Beast

As the counterfeit drug was metabolized in Chi Li's body, the original omega x-gland cells that had once played a crucial role in his glands rapidly died off. Chi Li's true alpha x-gland began to awaken, filling the void left by those dying cells.

At the same time, every mark Si Jinyan had once left on Chi Li, whether permanent or temporary, vanished along with the death of the counterfeit omega cells.

As long as Chi Li was an alpha, he could no longer accept Si Jinyan the way he had in the artificially created omega state.

But it was not entirely without a solution—

Since an Enigma could mark an alpha, Si Jinyan could leave Enigma x-genes in Chi Li once more, allowing Chi Li to grow accustomed to his scent and physiologically adapt to his pheromones again, as though through desensitization.

Marking an alpha took longer—perhaps dozens of minutes, perhaps several hours.

Chi Li struggled fiercely, and Si Jinyan returned to his half-human, half-Mermaid form.

Chi Li clearly watched Si Jinyan's legs transform into a Mermaid tail. Terror welled up inside him, and in his daze, he unconsciously loosened his strength.

Seizing the chance, Si Jinyan pinned Chi Li down. "Bear with it. It won't hurt afterward."

How could he bear with it?

As pain struck, Chi Li clenched his teeth. "Alphas can't be marked..." He even tried to reason with Si Jinyan.

No matter how unclear his mind had been before, he now fully understood what Si Jinyan was trying to do.

Si Jinyan actually wanted to mark him!?

He had never heard of an alpha being able to mark another alpha.

Chi Li realized he had no way to stop Si Jinyan. Even his pheromones were laced with fury. "Are you insane?!"

They faced each other, and before the absolute disparity in size, even an adult alpha appeared small and weak.

Si Jinyan did not answer him. The pain only grew more intense.

Chi Li became increasingly unsettled.

Could an alpha be marked too?

He could not let Si Jinyan mark him. With that thought, Chi Li used every ounce of his strength to strike Si Jinyan's back, trying to stop him.

Si Jinyan let Chi Li vent his anger, not even reinforcing the muscles in his back. Yet in his mutated state, Si Jinyan's healing ability was powerful; bruises quickly appeared beneath Chi Li's blows, then healed.

Chi Li cursed in a broken voice, "Psycho..."

A few minutes later, Chi Li was completely out of strength. The pain was no less severe than having his pheromones drained.

Feeling Chi Li's taut muscles gradually go limp from the pain, Si Jinyan's golden vertical pupils vanished behind his black eyes once more. His heart clenched in waves along with Chi Li's reactions.

Si Jinyan briefly released Chi Li, giving him a chance to rest.

Then, however, a low, stifled sob suddenly sounded by Si Jinyan's neck.

Si Jinyan froze, immediately releasing Chi Li and turning Chi Li's face toward him.

His face was wet with tears, tear tracks streaming down it. Chi Li's eyes were red from crying, and though he deliberately restrained his emotions, tears continued to fall.

An unprecedented panic spread through Si Jinyan's heart, leaving him momentarily at a loss. Frowning tightly, Si Jinyan held Chi Li's chin, wiped away the tears on his face, and unconsciously softened his voice. "Don't cry."

Chi Li pushed Si Jinyan's hand away, then lowered his head and brushed aside Si Jinyan's tail, which was still coiled around him.

This time, Chi Li easily pushed the Mermaid tail away.

Compared with having his pheromones extracted, the pain—and the mental torment of an alpha being forcibly marked—was far worse.

Yet Chi Li clearly knew the gap in strength between himself and Si Jinyan. As long as Si Jinyan wanted to, he had no way to resist.

That fear, coupled with the unknown, magnified the pain further. It became increasingly difficult for him to breathe, as though control over his body was gradually being stripped away, while panic seized his heart faster than ever before.

Si Jinyan stayed a fist's distance away from Chi Li.

Si Jinyan wanted to touch Chi Li but held himself back. The fin at the tip of his silver-black tail trembled faintly with unease. "Don't cry, Chi Li."

Chi Li kept his head lowered. After a few breaths, he looked up at Si Jinyan. "Don't mark me anymore, okay?"

Chi Li's voice was hoarse. His eyes were red from crying, and even his lashes were damp.

The sight made Si Jinyan's chest tighten, and he finally could not resist touching Chi Li.

The moment Si Jinyan touched him, Chi Li reflexively shuddered and tried to dodge, but he still stopped himself.

Si Jinyan's black eyes were unfathomable. At last, he answered in a low voice, "All right. I won't mark you today."

Over the next few days, Si Jinyan did not mark Chi Li again. He even seemed to deliberately keep his distance and rarely came to see him. Yet Chi Li's movements remained restricted; he was not even allowed to leave the bedroom.

Si Jinyan also gave him a tube of inhibitor, delivered by the butler. The butler said, "The Marshal instructed you to use it after breakfast."

Chi Li was somewhat surprised by that.

Over the past few days, he had also been guessing at Si Jinyan's intentions.

After his identity was exposed, Si Jinyan had nearly killed him.

Chi Li knew Si Jinyan could also feel the pain caused by their clashing pheromones, yet Si Jinyan still stubbornly persisted in attempting an impossible mark.

Chi Li paused. Would Si Jinyan do something futile? With that thought, Chi Li began to doubt his own judgment. Could an alpha really mark another alpha? He instinctively felt he might have overlooked something.

If marking was truly possible, would their pheromones no longer fiercely repel each other afterward? Did Si Jinyan want to keep using him to maintain his stable, controlled state?

But regardless of the reason, Chi Li clenched his hand. He had to get out.

Even if Si Jinyan was willing to spare him, the price would probably be spending the rest of his life trapped here—until death, until Si Jinyan grew tired of him, or until every last bit of his value was drained away.

·

After using the inhibitor, Chi Li's sensitive period had subsided by seventy to eighty percent.

When Si Jinyan entered the bedroom today, Chi Li immediately sensed that something was wrong with him.

Si Jinyan did not say a word.

Chi Li noticed dark patterns flowing beneath the skin on Si Jinyan's neck, exactly like the scene he had seen in the video.

Alpha sensitive-period pheromones still lingered on Chi Li, whose sensitive period had not yet fully passed. But those pheromones could no longer soothe Si Jinyan's pheromone-deficiency condition as they had before.

A moment later, the dark patterns beneath Si Jinyan's skin not only failed to fade, but gradually surfaced, revealing the full shape of Scales.

Chi Li's heart abruptly lurched. Even when Si Jinyan had fully entered his Mermaid form, there had never been faintly visible Scales along his neck.

Something was wrong with Si Jinyan's expression too. Chi Li patted Si Jinyan's face, trying to rouse his consciousness. "Si Jinyan, what's wrong with you?"

Si Jinyan lifted his head and looked at him. Chi Li saw that the golden vertical pupils in his eyes had fully emerged. The human reason in his gaze seemed to have disappeared, leaving only an empty, dangerous stare, like that of a beast, fixed on Chi Li.

Chi Li's heart pounded wildly.