An Xun edited an email over and over again until he realized a serious problem—if he included the chat logs, wouldn’t that person immediately know it was him?

That would be too obvious. He should at least let him guess, hate everyone a bit, and then come out and reveal himself after the other party sought revenge.

An Xun sighed heavily, finding this all too mentally taxing.

He then trawled through various social media platforms based on friend suggestions and found the deadbeat’s accounts. Using a fake profile, he followed him and sifted through videos the deadbeat had liked, finding comments where he had badmouthed his boss.

It took four to five hours, but An Xun finally gathered enough evidence to replace the chat logs in the document.

After renaming the file, he was ready to sleep, but then realized it was the middle of the night and he was hungry.

He hummed to himself as he went downstairs to raid the fridge, cooking up a pack of noodles with a sausage and a soft-boiled egg.

He took his meal upstairs in a large two-eared bowl, remembering that Bo Xiangzhou hadn’t eaten dinner. The housekeeper had said he hadn’t eaten all day, just drinking water.

He wouldn’t share his meal with Bo Xiangzhou, but in gratitude for his advice, he decided to kindly make something for him.

The master bedroom door was tightly shut, not a sliver of light visible.

Uncertain whether Bo Xiangzhou was asleep, An Xun tapped on his profile picture.

The reply came quickly, “Go to sleep early,” followed by silence, and he didn’t pick up the phone.

Could he be dead inside?

Or passed out?

It had been a day; Bo Xiangzhou’s condition must have changed. Wouldn’t it be rash to barge in now? Could the pheromones overwhelm him?

What if he really had fainted inside? Every year, a few alphas ended up in the hospital from pushing through their sensitive period.

Should he find an omega for Bo Xiangzhou?

An Xun shook his head; that plan wouldn’t fly—Bo Xiangzhou would kill him for it.

Overthinking, An Xun went downstairs and knocked on the butler’s door.

No response. He knocked on a few more servants’ doors, all unanswered.

Driven by a mix of concern and curiosity, he called again, receiving no response as before.

Maybe he was asleep?

Normally, just turning over in bed was enough to wake him, let alone a phone’s ringtone—he couldn’t have missed it.

An Xun, in his slippers, crouched at the master bedroom door, taking out a spare key he had found in the study, inserting and twisting it several times in the lock, then pressed his eye to a tiny crack trying to glimpse any light.

But the door was too well made, and he couldn’t even smell the unimpeded pheromones.

It wasn’t good for an omega to break into an alpha’s room at night, he thought, about to give up and go back.

Then a message popped up from Bo Xiangzhou, just two words:

Come over.

An Xun stood up so quickly he swayed. Steadying himself, he pushed the door open without another word, ready to save the alpha calling for help.

A second before he pushed the door, the message was retracted, but An Xun, slow and impulsive, barged in like a cannonball, kicking the door open and rushing to the bed.

The only light was from a smartphone screen. They looked at each other silently, Bo Xiangzhou’s expression a mix of shock and bewilderment.

An Xun hadn’t yet smelled any change in the alpha pheromones. “What’s wrong with you?”

“You…” Bo Xiangzhou knew he was too slow to retract the message.

“What me?”

Pheromones had been filling the air, and now they enveloped a highly compatible omega. An Xun was like a sheep among wolves, quickly surrounded by the pheromones.

Stronger than during the day, the pheromones bore an irresistible alpha authority.

Omegas were inherently weaker, and An Xun found breathing difficult under the heavy, seductive scent of agarwood mixed with traces of lychee.

Such scents could drive an alpha mad.

Bo Xiangzhou’s eyes darkened, turning away with a hoarse voice, “Get out.”

“I can’t move…” An Xun realized he was scared.

During their sensitive period, alphas couldn’t even control their own pheromones, let alone an omega swamped by them.

“What did you call me in here for?” An Xun was unsteady; the pheromones were overpowering, making him want to kneel in submission to the alpha.

Both were losing their minds to each other’s pheromones.

A mess was a mess, but it was better than dying here. Bo Xiangzhou had tricked him again; next time he would be truly angry.

Unable to grip his own thighs firmly, An Xun groped for the wall, his legs weak. Before he could step away, the alpha pulled him onto the bed.

Dizzy at first, An Xun instinctively moved and realized he was sitting on Bo Xiangzhou’s waist with unprecedented clarity.

His head didn’t swim, his brain didn’t throb; he felt energetic enough to run three kilometers.

Bo Xiangzhou turned on the light, his panicked look catching the alpha’s eye, intensely stimulating his senses.

An Xun found Bo Xiangzhou’s appearance terrifying, not the usual gentle smile but a fierce, oppressive aura like a shroud of dark mist.

He grabbed An Xun’s hand, forcing him closer. An Xun’s retreat only intensified his dissatisfaction, magnifying the slight annoyance in his eyes to full redness.

Reason and loss of control were at their limits, both arguing like fierce wolves, but Bo Xiangzhou suffered the most.

His reason faltered beneath the omega’s flushed appearance.

Unlike An Xun, he now felt an unstoppable strength. He restrained the omega’s hands and moved him backward from a safe to a dangerous position.

An Xun was powerless to resist; his ears flushed, he experienced the profound physical disparity between alpha and omega.

He couldn’t move, couldn’t struggle, just let the alpha manipulate him.

He knew this wasn’t Bo Xiangzhou—Bo Xiangzhou would have urged him to leave.

The alpha’s breath was hot, tickling his skin. An Xun leaned back, “Can I give you a bite?”

His wide collar slipped forward during the movement, the loose-fitting clothes revealing everything to the alpha. In his pajamas, it seemed like he had come to seduce deliberately.

An Xun carefully released pheromones, afraid that too much would drive the alpha mad.

The alpha embraced him; An Xun tilted his neck, allowing him to nuzzle into his neck, smelling his pheromones.

He ripped off the pheromone blocker with quick, rough movements. An Xun hissed as the sticky patch left a red mark on his skin.

“Don’t…”

An Xun felt tears well up, unsure of what would happen next with this unfamiliar, frightening Bo Xiangzhou.

At heart, he was an omega, controlled by alpha pheromones.

He couldn’t fight back.

His pride burned to ashes before absolute dominance; the lychee scent turned bittersweet with his distress.

Bo Xiangzhou’s expression stiffened; the next second, the hand that had been gripping him tightly let go. The overpowering, suffocating pressure faded as Bo Xiangzhou rubbed his head, his voice clear and soothing, “Don’t cry, let me hold you a bit longer.”

“I’m not crying, why do you always think I will?” An Xun realized he had regained some reason.

“Because you love to cry.”

“I do not.” Though his persona was that of a fragile, delicate flower, he hardly ever cried when he was pretending.

The pain burning through his reason made Bo Xiangzhou frown, but aside from embracing and sniffing his glands, he did nothing else inappropriate.

Unlike the unreasonable, domineering, arrogant alpha, An Xun preferred this version of him, hugging back almost instinctively. They were so close, not even a sheet of paper could slide between them, undoubtedly sending himself right into the alpha’s jaws.

Bo Xiangzhou’s lips lightly touched the enticingly scented gland; he almost lost control again, steadying his mind, “Didn’t I tell you not to come in? Why don’t you listen?”

“You’re the pot calling the kettle black; I rushed in because I saw your cry for help.” An Xun was almost delirious, the alpha’s touch giving him a dual pleasure, physical and psychological, making him want the alpha to go even further.

Images flashed in his mind, An Xun’s face burning hot, only wanting Bo Xiangzhou to let him go quickly.

He was deeply affected by the alpha’s actions, at an age full of vigor; staying longer might spark something he wasn’t ready for.

He didn’t want to end things here.

Bo Xiangzhou said, “When will you fix this impulsive little habit of yours?”

He unlocked his phone, and An Xun followed his gaze to their chat, where Bo Xiangzhou had retracted a message, and another unsent one read—

Don’t come over.

It seemed he had missed two words by mistake. Sometimes he also skipped words in messages, but Tao Nian understood him, so he didn’t bother retracting them.

Moreover, he saw that Bo Xiangzhou’s contact name for him was his full name.

His full name!!

An Xun felt a little hurt inside; he only used full names for strangers.

“I can’t change it, not in this lifetime,” An Xun said, his words tinged with irritation.

“I didn’t say anything; why are you angry?” Bo Xiangzhou hugged him tighter, “Does it hurt?”

“What do you think?”

Bo Xiangzhou said, “I can’t control my actions right now, but it’ll be okay soon.”

Constrained in his embrace, An Xun gasped as the other tightened his hold, “I just ate; are you trying to squeeze me to death?”

“I wouldn’t dare.” Bo Xiangzhou loosened his grip slightly, then tightened it again, giving him a few seconds to breathe.

An Xun pursed his lips, trying to distract the alpha from the strange sensation he brought, “I didn’t want to come up, afraid you’d die in here. I knocked on the butler’s door; he wasn’t there, so I found the keys in your study.”

Bo Xiangzhou showed no displeasure at him snooping through the study, “I had them move out to a hotel at ten tonight; they’ll be back in the morning.”

“Why?”

“Thinking of them moving around below was irritating; I couldn’t suppress the urge to break out.”

“Then why didn’t you make me move out?” An Xun harbored some hope.

Bo Xiangzhou ignored it; he craved the omega’s pheromones but knew he couldn’t control himself after meeting, so he could only think. The thought of the omega downstairs, smiling and joking with them, was unbearable and infuriating.