The Alpha Thief Stole the Wrong Man - Chapter 4

He really did hold back this time.

At first, I appreciated it, secretly breathing a sigh of relief.

After the seventh time, I finally lost it and kicked him.

“I really can’t…”

He clearly hadn’t had enough, but he stopped anyway, tucked the covers around me, and got up to use the bathroom.

I lay limp on the bed, dead inside.

Even an alpha’s body couldn’t take this kind of abuse from the animal I’d tangled with.

My phone rang.

It was Dr. Zhuang, who ran the laboratory.

I glanced toward the bathroom, turned the volume down, and answered.

“Zeye, we’re out of funds. We’ve had no supply of materials for growing your gland for two weeks. The premises and equipment burn through money every day.”

“Give me a little more time,” I said quietly.

He sighed.

“I’m not trying to rush you. But at the rate your gland is deteriorating, you have six months at most. Growing a new one takes time too. Wait much longer, and no one will be able to save you.”

I tightened my grip on the phone and said nothing.

“If all else fails, try the other option. If any of those subjects successfully differentiated into an enigma back then, his pheromones might ease your condition.”

Dr. Zhuang had told me that more than once.

But of that original group of test subjects, some were dead and some were crippled. No one knew whether any had succeeded.

Even if one had, finding him in a sea of people was a worse bet than stealing the diamond.

“Forget it. Focus on the experiment for now. I’ll handle the money.”

Dr. Zhuang didn’t press it. After a few final reminders, he hung up.

I stared at the ceiling for a while.

Whatever happened, I had to get that diamond.

The shower stopped running.

Lu Zheng emerged bare-chested, with only a towel around his waist. Droplets ran down the deep grooves of his abs.

I couldn’t help taking another look.

Suddenly, he stopped and sniffed.

“Why does it smell like mint?”

My heart lurched.

Mint was my pheromone scent.

But I’d kept it under tight control. I’d even topped up the artificial omega spray before going out. How could he smell it?

I feigned calm. “Probably air freshener.”

Only when I spoke did I realize how hoarse my voice had become.

The back of my neck burned in waves.

Heat spread from my gland, searing along my blood vessels into my limbs.

Was this… a rut?

I went utterly still.

I often pretended to be an omega in heat to fool those alphas who thought with their dicks.

But only I knew the truth.

Because my gland was deteriorating, I hadn’t experienced a real rut in a very long time.

The mint scent kept spilling out beyond my control.

I was screwed.

Any alpha who found out another alpha had tricked him into bed would be disgusted. He might fly into a rage right then and there.

I’d seen what Lu Zheng could do.

If he decided to fight, I’d die horribly.

I scrambled off the bed and bolted for the door.

I’d barely taken a step before he caught me, scooped me up, and tossed me back onto the bed.

“Why are you running?”

He bent to my neck and inhaled deeply.

“You smell much better than that fake omega scent.”

I met his entirely unsurprised eyes, my scalp prickling.

“You… already knew?”

Lu Zheng curved his lips without denying it.

“Since when?”

“The first time I saw you.”

I stared at him. For a moment, I couldn’t even spare a thought for how he’d figured it out.

Something else was driving me crazier.

“Then why did you still…”

“Sleep with you?”

He finished the question for me, shamelessly self-assured.

“You seduced me first.”

“I just played along.”

“Besides, an alpha like you is much cuter than an omega.”

I nearly choked.

This pervert was into alpha-on-alpha relationships?

But now wasn’t the time to argue about that.

“Give me a suppressant.” I held out my hand, fighting to keep my voice steady. “You’re an alpha too. You must keep some here.”

He watched me without moving.

“What if I don’t want to?”

My fists clenched.

I was about to curse at him when he suddenly caught the back of my neck, pulled me closer, and pressed warm lips to my gland.

I shuddered as though I’d been shocked.

My mind blanked for several seconds before I realized what he intended.

“Are you insane? We’re both alphas. If you dare bite…”

He cut me off lazily.

“I bit you the first time.”

I went blank.

The first time…

He’d been like a wild animal getting its first taste. It had been so intense that I’d embarrassingly passed out toward the end. I had no memory of that happening.

A vague thought flickered through my head.

Before I could catch it, a sharp pain struck the back of my neck.

Unfamiliar, overpowering pheromones flooded in and rampaged through my body.

I struggled instinctively, but he held me even tighter. All I could do was clutch the sheets in vain.

I didn’t know how long it took, but the burning heat miraculously subsided.

I lay sprawled on the bed, gasping.

It made no sense.

An alpha using his pheromones to suppress another alpha’s rut was unheard of.

Unless…

He was an enigma.

I dismissed the thought as soon as it appeared.

Those people had ruined countless subjects trying to make alphas differentiate a second time into enigmas. Success couldn’t possibly come that easily.

And even if an enigma did exist, he’d be one in ten thousand, a being above all other secondary genders. Why would he be working as a bodyguard for the Shens?

My gland was probably so badly deteriorated that my rut itself was abnormal.

Lu Zheng didn’t do anything else to me.

He wrapped me carefully in the quilt until only half my face showed.

Then he opened the window, letting the night breeze carry away the mint scent filling the room.

“Go to sleep.”

“Tomorrow, I’ll take you to open the third door.”