“Whether it’s animals or humans, our emotions are pure. Robot, you can’t even imagine that, can you?”

The man in the white coat was momentarily stunned. I released my grip on the sharp blade and yanked out the exposed chip from his chest. At the same time, the glass above shattered with a loud crash, and a figure rolled to the ground, grabbing the white coat’s blade-hand as it angrily slashed downward.

“Damn, that hurts!”

The blade-hand stopped just a centimeter away from my abdomen. I looked closely and saw Qiao Yunshen’s face twisted in pain, his entire hand nearly severed, blood spilling all over me. The scent of Qiao Yunshen’s pheromones filled the air, like waves of heat flooding into my body, pushing away the pain.

Qiao Yunshen hastily ruffled my hair, his abdomen still bleeding heavily. He turned around and swept the white coat off his feet with a leg sweep. “Little sprout, did you really think that after all these years, I hadn’t figured out how to deal with you?”

He stretched his neck and shouted, “Lu Tao, come get your mom out of here!”

Me: ……

Lu Tao: ……

“The guy wants to sleep with you, and you’re treating him like your son. I’m speechless.”

Qiao Yunshen whipped around, his voice crazed, “What the hell?!”

Oops, I forgot he could hear my thoughts now. The white coat, having lost its chip, wasn’t as precise as before but still charged at us recklessly.

Qiao Yunshen had no choice but to turn and face him. Lu Tao rushed in from somewhere, opened the basement door, and pulled me out. The door closed again behind us.

The hallway was littered with the broken remains of robots. I took off the chip from one of the discarded robots, the engraved text still gleaming brightly: “At any cost, advance human technological civilization.” This was the final command, the reason for the white coat’s stubbornness.

I was utterly exhausted. Leaning weakly against the wall, I muttered, “Don’t think of pulling any tricks now, all that was just to buy time.”

Lu Tao shot me a glare and squeezed out some calming pheromones for me. I couldn’t smell it, just saw the constipated look on his face.

I smacked the back of his neck. “Stop giving it to me, just keep it for yourself, alright?”

Lu Tao was flustered. “What kind of accent is that?”

But before I could answer, a massive explosion sounded from the basement. The heatwave threw us several meters, and when we turned back, thick smoke was dissipating, revealing nothing but rubble. I trembled and called out.

“Qiao Yunshen!”

No one answered. I frantically clawed through the debris, but all I saw was endless wreckage, nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, Lu Tao grabbed my wrist, his grip desperate. “Li Que, aren’t you pregnant with Qiao’s child? You two did a deep bond, right? You can use the pheromones to locate him!”

My heart skipped a beat, joy bubbling up, but it quickly cooled down. I was a beta. Even though my body was filled with the scent of snow, I couldn’t establish any kind of connection.

Lu Tao clutched his hair, near a breakdown. “I’m an omega, but we didn’t do anything! There’s no connection at all!”

The bricks and rubble tore at my fingers until they were bloody. As I dug, I whispered softly to him, “It’s okay, we’ll find him, it’s okay.”

But tears streamed down my face. I had never regretted being a beta. Even after falling in love with an alpha, the prince of the skies, it was only a sense of unwillingness. I liked the freedom of being a beta, the calmness of it. But at this moment, all that composure shattered. I cried, pounding the ground. Why was I a beta?

Why didn’t I have the compatibility to bind someone?

Why, even though we were so close, could I not smell Qiao Yunshen’s scent?

Suddenly, something sharp in my clothes pricked me. I remembered the second-phase transformation drug the white coat had given me. Without hesitation, I raised my hand to inject it into my neck.

“Are you crazy!” Lu Tao grabbed my wrist. “You’re pregnant! Forced transformation will kill you!”

He snatched the drug from me, and in the struggle, it shattered. The broken glass pierced my heart, shattering my last bit of hope.

I silently knelt on the ground, watching the sunset outside, crimson like blood.

Suddenly, the tiles not far away shook. With a loud crash, a furry paw emerged. It was Qiao Yunshen!

I rushed forward in delight, but Lu Tao yanked me back. “It’s dangerous!”

“It’s not dangerous, that’s Qiao Yunshen, it’s him!” The tiger paw swiped away the debris, revealing Qiao Yunshen, fully transformed into a beast, his fur stained with blood. He shook off the dust, still holding the remains of the white coat in his mouth. The tiger stood atop the rubble, looking down like a born king.

I was overwhelmed with joy, completely immersed in the relief that Qiao Yunshen was alive.

But I didn’t notice the danger flashing in those beastly eyes.

A great force slammed into me, sending me flying backward, my back hitting the wall hard. Cold sweat poured down as the pain in my abdomen exploded again. I tried to sit up, but a sharp tiger claw pressed against my throat, pinning me to the wall.

“Qiao Yunshen,” I called out weakly, reaching out to stroke his head. His fur was soft, my fingers sinking deep into the warmth.

The tiger turned its head and bit down on my wrist, the immense force making me feel like my arm was being crushed. I steadied myself, letting him bite. His sharp teeth pierced my skin, and my blood flowed into his throat. His cold beastly eyes flickered slightly.

Lu Tao was petrified, muttering to himself. “Who’s crazy? Am I crazy? What are you all doing? I don’t like Qiao Yunshen anymore, okay? I’m scared!”

I raised my other, still-functioning hand and gently stroked him. The pheromones Qiao Yunshen had infused into my body over the years flowed through my veins.

Finally, clarity returned to the tiger’s eyes, and he let out a painful howl. But he still couldn’t let go. He slammed his head against the wall, again and again, until blood flowed. Inch by inch, the reddish-brown tiger fur receded, and the tiger claw finally released my throat.