No Way Back - Chapter 3

I knew I must have looked terrible.

Tears slowly gathered in my eyes until the world before me blurred.

“Could you… Could you…”

My voice was painfully hoarse. My fingers reached for the back of his neck of their own accord, trying to peel away that infuriating scent-blocking patch.

I wanted…

I wanted more.

But my fingers were too weak to apply any force. It looked less like an attempt to remove the patch and more like a flirtatious scratch at his nape.

“You missed me.”

Lin Chongzhi thought he had found the heart of the matter.

He caught my hand, stopping me, and coaxed me in a voice both suggestive and imperious.

“Admit that you missed me, and I’ll take it off.”

His other hand found the back of my neck, then went still.

I knew what he was touching: the place where he’d once bitten me.

An Alpha’s pheromones couldn’t enter another Alpha’s gland. Back then, all Lin Chongzhi could do was bite the same place again and again, breaking the skin and pretending the wound was a mark.

But we’d been apart for some time now. Of course, it had healed completely.

Lin Chongzhi wasn’t pleased.

He didn’t know that his mark had succeeded after all. The wound had closed, but his pheromones had already seeped into my body and set a terrifying change in motion.

I bit my lip, the plea nearly escaping me.

The tender skin of my nape hovered there, right before Lin Chongzhi’s eyes, until even the corners of his eyes reddened.

“Mr. Lin?”

A familiar voice broke in.

My direct supervisor, He Yining, stood nearby, staring at the scene in shock. His gaze shifted from Lin Chongzhi’s face to mine, and his expression grew even darker.

“Shen Yi?”

He Yining used work as an excuse to take Lin Chongzhi away.

After injecting an Omega suppressant and resting for a while, I finally felt a little better.

But what was I supposed to do when my next heat came?

I worried at my lip.

In the break room, several coworkers were whispering over the latest gossip.

“The guy here for today’s meeting is the heir to our client’s company. Lin Chongzhi. He hasn’t been in charge for long, but he’s handsome and brilliant. Even Mr. He turns gentle around him.”

“Mr. He has liked him for years, hasn’t he? You didn’t know?”

My grip tightened around my cup.

Lin Chongzhi hated Omegas. Still, perhaps having an exceptional Omega pursue him wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

I told myself that without noticing I had bitten my lower lip hard enough to draw blood.

“Mr. He didn’t earn the title of the world’s number-one Omega for nothing.”

“But I heard Lin Chongzhi likes Alphas. His ex was an Alpha, and they were together for years.”

“So he has dated before? I thought people like them only cared about money and work. He has that whole cold, celibate thing going on.”

“Two Alphas? Rich people really do take things that far. That’s messed up!”

“What do you know? They say some Alphas get even needier than Omegas when they’re—”

“Ahem…”

I choked violently.

Everyone looked at me.

“See? Even Engineer Shen thinks it’s messed up.”

One colleague objected. “Alpha-Alpha relationships are rare, but that’s no reason to discriminate. My neighbors are both Alphas. One of them underwent secondary differentiation two years ago, and they had their second baby this year.”

I swallowed reflexively.

The man who had called Lin Chongzhi a freak knew he was in the wrong. He muttered, “That’s an extreme case. Anyway, honest men like us who marry Omegas wouldn’t understand. Right, Engineer Shen?”

Then he abruptly turned the conversation on me.

“Come on, Engineer Shen. Tell us the truth. You’re seeing someone too, aren’t you? We all smelled that Omega on you.”

In an instant, everyone’s interest inexplicably shifted to me.

I had no choice but to nod.

“You’re handsome and an S-class Alpha. The Omega who won you over must be pretty special too,” someone teased. “Even their pheromones smell so sweet.”

“…Thanks?” I choked out, unsure how else to respond.

Would he have said the same if he knew they were my pheromones?

Perhaps because I was right there in front of them, they became even more interested in me than in our boss and pelted me with questions. I could only muddle through with whatever answers came to mind.

“You’re dating someone, Shen Yi? Congratulations.”

He Yining’s voice came from behind us, abruptly silencing the questions.

An awkward hush fell over the room.