The group found a spot in the shade, though the shouts and cheers from the distant basketball court remained clearly audible.
After admiring the sturdy physiques of the players sweating under the scorching sun, Sheng Mian began to scan her surroundings. Students sat in small groups on wooden benches beneath the trees to her left.
Unexpectedly, her gaze collided with a pair of light gray eyes framed by thick brows. An Alpha sat on a bench, tall in stature, his gaze an unshielded display of coldness and scrutiny.
Sheng Mian looked away, but she could still feel the focus of that icy stare in her peripheral vision. She feigned a natural movement and looked back; the gaze was still there. Their eyes met once more.
A vibration from her pocket interrupted the strange standoff. Sheng Mian pulled out her phone, it was a message from Zhao Manwen.
“Mianmian, find Yichen after school today and come home together. I don’t know what’s gotten into him lately, but he won’t let the driver pick him up. I’m worried he’s out messing around with classmates. I’ll feel much better if you keep an eye on him.”
Sheng Mian tapped out a quick reply: “Sure, don’t worry. I’ll look after him.” It was true that Sheng Yichen hadn’t been seen around after school for a few days.
When Sheng Mian looked up again, the person was gone.
“What are you looking at, Sheng Mian?” Yi Chi’s voice sounded in her ear.
“Nothing.” Sheng Mian brushed it off as a coincidence. “Class is almost over; let’s head back.”
As dismissal time approached, Sheng Mian turned to her friend. “Yi Chi, I can’t head back with you today. I have to pick up my brother.”
“You have a brother?” Yi Chi had never heard her mention one.
“Not by blood,” Sheng Mian replied hurriedly. Yi Chi didn’t press further.
Fortunately, the middle school was right next door. Sheng Mian made her way through the connecting passage. The playground was too large to find anyone easily, so she walked toward the school gate. As students streamed out, she scanned the crowd for Sheng Yichen.
About twenty meters from the gate, his tall, thin silhouette appeared. He was trailing slowly and casually behind a girl—a fair-skinned, cute Omega with a high ponytail.
So that’s why he won’t let the driver come, he’s in love!
Sheng Mian followed stealthily. If she saw him cross any lines, she fully intended to put him in a headlock.
“Yichen, thanks for walking me home these past few days,” the girl said as they turned into a small side path.
“It’s nothing,” Sheng Yichen replied flatly, acting like a little knight following his charge.
“Well, look at this little knight! Quite addicted to playing the protector, aren’t we?” A light, malicious voice rang out from ahead.
A dark shadow blocked their path. Three Alphas with disheveled clothes and nasty expressions stood in the middle of the alley. The young girl backed away in terror, and Sheng Yichen stepped forward, shielding her from their predatory gaze.
“Are you guys ever going to stop?” Sheng Yichen’s voice rose, laced with anger.
Seeing the boy who was more than a head shorter than them standing his ground without flinching made the Alphas feel insulted. The mocking smirks on their faces vanished, replaced by a vicious coldness.
“Don’t go looking for trouble, kid. I suggest you get lost right now.”
The two lackeys each held a wooden club; one swung it over his shoulder while the other tapped it rhythmically against his palm. Sheng Yichen showed no fear, his eyes filled with clear disgust as if he were looking at three piles of trash.
“Fuck you!” The lead Alpha lunged, kicking hard at Sheng Yichen’s stomach. Yichen twisted his body just in time, the sole of the shoe grazing the chest of his school uniform.
Missing his target only fueled the Alpha’s rage. He snatched a club from his subordinate and prepared to swing. As tensions peaked, the faint, sharp scent of Alpha pheromones began to permeate the air.
The attack was fast. Sheng Yichen raised his arms, preparing to take the blow purely through grit. Suddenly, there was a muffled grunt followed by the sound of a club hitting the ground.
Sheng Mian had picked up a thick branch from the roadside. She kicked the leader’s wrist, sending his weapon clattering, and then swung her branch with all her might across his body. A sharp cry of pain escaped him.
Quickly, Sheng Mian scooped up the dropped wooden club and stood defensively in front of Sheng Yichen and the girl. Her adrenaline was high, but as reality set in, her hands began to tremble.
“What are you doing here!” Sheng Yichen snapped, looking at her with displeasure. “Get out of here! Don’t get involved!”
“Looking at this situation, how could I possibly leave you?” Sheng Mian kept her eyes locked on the three thugs.
The leader stared at her with bloodshot eyes. His lackeys cursed, “Where the hell did you come from? How dare you hit Brother Rui!”
“Are you okay?” Sheng Mian ignored them, checking on the girl behind her.
The girl covered her nose and mouth, her voice muffled behind her palms. “I’m okay, Sister.”
The aggressive Alpha pheromones were clashing and spreading wildly. The turbid, suffocating scent made Sheng Mian feel nauseous. Her heart raced, and her limbs began to feel weak and hollow.
“I’m talking to you!” The leader lunged again with a flying kick, all his accumulated rage behind the strike. The force of the move actually whistled through the air.
Sheng Mian swung the club at his leg with everything she had. The collision of the two forces, the kick and the swing resulted in a devastating impact.
“Agh! My leg!” The Alpha crashed down, clutching his right leg with a distorted, pained face. “Get them! Beat them up! Especially that Omega! Damn it!”
The two “bodyguards” charged forward. Outnumbered and outsized, Sheng Mian was at a severe disadvantage. She managed to block the one with the club, but the other swung a fist at her. Sheng Yichen threw himself forward to intervene and was slammed hard against the wall by the punch.
“Sheng Yichen!”
“Just go!” he groaned in pain. “You can’t beat them!” He was terrified of Sheng Mian getting hurt because of him.
Sheng Mian whirled around and struck one of them across the nerve of his arm. The Alpha pheromones grew even thicker. Behind her, the young Omega girl had already crouched down, her face contorted in pain from the sensory overload.
It was only then that Sheng Mian truly felt the crushing weight of Alpha suppression. Her previous two strikes had been powered by pure willpower; now, she could barely keep her grip on the club.
Cursing, the two thugs lunged again with a fist and a club. Sheng Mian turned her back to them, shielding Sheng Yichen and the girl with her own body. Sheng Yichen’s eyes nearly burst from their sockets, he couldn’t bear the thought of her being injured for his sake.
But the expected pain never came. A gust of wind whistled past her ear, followed immediately by the sounds of blunt impacts and cries of agony.
Shen Zhilin had been riding her bike toward the BBQ shop. As she passed the intersection she had crossed a hundred times, the chaotic, clashing scents of Alpha and Omega pheromones hit her.
Looking into the alley, she saw Sheng Mian with her eyes squeezed shut, firmly protecting two children while two brawny Alphas prepared to bring their clubs down on her back.
Shen Zhilin leaped off her bike, hoisted the heavy frame, and hurled it with brutal precision. It struck the two Alphas squarely, sending them sprawling.
“Damn it! Who the hell is interfering now?” The two scrambled to their feet, ready to retaliate.
Shen Zhilin didn’t give them a chance. She delivered a sharp kick to one man’s abdomen and a crisp hook to the other’s temple. Her movements were clean, professional, and devastating.
The sheer force of her strikes left the pair groaning on the ground, unable to recover. Seeing his backup neutralized so easily, the lead Alpha who was already limping from Sheng Mian’s earlier hit turned tail and fled as fast as his injured leg would allow.
Dizzy and weakened by the pheromone suppression, Sheng Mian suddenly caught a scent that was crisp and cool—like fresh soap mixed with a hint of peppermint. It cut through the stagnant, foul Alpha scents cluttering her senses.
Shen Zhilin reached down and pulled Sheng Mian up. “Are you alright?”
Sheng Mian’s legs were like jelly. She collapsed into Shen Zhilin’s arms, her own Omega pheromones beginning to leak out as a reflexive response to the previous trauma. A sweet, delicate scent of vanilla drifted into Shen Zhilin’s nose.
Observing the state of Sheng Mian and the other Omega on the ground, Shen Zhilin said calmly, “I need you to go buy a bottle of pheromone neutralizer and some Omega suppressant patches. Now.”
Sheng Yichen was pale and breathless. He gave Shen Zhilin a long, wary look, weighing whether this Alpha was one of the “good ones.” After all, he was leaving two vulnerable Omegas in her care. But seeing their deteriorating state, he didn’t waste another second and sprinted toward the nearest pharmacy like a cheetah.
Leaning entirely against Shen Zhilin, Sheng Mian’s consciousness flickered. Her head brushed against Shen Zhilin’s shoulder, nuzzling instinctively as her nose sought out more of that soothing, cool scent.
A faint itch tickled the side of Shen Zhilin’s neck. She suppressed the urge to push Sheng Mian’s head away and leaned down to help the other Omega girl up as well. She kept her hand in a fist to avoid touching Sheng Mian’s waist directly with her palm—an awkward way to exert force but her arms were strong enough that supporting the girl’s weight was no trouble.
Within three minutes, Sheng Yichen was back, his chest heaving as he handed over the neutralizer and the patches.
Shen Zhilin took the spray with her left hand. “Give a patch to your classmate and have her put it on.”
She then proceeded to spray half the bottle into the air, thoroughly purging the alley of the lingering, muddy Alpha scents. Finally, she moved her hand toward the back of Sheng Mian’s neck. As she neared the scent gland, she hesitated, feeling as if the girl’s high body temperature might burn her. Her fingers curled instinctively before she forced them open again to peel off Sheng Mian’s spent, useless barrier patch.
Shen Zhilin kept her gaze averted throughout the process. For an Omega, the scent gland was a deeply private area. She couldn’t help but feel like a bit of a predator, stripping a patch off a semi-conscious Omega, it felt entirely too scandalous.
“What are you doing?” Sheng Yichen asked, his eyes narrowing. Even though this Alpha had saved them, there were boundaries. He couldn’t just let her touch his sister’s gland so brazenly.
Shen Zhilin paused and promptly handed Sheng Mian over to him. “Fine. You put the new patch on your sister.”
By now, the alley was completely neutralized. Without the interference of the aggressive pheromones, Sheng Mian’s head cleared quickly.
“How are you feeling?” Sheng Yichen asked, his voice thick with concern.
Sheng Mian shook her head. “I’m okay.” She turned her gaze to Shen Zhilin. “I’m glad you were there. Thank you.”
“It was nothing. I was just passing by,” Shen Zhilin replied. She let go of Sheng Mian’s arm and went to retrieve her bike. Fortunately, because it had landed on the thugs, the frame was undamaged.
As the four of them walked out of the alley, Sheng Mian felt a lingering sense of dread, which only deepened her gratitude. “Let me buy you dinner, Shen Zhilin.”
Shen Zhilin straightened her handlebars and hopped onto the seat, declining the offer without hesitation. “No thanks. I have to go. Bye.”
“Wait!” But Shen Zhilin had already pedaled far away, leaving Sheng Mian’s voice trailing in the distance.
The golden light of the setting sun bathed Shen Zhilin’s receding figure. To Sheng Mian, she looked like a knight who had dropped from the sky, driven away the villains, and then departed in silence without asking for a reward.
Feeling a bit dejected, Sheng Mian decided against eating out. She stopped at a nearby dessert shop, bought a slice of cheesecake for the young girl, and walked her home with Sheng Yichen.
“Aren’t we eating out?” Sheng Yichen asked.
“What’s the point of eating if Shen Zhilin isn’t there?” Sheng Mian replied listlessly.
Once they were alone, Sheng Yichen became fidgety. Finally, he muttered, “Thank you.”
The voice was tiny, but Sheng Mian heard it perfectly. She decided to tease him, pretending she hadn’t. “What was that? I didn’t catch it.”
Sheng Yichen cleared his throat and shouted, “I said thank you!” His face turned a bright, vivid red.
He’s so easily embarrassed, Sheng Mian thought, stifling a laugh. The awkward tension that had defined them was finally evaporating, replaced by the slow, steady growth of a normal sibling relationship.