Zou Yuqing woke up halfway through the journey. He was curled up inside a massive burlap sack, his vision blurred by blood so that he could not open his eyes in the pitch black. The rhythmic jolting and the occasional low blast of a ship’s horn in the distance led him to guess that he was currently inside a vehicle crossing a river bridge.
Before he could ponder further, he lapsed back into unconsciousness. The blow he had taken earlier had missed a fatal spot, but it was agonizing enough to feel excruciating.
When he opened his eyes again, he was sitting in a chair, the blood on his forehead already crusted and dry. Everything around him was dead silent. Even though it was July, the place was chillingly cold, giving him goosebumps. Once his eyes adjusted to the dark, he looked around and realized the place resembled a prison, reeking of rust and decay.
“Awake?”
A man’s voice suddenly came from the shadows. Zou Yuqing’s heart hammered in his chest, and he anxiously looked toward the sound. A figure slowly stepped out from the shadows. He tried to move, only to find himself tied tightly to the chair, and even the slightest shift sent a dull, throbbing pain all over his body. He tried to speak, only to realize with a jolt that his mouth was sealed with adhesive tape. Unable to explain himself, he could only watch as the tall man’s face grew clearer and clearer.
He wanted to say he was not Zou Yuyang. He wanted to say he still had to take care of his mother. He wanted to beg not to be killed. He wanted to plead abjectly, but having grown up in a foul and hypocritical environment, that kind of emotion had never existed in his eyes. He was resilient, indomitable, and unyielding. Right now, his gaze remained locked onto the man before him, burning with unusual brightness in the dark.
It was familiar. He felt as though he had seen this man somewhere before. Zou Yuqing watched as the man stopped right in front of him. There was no expression on that face, his eyes cold, his thin lips pressed tightly beneath a high-bridged nose as if enduring something.
“Good eyes,” the man said, looking at Zou Yuqing with disdain. He reached out a single hand to hook Zou Yuqing’s chin, turning it from side to side before gritting out, “The son of a nouveau riche family, and you dared to lay a hand on my brother?”
Zou Yuqing frowned. As an Alpha, no one had ever treated him this way, and the person before him was undoubtedly an Alpha as well. Only a male of this secondary gender could grow up so tall, radiating an overwhelming sense of oppression just by standing in front of him. This Alpha’s pheromone rank might even be higher than his own, he guessed, never once breaking eye contact with the man.
“Zou Yuyang, twenty-four years old. He used to live in the slums, and after becoming a nouveau riche through property demolition compensation, he started trying to break into upper-class circles. An A-grade Alpha.” Seeing that Zou Yuqing did not avert his gaze, the man seemed to grow interested, slowly reciting details about the person before him before narrowing his eyes and leaning in close. “You used this face to deceive my brother, didn’t you? Truly not bad, but he is only eighteen, barely an adult, and you actually marked him and got him pregnant.”
Pregnant. Zou Yuyang got someone pregnant. Zou Yuqing froze, a flash of bewilderment entering his eyes as he looked at the man before him. Judging by his aura, this was likely some young master from a major conglomerate, someone who was better off not being offended. The sheer proximity right now made him all the more terrified.
Their intermingling breaths drifted clearly into his ears, and his eyelashes began to tremble slightly. Three seconds prior, he had suddenly caught the rich scent of vodka. Even though he was wearing a scent patch, it was no match for the invasion of that overwhelming pheromone. The very next second, the man reached out, tore the scent patch right off his scent gland, and smiled at him.
“From the look in your eyes, you did not know my brother’s identity? You thought he was just an ordinary Omega?” The man leaned in to sniff Zou Yuqing’s scent gland. “Mint-scented. Smells rather nice.”
The entire space was suffused with a dangerous aura. Zou Yuqing glared, releasing his own pheromones in an attempt to protect himself, only to be completely suppressed by the other man.
He could only watch as this man, who was clearly also an Alpha, lingered beside him, inhaling his scent before narrowing his eyes into a smile. That smile felt like mockery, something he had seen far too many times, each instance shattering and rebuilding his fragile self-esteem.
“My name is Wei Mingjue. Do you know who my brother is now?” With that, Wei Mingjue loosened the hemp rope binding Zou Yuqing. The moment Zou Yuqing prepared to bolt, Wei Mingjue accurately seized his sturdy forearm and yanked him forward.
Zou Yuqing’s head was still spinning, and in a sudden flash of disorientation, he found himself pinned to the bed next to the chair. Wei Mingjue hovered directly over him, looking down with a half-smile.
Wei Mingjue. Zou Yuqing knew who he was now. Almost the entire city recognized this man, the heir to Shaping Pharmaceuticals. Television programs frequently broadcasted the glorious achievements of his company, and his younger brother was none other than the cherished darling of the Wei family: Wei Mingyu.
This time, he was truly finished. Everyone knew the Wei family doted on Wei Mingyu like he was the center of the universe, yet he had been marked and impregnated by Zou Yuqing’s brother, the son of a parvenu. Looking at Wei Mingjue, Zou Yuqing’s eyes held apology, stubbornness, and resentment, all of which were ignored by the man pressing down on him.
At that moment, Wei Mingjue felt his entire body boiling with agitation. Never before had anyone dared look at him like that. From the very beginning, Zou Yuqing’s gaze had captivated him. He thought that perhaps because the person came from the slums, he possessed that kind of resilient and unyielding spirit. Although it conflicted with the frivolous, playboy persona described in the investigation reports, it did not diminish his interest in this live specimen.
Right now, he felt like a beast, and Zou Yuqing was his hunted prey. As Alphas, they were the hunters at the top of the pyramid. Betas and Omegas were mere playthings in their palms. But Wei Mingjue was different. As an S-grade Alpha, his prey was not limited to ordinary, weak Betas and Omegas; it included fellow Alphas as well. Because he stood at the absolute peak, he could look down on everything and control everything.
With a sharp pull, he ripped apart the expensive, high-end suit Zou Yuqing had bought. Thrilled by the hint of genuine terror that finally crept into Zou Yuqing’s eyes, Wei Mingjue broke into a grin, his expression touched with a mad, triumphant glee. Leaning right next to the ear of the person beneath him, he whispered:
“I am going to return everything you did to my brother, tenfold.”
Hearing those words, Zou Yuqing’s pupils constricted sharply, and the chill in his body combined with the renewed clash of pheromones made him tremble. This was the first time he had ever felt true fear. He had never imagined that, despite being an Alpha himself, he would be subjugated by another Alpha, let alone Wei Mingjue.
He began to struggle. The dilapidated wooden bed frame emitted a loud creaking sound that added an eerie aura to the silent night, exciting Wei Mingjue even further. He lacked the strength to push Wei Mingjue away, and with his mouth taped shut, any desperate attempt to explain was muffled into pitiful whimpers.