Can't Bite??

She bowed respectfully, waiting for the bedroom door to close.

Anya straightened up and sadly wiped her tears.

"Boo-hoo... I worked so hard to get the lady all squeaky clean, and now it's all gone to waste..."

"Do you know how hard it is to help the lady bathe? He wouldn't let us stay with him, and his health is so poor. I spent ages adjusting the water to the right temperature for him, then waited a whole hour, boo-hoo..."

"There, there." Demi patted Anya. "Stop wiping your tears and start wiping the floor."

Inside the room.

Pei Ji laid Shen Que back on the bed.

The Omega, radiating heat, immediately curled up in the bedding and let out a thick, nasal whimper.

Like a little animal begging for affection.

Pei Ji swallowed involuntarily.

He had slept through most of those boring physiology classes at the military academy, and what little he had managed to learn had long since left his head.

Thankfully, his traditional old man had dragged him home before the wedding and put him through an intensive refresher.

Pei Ji knew that an Omega's heat generally had three stages: early, middle, and late.

Shen Que was probably still in the early stage.

Otherwise, the moment the door opened earlier, both of them would have succumbed, even with the suppressants.

The results on his smart terminal showed that their pheromone compatibility was over ninety percent-strong enough for sparks to fly from scent alone, even blindfolded.

If he slipped up and released even a little more pheromone around this sensitive Omega, Shen Que would immediately enter full heat and become a complete slave to his own biology.

But Pei Ji didn't want that to happen.

Shen Que was frail and took a lot of medication every day.

The full hundred pages of patient care instructions that had arrived with him clearly stated that he couldn't use suppressants in his current condition.

They would not only interfere with his medication but also damage his health.

Calming agents could provide some relief, but they would only delay things. Within three hours, a second, more severe heat would set in.

The high fever could aggravate old injuries and even cause him to pass out from oxygen deprivation.

With the commander's body in its current state, he might not survive even an ordinary heat, let alone a second one.

The best option was to give him a temporary mark.

Pei Ji's gaze settled on the Omega, who had gone completely limp.

Eyes squeezed shut.

Nose slightly scrunched.

Thin lips, naturally aloof and downturned.

For some reason.

He felt like he was committing a crime.

Help.

Wasn't this his lawfully wedded wife?

Perhaps it was Shen Que's cool, untouchable air. Even when he simply stood there, he seemed beyond reach. Seeing him lying so pliantly on the bed now kept stirring unspeakable urges in Pei Ji.

He wanted to bully him.

He wanted to make him cry.

The Omega on the bed was breathing faster and faster.

Pei Ji reined in his pheromones a little, and Shen Que immediately began to tremble. He opened his mouth and desperately drew in the scent in the air, like a fish starved of oxygen.

Pei Ji's gaze darkened.

The Omega before him was only barely keeping his fever under control thanks to Pei Ji's pheromones.

If he left now, Shen Que would most likely plunge straight into a more severe heat.

Better mark him first...

Suppressing the heat inside him, Pei Ji picked Shen Que up again.

The dazed Omega's lashes fluttered.

"It stinks..."

"Bear with it." Pei Ji leaned toward the back of Shen Que's neck. "Just one bite. It'll be over soon."

But the instant he made contact, the floral fragrance in the air abruptly vanished.

Shen Que let out a moan, then cried out:

"No!"

"No!!"

"It hurts..."

His hoarse voice sounded as though it were about to tear apart.

Startled, Pei Ji immediately pulled his mouth away.

The man in his arms began trembling violently. A tear spilled from the corner of his eye and slid down his jaw onto Pei Ji's hand.

Pei Ji looked utterly baffled.

He hadn't even bitten him yet.

Was he... that delicate?

At a loss, he held the Omega and waited a while.

The vanished pheromones returned.

A trace of floral fragrance seeped into the air again, gradually growing richer, while Shen Que's body grew hot along with it.

The Alpha prepared to try again.

But this time was worse.

The fragrance vanished instantly, accompanied by an even more agonized cry.

The Omega cried so hard he could barely breathe, all the cold arrogance from his photograph gone.

Yet Pei Ji was in no mood to appreciate this once-in-a-lifetime sight.

He stared at Shen Que as though he were a monster.

Help.

Was his temporary mark poisonous or something?

Why couldn't he bite him?

Three in the morning.

Pei Ji leaned against his bedroom doorway, smoking miserably.

The tobacco from the First Oasis of White Sand Star wasn't acrid when it burned. Instead, it gave off the fresh fragrance of flowers and trees.

Like Shen Que's pheromones.

Though his pheromones were a little damper, a little sweeter.

More like flowers and trees after rain than under the sun.

The bedroom door opened.

Charles Lee, the White Sand Star lord's private physician, emerged from the room with the distinctly foul mood of someone called out to work in the middle of the night.

"What's wrong with him?" Pei Ji asked gravely, extinguishing his cigarette.

"Thirty-two fractures still healing, damage to his internal organs, malnutrition, post-traumatic stress disorder, neurasthenia..."

"None of those are the main concern. The most serious issue is still the psychological damage..."

Dr. Li flipped through Shen Que's medical records.

"It's unbelievable that he's still alive. An outright medical miracle."

"Honestly, I'd love to meet the doctor who saved him. Whoever it was clearly has some serious fucking skills."

"That's not what I'm asking." Pei Ji interrupted him. "I'm asking why he can't be marked."

"He has thirty-two fractures, and you're still planning to mark him?"

Dr. Li looked at Pei Ji as though he were an animal.

"My dear young lord, if I hadn't served the old lord all this time and practically watched you grow up, I would be writing a report to the Omega Protection Association right now."

"I'm sure they'd be eager to hear more about your exploits."

"Especially now."

The traditional Alpha doctor enunciated every word.

Pei Ji covered his face. "I wasn't planning to give him a permanent mark. I meant a temporary one... just a single bite."

"Look, his medical records say he can't use suppressants. If I can't even bite him, what are we supposed to do about his heats from now on?"

Dr. Li rolled his eyes.

"You can rest easy on that front."

Pei Ji froze. "What do you mean?"

Dr. Li fell silent for a moment, then gave him a chilly look.

"The commander may never go into heat."