Chapter 28
After the swift journey back, Shi Nuo was unceremoniously dumped onto the rug.
The white wolf had clearly controlled its strength, and the landing was soft. He sat up, his heart pounding, his eyes filled with apprehension as he looked at the wolf.
Dropping the bundle from its mouth and shaking off the vine and buckets from its back, the white wolf paced restlessly, its claws scraping against the floor, leaving deep marks. Its breathing became heavier.
A low growl rumbled in its chest. It glanced at Shi Nuo, its expression irritated, no longer its usual aloof indifference.
Hugh Elvis was feeling increasingly annoyed, and Shi Nuo’s apology only exacerbated his frustration.
Shi Nuo spoke hesitantly, “I-I’m sorry, Mr. Elvis. I just…I didn’t want to trouble you too much.”
He relied on the Alpha to take him out to search for food every day, even burdening him with heavy loads. He knew about Hugh’s background. His own father had tried everything to establish a connection with the Elvis family but had only managed to reach a distant branch. And Hugh, with his young master temperament, was already being incredibly generous by helping him at all.
His apology was sincere, and Hugh Elvis sensed this. However, it was this very sincerity, this cautious politeness, that fueled his irritation.
Shi Nuo’s concern felt like a polite distance, a fear of inconveniencing him.
Having his strength underestimated had only annoyed him, but the apology was like a drop of water in a pan of hot oil, igniting his anger.
The two-meter-tall man appeared, and Shi Nuo was lifted off the ground by his waist, his feet dangling in the air. Even when he stretched his legs down, trying to find purchase, his toes couldn’t reach the floor.
The Alpha’s strikingly handsome face loomed over him, his blue eyes darkening, like a vast ocean churning with turbulent waves.
“Why are you apologizing?” Hugh Elvis’s voice was cold, his anger barely contained.
Shi Nuo froze. “I…”
He couldn’t explain, couldn’t understand the Alpha’s anger, and simply stared, speechless.
His lower lip was caught between the Alpha’s teeth, and he flinched but didn’t dare resist.
Tears welled up in the corners of his eyes, making him look even more beautiful and vulnerable.
Hugh Elvis shifted his attention, his lips moving to the corner of Shi Nuo’s eyes, gently nibbling and kissing the delicate skin.
Shi Nuo instinctively closed his eyes, tears escaping and quickly being licked away.
Every inch of his skin had been kissed and bitten by the Alpha, more than once, but having angered him today, he was afraid, his waist tightly gripped by the man’s hands, unable to move.
With his eyes closed, his other senses became more acute.
He heard the man’s heavy, agitated breathing and feared what he might do in his anger. An Alpha with pheromone instability, when provoked, could be unpredictable.
He opened his eyes, stood on tiptoe, wrapped his arms around the man’s neck, and kissed him softly, gently caressing his lips.
Their breaths mingled. Hugh looked into the Omega’s tear-filled eyes, so beautiful and vulnerable that his anger softened.
After a moment of silence, Hugh Elvis’s voice, slightly hoarse, said, “Kiss me again.”
Shi Nuo kissed him, his long eyelashes trembling as he tentatively touched the Alpha’s tongue with his own.
The man’s kiss in return was fierce and possessive, lasting for several minutes.
Shi Nuo’s tongue felt numb. He was lifted into the air, his body pressed against Hugh Elvis’s, their eyes level.
They kissed again, a slow, exploratory dance of lips and tongues.
Hugh was a naturally gifted kisser, his gentle touch intoxicating, drawing soft moans from the Omega. But Shi Nuo’s clumsiness and timidity made the Alpha frown. He wasn’t learning.
He looked into Shi Nuo’s slightly dazed eyes and, following his own desires, turned the gentle kiss into a possessive conquest.
Shi Nuo cried.
As tears streamed down his face, he realized that Hugh Elvis’s sometimes cruel nature wasn’t a new discovery. The Alpha could be gentle, but his inherent possessiveness and desire to dominate were always present, whether in their kisses or in other aspects of their relationship.
Hugh carried him to the sofa. They had been back for almost an hour, and they hadn’t done anything productive.
The kisses had calmed his anger, and now, holding Shi Nuo in his arms, his expression was once again languid and indifferent, his usual composure restored.
He stretched out his legs, turned Shi Nuo around so he was sitting on his lap, facing away from him, and bit down on the Omega’s fair neck, injecting his pheromones.
The prolonged kissing had tired Shi Nuo, and the temporary marking, the Alpha’s pheromones surging through his bloodstream, left him weak and languid. He leaned back against Hugh’s chest, catching his breath.
Hugh Elvis held the Omega close, pleased by his compliance. He leaned back against the sofa cushions, rested Shi Nuo’s head beneath his chin, and said lazily, “Don’t apologize again.”
He thought for a moment, then added, “And don’t say things like ‘I don’t want to trouble you.'”
Not hearing a response, he lifted Shi Nuo’s chin and looked at him.
Meeting his gaze, Shi Nuo mumbled, “Okay.” Then, before Hugh Elvis could lean back, he whispered, “Why?”
Hugh paused, frowned slightly, and then said frankly, “It makes me unhappy.”
He truly was unhappy, annoyed.
“Okay,” Shi Nuo replied softly, resting against the Alpha’s chest, his mind in turmoil.
He thought about it for a long time. It must be instinctual. As an Alpha, having his strength underestimated would naturally be displeasing. And with his strong beast instincts, and their bond as mates, Hugh Elvis likely saw helping him carry things as his duty as a strong Alpha.
It was instinct, responsibility, nothing more.
Shi Nuo lowered his eyes, thinking that in this environment, Hugh’s personality was actually a blessing.
The white fluff, when dry, was easily carried by the wind, but the seeds, once separated, were heavier and wouldn’t be blown away so easily.
It was past six in the evening. After dinner, Shi Nuo worked at the kitchen sink.
He had made six trips today, and apart from mushrooms, the rest of his harvest was the rice-like fruit, which he had named, taking pictures of the tree, the shells, and the seeds, and adding them to the intelligent system’s database.
Washing the fluff and extracting the seeds wasn’t strenuous, but it was time-consuming.
The kitchen was large, easily accommodating both of them.
Hugh Elvis, bored, watched Shi Nuo for a while. With his superior height, he didn’t even have to bend down. He could clearly see the Omega’s slender, pale fingers skillfully separating the white seeds from the fluff.
Soaking the fluff in water made it easier to remove the seeds, which Shi Nuo placed in a nearby bowl. Having been encased in the fluff, most of the seeds were clean, requiring only a quick rinse before being dried in the sun tomorrow.
When standing still for long periods, Shi Nuo had grown accustomed to having the Alpha close behind him.
If he bent over, Hugh would place a hand on his back, urging him to straighten up, sometimes keeping his arm there, holding him from behind.
Like now.
Hugh Elvis held him from behind, bending down, his chin resting on the Omega’s head, his strong body enveloping Shi Nuo completely.
He was tall and imposing, his long legs and arms, his firm, defined muscles radiating a quiet strength. When there was no one else around for comparison, his broad shoulders and narrow waist simply made him look fit and lean.
But standing next to Shi Nuo, his Alpha masculinity was undeniable, his broad chest, the contours of his muscles, the powerful lines of his back as he leaned down, all emphasized the difference in their physiques.
Even the faint blue veins visible on his forearms spoke of his strength and sensuality.
He reached out, trying to help, but the damp, unpleasant texture of the soaked fluff made him frown, and he withdrew his hand.
Shi Nuo, his back pressed against the Alpha’s warm, firm chest, paused, then said, “Why don’t you tear the mushrooms into strips and slice the round ones? We can dry them tomorrow.”
“Mm,” Hugh Elvis agreed, kissing the top of the Omega’s head before moving to the counter.
He often kissed, embraced, and even licked Shi Nuo, and the Omega had grown accustomed to it. All Alphas were possessive of their mates, and Hugh’s possessiveness was even more pronounced.
They worked in the kitchen, each busy with their own task, until the sky darkened and the soft kitchen lights turned on automatically.
They had only made two trips to gather mushrooms today, bringing back four buckets, but tearing and slicing them had taken a while, and they had just finished.
There was still a lot of fluff left to process, and Shi Nuo, knowing they wouldn’t finish tonight, had intended to continue working, as he had nothing else to do, but Hugh had stopped him, and he had obediently gone to the bedroom to wash up.
They showered together, as they often did recently.
He was tired from working all day. After turning off the bedroom lights and lying down, they kissed for about fifteen minutes, and before Shi Nuo could politely decline any further intimacy, Hugh covered his eyes with his hand, his voice low and husky, “Go to sleep.”
Shi Nuo blinked, yawned, and closed his eyes.
He felt the light tickle of eyelashes against his palm. Hugh Elvis listened to the Omega’s soft, even breathing, then, after a while, drifted off to sleep himself.
For half a month, the weather remained clear and sunny. Apart from the windy afternoons, there was no rain, and Shi Nuo’s food stores grew considerably.
The airtight container for rice was full, about twelve pounds, enough for a month, so he didn’t have to ration it.
He stored the remaining twenty pounds of rice in vacuum-sealed bags, like the ones used for fresh fruit, and placed them in the storage room.
Although different from the rice he was used to, these larger grains, although taking longer to cook, made delicious porridge and steamed rice.
Hugh deserved most of the credit for finding so much rice.
And not just rice, but other things as well.
For the past two weeks, Shi Nuo hadn’t gathered many vegetables on the plain, focusing instead on the mountains. He had dried a large quantity of wood ear mushrooms and other mushrooms for the winter.
He had found another type of small potato in the mountains, along with several kinds of wild yams, which he had brought back and stored in a cool corner of the basement.
There was even more fruit. Hugh Elvis, with his keen sense of smell, had found many wild berries and fruits, some of which they dried, others stored fresh in the refrigerator.
Shi Nuo had even dug up bamboo shoots and dried them.
Just processing and storing these for winter took time.
Wildflowers bloomed, and as the second month of autumn arrived, the leaves turned shades of red, yellow, and brown, the signs of autumn even more pronounced.
Shi Nuo reached into a low bush, pulling out a branch laden with black raspberries, and began picking them.
The black raspberries were large, slightly bigger than his thumb, and he picked them eagerly, enjoying their sweet taste.
He had found a patch of raspberries today, berries of all colors growing everywhere, mostly black, with some red and purple, their sweet fragrance filling the air.
One of his small buckets was almost full. Hearing a sound, he turned to look.
The white wolf returned, carrying a branch covered in small, round, orange fruits with a white, frosty coating. Shi Nuo, his eyes lighting up, walked over curiously.
The fruits Hugh brought back were always edible, and he always chose the tastiest ones.
“These are pretty,” Shi Nuo picked an orange fruit, rubbed it with his hand, and, seeing that the white coating didn’t come off, figured it was part of the rind.
It tasted sweet and sour, like an orange.
The familiar flavor delighted him, and he quickly grabbed his other bucket, squatted down, and began picking the orange berries.
The raspberry patch was in an open area, the terrain uneven but with few trees, the ground covered in thick grass, like a small meadow on the mountainside.
The white wolf, having finished its patrol, returned. With its presence, the animals in the vicinity had long since fled.
Shi Nuo was still picking the orange berries when he suddenly felt a change in the atmosphere. The sun dimmed abruptly, the change so stark that he looked up at the sky.
Dark clouds gathered rapidly, swirling and churning, darkening the sky in the blink of an eye. A rumbling sound filled the air.
Like thunder, but different, the sound growing louder and more piercing, exploding among the clouds, which flickered with countless thin, red streaks of light.
Shi Nuo had never seen anything like this before and froze, staring up at the sky.
The scruff of his neck was grabbed, and the white wolf, in a swift movement, picked him up and ran down the mountain.
His bucket tipped over, scattering the berries.
The gray clouds in the sky churned violently, forming countless tornadoes, the deafening roars of thunder echoing like the end of the world.
