Temporary

"Weisheng Tou, I'll say this one last time. Get out of my room!"

Mo Lu panted softly.

His pheromones clamored, and every cell in his body seemed to resist even the slightest distance between him and Weisheng Tou.

Looking at Mo Lu in his arms, Weisheng Tou immediately realized that his heat had arrived.

"Young master... please, let me mark you."

Weisheng Tou pressed his large hand against Mo Lu's neck.

His voice was hoarse. In Mo Lu's ears, it sounded like an echo lingering in a deep valley, hazy and distant, yet enticing enough to make him want to follow it down and see what lay there.

Mo Lu shoved Weisheng Tou away, braced a hand beside himself, and pressed his lips together without speaking.

Sweat slipped down his cheek. The green agate pendant on his right ear trembled faintly, as lost and unanchored as its owner.

Mo Lu had never been troubled by his heats before, because he could suppress them himself.

But now, someone with a hundred percent compatibility with him was right beside him, and his heat had struck so suddenly and fiercely that Mo Lu could not handle it calmly.

He truly suspected that his grandfather had come specifically to torment him.

"Young master..."

Weisheng Tou stroked Mo Lu's hair with his large hand and pulled him into his arms without leaving room for refusal.

"It's my fault. Just think of it as me forcing you, all right?"

Silence fell over the room.

After a long while, Mo Lu's icy voice rang out:

"Heh. What a joke."

He gave a low, cold laugh. Though his voice was weak, one hand gripped Weisheng Tou's chin hard and pulled him right up to his face.

Mo Lu's eyes were startlingly bright.

"Weisheng Tou, no one can force me to do anything. Not even an Alpha with a hundred percent compatibility with me."

"Young master..."

Weisheng Tou looked at Mo Lu before him, his eyes steeped in adoration.

He had not expected Mo Lu to remain rational enough to speak to him like this even now.

"Weisheng Tou."

Mo Lu drew a deep breath and said slowly,

"Mark me."

Weisheng Tou froze.

"Do I have to say it twice?"

Mo Lu rested his chin directly on Weisheng Tou's shoulder.

Weisheng Tou went rigid, his entire body burning hot.

Soft hair brushed the side of his neck. The sharp pain at his nape was unmistakably real, and an indescribable sensation spread from that spot through every limb.

"Mo Lu... my young master..."

Weisheng Tou's smoky voice was low and hoarse.

Mo Lu gently swept every bead of blood into his mouth.

His alluring eyes were slightly red and veiled in a faint watery mist, yet his gaze remained sharp and proud.

Mo Lu's cool voice sounded beside Weisheng Tou's ear:

"Weisheng Tou, haven't you always wanted this?

I'll allow it. Just this once."

Weisheng Tou briefly closed his eyes. His whole body burned, and a bitter smile tugged at his lips.

Whose heat was this, anyway?

Why could Mo Lu still speak to him like this, while his own mind was full of wild thoughts?

If he had not forced himself to inject three times the normal dose of suppressants before returning, he would already have lost his mind.

"Young master..."

Weisheng Tou's voice trembled slightly.

"Forgive me for overstepping."

Sharp teeth pierced the skin.

Pheromones scented with Rose Liquor instantly surged through Mo Lu's body like a searing spring. He could almost hear them rushing through him.

Mo Lu squeezed his eyes shut.

He had never experienced anything like this in all his twenty-three years.

This wasn't right. This feeling could become addictive.

Mo Lu struggled to steady his voice. "That's enough, Weisheng Tou."

"Young master, could you wait just a little longer?"

Mo Lu tasted far too good.

It was like drinking a cup of tea, its vast, fresh fragrance filling his mouth as though it had gathered from mountains and fields. That sweetness left Weisheng Tou utterly unwilling to let go.

His young master.

Weisheng Tou's hand unconsciously drifted downward.

But Mo Lu caught his wrist at once. "Weisheng Tou, I said, let go of me."

Weisheng Tou struggled to steady his breathing.

In the end, he restrained himself and released Mo Lu.

Mo Lu left Weisheng Tou's embrace without the slightest reluctance, and green immediately suffused his eyes.

He closed his eyes and murmured an incantation.

The heat in his body slowly receded, and Mo Lu exhaled.

After Weisheng Tou's temporary mark, even the injuries caused by his earlier witch power disorder felt considerably better.

Weisheng Tou watched Mo Lu. A moment later, he spoke in a husky voice:

"Young master, could you recite it for me too?"

Mo Lu raised his eyes to look at him.

"I... feel so awful..."

Weisheng Tou's gaze darkened.

Mo Lu followed his gaze-

*?!*

The defenses he had only just built crumbled almost instantly.

Almost instinctively, Mo Lu raised a hand and pressed it between Weisheng Tou's brows, rapidly reciting an incantation:

"Ice endures through the ages; all things fall still."

"Let the heart and breath be calm; let my spirit stand alone."

Weisheng Tou instantly felt a cool current spread from between his brows throughout his body.

But it did not seem to be enough...

Mo Lu's breathing faltered-

What was going on?

Why wasn't it working?

"Through all that comes between, remain unshaken by change!"

"Without delusion or anger, without desire or want!"

Watching Mo Lu try to hide his panic, Weisheng Tou's lips curved slightly.

His young master Mo Lu was even more innocent than he had imagined.

So adorable.

He liked him so much.

When Mo Lu saw the smile on Weisheng Tou's lips, it was suddenly as though a bucket of cold water had been poured over him from head to toe-

What on earth was he doing?

Mo Lu briefly closed his eyes. Instead, the sheer force of the shock calmed him down.

He immediately withdrew his hand. Looking at Weisheng Tou, who now wore a pitiful expression, he spoke in a voice as cold as frost:

"Weisheng Tou, we will treat what happened today as though it never happened.

You should have had health classes as a child. You know that when two people with extremely high compatibility are together, their actions may not reflect their true wishes. They may simply be physical instincts.

So I won't send you away because of your pheromones. But I won't let anything like today happen a second time."

As Weisheng Tou listened to Mo Lu, he wore a bitter smile tinged with hurt.

"Yes, young master. I will do my utmost to control myself. I will never cause you any trouble."

Finally, he lowered his eyes, his voice downcast:

"...Thank you, young master, for not sending me away."

Looking at Weisheng Tou before him, Mo Lu slightly clenched the hand hanging at his side.