Chapter 28: The Rut

The wall lamps in the hotel corridor were neither bright nor dim, but inside Wen Xi’s room, no lights were on. Thick curtains blocked out all light, leaving the interior in pitch darkness. The boundary of a single wooden door cleanly severed the world between her and Cheng Si.

Cheng Si’s Adam’s apple bobbed. It seemed that because of his arrival, that faint trace of Alpha pheromones had been quickly concealed.

“In your room… is there an Alpha?” he asked with great difficulty.

Wen Xi didn’t answer. She stood in the doorway, blocking any chance for him to look inside, and asked coldly: “What did you come back for?”

Cheng Si gripped the Omega suppressor in his hand; suddenly, he couldn’t bring himself to hand it over. Wen Xi clearly didn’t need it.

“Since there’s nothing, don’t come back until I call you.” Wen Xi’s eyes were hidden in the shadows, her emotions unreadable. She extended her hand toward him cautiously. “Give me the spare room card.”

Cheng Si didn’t move. For the first time, he wanted to refuse her.

“I’ll say it again: give me the room card.” A faint trace of violence simmered in Wen Xi’s lowered voice. “And then immediately, right now, get lost.”

Those words stung Cheng Si’s ears. He didn’t know what to do, so he pressed the room card into his palm and said with clumsy acting, “I didn’t bring it.”

Wen Xi gave him a mocking look, not wanting to entangle any further. Right in front of his face, she slammed the door with a loud thud.

Cheng Si’s heart felt as if it had been crushed along with the sound. He stood there dazed, an uncontrollable sense of regret washing over him. He hated himself for trying to “clear his head” by diving, and he hated himself even more for losing her suppressor bracelet.

If none of this had happened, Wen Xi wouldn’t be planning to go to bed with another Alpha in the very room where they had just been intimate, right?

He desperately wanted to listen to her and just get lost, but his legs felt like they were made of lead. He couldn’t move a single step.

The soundproofing in this hotel was excellent. Even standing at the door, Cheng Si couldn’t hear any intense sounds. He couldn’t tell if that Alpha was male or female, or if it was someone he knew—but there was no denying that the person’s pheromones were top-tier. Even the brief scent he had caught earlier carried an overwhelming pressure that nearly choked him.

He couldn’t help but spiral. He had only been gone for a few minutes; how did that Alpha appear so suddenly? Was Wen Xi being deceived? An Omega in heat is always vulnerable; even if she were being forced, she might not be able to resist.

Brainwashing himself with this ridiculous excuse, he pulled out his phone and called Wen Xi. She didn’t answer the first call. He tried a second time; still no answer. Panicking that something had really happened, he pressed the card against the sensor. With a trembling hand, he turned the handle and pushed the door open again.

Almost instantly, the Alpha pheromones he had smelled earlier surged like a roaring tidal wave, locking him in place. The entire room was saturated with a powerful, dangerous scent.

Thump-thump— The rapid frequency of his heartbeat made his head spin. There were still no lights on, and he received no response from Wen Xi, so instinctively, Cheng Si slid the room card into the power slot.

The pitch-black room was suddenly illuminated with a piercing brightness.

Cheng Si’s pupils constricted. He didn’t close his eyes; instead, he met Wen Xi’s cold, dark gaze and clearly saw the surging, roiling desire within. Her one-piece swimsuit had been tossed into the trash. Wen Xi was alone on the bed, half-reclined against the headboard without a blanket. One leg was bent, and she had a cigarette in her mouth. Smoke flowed from between her teeth, looking twisted and sickly.

The Alpha traits of the girl were so strong they were impossible to ignore. She was holding herself, doing exactly what he had done the night before.

“You saw it. Satisfied?” Wen Xi gave a light laugh, but the humor didn’t reach her eyes. Her voice was slightly raspy. “If you dare tell anyone—just try telling someone.”

“Will you… stop wanting me?” Cheng Si seemed terrified, his spine shivering, his breath coming in gasps.

“No,” Wen Xi exhaled a cloud of smoke. “I’ll kill you.” Her threat was casual, but the Alpha pheromones in the air spiked instantly. Under the terrifying pressure, Cheng Si’s legs went weak, and he couldn’t stop himself from surrendering to her.

Cheng Si leaned against the wall, arching his back in discomfort. He should have been afraid. Wen Xi always did what she said; if he showed even a hint of hesitation, she might truly act on that killing intent. But he realized he was just sad—an indescribable sadness.

Wen Xi was actually an Alpha. This was something Cheng Si had never imagined; it completely overturned everything he thought he knew about her. Yet, the first thought that jumped into his head was sorrow. What kind of hardship would lead someone to hide their true gender? And how cautious did she have to be to hide it from everyone?

“It must have been so hard all these years,” Cheng Si said. Seeing her expression darken, he apologized with reddened eyes. “I’m sorry. It’s all my fault…”

Wen Xi hated apologies most. Not immediately pinning him to the bed like a butterfly specimen was the limit of her endurance. Since things had come to this, there was nothing left to say. “Leave the card. You can go.”

She didn’t look at him again. She crushed the cigarette and lit another, her movements never stopping. She had found a bottle of lubricant in the room; it would serve its purpose. It would save her a lot of trouble.

A rut usually lasts about two days, but her situation was special. Without sedatives, it would definitely last longer. She could only hope Pei Huanzhou would see her message and bring the sedatives soon.

“Wen Xi, I… actually…” The words caught in Cheng Si’s throat. After a long time, he found his voice. He gently closed the door and mustered the courage to walk toward her. Omega pheromones began to spread stealthily through the room. He was determined to take responsibility for his mistake. “I’m an Omega. I can help you.”

“Stop—” Wen Xi gritted her teeth, sharply stopping him.

As she smelled the bitter, botanical fragrance in the air, the veins on her temples throbbed. she used a bit of force with her hands, using pain to force herself to stay lucid. All the bitterness she usually hid so well spilled out: “…I’ve never seen anyone throw themselves at someone as easily as you.” She glanced at him sideways. “You want to go to bed with me? Fine. But have you thought it through?”

Cheng Si stared at her blankly, not quite understanding her meaning.

Wen Xi took in his reaction and confirmed the suspicion she’d had on the beach—Cheng Si didn’t just want to be her puppy; he wanted more, things she couldn’t give.

“s*x is just s*x. A puppy will always be a puppy. My relationship with you won’t change one bit after I’ve had you.” Wen Xi took a breath, reeling in her pheromones. She stood face-to-face with him and spoke with near-cruelty: “You can guess, can’t you? I pretend to be an O to escape Xu Linshen’s control. I’m not staying in Nanjiang, and I don’t plan on taking you with me.” The risk was too high; she couldn’t even guarantee she’d get out safely herself.

“So—” Wen Xi said calmly, giving him one last choice. “Have you thought it through?”

A long ringing sound went off in Cheng Si’s head. His chest heaved, his throat full of bitterness. Even when she had told him Pei Huanzhou was the most important person, it didn’t compare to his current collapse. For the first time, Wen Xi had explicitly told him they were impossible—that he was destined to be abandoned. All his delusions and hopes from the past month were shattered.

In the silence, Cheng Si tried to fight for himself. “What if… what if I can catch up to you?”

Wen Xi smiled, but she didn’t answer. The smile was cold and cruel. “What if” was just a probability, but Cheng Si seemed to forget that there was a time limit making the difficulty even higher.

Cheng Si momentarily suffered from a phantom ringing in his ears. She said nothing, yet it was more painful than if she had. That smile broke something inside him. His face was deathly pale, his body swaying as if enduring a piercing heart-pain.

“Don’t force yourself.” Wen Xi crushed her cigarette again, maintaining her final dignity as a “master” by giving him a way out. She began walking toward the bathroom. “Let’s part on good terms—”

“I’ve thought it through.” An unexpected voice rang out.

Wen Xi turned in surprise and saw Cheng Si’s muscular chest. His eyes were very red, showing clear signs of crying. “No matter what, I still want you to be happy. I know the rut is hard to endure. As long as I can help you, I… I don’t care…”

Before Cheng Si could finish his sentence, Wen Xi’s Alpha pheromones swirled around him—cold as snow yet mixed with a sweet floral scent. It was aggressive and impossible to parry. His Omega instincts were instantly awakened, and his own heat, which shouldn’t have arrived yet, was forcibly pulled out.

Only then did Cheng Si realize how much restraint Wen Xi had used when she released her pheromones earlier.

Wen Xi didn’t give him a chance to adapt. She couldn’t. She had given him her last shred of logic, said all the words to warn him, yet he still chose to stay. To be honest, it was a bit unexpected. But since he had made this choice, it meant he was willing to accept her imperfections—her dark side.

So, naturally, she commanded him to kneel on the mattress. Pressing down on the back of his neck, she followed her innate Alpha desire for destructive play for the first time in her life.

She saw Cheng Si trembling from the pain, yet trying his best to act as if he liked it. Later, when his gaze was vacant and he turned his head, his crying had become very weak. He looked so pitiful, asking if she could do it from the front.

Wen Xi turned a blind eye. An Alpha in a rut is never soft-hearted.

However, it was the first time she realized Cheng Si was such a crybaby. He even soaked the pillow. He just couldn’t stop.