Chapter 16: Gift

Chapter 16: The Gift

Pei Ju leaned against the cave wall, eyes closed, waiting for dawn.

It wasn't that his willpower was weak—blame the Omega for being too damn tempting.

He hadn't even touched him, and already he was soaked.

In the dim haze, snow-white skin was softer and more dazzling than moonlight.

Those lips so delicate, so soft; breaths so light, so sweet.

Sweet enough to seep straight into his heart, making him want to crush him into his very bones.

Overwhelm, devour.

Catch his jaw, coax those petal-soft lips apart, revealing the soft, wet warmth inside.

His breathing turned ragged again. The urges he'd washed away in the shower came roaring back, twice as fierce.

The Omega was so obedient, so good, his cheeks flushed and pretty as sin.

Thinking about how soft Xu Shaoen was, picturing that red, impossibly pretty face, scenes he'd nearly forgotten started playing out in vivid detail.

He was losing his goddamn mind.

Pei Ju leaned against the rock wall, scrolling through his terminal, wishing rescue would show up right now and drag him out of this sweet, torturous fantasy before he lost it completely.

Bear it, bear it—what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Pei Ju let out a heavy breath, alone on the hillside, working on his unbreakable will.

He was sure his patience would hit a whole new level by sunrise.

The second the first light of dawn broke, Pei Ju got the hell out of that stifling spot and headed straight down the mountain to jog the coastline.

Turns out regular exercise worked just as well as the other kind—after almost looping the whole island, the dirty thoughts clinging to him had mostly burned off.

Done with his run, Pei Ju didn't head straight back to the cave. Instead, he eased deeper into the woods, scouting for big game.

The second he got the rescue signal, he knew the clock was ticking on getting home.

His family had to be worried sick by now.

If he could haul back some fresh kill, maybe it'd cheer up his Omega mom, who'd definitely cried plenty over him.

He hadn't known his parents in this world long, but they'd never once skimped on care or love.

So yeah, he owed them.

Pei Ju knew his mental strength was weak, and he'd never gotten real combat experience at the academy.

Maybe to make sure he passed, every instructor stuck him with S-class Alpha partners.

Once was a fluke. Every time? That was deliberate.

Those cocky bastards all looked down on him for piggybacking on their scores, but they held their tongues because of his family, so they'd chuck the kill at him before he could even open his mouth, then lay into him with sarcasm and snide remarks—and he wasn't even allowed to refuse.

Pei Ju had run a few missions, always wrapped in protection, boxed in like a fortress. Eventually, if anyone so much as let him land a kill on a mutant, the squad leader would chew them out.

If Pei Ju walked out of other squads without a scratch but got hurt in theirs, wouldn't that just prove they were weaker?

Once he'd become the official good-luck charm of Dome Military Academy's squads, he was happy to coast and never pushed his own limits.

But now, alone on this island, he was finding out he wasn't as useless as he'd figured.

At least with his mental strength backing him, the particle beam gun felt smoother and smoother in his hands. With energy cores as his ace in the hole, even an S-class mutant couldn't catch him if he couldn't win.

Pei Ju stretched out his mental senses, gripped the particle beam gun, and eased deeper into the thick woods.

The island wasn't big, but it sat inside the imperial capital star's development zone.

Which meant it wasn't just home to one B-grade Vine Mutant—nastier things were hiding out here too.

As he pushed deeper, a low, warning hiss slithered out of the trees.

A swamp.

His mental sweep caught a dark green giant lizard lurking at the swamp's edge.

He recalled lizard hide made good bags—mutant beast leather was softer, tougher, and prettier. Lots of Omegas were into them, and his mom was probably no different.

Pei Ju didn't rush in. He pressed an energy core into his palm as a safety net against mental burnout, then crept closer.

The lizard lounging by the swamp was on high alert. Its thick tail lashed, and those dark green slit pupils locked dead onto Pei Ju.

It sized him up, then let out a sneering hiss.

A puny C-grade Alpha daring to crash its turf?

It flicked its tail in contempt, splattering mud everywhere, almost blinding Pei Ju, then its legs churned and it shot at Pei Ju like a rocket.

It figured this Alpha would freeze, get chomped in half, and ripped apart. Just picturing that tasty Alpha meat, it started drooling.

But the anticipated smooth outcome never came. Pei Ju leaped, stepping over the giant lizard's head, nimbly landing on a branch. Using the counterforce, he raised the particle beam gun, pulled the trigger, and sent a bullet straight into the lizard's brow.

"Hiss—" The searing pain enraged the lizard. Its scales were thick, but its brow and armpits were precisely its weak points.

The bullet lodged perfectly in its brow, causing green blood to spill. The strike wasn't fatal, but the pain further inflamed its ferocity. It spun around, opened its foul maw, and sprayed a cloud of toxic gas.

Pei Ju grabbed a branch, leaping in one motion to perch at the treetop. Though the lizard looked clumsy, it had also mastered climbing. Even knowing it would be burned by the laser in Pei Ju's hand if it got close, it charged fearlessly.

Waiting a beat as the lizard climbed the tree, Pei Ju quickly released his grip and dropped to the ground. Mental energy flooded into the particle beam gun, which erupted with a massive particle beam wave, shooting straight toward the lizard's belly.

The lizard sensed something wrong and tried to dodge, but the burning pain in its abdomen was ten thousand times more intense than its brow. Struck in its weak spot, it crashed heavily to the ground.

Before it could flip over, Pei Ju deftly pulled an energy core from his space button, pressed it to his palm, and let his mental strength pour out without restraint. With the core's enhancement, he kicked off from the tree, driving his blade through flesh and pinning the giant lizard firmly to the ground.

"Hiss! Hiss-hiss—"

The lizard sprayed venom continuously, its limbs thrashing wildly, trying to crush the tiny pest standing on it. But Pei Ju bounded and weaved across its belly with agile movements—it simply couldn't hit him.

Pei Ju patiently waited for the lizard's struggles to weaken, his mental strength never relaxing, staying alert for any potential danger.

But luck was on his side—no other threats appeared until the lizard breathed its last.

He removed its limbs, sliced open the body along the ventral midline, and found and extracted its dark green energy core from the abdominal cavity.

Pei Ju examined it—this energy core was at the A-grade mutant beast level—and nodded in satisfaction before tossing it into his space button.

After peeling off the lizard's skin in one piece, Pei Ju hauled it to the shore to scrub it clean.

The lizard's belly was pearly white, while its back was a deep, glossy blue-black, catching the setting sun and throwing off a dazzling gleam.

With something to show for his parents, Pei Ju was in a good mood. He turned and spotted Xu Shaoen standing by the rocks in the distance.

"So this is what you went off to hunt all day?"

Xu Shaoen hadn't seen Pei Ju all day, and a flicker of worry crept in.

He didn't think the guy would ditch him and run when rescue showed up, so he must've felt bad about last night and gone to find a peace offering.

Xu Shaoen had heard from Omegas at the academy who'd been in relationships that Alphas were blunt by nature—if they decided to court someone, they'd go out of their way to hunt high-tier mutants across different planets, offering up rare, gorgeous materials and energy cores to win an Omega's heart.

Xu Shaoen had gotten countless gifts and never thought twice about them; but staring at the lizard skin in Pei Ju's hand—honestly, it wasn't all that special.

He'd seen S-grade pearl lizards way more valuable than this, but since he hadn't been into the Alpha who gave it, he'd sent it back that same day.

He wasn't the kind of Omega to be won over by cheap tricks, but watching Pei Ju soaked in sweat, his clothes splattered with green gore, he couldn't help but feel his heart soften.

What happened yesterday was awkward, sure, but at the end of the day, he was the one who'd let out those pheromones to lure him in, and Pei Ju hadn't been able to resist, so he'd kissed him.

And today, he'd even gone out of his way to hunt a lizard as an apology—sure, the grade was a little low, but it wasn't like he couldn't accept it.

Either way, they'd be square after this, and neither of them would have to mention it again.

Pei Ju caught the Omega's conflicted look and figured he'd probably gotten the wrong idea.

But this lizard skin really wasn't for him—even if he could guess what Xu Shaoen was thinking, he wasn't about to take credit for something that wasn't his.

So he played dumb and casually stashed the lizard skin away.

Before Xu Shaoen could say anything, he jumped in to explain: "I figured rescue's coming soon, so I thought I'd grab some local souvenirs for the folks back home."

Xu Shaoen, who'd been going back and forth on whether to accept or politely turn it down, went red, then pale.

He silently cursed himself for being so full of himself and let out a fake, casual "mm" in response.

But to Pei Ju, it looked like Xu Shaoen's eyes had first lit up with surprise and hope, practically sparkling, and now his whole mood had flatlined, even his lips going pale.

So he wants a gift, huh.

Watching Xu Shaoen turn to leave, Pei Ju sped up to catch him.

Xu Shaoen felt a tug on his sleeve and nearly stumbled over a rock. His face turned sour, and his voice was sharp with annoyance: "What do you want?"

He stopped and glared at Pei Ju's face—handsome, sure, but right now it was just plain irritating.

He didn't know why he felt so off, but he was just pissed.

His chest felt tight, all bitter and achey.

It was just an A-grade giant lizard—garbage like that wasn't worth a second look. He'd even thought it looked kind of impressive earlier.

He must've been stranded on this island too long—his standards were dropping, he was going blind.

Just like how, since this island had only one Alpha, he'd actually given the guy a serious once-over and decided he wasn't half bad.

After last night's inexplicable loss of control and today's total misread, Xu Shaoen decided to officially revoke any good opinion of Pei Ju—the guy was now nothing but a steaming pile of crap, a stinking heap of dog shit!

Xu Shaoen stormed off ahead again, and Pei Ju jogged a few steps to catch up, walking backward to study his face while cutting him off.

He held out his hands with a grin: "Hey, that lizard really was for my mom. But what about this?"

A dark green energy core glittered in the sunset.

"This is the first time I've taken down an A-grade mutant solo."

Pei Ju quirked his lips into a small smile: "Shouldn't someone share in this win with me?"

Killing an A-grade mutant isn't that impressive.

Xu Shaoen grumbled silently to himself.

But seeing the sweat dripping down Pei Ju's forehead and the mud-caked combat boots, he knew it hadn't been easy.

"Think of it as a souvenir from our time on the island," Pei Ju said. Seeing Xu Shaoen stop and sensing his anger had cooled, he took his hand, gently pried open his fingers, and pressed the still-warm energy core into his palm.

He should've given it back or tossed it, but Xu Shaoen hesitated, and before he knew it, Pei Ju had folded his fingers shut over it, pressing down firmly.

"Don't think this makes up for everything," Xu Shaoen said, though his mood had inexplicably lightened.

"Fine, fine," Pei Ju let go of Xu Shaoen's hand and lifted his arm to hide the smile tugging at his lips.

Honestly, Xu Shaoen was pretty easy to win over.

Every emotion was written all over his face—no guesswork required.

"Once we're back on the capital planet, I'll haul a whole cart of gifts to your door to apologize?" Pei Ju teased, his grin widening until it was almost blinding.

Xu Shaoen's eyes went wide, teeth grinding, and he lunged to smack him: "Pei Ju!"

Making such a huge spectacle of it—was he trying to get everyone to gossip about them?

"This is wrong, that's wrong—so what exactly do you want?" Pei Ju spread his hands, looking insufferably smug.

Xu Shaoen wanted to chuck the energy core at him but couldn't bring himself to let it go, so he grabbed a rock off the ground and hurled that instead. Pei Ju dodged quicker than a rabbit.

Their shadows stretched long as they ran and chased each other, and for a second, it felt less like being stranded on a deserted island and more like a couple messing around on vacation.

==========Author's Note:==========

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