In the end, Li You went home with Lin Zhaoning after all. However, they still slept in separate rooms. Lin Zhaoning didn’t force the issue either, letting him have his way.
Around two or three in the morning, Li You tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. Lin Xun’s probing questions from earlier that night held a deep, underlying meaning, and he hadn’t given any guarantee that he absolutely wouldn’t harm Lin Zhaoning.
Just as his thoughts were spiraling, he heard the door of the adjacent master bedroom open. Lin Zhaoning walked out in a hurry while on the phone, his steps heavy and his tone urgent. Li You slid out of bed and cracked his door open slightly. Fragmented words like “pheromones” and “threatened miscarriage” intermittently drifted into Li You’s ears as the Alpha patiently placated the person on the other end of the line.
It seemed something had happened with Bai Yu regarding the child. No wonder the usually steady Alpha was so anxious.
Li You went back to bed and pulled the covers over his head. His self-numbing and simulated amnesia over the past month hadn’t yielded much effect; hearing news about Bai Yu still touched a nerve, and it would be a lie to say his heart felt no ripples at all. In truth, it still ached.
Having gone several days without a good night’s rest, Li You was utterly exhausted. Countless times he stood right on the precipice of sleep, only for his heart to plunge at the last second, shattering his hard-won drowsiness. Every time he jolted awake, even breathing became difficult.
This time was no different.
Li You surrendered completely to his fate. He groped around on the nightstand for a bit, but failing to find the melatonin bottle, he remembered that this wasn’t his rented apartment, there was no medicine here.
Li You simply stared into the dark and counted sheep. Just as he reached ninety-nine, his phone rang. In the dead of night, he almost suspected his sleep deprivation was causing hallucinations.
“Hello?” Li You asked, dazed and disoriented.
A familiar voice came through the receiver: “Three minutes. Come downstairs.”
It was Lin Xun.
“Huh?” Li You’s brain felt like mush.
Then he heard Lin Xun’s warning: “Two minutes.”
Li You hung up the phone. Without even grabbing a coat, he ran out wearing only his pajamas and slippers.
Lin Xun’s car was waiting outside; Li You spotted it the moment he stepped through the entrance.
Lin Xun rolled down the window and called out to the dazed figure, “Get in.”
“Oh…”
Li You got into the car, still doubting the reality of the situation, until Lin Xun tossed a jacket over his head, covering it entirely. The interior of the car was quiet, neither of them speaking. There were few cars on the street at this hour, and barely a horn sounded.
Halfway through the drive, a drizzle began to fall. Raindrops like fine threads struck the window, creating a steady, rhythmic pitter-patter that proved surprisingly lulling. Coupled with Lin Xun’s steady driving, the pleasant car fragrance, crisp, refreshing, and not at all overpowering, and the passenger seat, which seemed purposefully adjusted for maximum comfort, Li You leaned back. The support angles for his lower back and neck were dialed in perfectly for sleep.
In truth, Li You wanted to ask Lin Xun where he was taking him, what would happen if Lin Zhaoning returned, and why Lin Xun had shown up downstairs at such an hour. But the environment was simply too comfortable. Unable to hold out any longer, Li You drifted off to sleep wrapped in the jacket Lin Xun had thrown over him.
Li You was truly exhausted and slept deeply, oblivious to when Lin Xun parked the car or carried him upstairs.
He was not one to fuss over an unfamiliar bed; on the contrary, he adapted to new environments remarkably well. He had stayed here just the night before and was familiar with the scent on the bedding. The moment he touched the mattress, he seamlessly drifted into a profound, heavy sleep.
Lin Xun turned on only the bedside lamp, setting it to its lowest brightness, just enough to illuminate Li You’s sleeping face without waking him.
Looking at the faint dark circles under Li You’s eyes, Lin Xun traced his thumb back and forth beneath the boy’s lower eyelid, before finally tucking his exposed arms back under the quilt.
“Look at you, aching for that wild man,” Lin Xun snorted coldly. He lay down beside Li You, crossing his arms with his back turned to him.
Li You had a habit of kicking off the covers in his sleep. After kicking the quilt away, he instinctively sought out a source of heat, rolling over until he tumbled into Lin Xun’s arms. He buried his head deep into the Alpha’s neck, and having successfully found his heat source, snuggled against the human heater with satisfaction.
Lin Xun sat up, yanked the quilt back over him, and muttered, “Why don’t you just freeze to death.”
Lying back down, a thought suddenly crossed his mind: Has Li You buried his head into that wild man’s neck like this too? Has he snuggled against him like this?
Lin Xun rubbed his face hard, arriving at a startling conclusion, Li You was an utterly detestable Beta.
The rain grew heavier, and a rising mist tightly enveloped the entire city. The noise grew increasingly pronounced, each raindrop slamming down and stoking a restless anxiety.
Lin Xun stepped out onto the balcony to light a cigarette, though the calming effect of the nicotine did little to help.
Through the glass partition, he looked at the person sleeping soundly on the bed. He wondered if his threats from earlier tonight had worked, as Li You was acting quite obedient at the moment.
But it still wasn’t enough.
Li You was only doing this to appease him and keep his promise, he was protecting Lin Zhaoning.
Lin Xun threw his cigarette away, locked the bedroom door, changed his clothes, and went out.
The pitch-black car body blended perfectly into the night. As he slammed his foot on the accelerator, the tires screeched against the slick road and sped away. Rain poured continuously onto the windshield, the flowing streams turning it into a low-grade mirror that distorted the driver’s cold, stern face into something unnaturally twisted.
A wild man was just a wild man.
So what if Li You’s heart ached for him? It wouldn’t kill him.
At the hospital, Bai Yu waited anxiously for his Alpha. Over an hour had passed with no sign of him, and his phone calls wouldn’t go through. The emergency indicator lights in the hallway cast a deep green glow. Outside the window, a torrential downpour raged, and a flash of lightning illuminated the ancient, lush locust tree in an instant, allowing him to clearly see the winding patterns carved into its bark.
“Has your Alpha still not arrived?” A doctor called out tentatively to the Omega from behind.
Bai Yu turned around and offered an embarrassed smile. “He should be a little longer. It’s pouring storming outside, so driving too fast isn’t safe.”
The doctor glanced out the window and nodded thoughtfully. “A threatened miscarriage is no small matter. Right now, you need your husband’s pheromones to soothe you. How about this: go pick up a bottle of extracted synthetic pheromones first; it’ll be good for the baby.”
“Alright, thank you.”
Bai Yu clutched his clothes tightly and left in a hurry. Along the way, his right eyelid twitched wildly, and the fetus in his womb seemed to sense something amiss. Though it was too early in the pregnancy for fetal movement, his abdomen flared with a fresh wave of pain, sharper and more intense than before.
On the winding mountain road, Lin Zhaoning tried several different spots to make a call, but all ended in failure.
Between the remote stretch of road and the terrible weather, there was currently no signal. Yet, deeply worried about Bai Yu, he could only order the driver to speed up.
The navigation system’s voice repeatedly broadcasted prompts: “You are speeding. The road is slippery due to rain, please slow down.” Just as the driver hesitated and prepared to speak up, his attention was shattered by a pair of high beams bearing down from the opposite direction.
The incoming car was driven with ruthless aggression; the slightest error would lead to a collision. The driver leaned continuously on the horn, but far from forcing the other vehicle back, the two cars drew rapidly closer.
Blinded by the glaring light, the driver instinctively turned his head to shield his eyes. By the time he reacted, the other car was barreling straight toward them. The incoming vehicle showed no intention of swerving, maintaining its course and even appearing to accelerate.
There were only guardrails on either side of the highway; beyond them lay a sheer cliff. A fall meant certain death, shattered to pieces. In a head-on collision, neither side would walk away unscathed, the best-case scenario was mutual destruction.
Lin Xun’s teeth ground together so hard they creaked, wishing he could rip the steering wheel right off. His foot pressed the gas pedal almost to the floor. With just a fraction more force, Lin Zhaoning would vanish from this world forever, and from then on, Li You’s gaze would belong to him alone.
“Don’t hurt him! I’ll agree to whatever conditions you want, alright?”
“Lin Xun, we’ve been together for twelve years…”
In the two seconds that would decide life and death, what flashed through Lin Xun’s mind was not a future Li You who smiled at him with eyes full of devotion, but the Beta clinging to him from behind, clutching his arm and begging in a humble, desperate voice.
He matters that much to you… He matters that much to you!
“Fuck!”
Lin Xun cursed loudly. At the critical moment of life and death, he swerved slightly to the side, narrowly avoiding a tragic catastrophe. Due to inertia, however, his side mirror was scraped right off.
The other car wasn’t so fortunate. Whether due to the driver’s poor nerves or sheer panic, after successfully dodging the fatal blow, their tires lost traction and skidded uncontrollably. Half the car’s body tilted into the air, the rear crushing against the guardrails. After deforming that section of the barrier, the vehicle slammed heavily back down.
With a loud BANG, one of the tires deflated at incredible speed. The car shuddered violently once more before coming to a dead stop in the middle of the road.
The driver scrambled out of the front seat, rushed to the other side, and forced open the warped door. Lin Zhaoning’s forehead was injured, blood trickling down from glass shards embedded in his skin. His arm was bent at an unnatural, reverse angle, clearly broken.
Lin Xun parked his car at a service area two kilometers away. After turning off the engine, he slammed his fist hard against the steering wheel. A row of emergency call numbers still sat on his phone screen. The Alpha frowned, glanced at it, and rolled down the window to dispel the smell of smoke. His long, elegant fingers rested on the window frame, casually flicking away ashes from the cigarette clamped between his index and middle fingers.
Moments later, the engine hummed back to life. Holding the steering wheel with one hand and his phone with the other, Lin Xun tilted his chin up slightly. His eyelids drooped halfway, a faint trace of nonchalance in the corners of his eyes as he casually deleted the emergency number. Tossing the phone back onto the vacant seat, he stepped on the gas and drove away.
After a chaotic night, the rain had stopped by the time Lin Xun returned home.
There was no sign of the door lock having been tampered with. The person inside had half his face buried beneath the pillow, sleeping peacefully.
During Lin Xun’s absence, Li You had kicked off the covers who knows how many times, shivering from the cold without ever waking up to pull them back over himself.
“Heartless idiot. You must be part pig,” Lin Xun muttered.
He straightened the sprawling figure, tucked him neatly under the blanket, changed into his pajamas, and pulled Li You into his arms. Breathing in the Beta’s pleasant scent, his nerves gradually relaxed, and he slipped into sleep.
When Li You opened his eyes the next morning, the first thing he saw was the Alpha’s half-unbuttoned pajama top, exposing a broad chest.
His nose was pressed right against bare skin, his lips nearly touching it.
The visual impact was overwhelming. Li You scrambled out of Lin Xun’s embrace, covering his eyes with both hands to force his gaze away.
Lin Xun grabbed him firmly, giving his hip a light slap. In a raspy, annoyed voice, he muttered, “Where are you running off to? It’s not like you haven’t tasted it before.”
Hearing those words, Li You closed his eyes in utter despair.
“Go back to sleep.”
Lin Xun’s tone left no room for argument. Woken from his sleep, he seemed to be in a foul mood. Without opening his eyes, he swept his arm out, locking the boy in his embrace like a set of iron chains.
“Lin Xun, I can’t sleep anymore,” Li You reminded him weakly. Having slept well the night before, his voice carried a hint of languid laziness upon waking. To an outside observer, it sounded almost like coaxing, a tone the Beta himself didn’t even notice, but which caused the Alpha to snap his eyes open in an instant.
Li You was startled by his sudden movement.
“Always so troublesome.”
Lin Xun grabbed Li You by the waist and hauled him up, forcing his legs apart to straddle his hips in an “M” shape. At first, he kissed him gently, but his actions quickly grew frantic. He began kissing and biting, holding nothing back until he left deep purple bruises on Li You’s collarbone.
“Lin Xun, it hurts…”
Li You pushed against the Alpha’s arms. He recalled saying those exact words two days ago, what had Lin Xun said back then? Something about making him endure it if it hurt.
Just as he was worrying whether the outcome would be the same this time, Lin Xun surprisingly showed mercy and let him off the hook, or rather, he stopped biting, though the kisses continued unabated.
“Where does it hurt?”
“Speak.”
Trembling, Li You guided one of the Alpha’s fingers to the bitten collarbone and said, “Here.”
Lin Xun let out a low grunt, stroking the bite mark with satisfaction. He then scooped Li You up to help him wash and change, saying casually, “Good. It’s supposed to hurt.”