinched like he’d been burned, jerking his hand away, and in a few seconds, withdrew to the deepest part of the cave.

Xue Ji’s hand hung in the air. The scorching heat he’d felt from that brief touch startled him. He looked at Asuer, who was leaning against the rock wall with one hand, head bowed. The gland at the back of his neck, no longer hidden by hair, had swollen into a small lump, a deep, unhealthy red.

The entire cave echoed with the Alpha’s barely restrained breathing.

His glasses were gone. Xue Ji picked up the backpack that had fallen at his feet, unsure whether to advance or retreat.

Asuer closed his eyes. After a long moment, he forced out between clenched teeth: “…Do you have a suppressant?”

The suppressant wasn’t specially made. Xue Ji didn’t want to give it to him.

Receiving no answer, Asuer closed his eyes again, gritted his teeth, and, supporting himself against the rock wall, started walking out.

Xue Ji quickly said, “I do!”

He pulled a suppressant from his bag. Thinking about just tossing it over, he thought better of it and took a couple of tentative steps toward Asuer. When there was no reaction, Xue Ji dropped the bag, walked over with the suppressant, and as soon as he got close, Asuer tackled him.

This time, he felt no pain because one arm was under him as a cushion.

Asuer pressed down on him, looking down expressionlessly, his eyes burning red.

Xue Ji tried to stay calm, meeting his gaze.

Anyone could tell Asuer’s condition was abnormal, let alone Xue Ji, who knew his medical history inside out. But Xue Ji had no idea what had happened to Asuer during his disappearance, so he dared not make any rash moves.

“…Don’t think you can do whatever you want just because you’re a Beta,” Asuer said after a long pause, his voice strained.

Xue Ji felt the suppressant snatched from his hand.

Asuer rolled off to the side, sat against the wall, and jabbed the needle into the back of his neck. Then he tossed the empty tube aside, closed his eyes, and leaned back, evening out his breath.

Xue Ji slowly sat up, watching Asuer. Maybe because he wasn’t wearing his glasses, he vaguely thought he saw that small gland swell and turn even redder and larger. He frowned, leaned in closer, and realized it wasn’t his imagination—Asuer’s gland was indeed more swollen and red, throbbing as if it were trying to burst through the thin skin. The tiny puncture hole from the needle was still oozing blood.

They couldn’t stay here. Asuer needed proper medical treatment immediately.

Xue Ji frowned deeply, deeply regretting pulling out the suppressant minutes ago. He should have known—injecting such a crappy suppressant after going so long without any medication would only make Asuer’s reaction worse.

“Ah… Your Majesty.”

He reached out to support Asuer. The latter opened his eyes, looked at him, and let out a pained moan. “…Go…”

A heavy feeling settled in Xue Ji’s chest—like a carefully planned experiment had failed just before it was done.

He said nothing. Asuer curled his legs, shook his head, pushed him aside, and stood up shakily, stumbling toward the entrance.

After a long while, he’d only moved a short distance. Xue Ji crouched right where he was, silently watching him.

“Asuer,” he suddenly spoke.

Asuer turned around in shock.

It was as if someone had hit the pause button. Asuer stood motionless. Xue Ji smiled at him. “Did you know you smell real nice?”

Asuer’s fingers trembled, his lips quivering: “…What do you mean?”

“Just what I said.”

Asuer forced the words out: “You can smell it?”

“Always,” Xue Ji said, looking down. “I forgot to tell you back then: a Beta’s gland and vomeronasal organ evolved together—that doesn’t mean they degenerate together.”

“So you… you’ve always known…”

Xue Ji said nothing.

Asuer closed his eyes, unable to tell whether he felt humiliated or angry. He recalled every moment he’d spent with Xue Ji as Asuer, every act he’d put on in front of Researcher Xue, and suddenly felt utterly ashamed. Had even Xue Ji’s serious expressions, feigned indifference, occasional thoughtfulness—all been fake?

He’d known all along… known that he was sick, known that he was broken. So why did he still pledge his loyalty? All that painstaking pretense, all those unspoken struggles—had they been completely see-through to Xue Ji?

Why? Was it fun to watch this king struggle to act normal while shamelessly lowering his head? Did it satisfy some twisted pleasure?

Asuer could barely breathe. The ultra-concentrated pheromones burst open in the dark space, flooding through his body, making it nearly impossible to stand.

Pathetically, even though he now realized Xue Ji might have treated him like an amusing toy, he was still aroused simply by Xue Ji standing there.

No pheromones to respond to—just his breath, his gaze, everything about him.

Asuer opened his eyes. The dark cave ahead looked like a gaping maw ready to swallow everything. He held back his ragged breathing, not wanting to show any more weakness in front of anyone.

He took a step forward, when suddenly behind him there was a metallic clatter, followed by the rustle of leather fabric and the thud of something falling to the ground.

Asuer took a moment to react, realizing it was a belt.

Whose belt?

He was shoved hard against the wall.

Xue Ji’s strikingly beautiful face suddenly came into view.

Those black eyes locked directly onto his face. Asuer’s breath caught, and suddenly he was dragged over by his hair.

A pair of cool, soft lips pressed against his, then mercilessly parted and bit down hard on his lower lip.

His eyes flew open, but he was pushed away again, his body colliding once more with the cold rock wall. He saw those lips, stained with his blood, part and close.

“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time.”

Asuer’s mind went blank. Xue Ji gave a malicious smile and directly grabbed his crotch: “You are, aren’t you?”

With a buzzing sound, Asuer’s brain exploded, his heart pounding violently, as if racing with his gland to see which would leap out of his body first. He shoved Xue Ji away abruptly and said hoarsely, “…Enough.”

“Enough?” Xue Ji asked unhurriedly, while his hands began to slowly undo his shirt buttons. The silver-white rose that appeared and disappeared with his movements stung Asuer’s eyes like needles.

Large expanses of fair, taut skin were exposed before Asuer’s eyes. Asuer looked away in disarray, fed up: “What exactly do you want?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Xue Ji’s cold voice formed a stark contrast with his actions. “I thought an Alpha would get it better than a Beta in matters like this.”

Asuer’s chest heaved violently, yet despite his burning desire, he felt a hint of sorrow.

“Stop…” He raised a hand to cover his eyes. “Stop playing with me…”

Xue Ji’s fingers paused, then after a moment he said coldly, “Playing with you?”

Each word of his cold, emotionless voice reached Asuer: “You think I racked my brains for your illness, experimented day and night, thought about it wherever I went, just to play with you?”

“I’m not that bored.”

Asuer lowered his hand, revealing red-rimmed eyes. “Then why?”

Xue Ji stepped close, staring at him intently. His black eyes were darker than the cave behind him.

“Because I’m tired of having to beat around the bush to control your body.”

“If I don’t want you to take suppressants, you won’t take them.”

“If I forbid you to use something, you won’t use it.”

He smirked, for the first time not hiding his ambition.

“How about it?”

“Your Majesty, will you grant me that right?”

Primitive excitement surged through every vein in Asuer's body. What sorrow, what humiliation, what shame—all turned to ash at this moment, leaving only his Alpha instinct to conquer, howling in frenzy.

He wanted to pin this Beta down, to fuck him viciously, fuck open his reproductive cavity, bite and tear at his nape, to stain every part of him, inside and out, with his own scent. Fuck him into submission, fuck him to death, make him never dare to speak to him so arrogantly again.

Asuer’s breath deepened. He closed his eyes in resignation, then a few seconds later he yanked Xue Ji toward him, spun him around and pinned him against the rock wall, one hand on the back of his neck, forcing him to tilt his head up.

“…I grant you that.” He looked into Xue Ji’s eyes. “What will Chief Xue exchange this time?”

A playful smirk curled Xue Ji's lips. “Do I really have to explain again? Your Majesty, isn't that beneath an Alpha's dignity?”

Asuer couldn’t take it anymore and silenced that relentless mouth.

Author’s note:

*Please use your imagination for the content [facepalming and winking][yellow heart]