Early novels often share a common flaw, characters act as if they never learned the kindergarten lesson of “call the police when in trouble,” dragging out conflicts with unnecessary drama and wasted effort.
But Shi Wei Yue wasn’t one to indulge such nonsense.
When she said she’d call the police, she meant it, immediately.
The officers arrived swiftly. The trapped Omega in the room, the lingering thick scent of pheromones, and the hotel corridor’s surveillance footage left no room for doubt. The culprit was quickly taken away.
Even as the police finished verifying the evidence with her, Shi Wei Yue still didn’t notice anything amiss. She turned on the air circulation and returned to her room, feeling unusually warm, so she decided to take a shower.
After the earlier incident, she wasn’t taking any chances. She thoroughly inspected the entire room, ensuring there were no hidden cameras, listening devices, or any other intruders before stepping into the shower.
But the shower lasted far longer than expected.
The steam in the bathroom coated her back in a thin sheen of sweat. Even after rinsing, the heat quickly returned. An abnormal warmth crept from her neck to the tips of her ears, and soon, even her breathing grew ragged.
At first, Shi Wei Yue thought she was just overheated. She turned the water temperature down, then eventually to cold, but her body temperature refused to drop. Only then did she belatedly realize something was wrong.
By then, it was almost too late. A surge of instinctual heat shattered her rationality like brambles lying in wait, striking at her weakest moment and overwhelming her mind in an instant.
What Shi Wei Yue didn’t yet know was that this was the precursor to an Alpha’s rut. Under its influence, an Alpha’s sensitivity skyrockets. Some even say an uncontrolled Alpha in rut becomes like a wild beast, driven to seek out a compatible Omega to sate their primal urges before regaining reason.
Shi Wei Yue had always prided herself on her self-control, and even now, she wasn’t entirely overtaken by the rut. But the relentless heat was maddening, a fire burning in her chest, demanding release.
**
As a renowned resort, Four Seasons South Island upheld impeccable standards. By 10 p.m., half the lights dimmed, and “Quiet Hours” signs were prominently displayed.
The night breeze was cool. Wen Ruxing, having just left a meeting, wore only a thin blouse. Fighting off a cold, she had a black mask covering half her face as she hurried through the garden path toward the elevators, heading for the quieter residential wing.
Ding.
The elevator was empty at this hour. Wen Ruxing idly watched the floor numbers climb until they stopped at the 24th floor. This level housed only three suites, each sprawling from end to end. Access required a keycard, so aside from scheduled services or emergencies, no one else came up.
Her feet ached from a day in stilettos. She was debating whether to take them off early when, rounding the corner and bending down, her gaze suddenly collided with a figure.
The dim yellow light enveloped the woman, making her snow-white dress stand out even more. The silk nightgown reached just below her knees, and with her knees bent, the slender lines of her calves were fully exposed to the air.
She was still wearing hotel slippers, her damp long hair cascading down, strands of golden-gray clinging to her cheeks and trailing down her neck. This ashy hair color was notoriously difficult to pull off, often making one’s complexion appear dull, but Shi Wei Yue’s skin was naturally fair not the kind achieved with makeup, but a vibrant ivory tone that made the golden-gray hue of her hair strikingly beautiful.
The Alpha, sensing her gaze, slowly lifted her head, her eyes and cheeks tinged as if soaked in a mist of roses. Shi Wei Yue’s eyelashes were long, not overly thick but exceptionally lengthy, still curled slightly from recently removed makeup. Beads of moisture clung to the dark lashes, dampening their raven-black shade, and only when her eyelids lifted did the faint crimson at the outer corners of her eyes become visible.
Even the simple act of raising her gaze was undeniably sensual.
Today, Shi Wei Yue carried an unusual allure.
Before Wen Ruxing could process why Shi Wei Yue was here, the sight of her condition told her something was wrong. Fortunately, Wen Ruxing had a cold and was wearing a special mask, barely able to detect the pheromones in the air.
“Shi Wei Yue.”
Wen Ruxing hurried over, instinctively reaching to pull her up, fearing she might collapse right there. But the woman, seemingly limp and weak on the floor, was still not someone an Omega like her could easily move. Shi Wei Yue slipped through her grasp like a sleek fish, effortlessly breaking free.
The lingering sensation of cool, smooth skin still fresh in her palm, Wen Ruxing watched as Shi Wei Yue staggered to her feet, about to walk away, and quickly grabbed her again:
“Where are you going? Don’t make a scene.”
If Shi Wei Yue were in her right mind, she would have caught the warning in the antagonist’s lowered voice. But her blood was burning, scorching hot, her mind foggy as if short-circuited.
The most severe reaction during a rut wasn’t the pheromone surge but the loss of rationality, the real reason Alphas struggled to restrain their dangerous impulses. Shi Wei Yue stared at the beautiful woman standing dangerously close, her face mere inches away, vision blurred with overlapping images.
“D-don’t touch me.”
She gritted her teeth, barely managing to force out the words, her body resisting to the extreme. If not for this instinct, she wouldn’t have been able to withstand the other’s physical advances.
Find Wen Ruxing yes, she needed to find Wen Ruxing. She was in this hotel too.
She hadn’t completely lost her senses, still remembering who she was, but her Alpha instincts left Shi Wei Yue on the verge of tears. She wanted to call out to the system, but it was as if it had died, leaving her to struggle alone.
This damn hotel and its lousy security, just wait till she sued them!
The Alpha’s sheer strength to break free was too much for Wen Ruxing to hold back, nearly causing her to stumble and fall. She had no choice but to kick off her high heels. Watching Shi Wei Yue stagger off aimlessly, Wen Ruxing clenched her teeth and tore open a slit in the Suppressant patch on the back of her neck.
The Alpha was still “putting up a fight” as she half-dragged, half-pulled her into the room not resisting her as a person, but resisting the pheromones’ instinctual pull and control.
The woman’s soft long hair cascaded over her shoulders, damp with what could have been sweat or leftover water. Those beautiful, clear eyes stared straight at her face, yet it seemed she didn’t recognize her at all.
During the most severe phases of an Alpha’s rut, they might even experience temporary memory loss, completely forgetting everything that happened over the past few days. The lucky ones might recall bits and pieces much later, while others might bury those memories deep in the recesses of their minds.
Wen Ruxing wanted to administer a suppressant, but the woman struggled to keep her at bay, as if she were some kind of monstrous threat. She was desperate to know why Shi Wei Yue had appeared here, with countless questions swirling in her mind, but now wasn’t the right time to ask them.
If an Alpha endured their rut for too long without suppressants or marking, things could get messy. She had seen more than once how out-of-control Alphas were apprehended, many of whom eventually lost their minds.
While God had granted these individuals special abilities, He had also reclaimed a portion of their rationality as the Creator’s balancing act. As the pear-blossom wine scent of pheromones grew increasingly potent in the air, even though Wen Ruxing was slightly under the weather and wearing an isolation mask, a faint, intoxicating whiff still drifted into her nostrils.
That faint scent made her fingertips tremble slightly.
“Forget it,” the woman murmured, as if making a firm decision. Lifting her captivating, upturned cat-like eyes, she kicked off her high heels, making their height difference all the more apparent. She tilted her head slightly to look at her, then tore off the Suppressant patch completely and tossed it into the trash bin. “Mark me. A temporary mark. You know how, right? Hmm?”
As the villainess in a melodramatic angst novel who could “have something going on” with the male lead, Wen Ruxing was stunningly beautiful. Even with most of her face hidden behind the mask, her cool, composed eyes melted like snow meeting warmth, the teardrop mole at the corner of her eye tinged with a seductive allure, enchanting and lingering.
She didn’t even need pheromones to entice just a casual smile from her would send countless people flocking to her, vying to kneel at her feet.
Shi Wei Yue’s words were slurred, and Wen Ruxing initially thought she was just shy. But when she leaned in closer, she realized the word the other woman kept repeating wasn’t “yes” but “get lost.” Instantly, irritation flared.
They had only gotten married on paper for appearances, they were hardly real wives. Could it be that Shi Wei Yue, this young mistress, was actually determined to remain chaste for her?
Absurd.
Anger surged from the depths of her heart. Wen Ruxing grabbed Shi Wei Yue’s wrist, only to be shoved back with even greater force. But that single motion drained the last of Shi Wei Yue’s strength her rut had consumed her rationality while forcing her to expend most of her energy on self-control. Shi Wei Yue groped around, failing to find her phone, and in desperation, she actually made a dash for the window.
Wen Ruxing pinched the collar of her clothes with slender, pale fingers, her expression icy as she stepped closer. Then she heard the woman, bracing herself against the windowsill, panting as she scolded:
“Stay back! I have a wife!”
Wen Ruxing paused mid-step, confusion flashing in her eyes.
Shi Wei Yue clung to the window, shifting all her weight onto the sill. Without turning around, she gripped the window latch tightly and shouted:
“My wife is a fierce and wicked shrew. Rather than wait for her to kill me, I might as well jump off here today!”