Chapter 37: Heat

Chapter 37: Heat

The three of them made their way to the arena.

The place had that grand, sweeping feel of an ancient Roman colosseum. The audience was sparse during the day, and the showtimes were few and far between.

Behind the dim earthen slopes were roaring mutant beasts, their deafening roars echoing one after another. But stick around long enough, and it all starts to feel normal.

The central fighting pit was a circular stretch of mud. Perhaps because it had been soaked in bloodstains for years, the dark stains on the dirt never seemed to wash out.

A few sanitation workers were tidying up the place. A match had just ended, and leftover beast droppings still stank up the air.

"God, the air here is disgusting." Xu Shaoen touched the pearl on his pheromone suppressor. The device could only mask his own pheromones, but the stench of sewage and shit, mixed with the crowd's sweat and the jumbled pheromones of a bunch of Alphas, was making his head spin.

In the Central Star System, everywhere he went was drenched in pleasant pheromone scents—how was he supposed to handle this mess of smells?

He couldn't help but duck behind Pei Ju.

"Already can't handle it? Wait till you smell it at night!"

A burly Alpha was standing on the stone steps nearby. He was clearly familiar with the place, casually waving over a beta selling cigarettes, taking one, and lighting it.

"Hey man, you work here too?"

Pei Ju sat down cross-legged next to him. The man reeked of tobacco, but he didn't smell much like blood, though.

"Worker?" The guy scoffed. "I wouldn't have that luck! I'm just a guy selling his life away."

He took a long drag on his cigarette, pointing at the reinforced steel fences, five or six meters high: "See that? Guys like us turn into their clowns at night, putting on a show in that pit."

He then pointed to the pillars, the steel beams overhead, and the thick tangle of wires all around: "That's the live-stream rig hooked up to the Star Network. Those rich bastards get their kicks watching us."

The cameras were all pointed at the arena—a steel cage, basically. They were all caged beasts, fighting for their lives just to inch up the rankings, hoping to crack the top eight and snag that one ticket.

Unlike in other districts, these tickets could be resold, even traded on the black market.

But with only eight spots per month, and tickets expiring if unused, the reputation they'd built in the arena would die the moment they left.

So a lot of Alphas just saw this as a way to make a living—the tickets they fought tooth and nail for would get bought up at sky-high prices by the big shots from the Mid or Upper Districts.

"You here to win a ticket too?"

The cigarette had burned down to the filter. The Alpha patted his shoulder.

"Forget it. With those twig arms and legs, you wouldn't stand a chance against them."

"Them?" Pei Ju watched the contestants filing in, smirking at the crowd as they came.

"You haven't heard? The arena fights have turned into a full-on racket now. One crew's got a stranglehold on all the tickets."

At first, the Lower District fights were on the level, but over time things went sideways.

There were always these tough bastards who refused to leave the junk planet. Every fight they won paid them a fat cut, and with tons of viewers tuning into the interstellar streams, they raked in tips like crazy.

To keep the racket going, the big arenas all played along with an unspoken agreement.

All eight Lower Districts would trot out their star fighters, and depending on how popular they were, they'd rig the finals to run the talented but less famous fighters through brutal gauntlets, until they finally lost in the worst way.

So sure, the fights were exciting, full of twists, and the crowd got their gasps and their outrage—but the guys who would've won tickets fair and square were left beaten to hell, with their one big hope crushed.

"Here, low-grade Alphas like us are just cannon fodder, good for nothing but dying." The Alpha crushed out his cigarette and got to his feet.

"Young man, let me give you some advice. You look big and solid—even hauling bricks or busting your back doing grunt work beats getting ripped apart by beasts in this pit. And it ain't just the beasts you gotta worry about—it's people. The hardest thing to read is a man's heart."

Pei Ju looked down and saw the guy was actually crippled. The way he hobbled off was hard to watch.

"Maybe we should just call it quits." Xu Shaoen tugged on Pei Ju's sleeve.

The place was brutal, the challenge insane—his chest was tightening just thinking about it.

Pei Ju had always been a pampered rich kid who'd never had to struggle. His "track record" at the Dome Military Academy was legendary, and not in a good way.

"Pei Ju, another zero this time?"

"Called in sick again? Man, must be nice to have that kind of privilege..."

"Pei Ju, I heard you're on the same team as Song Yanan this time. Lucky you, another strong back to ride on!"

They sounded like jokes, but Xu Shaoen knew exactly how much venom was underneath.

He'd never even done a real trial run himself, and now he was supposed to go into that pit empty-handed and fight those savage monsters. What if he actually got seriously hurt?

And who knew what the medical care was even like around here...

Xu Shaoen felt completely helpless, his fingers trembling before he could stop them.

Warm fingers pressed against his cheek. Pei Ju's voice came out low and a little exasperated: "How are you already crying before anything's even started..."

He hadn't figured Xu Shaoen for this fragile.

So was it because he cared about him that much?

"Don't worry. I'm not gonna do anything I'm not sure I can handle." Pei Ju and Xu Shaoen took their seats, and slowly the stands started to fill up.

This was just a warm-up fight.

The Alpha in the ring was only allowed one staff, and his opponent was a massive mantis.

The mantis's jaws were lined with sickle-shaped fangs, and its front legs looked even deadlier.

Once it came out, the mantis just stood there, dead still. No matter how hard the Alpha hit it, that steel-hard shell didn't budge.

"Ugh, this damn devil's flower mantis again." Some guy nearby sighed, bored out of his mind. "I wouldn't have wasted my money on a ticket if I'd known."

"Has this mantis been around here long?" Xu Shaoen piped up, curious.

The guy had been totally checked out, but the beta next to him had a surprisingly nice voice.

He turned and saw a totally plain face, and felt a little let down.

But the voice was genuinely easy on the ears, so he didn't mind chatting a little longer.

"Yeah, this mantis is a big deal in Koent City. A hunting squad caught it a while back."

Back then, a five-man squad with laser guns ran into this thing.

It was just as still back then, so they figured it was easy pickings—but the second they pissed it off, every move it made was a kill shot.

Seeing Xu Shaoen's bright eyes locked on him, hanging on every word, the Alpha couldn't help leaning in closer, ready to keep talking.

But a pair of large hands reached around from the middle, and the beta was a little startled, then obediently leaned into him, giving him an apologetic nod before turning back to the match.

The Alpha in the neighboring seat: "..."

He's just a beta, right? Why's everyone staring at him like he's made of gold?

But even as he thought that, once he noticed the beta next to him, he couldn't help sneaking a few more glances to the right.

Down in the lower district, softer, more delicate male betas were actually in pretty high demand.

After all, Omegas were scarce in this world, so most Alphas had to settle for marrying betas.

But compared to Alphas' constant possessive urges and heat cycles that were a nightmare to soothe without enough pheromones, betas clearly preferred sticking with other betas.

The Alpha twitched his nose—he really couldn't pick up any pheromone scent from the beta next to him, though the other Alpha's pheromones were so thick they were almost suffocating.

Seriously?

He hadn't even sniffed that hard.

Just a little.

"Let's just go." In the end, the mantis spread its wings and took off, and the Alpha who'd been hunting for an opening couldn't dodge in time and got his stomach slashed open.

The smell of blood hit the air, and cheers erupted in bursts from the circular stands.

But those cheers weren't for their fellow fighter—they were aimed at the emotionless, mechanical mantis creature.

Maybe people who were fed up with life liked to chase thrills at the arena, just like bored crowds in ancient times used to gather at the execution grounds to watch beheadings—no difference whatsoever.

Pei Ju studied the beast's movements carefully. It wasn't all that fast, and to kill it, you'd have to channel mental energy into wind blades to pierce the weak spot on its belly that it kept so well hidden.

But he'd barely had time to think it over when he heard Xu Shaoen chatting away with an Alpha.

Even though his rational side knew he shouldn't butt into Xu Shaoen's normal social life, the pheromone scent from that Alpha getting stronger and stronger told him the guy was getting worked up.

Irritation started building up inside him.

What kind of body did Xu Shaoen have? Even with his pheromones blocked and his looks disguised, Alphas still swarmed around him like flies you couldn't shoo away.

Had the temporary mark worn off? Or was the pheromone blocker working, blocking his own scent while also sealing off Xu Shaoen's Omega pheromones?

Back home, Pei Ju silently unbuckled his wrist guards, then wrapped them back on, layer by layer.

He couldn't quite figure out the restlessness churning inside him. It felt like it had started yesterday, the second he put on that pheromone blocker—that anxious feeling had started creeping up.

Just like now, watching Xu Shaoen move around nearby, he felt the urge to strip him naked and swallow him whole.

"Were you feeling a little off just now?" Xu Shaoen leaned against the table, looking at him with concern. "You look kinda rough."

"A little."

Pei Ju licked his dry lips, poured himself a glass of water, and downed it in one go.

"Do you get squeamish around blood?" Xu Shaoen guessed.

The second Pei Ju saw the blood spray out, he'd grabbed Xu Shaoen and pulled him away.

"No."

"Then what is it? Can you tell me?" Xu Shaoen trailed after Pei Ju and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"I don't feel right."

"Where at?" A cool, small hand pressed against his forehead.

"Can you..." Pei Ju's Adam's apple bobbed. It was hard, but he forced the words out: "Can you take off the pheromone blocker?"

Xu Shaoen went still.

He'd put the pheromone blocker on that morning, and since he thought it looked nice, he hadn't taken it off even after getting home.

But Pei Ju's request clearly sounded off.

He took the collar off and set it on the table.

At that moment, he saw Pei Ju's eyes go red.

Bloodshot veins were tangled up in his gaze.

Catching the faint pheromone scent from Xu Shaoen, Pei Ju took a deep breath and felt a lot better, the lingering irritation slowly fading.

"I don't know what's wrong with me, I just... kinda want to smell you."

Pei Ju said it straight out, and Xu Shaoen's ears went red.

Then it hit him, "Are you... about to go into rut?"

An Alpha's rut is different from an Omega's heat—it's usually triggered by an Omega being around, and with suppressants, it fades fast. But after all the crazy stuff Xu Shaoen had done to Pei Ju before, Pei Ju had never acted this weird.

Except—he'd left a mental mark inside Pei Ju's mental sea before.

Xu Shaoen's body stiffened.

Damn, he'd forgotten about that.

The reason Omegas had to be extra careful when doing mental grooming on Alphas, strictly sterilizing everything and using tools, was exactly to prevent this kind of thing.

Just like an Alpha marks an Omega to claim ownership, an Omega can also leave a mental mark on their Alpha.

After getting that intimate, because their bodies were so familiar, Omegas could easily slip into an Alpha's mental sea.

They leave little personal touches behind—planting a tree, growing a flower, building a fence, or even putting up a house if the Alpha lets them.

This really calms an Alpha's restless mental sea, steadies their strength, and makes them depend on the Omega even more—basically, it makes their love stronger and more obvious.

The first mental mark is usually made during the honeymoon phase of an Alpha and Omega's relationship.

Since they're all over each other every day during that time, nobody ever brings this up as a separate topic. Xu Shaoen only knew about it because he'd been curious why Mental Groomers prepped so much before every session and always had such cold looks on their faces.

It was all to stop this from happening.

Xu Shaoen saw a bead of sweat pop up on Pei Ju's forehead.

He felt a twinge of guilt—this was totally his fault. Pei Ju had acted totally normal yesterday, and he'd never even thought this could happen.

"I've never gone through a rut before." Pei Ju wiped the sweat off his forehead.

So that's what a rut feels like.

He glanced at Xu Shaoen, who seemed a little nervous and scared, instinctively stepping back.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything to you." He'd promised yesterday, and he always kept his word.

It's just a high fever, right? Just tough it out for three to five days, and it'll probably pass.

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

Is it really gonna be that easy? (thinking)

20 little red envelopes up for grabs!