Chapter 36
The comic book slipped from Shi Nuo’s grasp and landed on the rug. He froze, holding his breath.
He knew the Alpha’s gaze was fixed on him, but he still clung to a fragile hope, a childish fantasy that if he didn’t move, didn’t even breathe, he wouldn’t be noticed.
Hugh Elvis’s expression was calm, his breathing even, his handsome face its usual aloof and elegant mask, but his eyes betrayed his primal desires.
Shi Nuo, already pressed against the wall, trembled, his eyelashes fluttering, but he didn’t dare make a sound.
The unknown was the most terrifying. He had no idea what the Alpha would do next.
Despite the temperature control system, the potent pheromones lowered the temperature in the room again, making him feel cold.
The combination of psychological fear and physical chill made him shiver uncontrollably.
He tried to curl up tighter, pulling his feet back, wanting to disappear into the corner, to see and hear nothing.
He had just showered, and his feet were bare.
Hugh Elvis’s pheromones raged, his mind clouded, his body burning hot despite the cold scent emanating from him. He only knew that the Omega was his, sweet, soft, and fragrant.
The last vestiges of his reason held his instincts in check, and he remained where he stood. He knew that approaching Shi Nuo now, in this state, could be devastating.
Then Shi Nuo shivered.
His gaze fell on the Omega’s bare feet as they disappeared beneath his clothes.
Pale, delicate, tinged with pink, his toenails short and rounded, just like Shi Nuo himself, soft and alluring.
The Alpha’s throat tightened. Shi Nuo had curled up, hiding himself beneath his clothes.
He couldn’t see him anymore.
Why couldn’t he see him?
A surge of rage consumed him, obliterating the last of his reason.
Shi Nuo had been avoiding eye contact with the Alpha, but his peripheral vision had still been on him. Seeing the veins bulging on Hugh’s hands and arms, he looked up, startled, and met the Alpha’s furious gaze.
A moment later, the tall, muscular man was upon him, his hot hand gripping his ankle, pulling him to the center of the rug.
Tears streamed down Shi Nuo’s face as he cried out and struggled.
The two-meter-tall Alpha had an overwhelming advantage in size and strength. Shi Nuo’s struggles were like a kitten’s futile attempts to escape, even weaker than a kitten’s.
At least a kitten had sharp claws and teeth. His nails were blunt, his teeth small, and he could only leave faint scratches on the Alpha’s skin. His hands were quickly bound, his jaw gripped, his legs pinned down.
He could only try to wriggle free.
However, this only intensified the Alpha’s arousal.
Hot kisses trailed down his face and neck, turning into nips and bites. A sharp pain in his chest made Shi Nuo’s back break out in a cold sweat. He felt as if Hugh was going to devour him, literally.
“No,” he whispered, his face pale, no longer struggling, tears streaming down his face. “Mr. Elvis, please don’t. I’ll die.”
The Alpha ignored his pleas, his lips capturing Shi Nuo’s in a fierce, possessive kiss, their mingled pheromones filling the air.
His pajamas were torn, ripped into shreds, and Shi Nuo saw the Alpha’s arousal, larger and more frightening than usual. He thrashed wildly, managing to free one leg, and kicked out blindly.
This only excited Hugh Elvis further, his eyes turning red.
“Elvis, stop! Hugh! I’ll die! I’ll die!” Shi Nuo’s mind was blank, his survival instincts driving him to struggle and plead, his voice rising in a desperate scream, filled with terror and despair.
Alphas with pheromone instability often became violent during their ruts. Their already superior strength and heightened sexual drive amplified their aggression and physical prowess.
Their Omega partners often suffered the consequences.
There were medical facilities available in the outside world, but here, there was nothing. Even if he survived this encounter, the pain and injuries could last for a long time.
The Omega beneath him sobbed, tears streaming down his face.
Hugh Elvis froze, his eyes red, his pheromones raging through his body, seeking an outlet.
His rut tormented him both physically and mentally, a relentless beast clawing at his insides, its greedy, malicious desires demanding to be unleashed on the Omega.
Flames burned within him, uncontrollable, agonizing.
The only way to quench them was through Shi Nuo.
His body burning hot, he pulled away from Shi Nuo.
Seeing the Omega scramble towards the corner, Hugh Elvis’s lips tightened into a thin line. He didn’t speak but reached out towards him again.
Shi Nuo, huddled in the corner, opened his mouth to scream but couldn’t make a sound.
A large hand grasped the black crystal beneath his collarbone, and Long Xu materialized outside the window.
Hugh held a black half-mask, also retrieved from the spatial storage device.
“Wear this. To prevent bites,” his voice was hoarse. He put on the mask, covering his nose and mouth, the black metal adjusting and molding to his face.
He turned his head and fastened the strap at the back. “Fingerprint lock. You do it.”
It was a bite inhibitor mask, different from the muzzles used for beast forms. The black metal mask was designed for human faces and wasn’t as demeaning.
Both the bite inhibitor and other items, even clothes, anything he had used before leaving the Imperial Star, had been stored in Long Xu’s spatial storage, untouched for ten years.
Shi Nuo stared at the fingerprint lock on the back of the mask, and without waiting to be told, reached out and registered his fingerprint, locking the strap.
Now, only he could remove the mask.
The immediate danger seemed to have passed, and Shi Nuo grabbed the rumpled sheet and wrapped it around himself.
Hugh Elvis’s brief return to sanity had calmed the raging Alpha pheromones in the room, though the cold air remained.
Neither of them spoke. Shi Nuo saw Hugh’s throat move, his eyelashes fluttering, and quickly lowered his gaze, afraid to meet his eyes.
Boom—
Outside, Long Xu suddenly punched the ground, sending dirt flying, the impact shaking the house.
Shi Nuo looked out the window and, in the dim twilight, saw the mecha punch the ground repeatedly, creating a large hole.
He didn’t know what Long Xu, or rather Hugh, was doing, when a hot hand suddenly wrapped around his waist.
The window opened, and Shi Nuo, still wrapped in the sheet, was pulled outside and lifted into the Alpha’s arms. He was carried swiftly to Long Xu, his bare feet touching the cool grass.
A deep pit stood before them.
Shi Nuo watched, bewildered, as Hugh jumped into the pit, then Long Xu’s massive metal hand covered the opening.
A heavy clang echoed as metal plates shifted on the mecha’s arm, and when Long Xu removed its hand, the pit was sealed with thick metal plates, leaving only small gaps for ventilation.
“Long Xu is programmed to remove the metal plates only when my pheromones stabilize,” Hugh Elvis’s muffled voice came from beneath the metal, his lower face covered by the mask.
Reassured by this, no longer facing the Alpha’s burning gaze, knowing he wouldn’t be attacked, Shi Nuo cautiously approached the pit.
Seeing the ventilation gaps, he pursed his lips and nodded slightly.
The last sliver of light on the horizon vanished, swallowed by the darkness. The sky was filled with stars, the moon hidden behind the clouds.
After a moment, Shi Nuo asked softly, “Do you need water or nutrient solution?”
Hugh couldn’t remove the bite inhibitor mask, so providing solid food wasn’t feasible.
Most bite inhibitor masks were made of intelligent metal and had a small opening for liquids.
“No,” the man’s muffled voice came from the pit.
Shi Nuo fell silent, still shaken by his earlier fear.
The night air was cold. Autumn was more than halfway through, and in another two weeks, when late autumn arrived, the temperature would drop even further.
Lost in thought, he glanced at Long Xu, the silent metal giant standing guard behind him.
“How long…?” Shi Nuo asked.
An Alpha’s rut usually lasted three days, but Hugh’s condition wasn’t normal.
“Three days. Maybe five,” Hugh replied.
Sensing the Alpha’s pheromones seeping through the gaps in the metal plates, growing stronger, Shi Nuo instinctively stepped back.
They were permanently bonded, and his body was drawn to the Alpha, his scent gland tingling as Hugh’s pheromones intensified.
As the Alpha’s pheromones became more agitated and oppressive, Shi Nuo’s legs weakened, and he felt a cold sweat break out.
Long Xu, with its limited sentience, suddenly reached out, its massive hand gently gripping Shi Nuo, carrying him back to the house, and placing him inside.
As soon as he was safely inside, Shi Nuo heard loud banging and crashing sounds from outside, a sense of urgency in the violent impacts.
The metal plates covering the pit buckled under the force of Hugh Elvis’s attack from within.
Long Xu quickly turned and added another layer of metal plates.
Shi Nuo didn’t sleep that night.
He looked exhausted, dark circles under his eyes, a pheromone suppressant patch – unused for a long time – on his neck, concealing his scent.
Throughout the night, he heard the sounds of metal being struck and kicked, punctuated by occasional roars.
Hugh hadn’t spoken, and the roars made him wonder if the Alpha had shifted into his beast form.
Shi Nuo listlessly ate a piece of bread for breakfast, glancing at the window from time to time. The sky was overcast; it might rain.
He couldn’t focus, unable to concentrate on movies or comic books. He paced restlessly between the living room and bedroom, then finally stopped, his gaze fixed on the front door.
Outside, Long Xu stood guard between the house and the pit. Seeing Shi Nuo emerge, it lowered its head, its mechanical blue eyes watching the small, timid Omega.
Stepping outside, Shi Nuo was immediately hit by the overwhelming scent of Hugh’s pheromones, the cold lotus fragrance filling the air, the temperature noticeably lower.
Such a high concentration of pheromones, lingering in the open air, vast and potent, made him realize just how strong Hugh truly was.
His own tea olive scent was masked by the suppressant patch.
He had a small box of suppressant patches when he arrived, only ten, and he had forgotten to ask Hugh to buy more.
The lotus scent, unable to find its Omega, unable to mingle and merge with his, surged and intensified.
There was no wind, yet the grass and trees bent under the invisible pressure.
The heavy, oppressive atmosphere, coupled with the Alpha’s raging pheromones from last night, had silenced all creatures within a radius of several miles.
An unusual silence had fallen over the wilderness. Preoccupied with his worries, Shi Nuo didn’t notice. He slowly approached the pit, now covered with multiple layers of thick metal plates.
Even on the topmost layer, he could still see the dents and scratches from Hugh’s attack.
“Are you alright?” he asked, stopping a few paces away, not daring to get too close.
Hearing no response, he looked up at Long Xu.
The mecha’s deep, electronic voice responded, “Target conscious. No life-threatening injuries detected.”
“Shi Nuo.”
As soon as Long Xu spoke, Shi Nuo heard his name, the familiar voice coming from the pit.
“How are you?” he asked. Since Hugh could speak, and Long Xu had confirmed he was conscious, perhaps his condition had improved overnight.
“Not good,” Hugh’s voice, muffled by the thick metal plates, was low and hoarse.
Shi Nuo’s heart clenched. “What’s wrong?”
“Pheromone instability. It will take a few more days to stabilize,” Hugh sounded dejected.
Shi Nuo didn’t know how to comfort him. “It’ll be alright,” he said lamely, then realized how useless and even pointless his words were.
As expected, Hugh Elvis didn’t reply.
After a few minutes, Hugh spoke again. “I’m thirsty, Shi Nuo. Could you pour some water in here?”
“Okay,” Shi Nuo agreed immediately and hurried back to the house, poured a glass of warm water, and returned. But as he approached the metal plates, his gaze fell on the dents and scratches, and he hesitated.
“Shi Nuo, why aren’t you coming closer?” Hugh’s voice was hoarse, as if parched.
His voice, always pleasant, with its deep, magnetic quality, seemed to caress Shi Nuo’s ears and neck, sending shivers down his spine.
Shi Nuo, not particularly quick-witted, stammered, “H-how…how are you going to drink?”
“Pour it through the gaps.”
Hugh sounded lucid, and his pheromones weren’t as aggressive now, much calmer.
As Shi Nuo hesitated, unsure whether to step onto the metal plates, the man in the pit spoke again. “Nuo Nuo, I’m so thirsty. Nuo Nuo, come closer, just pour me some water.”
His tone was almost pleading, his low, hoarse voice sending a shiver down Shi Nuo’s spine, its gentle, almost desperate quality strangely alluring.
Alphas in rut were easily angered, their territorial and possessive instincts heightened, hostile towards anyone but their mates, but towards their mates, they displayed an almost childlike dependence and clinginess.
Hearing his pitiful pleas, Shi Nuo’s resolve wavered, and he cautiously stepped onto the metal plates. He found a gap and squatted down, about to pour the water.
The metal plate beneath his feet vibrated almost imperceptibly, and through the gap, he saw an eye, staring up at him, its pupil dilated and bloodshot.
A cold sweat broke out on his back, and he froze, terrified.
The metal plate suddenly rattled violently as Hugh attacked it from below, trying to break free.
Long Xu reacted swiftly, grabbing the back of Shi Nuo’s shirt and lifting him into the air.
“Shi Nuo! Come back!” a hoarse roar came from the pit.
Long Xu dropped several more metal plates onto the opening, sealing it completely.
