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Shen Zechuan hadn’t quite been feeling like himself all morning. It was late fall, inching towards winter, and Qudu was dreadfully cold as it always was this time of year, but he’d woken up feeling strangely overheated. In his sleep, he seemed to have kicked off the heavy quilt Xiao Chiye had recently added to the bed he’d been forcing Shen Zechuan to share with him. Ever since the incident at the Nanlin Hunting Grounds, he’d barely let Shen Zechuan out of his sight, under some flimsy pretense of keeping an eye on him, but he was really anything but subtle about the desires that plagued him. From the bed, he’d watched with barely concealed hunger as Shen Zechuan had stepped behind the folding screen to change out of his sweat-soaked sleeping robe. Shen Zechuan had ignored him as best he could.
He would have guessed that he was getting sick, which seemed to be an inevitability for him every year as soon as the weather got colder, but he didn’t feel any of the other telltale signs of oncoming illness. His nose was clear, his head didn’t hurt, and he didn’t feel more tired than usual — if anything, there was a strange restless energy in his bones that had made him relieved when Xiao Chiye had soon dragged him out to accompany him on some Imperial Army business. The chilly air outside felt soothing on his skin where it usually only stung. He even caught himself thinking that he might have been better off leaving his coat behind.
How strange. Shen Zechuan usually ran cold, and in the winter he always struggled, even indoors, to stay warm enough to not perpetually shiver. But today, as he walked a few steps behind Xiao Chiye through the ever-bustling streets of Qudu, he found that he was already lightly sweating again, as if he’d been overexerting himself. It was an unfamiliar, uncomfortable feeling.
His mood wasn’t improved by what Xiao Chiye’s newest assignment turned out to be. A sinkhole had opened in the middle of a fish market not too far from the Plum Blossom Manor and swallowed up a house and several stalls along with the vendors running them. Compared to the Chashi sinkhole, it was laughable, of course, less than a hundred feet across at the widest point, but that didn’t stop the hair on the back of Shen Zechuan’s neck from standing up as he eyed the gaping pit in the market square. The place was already swarming with Imperial Army men. Some were doing their best to round up panicked marketgoers and stop anyone else from falling into the sinkhole. Others held onto ropes to allow rescuers to climb down and look for the injured and dead beneath the rubble that had been the market stalls. The stench of fish hung heavily in the air.
“Looks like we’re in for a pleasant morning,” Xiao Chiye muttered just as one of his subordinates came running up to him to give him a rundown of what had transpired. By the sound of it, at least a dozen people were likely buried beneath the wreckage, but the Imperial Army had yet to successfully extricate any of them. The earth at the bottom of the sinkhole was unstable and still shifting constantly, making it hard to even keep one’s own footing, let alone move aside broken beams and tarps in search of survivors.
The subordinate’s cheeks were reddened from the cold breeze. Shen Zechuan discretely wiped at his perspiring forehead with his sleeve.
Much to his chagrin, Xiao Chiye noticed and gave him an odd look. “Lanzhou, the walk here didn’t exhaust you already, did it? The sweat-inducing stuff is still ahead of us.”
Shen Zechuan gave him a thin smile. “Of course not. Please don’t trouble yourself with concerns about my wellbeing, Supreme Commander. There’s people awaiting your aid.”
With a huff, Xiao Chiye turned to his subordinate, unfastening his coat and passing it to the man. “Time to get to work, then.”
The situation required all hands on deck, and Shen Zechuan was not spared the dirty work, despite technically belonging to the Embroidered Uniform Guard and not the Imperial Army. Within an hour, the bottom of his robe was covered in dust and grime, along with his hands and most likely his face, from digging through the rubble. Xiao Chiye was on the other side of the sinkhole, using his enormous strength to move the largest pieces of debris. Just minutes ago, the first victim had finally been uncovered, a young woman that was found unconscious but breathing. The rescue of a survivor had sent a fresh surge of energy through the Imperial Army, and everyone was working with greater vigor than ever before.
Shen Zechuan, though, only felt himself become more and more exhausted. He was sweating profusely by now, moreso than most of the others around him, and his breathing sounded labored even to his own ears. He’d discarded his own coat long ago, but he still felt the soaked back of his robe uncomfortably sticking to him. The urge to strip off more layers was becoming difficult to fight.
“Commander Shen,” an Imperial Army man a few feet away from him called over, “are you feeling alright?”
His misery must’ve been showing on his face. Shen Zechuan futilely wiped at his sweaty forehead and tried his best to smile. “I’m fine, thank you.”
“You’re not looking so good…” The man frowned suddenly, and Shen Zechuan saw his nostrils flaring. “What’s that smell?”
Shen Zechuan sniffed the air. He couldn’t detect anything particularly out of the ordinary, although there seemed to be the faintest aroma of something flowery that didn’t quite fit in with the smells of the fish market. “I don’t know what you mean.”
He turned back to his task of moving scattered roof shingles aside, but he still felt the soldier’s gaze on him. Something about it made his skin crawl.
An alpha. The thought flashed through his mind suddenly. He didn’t know why he’d even noticed — like practically everyone in Qudu, the soldier was wearing strong scent suppressing patches. With his heavy robes on top, and the stench that surrounded them, it should’ve been difficult to smell much of anything, and yet Shen Zechuan found himself hyperaware of the slightly bitter, typically alpha pheromones the soldier gave off.
As subtly as possible, Shen Zechuan inched away from him. He did his best to focus on his task and take shallow breaths, but it was oddly difficult. His mind felt like it was weighed down with lead, like during a high fever. Illness must have been taking hold of him after all.
Time seemed to crawl by. A handful of other victims were found, one or two alive, while most had not gotten so lucky. Several family members of those that were still missing had jumped into the pit to help in the search, and Xiao Chiye had allowed it without protest. A group of people was now working on quickly constructing a ramp out of loosened earth to ease the transport of the injured back to the surface.
Shen Zechuan had expected to be incessantly assailed by memories of the Chashi sinkhole while he was down here, but to his surprise, he’d been able to push them aside easily enough. The more time passed, the harder it was becoming to focus on anything other than how unbearably hot he was. The cotton fibers of his clothing had inexplicably begun to feel almost painful against his skin, as if he was wearing robes made of burlap. To add to the discomfort, he couldn’t help but notice the pheromones of everyone around him when they were usually easy to block out.
As the morning crept towards the afternoon, Shen Zechuan eventually had no choice but to take a break. He slumped down on a large piece of wood on the ground, head lowered, breathing heavily and trying to will the irritating little bright spots in his vision away. A small breeze cooled the sweat on his face, providing a bit of temporary relief.
The faint scent of tall grass and leather entered his nose a moment before a pair of sturdy, mud-caked boots stepped into his field of vision.
“Lazing around on the job, Lanzhou?” Xiao Chiye barely even sounded winded. With some difficulty, Shen Zechuan raised his head to look at him.
“I just need to catch my breath for a moment.” It came out shakier than he had hoped. Xiao Chiye frowned and took a step closer.
”Are you falling sick again?”
That grassy, earthy smell was settling over Shen Zechuan’s brain like a dense fog. He felt his tense muscles relaxing involuntarily, and it took him a second longer to process what Xiao Chiye had said than it should’ve. “I’m fine, er-gongzi. Just let me rest a spell, I’ll get back to work soon.”
“You don’t look like you should be getting back to work at all. I ought to have Chen Yang call you a carriage back to the house.”
“I said I’m fine!” Shen Zechuan rubbed his eyes in jerky motions. “Don’t you have anything better to do than interrogate me?”
”I’m meant to be keeping an eye on you, I can’t have you fainting on my watch.” Xiao Chiye reached out to grab Shen Zechuan’s wrist. “So stop being stubborn and—“
Shen Zechuan yanked his arm back as if he’d been burned, barely avoiding Xiao Chiye’s grasp. He shot to his feet and stumbled backwards, nearly tripping over the piece of wood he’d been sitting on. To his own shock, he felt his lips pulling back to show his teeth in a snarl, and a noise that could only be described as a hiss escaped from between them.
“Don’t touch me!” Something akin to panic had gripped him, but the rush of adrenaline was followed by a warm tingling sensation flooding his veins rather than icy fingers closing around his throat. It was dizzying, making him sway on his feet, eyes struggling to focus. He could barely make out the shocked expression on Xiao Chiye’s face, but at the same time, he was finding it impossible to look anywhere else.
“Just— just leave me alone,” he panted. Part of him was screaming at him to flee, but it was warring with an equally large part that inexplicably wanted nothing more than to press his face into Xiao Chiye’s neck and inhale more of that irresistible smell. Shen Zechuan had noticed it before, in passing, like during the Nanlin Autumn Hunt when they’d been pressed together in that tiny alcove while hiding from their pursuers. Like most alphas and all omegas, Xiao Chiye never went outside without scent suppressing patches, but his scent was more potent than most and not that easily concealed. Even then, Shen Zechuan had had to admit it was pleasant, like a sun-warmed spot in the grass, strong and inviting and distinctly alpha without the note of bitter aggression most of them never quite lost.
Right now, though, it felt absolutely hypnotic. Shen Zechuan couldn’t stop himself from taking deep breaths, letting it flood his senses. Distantly, he was aware of an uncomfortable throbbing between his legs, but he couldn’t seem to think about it for longer than a moment before his focus was pulled back towards Xiao Chiye. His eyes roved over his broad chest and even broader shoulders, the sliver of skin that was exposed where his collar had come a bit loose, the bob of his throat as he swallowed heavily.
“Lanzhou.” Xiao Chiye spoke with carefully measured calm, but there was an uncharacteristic raspiness to his voice. “When are you due for your next heat?”
Shen Zechuan stared at him blankly. The word rattled around in his head as he struggled to attach meaning to it. “My… my next…”
The breeze picked up slightly, blowing his hair into eyes. Almost immediately, several of the alphas working not too far away froze, heads turning towards Shen Zechuan. He could see them sniffing at the air, searching.
Something ancient and instinctive flared to life within him in the shape of sudden, icy fear. The urge to run intensified a thousandfold. Clumsily, he backed up until he collided with the earthen wall of the sinkhole and nearly lost his balance.
Strong hands caught him before he could. Xiao Chiye’s intoxicating grassy scent was suddenly so close that Shen Zechuan almost moaned out loud, and his knees would’ve buckled under him if not for Xiao Chiye’s grip holding him up. When Shen Zechuan looked up, he was met with a look that was nothing short of feral. Xiao Chiye’s pupils were dilated, teeth bared slightly so that his sharp canines were visible. Shen Zechuan felt his quickened breaths on his skin, giving him goosebumps.
One of the other alphas behind them dropped the wooden beam he’d been holding up, resulting in a loud crash as it hit the ground. Xiao Chiye turned his head over his shoulder and let out a growl so deep that Shen Zechuan felt the vibration of it. It wasn’t a noise he’d ever heard from him before, but it sent a shockingly pleasant shiver down his spine, and he couldn’t suppress an utterly pathetic tiny whimper. Instantly, Xiao Chiye’s full attention was back on him. He leaned in until his nose was inches from Shen Zechuan’s neck, inhaling deeply, and his grip tightened on Shen Zechuan’s arms almost enough to hurt.
“Why didn’t you tell me,” he gritted out, “how close in your cycle you were?”
Shen Zechuan’s thoughts were so sluggish it felt as if he’d been overindulging in wine for an entire night. The ground seemed to waver under his feet. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Xiao Chiye pulled back and stared at him incredulously. “Lanzhou, you smell like a jasmine bloom covered in a sugar glaze right now. You’re about to go into heat.”
Finally, something was set in motion in what was left of Shen Zechuan’s brain. The fear began to creep back in, accompanied by confusion. “Can’t be,” he muttered, shaking his head, “I’ve never… I don’t get heats.”
Again, Xiao Chiye seemed to be struck speechless for a moment. “You’ve never had a heat before?”
”Only once or twice before I was imprisoned, and that wasn’t…” He couldn’t find it in himself to finish the sentence. Instead, as if spellbound, he leaned in and pressed his nose as close as he could to the spot where Xiao Chiye’s scent gland had to be hidden under his robes. “Xiao— Xiao-Er,” he groaned, helpless, “you smell so good.”
The dull sound of footsteps approaching barely registered to him until Xiao Chiye whirled around, covering Shen Zechuan with his body.
“Back off,” he snarled. There was a kind of primal rage in his voice, accompanied by a sharp spike in his pheromones, and Shen Zechuan gasped as he felt an unfamiliar wetness spreading between his legs.
“That omega’s not mated,” said an alpha he couldn’t see, “and his scent is saying he needs a knot badly.” There was naked greed in his voice.
“Come any closer and I’ll rip your insides out with my bare hands.”
If Shen Zechuan had been of sound mind, perhaps he would’ve found it in himself to be surprised at the savage ferocity of Xiao Chiye’s words, but in his state all he could think about was how desperately he wanted that very ferocity to consume him whole. The need in him was growing so immense it drowned out even his fear of the unwelcome alphas.
“I’m not going to repeat myself again,” Xiao Chiye warned. “Scram. Now.”
There were a few moments of hesitation. Shen Zechuan heard a small chorus of unhappy snarls, accompanied by the sour scent of frustrated alphas, but under the oppressive force of Xiao Chiye’s anger, none of them could hold out.
No sooner had they begun to retreat than Shen Zechuan suddenly found himself lifted off the ground and into a strong embrace. He let out a small whine, instinctively burying his face deeply in the crook of Xiao Chiye’s neck. “Alpha,” he slurred before he could think better of it. The scent in Shen Zechuan’s nose changed again, tipping over from anger into something blatantly possessive, and the omega in Shen Zechuan drank it in greedily.
“I’m taking you home.” Xiao Chiye’s tone left no room for debate, and arguing was the last thing on Shen Zechuan’s mind anyhow. Being touched by Xiao Chiye felt so good. He didn’t think he’d ever felt better than this, safely wrapped up in this alpha’s strong arms with his nose notched right against his scent gland. Shen Zechuan hardly registered Xiao Chiye carrying him back up to the street via the newly built earthen ramp. There were voices around them and he felt Xiao Chiye’s chest vibrating as he barked orders at someone, but the words all blurred together.
Shen Zechuan kept his eyes closed and his hands tightly fisted in Xiao Chiye’s clothes as he was carried through the streets of Qudu. The closeness and the pheromones in his lungs were soothing the burning fever in him, bringing the flame back down to a more manageable size, and he found himself producing a noise that could only be described as a purr, muffled in the crook of Xiao Chiye’s neck.
A few times, he caught the scent of other alphas close by, but Xiao Chiye’s deep warning growls kept everyone at bay. Shen Zechuan spared no thought to what an odd image they probably made. In this moment, the only thing he cared about was that Xiao Chiye didn’t let go of him.
It wasn’t long until he heard the sounds of doors opening and closing and Xiao Chiye’s footsteps changing as they struck wooden floors instead of the street outside. Shen Zechuan recognized the Plum Blossom Manor by the way Xiao Chiye’s scent suddenly seemed everpresent, saturating even the walls themselves. It was enough for whatever tension remained in his body to seep out of him, rendering him entirely limp in Xiao Chiye’s arms. “Alpha,” he mumbled again, barely intelligible. He heard a sharp inhale by his ear.
“Stop calling me that.”
Shen Zechuan made an unhappy noise. His heat-addled brain couldn’t comprehend why Xiao Chiye would ask such a thing of him. What else was Shen Zechuan supposed to call the strongest alpha he’d ever met, especially while he was so vulnerable and that very alpha was protecting him?
“Everybody out,” he distantly heard Xiao Chiye say to someone. “I don’t want anyone coming near this courtyard for the next few days without my express permission, especially no alphas. Have a beta deliver water for a bath and some food twice a day, no one else. And send word to the Embroidered Uniform Guard that Shen Zechuan has taken ill and will be absent for some time.”
“Yes, er-gongzi.”
Then there was the slide of another door, and a moment later, Shen Zechuan felt himself being gently lowered onto something soft. Xiao Chiye’s bed, he realized. Excitement thrummed in his belly. Yes, this was where he belonged, where he’d be safe and out of reach of any others so that his alpha could spread him out on the sheets and caress his burning skin and give him what his body was screaming for—
Abruptly, the pressure of Xiao Chiye’s hands on him disappeared. Shen Zechuan blearily blinked his eyes open, confused, only to see Xiao Chiye slowly backing away from the bed.
“What…?”
“I promise no one will disturb you.” Xiao Chiye’s tone was uncharacteristically gentle. “If there’s anything you need, use the bell by the door to call for a beta maidservant. I won’t let any alphas near you, you’ll be safe.”
Confusion curdled into crushing dread as Shen Zechuan watched him move closer to the door. The absence of Xiao Chiye’s touch was already causing the scorching burn in his flesh to come back, but it was now painful more than anything. Every instinct in him was crying out in terror and despair at the realization that the alpha intended to leave him.
Something sour and pitiful stung in Shen Zechuan’s nose. He realized belatedly that it was his own scent. Xiao Chiye must’ve smelled it too, judging by the tormented look on his face.
“Don’t go,” Shen Zechuan gasped around the panic that was closing up his throat. He attempted to sit up in bed, but all his limbs felt heavy and unwieldy like those of a wooden puppet. “Please.”
Xiao Chiye’s eyes widened slightly at the word that Shen Zechuan so rarely used. His throat bobbed as he swallowed thickly, averting his gaze. “I have no business being near an omega in heat that’s not my mate.”
The word mate made the back of Shen Zechuan’s neck tingle uncomfortably. He felt tears beginning to well up in his eyes, and part of him was horrified by his own weakness, but a much larger part of him didn’t care at all in the face of the terrible prospect of Xiao Chiye taking even one more step away from him.
“Stay with me.” His lips trembled around the words. “Don’t— don’t leave me, a—alpha, I…”
Xiao Chiye dragged a hand down his face. The tips of his ears were bright red, and his chest was heaving as though from great exertion. “You know I can’t do that.”
“Why not?!” Shen Zechuan’s voice was gaining a desperate edge. A few strands of hair were sticking to his face, damp with sweat. His robe was soaked through, and the slickness between his thighs was getting worse, making every movement uncomfortable.
“You’re not in your right mind, Lanzhou. If I were to lose control over myself—“ Xiao Chiye’s fists clenched at his sides, so hard the knuckles protruded. “I’m not that much of a scumbag.”
The tears finally spilled over, leaving hot trails down Shen Zechuan’s cheeks. Something inside him felt as if it was being ripped apart. With great effort, he managed to push himself up onto his knees, making his collar slip out of place. Xiao Chiye’s eyes immediately shot down to his neck, where his bonding gland was barely covered by a bandage that was by now soaked through with oil. A deep growl escaped the alpha’s throat, answered by Shen Zechuan’s instinctive whimper.
“I need you.” His tearful gaze remained fixed on Xiao Chiye’s face. “I can’t— please, please—“ He gasped and doubled over as a wave of cramps suddenly hit him, making him clutch his abdomen. “Alpha, it hurts, it hurts, I need you.”
“You don’t know what you’re asking me for.” Xiao Chiye’s voice was unsteady. “This isn’t you talking, Lanzhou. You’ll hate me for this, and I’ll deserve it.”
Shen Zechuan vigorously shook his head. “Won’t,” he gasped.
“You don’t know that—“
”Touch me,” Shen Zechuan pleaded, all vestiges of decorum forgotten. More tears fell, forming a small wet spot on the bedsheets. “Need you to touch me— need to— to be covered in your scent— need you inside— alpha—!”
A noise came from Xiao Chiye that was entirely inhuman. Within seconds, he was right in front of Shen Zechuan, bending at the waist to grab the sides of his face between his large hands.
“Shen Lanzhou.” Mere inches separated them. Xiao Chiye’s eyes bored into his, freezing him in place. “There will be no coming back from this. Do you understand? I can’t return to you what you’re asking me to take.”
“Take it.” Shen Zechuan’s voice was thready, broken up by soft sobs. “And keep it.”
The next instant, his back hit the mattress hard. Xiao Chiye’s hands encircled both his wrists, pinning them down, and his weight on top of him made it hard to breathe. It only made Shen Zechuan keen with the overwhelming relief that flooded his veins. Finally, the alpha was touching him again.
Xiao Chiye groaned something that Shen Zechuan couldn’t make out through the thick haze settling over his mind. Fleetingly, he thought that it almost sounded like “I’m sorry.”
Then Xiao Chiye’s mouth was on his and everything else ceased to exist.
If Shen Zechuan had thought his scent was overwhelming, it was nothing in comparison to Xiao Chiye’s taste. He was addicted immediately. It seemed incomprehensible that he’d managed to live for twenty years without this, and he’d never be able to again. He emptied desperate moans into the kiss, arching off the mattress and struggling in vain against the grip Xiao Chiye had on his wrists. He might as well have been struggling against a mountain.
Xiao Chiye did everything in his life with confidence and decisiveness, never one to hold back or hesitate to take what he wanted, and he was no different in this. His mouth was hot against Shen Zechuan’s, tongue bold and insistent as it licked into him, tasting every inch of the omega beneath him. Shen Zechuan could feel oil from his scent gland trickling down his neck and seeping into the bedsheets. He didn’t think he’d ever produced so much in his life.
The few heats he’d had as a young boy, before the fall of Zhongbo and his imprisonment in the Temple of Guilt, could hardly be called that, no more than a few days spent feeling feverish and restless with a strange tight feeling in his belly that he hadn’t had a name for at the time. Later, he’d been too injured for his body to complete its hormonal cycle, and then the poison he’d started taking to disguise his physique had been the last nail in the coffin. For five years he hadn’t felt even the beginnings of a heat. He’d assumed that he might very well never have one again, and the thought hadn’t bothered him very much.
He couldn’t explain what had changed, but he’d had no idea his body was capable of any of this. It was like some outside force had taken a hold of him and poured molten iron directly into his veins, making him burn up from the inside, and Xiao Chiye’s touch was the only thing that could soothe the agony.
Shen Zechuan’s wrists were released, and he instantly threw his arms up and around Xiao Chiye’s neck, pulling him closer and prompting a deep groan. To his distress, Xiao Chiye gently extricated himself from his hold, sitting up and depriving Shen Zechuan once again. Fresh tears shot into his eyes immediately, and he reflexively reached out for the alpha, grabbing a fistful of his robe.
“It’s alright,” Xiao Chiye cooed, bringing a hand up to cover Shen Zechuan’s. He released a wave of warm, soothing pheromones that settled Shen Zechuan’s erratic heartbeat. “I’m not going anywhere, I just want to get you out of these clothes.”
It was only then that it registered to Shen Zechuan that he was still wearing all of his layers, and he suddenly needed them off, now. He began to squirm and struggle underneath Xiao Chiye, trying without much success to free himself from his outer layer.
“You won’t get anywhere like that. Let me help you, yeah?”
The world tilted, and he found himself lifted and settled upright into Xiao Chiye’s lap. The position had a strong thigh pressing right against the slick, throbbing place between Shen Zechuan’s legs, and he let out a little yelp, hips bucking involuntarily. Even this small amount of friction felt so good that he saw stars for a moment as Xiao Chiye went to work undressing him. He undid his belt, and then the ties holding his robes together, efficiently and with steady hands. It was a stark contrast to the way Shen Zechuan couldn’t stop himself from shaking in his lap.
When Xiao Chiye’s fingers brushed bare skin for the first time, it made him physically jump. It felt like being branded with a red hot iron, but he wanted more of it desperately. Clumsy and loose-limbed, Shen Zechuan did his best to help Xiao Chiye divest him of the last of the fabric covering him, even rising up on his knees to help get his pants off. The sight that they revealed made Xiao Chiye hiss through his teeth.
“Oh, look at you.” One of his hands lightly brushed up Shen Zechuan’s inner thigh, where the skin was wet and glistening with slick that had long since ruined his pants. Shen Zechuan gasped at the touch, grabbing onto Xiao Chiye’s broad shoulders for stability. He pressed his face into the alpha’s neck, weakly pulling at the collar of his robes and the scent suppressing patch beneath.
“Off,” he whined, unhappy with being denied the full force of the alpha’s pheromones. He wanted to drown himself in that scent. He wanted to lay down and close his eyes and let the fragrance of grass and sun-warmed skin wash over him, envelop him and take him someplace safe and far, far away.
Xiao Chiye had mercy on him and reached up to pull the suppressing patch off his neck. As soon as Shen Zechuan took a breath in, his eyes crossed and a deep shudder wracked his body. He felt himself gushing more slick, and he buried his face in Xiao Chiye’s shoulder, moaning helplessly. If he’d thought the alpha’s scent was making him lose his mind before, this was more like reducing it entirely to a useless sludge.
“Please,” he slurred, voice muffled by Xiao Chiye’s robe. A breathless laugh came from above him.
“If I had known you’d be like this…”
Shen Zechuan’s vision swam as he was lowered back onto the mattress, the sheets cool against his bare skin. He moaned softly and instinctively crooked his legs further apart. It earned him a low, satisfied rumble as Xiao Chiye leaned down and placed another hungry, claiming kiss on Shen Zechuan’s lips before ducking lower. He nosed at the omega’s neck, and a moment later Shen Zechuan felt teeth skimming his skin and then his own suppressing patch being torn off of him. A hot tongue was on him immediately, laving over his freshly exposed bonding gland as if trying to actually taste his scent. The sensation made Shen Zechuan gasp, hands flying to grab at Xiao Chiye’s shoulders, not knowing whether he was trying to stop him or urge him on. Having an alpha this close to his most vulnerable part should have been unthinkable, but any trace of fear was dispelled by the warm sparks of pleasure that Xiao Chiye’s attentions sent through him.
For a few tantalizing moments, Shen Zechuan thought he might really be about to bite him. But then Xiao Chiye abandoned his bonding gland and instead continued his journey down Shen Zechuan’s chest. He sucked marks into already flushed skin, set his teeth to delicate collarbones, finally dragged his tongue over a nipple. Shen Zechuan threw his head back with a moan. He’d never thought himself to be sensitive there, but when Xiao Chiye closed his mouth around the bud and sucked, Shen Zechuan felt himself inching ever closer to some looming, unfamiliar precipice.
“You make such sweet little noises for me,” Xiao Chiye whispered, breath fanning Shen Zechuan’s spit-damp skin. “I don’t believe that you’ve really never done this before.”
“‘M not lying.” He could barely string even those few words together.
”Never had an alpha touch you?”
Shen Zechuan weakly shook his head and saw the way Xiao Chiye’s nostrils flared at that. His pupils were already so dilated that his eyes looked almost fully black, and the way he stared up at Shen Zechuan couldn’t be described in any other way but predatory. He’d never looked more like a wolf than he did right now.
Xiao Chiye kissed and nipped his way down Shen Zechuan’s belly, leaving goosebumps in his wake, until he reached the place where the need burned hottest. Even just feeling his breath on his slick, overheated skin made Shen Zechuan feel like he was coming apart at the seams. Xiao Chiye’s face was mere inches away from where he needed him so, so badly, and that small distance felt like torture.
“You’re soaked, Lanzhou.” Shen Zechuan swore he could feel the vibrations of his deep voice in his bones. “What would you have done if I hadn’t been right there, huh? Would you have begged whatever alpha got to you first for his knot instead of me?”
Even just the thought made Shen Zechuan’s scent spike with something sour, upset. A noise that was almost a snarl escaped from between his clenched teeth. He reached a hand down and managed to grab a fistful of Xiao Chiye’s wild hair, pulling hard enough that it had to hurt. In retaliation, Xiao Chiye sank his teeth into Shen Zechuan’s soft inner thigh.
“Doesn’t matter anyway.” He licked over the fresh bite, tasting iron and the salty traces of the omega’s slick. “I have you now.”
All at once, a hot mouth enveloped Shen Zechuan’s little cock, and Shen Zechuan threw his head back with a cry, yanking on Xiao Chiye’s hair. The pleasure went up his spine like shock waves, blurring his vision. Without meaning to, he snapped his thighs shut around Xiao Chiye’s head, but the alpha was undeterred. He dragged his tongue over the swollen nub in his mouth, sucked on it like a piece of candy, and had the audacity to groan as he did so like he was the one being pleasured.
“Alpha!” Shen Zechuan had never heard himself sound so pathetic, high pitched and shaky. “Alpha, I can’t, I can’t—!”
Xiao Chiye completely ignored him. He released Shen Zechuan’s cock, only to dip lower and lick a broad stripe up his cunt before he pushed his tongue inside. Shen Zechuan’s hips bucked in a desperate attempt to rut against Xiao Chiye’s face. New tears welled up in his eyes and quickly overflowed, trickling down his temples and soaking into his hair and the pillow. The fire in his veins was pooling low in his belly, raging hotter and hotter with every stroke of Xiao Chiye’s tongue, and that precipice was so close now—
A thumb pressed up against Shen Zechuan’s cock from below, right against the sensitive, swollen head where it was peeking out from beneath its hood, and everything went white. His back arched off the mattress, taut like a bowstring, legs spasming, and Shen Zechuan screamed as he came, all the while Xiao Chiye was still fucking his tongue in and out of him. A fresh wave of the alpha’s scent hit Shen Zechuan’s nose, something sharper and more animalistic about it.
He was still desperately gasping for air between quiet sobs when Xiao Chiye lifted his head, wearing the most self-satisfied smirk Shen Zechuan had ever seen on him. Under any other circumstances it would’ve made him want to punch him, but all he could think now was alpha, alpha, my alpha.
Xiao Chiye licked his lips. The whole lower half of his face was glistening with Shen Zechuan’s slick, and he seemed in no hurry to wipe it off. “So easy, Lanzhou,” he teased. Shen Zechuan attempted a weak glare at him, but knew he failed miserably. The orgasm had briefly doused the unbearable burning sensation in his belly, but it was returning just as fast, fresh sweat beading on his skin. A whimper tumbled from his lips as he tossed his head on the pillow.
Xiao Chiye shifted back up the bed and grabbed Shen Zechuan’s chin to pull him into another kiss. Shen Zechuan tasted himself on his tongue, salty with a strange sweet aftertaste, and moaned into his mouth. His palms scrabbled against Xiao Chiye’s chest, futilely pulling at the fabric that was still covering him.
“More,” he panted into the kiss. “Need more.”
“You’re so greedy. Were er-gongzi’s efforts not good enough for you?” Xiao Chiye nipped hard at his bottom lip as if to punish him.
“Knot,” Shen Zechuan whined. At that, a low growl rose up from deep within Xiao Chiye’s chest.
“You need my knot, Lanzhou? Need your alpha to breed you?”
He frantically nodded. He’d never needed anything so badly in his life, was quite sure that his heart would stop if he didn’t get Xiao Chiye inside him soon.
“Fuck,” he heard him breathe next to his ear. For just a second, he almost sounded overwhelmed, but he caught himself quickly.
He sat up on his knees and began to strip, so impatiently that a few seams audibly tore as he ripped the robes from his body. Owing to the cold weather, he was wearing several thick layers, and it took a torturously long few moments until he finally kicked off his pants, leaving him as bare as Shen Zechuan. It was not the first time he’d seen Xiao Chiye almost, if not entirely naked, but the sight had never filled him with unabashed hunger like this. As Xiao Chiye leaned down to claim his mouth again, Shen Zechuan’s hands were all over him, roving over the hard planes of his body, mapping out the solid muscle beneath sun-tanned skin that seemed to burn against his own. He was so broad that Shen Zechuan felt like he could entirely disappear beneath him, and it made him rumble a purr into the kiss, scent growing ever sweeter.
The bliss was cut through by another wave of cramps rolling through his lower abdomen, making him whimper from pain instead of pleasure. More tears rolled down his overheated cheeks.
“Please,” he choked out between sobs. “It hurts, it hurts.”
Xiao Chiye ducked his head to worry at his scent gland with dangerously sharp teeth as he reached up with one hand and found Shen Zechuan’s, interlacing their fingers and pressing the glands on their wrists together. A wave of comforting, protective warmth surged through Shen Zechuan, making him gasp. His alpha was so good to him.
“Tell me what you need, omega.” Xiao Chiye’s voice was deeper than he’d ever heard it.
“Put it in! Fuck me already, alpha, please!”
“Fuck, good boy.” The praise made Shen Zechuan mewl and shiver pleasantly. The next moment, Xiao Chiye released his hand to reach between their legs and line himself up, the blunt head of his cock nudging up against Shen Zechuan’s entrance.
”Don’t be scared,” Xiao Chiye breathed next to his ear, “Alpha will take care of you.”
Then he started to push in, and all the air rushed out of Shen Zechuan’s lungs at once. He hadn’t gotten a really good look at Xiao Chiye’s cock, but he could feel now that it was big— fuck, so big it felt like it couldn’t possibly fit inside him. He jerked in Xiao Chiye’s hold with a panicked noise, nails digging so hard into his back he felt little beads of blood well up under them. Xiao Chiye didn’t even react. At a slow, agonizing pace he continued to feed his cock into Shen Zechuan’s cunt, pushing deeper and deeper as Shen Zechuan’s muscles tried desperately to make room for him.
Eventually, the stretch stopped, and he realized that the head was in — just the head. It already felt like he was going to split in half, how would he possibly be able to take the rest of him?
He clung hard to the alpha, eyes closed, fresh tears still squeezing out from between his lids. As Xiao Chiye kept licking and nuzzling at his scent gland, Shen Zechuan kept his nose right up against his, seeking comfort in his alpha’s scent. The smell of the endless grass-covered plains of Libei told him he was safe, that there was nothing that could hurt him as long as he was right here, with Xiao Chiye, who had protected him so well.
Pleasure sparked through him as a thumb started to play with the head of his little cock. He moaned, and felt himself soften a little more, allowing Xiao Chiye to slide in deeper.
“That’s it,” he murmured, sounding increasingly strained. “That’s it, relax for me, Lanzhou.”
“Can’t.”
”Yes, you can. I know you can. You were made for this. Made to take my cock, my knot.”
The word knot fanned the flames of the hunger gnawing at Shen Zechuan’s insides. He wanted it so badly.
Xiao Chiye pushed even further, and Shen Zechuan could’ve sworn he could feel it in his stomach, heavy and hot and so, so hard. The fingers toying with his cock helped, making him gush around Xiao Chiye’s cock and easing the slide.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Shen Zechuan felt the weight of his balls resting against his cunt. He could barely breathe, couldn’t feel his legs. It was as though he only existed as a space to hold Xiao Chiye inside of it, everything else about him becoming superfluous.
It hurt, but more than that, it felt so good. The fear in Shen Zechuan settled, along with the burning pain in his abdomen. It was like a piece had finally slid into place that had always been meant to be there. It felt right.
“Lanzhou,” he heard Xiao Chiye groan. “You feel so fucking good.”
Shen Zechuan could barely produce a whimper in response.
The first time Xiao Chiye pulled out and fucked back in, Shen Zechuan threw his head back with a cry. Xiao Chiye took the opportunity to set his teeth to the bared line of his throat, leaving another vicious mark as he slowly began to move. It took him a few thrusts to find a steady rhythm, but once he had it, he was relentless. The pace quickly sped up, balls slapping against Shen Zechuan’s cunt every time he bottomed out. Utterly obscene sounds filled the room, slick squelching and harsh panting and Shen Zechuan’s desperate whines and moans. Xiao Chiye’s scent had become sharp and heavy, so much that inhaling it made Shen Zechuan’s head spin.
The pleasure built up to a fever pitch again so quickly that it was disorienting. He had no time to brace himself or warn Xiao Chiye before another orgasm slammed into him, leaving him shaking from head to toe and barely muffling his shriek in Xiao Chiye’s shoulder. Every inch of him, even the very tips of his fingers, was alight in pleasure, and he was given no break, no time to recover, no mercy. Xiao Chiye fucked him through it, never even faltering in his thrusts. If anything, he started to slam into Shen Zechuan harder, forcing his cock as deep as it could go every time and making the tip kiss up against something that both hurt and made Shen Zechuan clench tightly around him.
“Alpha, alpha,” he sobbed, barely intelligible. Xiao Chiye caught him in an open mouthed, filthy kiss.
“Feel that, Lanzhou?” he panted as he bottomed out again. “That’s where I’m gonna breed you soon. Straight into your womb to make sure it takes.”
“Yes! Yes, Gods, yes, please—“ Just the idea had Shen Zechuan dizzy with desire. The thought of Xiao Chiye filling him up so good that even his broken body had no choice but to swell with his pups, marking him as his, his wife, his omega—
With no warning, Shen Zechuan shuddered through another orgasm. He might have blacked out for a moment, because when he came to, Xiao Chiye was roughly flipping him onto his stomach, holding him down with a hand pressed flat to his back as he shoved himself back into Shen Zechuan’s pussy. He fucked him at a feverish pace, urgent and hard like it wasn’t Shen Zechuan in heat, but Xiao Chiye in rut. His pheromones hung in the air like a heavy, oppressive blanket, and Shen Zechuan wanted it to suffocate him.
“You’re such a slut, Lanzhou.” Xiao Chiye swept Shen Zechuan’s hair aside, exposing his nape, just for him to sink his teeth onto. “You’ve already come twice on my cock and I’ve barely done anything. If I had known how badly you needed this, I wouldn’t have waited this long to fuck you.”
Images flashed through Shen Zechuan’s mind, memories of that night at the Nanlin Hunting Grounds. The two of them on the ground, pressed tightly together in that little alcove. Shen Zechuan had smelled Xiao Chiye’s arousal, had felt the bulge in his pants press against his ass where Shen Zechuan straddled him. He’d held himself back, then, used every drop of his willpower to focus on what he was there to do, but the most greedy, hungry part of him had reared its head.
What if things had gone differently then? What if the poison immobilizing Xiao Chiye had worn off faster, allowing him to grab Shen Zechuan by the waist and tear off his robes, free his cock and simply force Shen Zechuan down on it like a doll?
The fantasy made him moan and clench down on Xiao Chiye. The alpha seemed to pick up on his dirty thoughts and snarled into his ear.
“Would you have let me? If I’d just shoved you to the ground and bred you any of those other times we were alone together?” His tongue licked a long, hot stripe up the back of Shen Zechuan’s neck. “Or even when we weren’t. What if I’d done it in front of that useless trash from earlier, huh?”
Shen Zechuan’s eyes crossed. His face was half buried in the sheets and he gasped for air, head swimming. “Yeah,” he panted, “yeah, yeah, anything you want.”
That earned him a long, strung out groan. “Gods above, Lanzhou, you—“
He never finished his sentence. Instead, he buried his face in the crook of Shen Zechuan’s neck and shoulder, pistoning his hips faster. One hand was holding onto his waist with a grip so hard it was sure to bruise, while the other was propping him up next to Shen Zechuan’s head, and Shen Zechuan blindly reached out to tangle their fingers together once again.
Xiao Chiye made a feral noise right in his ear, and then he was being ripped onto his side, back to Xiao Chiye’s broad chest. The alpha slid one arm beneath Shen Zechuan’s head, cushioning it in the crook of his elbow, while his free hand grabbed one thigh and pulled it up, fingers digging hard into the soft, pale flesh. His frenzied thrusts never let up, the slide made easy by now by the copious amounts of fluid Shen Zechuan’s cunt had gushed when he’d come. Xiao Chiye was panting, labored breaths warming the damp skin of Shen Zechuan’s bonding gland. Shen Zechuan felt his heartbeat throbbing in it, and something within him desperately ached for a stinging pain there, the feeling of blood trickling down his neck.
Xiao Chiye grabbed his hand and brought it to his thigh, urging him to hold it up for him. Shen Zechuan barely had the strength, but did his best to obey the alpha, only to cry out when Xiao Chiye’s fingers slid between his legs. He petted around Shen Zechuan’s entrance, as if to feel his own cock pumping in and out of him.
“Such a perfect omega,” he whispered, earning a moan in response. “So good for me, taking me so well.” Two fingers wandered higher, making a V on either side of Shen Zechuan’s cock and slowly rubbing. It felt so good that Shen Zechuan’s vision whited out for a moment. He was going to come again. He felt it approaching him like a rolling wave, building more and more in height the closer it came, and he desperately clung to Xiao Chiye’s arm, scratching angry red lines into it.
“Alpha,” he sobbed, weakly canting his hips to meet Xiao Chiye’s unrelenting thrusts. Xiao Chiye growled, and then the fingers between Shen Zechuan’s legs were gone. A heartbeat later, there was a loud slap and a bright, stinging pain, and Shen Zechuan froze.
Xiao Chiye had hit his pussy, right over his painfully swollen cock.
All at once, every muscle in Shen Zechuan’s body locked up, his scream caught in his throat as he came so hard that it hurt. A rush of fluid squirted out around Xiao Chiye’s cock, drenching both their inner thighs, and he heard Xiao Chiye make some sound that defied description, animalistic and desperate and so hungry—
Shen Zechuan felt his knot catch at his entrance, and something almost like panic flooded his orgasm-addled mind. “Inside, inside, inside,” he begged, scratching at Xiao Chiye’s arm even harder, and Xiao Chiye groaned and rolled his hips with more strength than he ever had, and the knot popped inside.
“Lanzhou!” Xiao Chiye sounded just as wrecked as Shen Zechuan felt. His mouth was right up against Shen Zechuan’s scent gland.
As he started to come inside him, Shen Zechuan reached up and tangled a hand in his hair, holding his head in place. And Xiao Chiye’s grip turned to iron on Shen Zechuan’s thigh, and he let out a snarl and then pain exploded from Shen Zechuan’s neck.
His eyes widened, not registering what was happening beyond the feeling of sharp teeth sinking into him, deeper than they ever had before. Hot streaks of cum were filling him up, so much that it felt like his belly would have to distend to make room for all of it. And Xiao Chiye’s tongue laved over the deep wounds he’d left in Shen Zechuan’s neck before he bit down again, and it hit Shen Zechuan all at once.
Xiao Chiye was biting him. Tearing into his bonding gland with his wolf’s fangs.
Shen Zechuan’s eyes rolled back and he came again, speared on Xiao Chiye’s cock, held in place by his hands and his knot and his teeth. Tears ran down his cheeks, eyes wide open, unseeing, as his chest heaved with breaths that weren’t nearly enough.
The world shrunk to a pinprick, and then there was nothing.
For a while, Shen Zechuan just drifted. Minutes could’ve passed, or it could just as well have been hours. He saw nothing, heard nothing, and felt only blissful warmth, the scent of the sun in his nose.
When he slowly started to come back to himself, the first thing he noticed was the steady thrum of a heartbeat right under his cheek. It felt strong and comforting, and Shen Zechuan instinctively nuzzled against it, eyes still closed. His head was pillowed on warm skin that held the grassy scent he so adored, mixed with the lingering salty smell of sweat.
It took him several long moments to realize that that heartbeat was slightly too fast. He frowned and inhaled deeply, only to catch a note of something slightly sour in congruence with Xiao Chiye’s usual scent. Fear? That didn’t seem right.
Memories started to flood back into Shen Zechuan’s mind of what had happened before he’d lost consciousness, and he was dimly aware that they should’ve brought anger or even disgust with them, but the restlessness of heat was already starting to creep back into him. He could feel that Xiao Chiye was no longer inside him — he must’ve been unconscious long enough for the knot to deflate.
This was unacceptable.
Blinking his eyes open, he clumsily started to sit up. His vision took a moment to clear, but when it did, it settled on Xiao Chiye’s face beneath him, and his expression was one Shen Zechuan had never seen on him before.
“Alpha,” he muttered, still bleary, brushing some hair out of his face. Xiao Chiye’s hands settled on his thighs as if on instinct, but there was something pained in the way he looked at Shen Zechuan.
“Lanzhou…” His voice sounded raspier than it usually did. There was still a hint of a flush on his cheeks and his ponytail must have come loose at some point. Wild strands of hair stuck to his face, making him look ever more like the wolf pup he was known as.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Shen Zechuan leaned down and nuzzled at his temple. His instincts were telling him his alpha was upset, and he had to make it better, although he didn’t understand the reason why.
Xiao Chiye drew in an unsteady breath. “I’m sorry.”
“What for?” Shen Zechuan’s patience for this conversation was quickly running thin. He felt himself starting to sweat again, need burning in his lower abdomen like it had never left. Nothing they’d done before had been enough to soothe it. Shen Zechuan needed more.
He gave an experimental little roll of his hips down against Xiao Chiye and drew out a groan that was strained with effort.
“Lanzhou, wait.” His hands went to Shen Zechuan’s hips, holding him still. Shen Zechuan made a frustrated sound, lightly hitting Xiao Chiye’s broad chest with his fist.
“Alpha!”
Xiao Chiye straightened up into a sitting position, putting them at eye level. He really was much too tall, even like this. “We have to talk about this.”
Shen Zechuan glared at him. Why was the alpha rejecting him now, after already fucking and knotting him and—
And—
Realization dawned on him piece by piece. Slowly, he lifted his hand, touching the side of his own neck. He found the flesh raised, drying blood leaving his skin sticky. His fingertips trailed softly over two half-moon shaped wounds, their edges jagged.
“You… you bit me.” Surprise colored his voice more than anything else. Xiao Chiye couldn’t meet his gaze.
“I know. I’m sorry, Lanzhou, I—“ He exhaled harshly and dropped his head to Shen Zechuan’s uninjured shoulder. “Fuck, I knew this was a bad idea, I never should’ve agreed to this.”
The anger from before flickered back to life inside Shen Zechuan, accompanied by a touch of trepidation. His brain was still held firmly in the clutches of his heat, and he couldn’t think about what the bite implied beyond the fact that the alpha evidently regretted it.
”Was I not good enough?” he hissed. His upset must’ve begun to color his scent, because Xiao Chiye’s arms wrapped around his waist and pulled him flush against him, lips pressing soothing kisses to his collarbones. Still, there was some amount of frustration in his voice when he replied.
“It’s not about that! You….” He drew back to study Shen Zechuan’s face, the scowl that twisted his features, softened by the dusting of pink that still adorned his cheeks. “You can’t think clearly right now. You need to get through this heat first, and then we’ll have to figure out what to do.”
His grip tightened and he made to lift Shen Zechuan off his lap, but Shen Zechuan snarled and flung his arms around Xiao Chiye’s neck, refusing to be moved. “What are you doing?!”
”Getting out of here before I make this worse.”
A kind of rage that was unfamiliar to Shen Zechuan flashed through him. He didn’t know where he found the strength, but he put both hands on Xiao Chiye’s shoulders and bodily shoved him back down onto the mattress.
“Don’t you dare.” He took his wrist and aggressively rubbed it over Xiao Chiye’s bonding gland, a frantic attempt to mingle their scents together. “You bit me and now you think you get to just leave me?”
Xiao Chiye stared up at him with wide eyes. Shen Zechuan leaned down until the tips of their noses brushed. “Until this heat is over, I’m not letting you leave this bed, alpha.”
He rolled his hips again, feeling Xiao Chiye’s cock twitch against his ass and making him moan. “Lanzhou, this is—“
Shen Zechuan pressed their lips together, and Xiao Chiye’s resistance crumbled away. Not long after, Shen Zechuan found himself flipped over onto his back again, pinned down by the sheer mass of the alpha, and felt the heavy, scalding haze from before settle over his mind again until there was no coherent thought left.
A hot, greedy mouth pressed against his neck, retracing its path, as large hands with calloused palms wandered lower and lower. Shen Zechuan’s eyes slipped closed and he clung to his alpha and let himself be devoured.