Sir, do you want the pheromones? - Chapter 17

Jin Ran extended his hand.

 

A small glass bottle was placed in it, carrying the coolness of Pei Xingyu’s body temperature, along with a faint scent of Dendrobium orchids.

 

“What’s this?”

 

Pei Xingyu withdrew his hand. “Drink it.”

 

Jin Ran gave a casual “Oh,” not caring what it was. The strong orchid scent had an underlying metallic tang of blood. After drinking it, he tossed the bottle back at Pei Xingyu and turned to leave, only to be stopped.

 

“Now what?”

 

Pei Xingyu, draped in a long black coat over his military uniform, looked pale. Jin Ran frowned slightly and asked, “Are you hurt?”

 

“It’s nothing,” Pei Xingyu replied, his military uniform perfectly buttoned up. Apart from his pale face and lips, there was no sign of injury, though he was always somewhat pale.

 

“Do you realize what you did wrong?”

 

Jin Ran smiled nonchalantly and fearlessly at him, “I don’t know. I did nothing wrong.”

 

Pei Xingyu gripped the small bottle in one hand, the other hidden in the sleeve of his long coat. His lowered voice carried a chill. “Why did you hit Mo Lu?”

 

“Because I felt like it.”

 

Pei Xingyu exhaled softly, standing straight as he spoke to Jin Ran through the window. “If you’re going to fight everyone who insults me, not even a hundred mechs will be enough. Could you stop being crazy for once?”

 

“It wasn’t for you. He was in my way, so I hit him. Next time he runs his mouth, I’ll hit him again, until his mother won’t recognize him.”

 

“Jin Ran, do you just *love* getting beaten up?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Pei Xingyu grabbed the window frame, his eyes flushed with anger. He threw the bottle behind him, and Jin Ran, thinking he was leaving in a huff, turned to go back to sleep.

 

The next second, the door to the detention room was kicked open with a bang. Pei Xingyu yanked off his coat and tossed it aside. “So, you think you deserve a beating? Come fight me. If you lose, you better start behaving.”

 

Jin Ran licked his canine tooth. “And if I win? We get a divorce?”

 

Pei Xingyu gave him a cold glance. “If you win, we’ll talk.”

 

Jin Ran’s mind was a chaotic mess. He knew Pei Xingyu was a traitor who abandoned the entire crew of the *Tian Ji* in their escape. But he did come back. His frustration boiled over, with no outlet for his anger.

 

Fine, let’s fight.

 

Jin Ran took a step back and assumed a fighting stance, one hand clenched into a fist, the other open, taunting Pei Xingyu. Pei Xingyu, expressionless, undid the cuff of his left sleeve, rolling it up while keeping his right hand still.

 

His pale wrist looked as white as jade against the dark military uniform, and Jin Ran found it somewhat dazzling.

 

“Hey, no need to take your clothes off for a fight.”

 

Pei Xingyu ignored him, moving his wrist slightly as he inhaled to ease the dull pain in his chest. He had forced an emergency jump using an escape pod, and the pressure was all on him.

 

Even though Duyuan had provided energy-regulating water, it didn’t help much.

 

“Do you need me to let you have a couple of moves?” Jin Ran hadn’t finished his sentence when Pei Xingyu cut him off, “No need.” At the same time, he swung a punch, fast and sharp.

 

Jin Ran wasn’t prepared and took the hit to the face, hearing what seemed like the sound of his bones shifting. The pain made cold sweat break out on his scalp.

 

Damn, he wasn’t pulling punches.

 

Jin Ran sidestepped, grabbed Pei Xingyu’s wrist, and twisted it back, dodging the other hand that came at him from the opposite direction. Pei Xingyu’s strikes were clean, ruthless, and precise.

 

Jin Ran had rarely been in such an evenly matched fight. Like an enraged beast, he bared his teeth, licking the blood from the corner of his mouth with a kind of bloodthirsty excitement. He had tasted blood.

 

Pei Xingyu exuded an aura that excited Jin Ran—a strong, cold, restrained, and intensely aggressive scent. The Alpha’s natural desire to conquer stirred, compelling him to dominate and crush Pei Xingyu beneath him.

 

Conquering such a powerful equal would bring unparalleled satisfaction.

 

Jin Ran’s nerves lit up like kindling, an unnoticed spark igniting. His gaze fixed entirely on Pei Xingyu, every cell in his body screaming to defeat him, to break him.

 

Their fists clashed, bones cracking audibly, but neither backed down. Both swiftly adjusted their tactics, aiming for each other’s vital points.

 

The detention room, fully equipped, was now a mess from their fight. Tables and chairs were overturned, the alarm blaring sharply until Jin Ran kicked it to pieces, restoring silence.

 

They were evenly matched, knocking each other down simultaneously. But Pei Xingyu, injured, couldn’t react as quickly as Jin Ran. In that moment, Jin Ran seized the advantage, pinning Pei Xingyu by the throat, straddling him.

 

“Commander,” Jin Ran said, pressing his thumb against Pei Xingyu’s pulse, breathing heavily, “You lost.”

 

Pei Xingyu grabbed Jin Ran’s hand, which was squeezing his neck, and with a quick move, reversed their positions. His pale face had gained some color from the exertion, but his breath was erratic, his lips still bloodless.

 

“Haven’t lost.”

 

Jin Ran didn’t resist, letting himself be pinned. With his hands behind his head, he smiled at Pei Xingyu. “Commander, you’re even using deception to avoid divorcing me. You must really like me, huh?”

 

Pei Xingyu ignored the deliberate provocation, calming his ragged breathing. He coldly said, “Since you lost, behave from now on. Don’t mention divorce again. When the time comes, even if you don’t bring it up, I’ll divorce you. Got it?”

 

Irritated, Jin Ran pushed at Pei Xingyu’s hand to get up, but Pei Xingyu held him down. A surge of anger flared up inside Jin Ran, fueling an intense burst of Alpha pheromones.

 

“Fine, I won’t… Hey, Pei Xingyu!”

 

Pei Xingyu’s hand loosened its grip on his neck. His cold eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he opened his mouth but didn’t say anything. His body softened, and he suddenly fainted.

 

Jin Ran, quick on his feet, caught him, holding him tightly. A faint scent of dendrobium orchids drifted to his nose. He couldn’t help but sniff. “Smells pretty nice.”

 

“Hey, Pei Xingyu, are you okay? Fainting after a couple of hits—you’re not an Omega, for crying out loud! Hey, wake up!”

 

Jin Ran, holding Pei Xingyu, leaned his head back. The subtle, cool scent of dendrobium orchids seemed to seep from every part of him, reaching Jin Ran’s nose. “Damn it, where’s your Du Yuan? That thing’s usually buzzing around like a robot vacuum, where the hell is it now?”

 

Pei Xingyu remained oblivious, his face frighteningly pale. Jin Ran started to worry if he had accidentally hurt him. He hadn’t hit him hard at all, and he definitely didn’t hit him in the face.

 

Unlike him, who always aims for Jin Ran’s face with brutal, disfiguring blows.

 

Jin Ran was still technically his husband, and here Pei Xingyu was, mercilessly committing spousal abuse. Yet, when it came to divorce, he wouldn’t go through with it. “Damn it, you’re out of your mind,” Jin Ran cursed, then gently laid Pei Xingyu on the bed where he had been sitting. He returned to the window and called out.

 

“Hey! Anybody there? Your commander fainted, get someone!”

 

The confinement room was in a corner at the rear of the battleship, too far for anyone to hear. The alarm had been smashed by Jin Ran’s kick, and all his communication devices had been confiscated. He was stuck, completely isolated.

 

The door lock only opened via an external chip reader, and even if he kicked it down, he couldn’t get out.

 

Jin Ran picked up Pei Xingyu’s long coat from the floor and tossed it on the bed. He was tempted to take advantage of Pei Xingyu’s current defenseless state and punch him in the face, but after some thought, it seemed meaningless to strike him when he couldn’t fight back.

 

Pei Xingyu wasn’t wearing his watch-like communicator. One of his sleeves was unbuttoned, revealing a pale wrist, while the other was wrapped in white bandages that peeked out from the black cuff of his uniform. His collar was neat and clean, exuding a cold, abstinent air.

 

“Tsk.” Jin Ran sneered internally. Abstinent? What a joke—spousal abuse, more like.

 

Jin Ran sat on the floor to rest for a while. His face stung with pain. He took off his gloves, flexing his fingers, and stared blankly at the ring for a moment before turning to look at the unconscious Pei Xingyu.

 

A voice in his mind whispered, urging him. *Right now, just choke him. One move and he’ll be dead. You could avenge the hundreds on the Tianji, avenge Jin Xian.*

 

Jin Ran’s hand actually moved to Pei Xingyu’s neck. The blue gemstone on his ring stood out starkly against Pei Xingyu’s pale complexion. His fingers tightened, feeling the quiet rhythm of the pulse beneath them.

 

*Traitor.*

 

The Pei Xingyu he’d gotten to know over the past few months was cold and distant, very different from the image painted by Hall—that of someone who abandoned the hundreds on the Tianji and fled alone.

 

People die in war. Jin Ran hadn’t even considered the possibility that Pei Xingyu would return when he had escaped the battleship.

 

But he did.

 

Jin Ran’s mind was in turmoil. He gasped heavily, turning his head aside.

 

The scent of dendrobium orchids spread and grew stronger, like invisible threads wrapping around his body, tightening around his limbs.

 

He shook his head, feeling light-headed. Sweat beaded on his back. Even though it felt like a thick fog was choking his chest, making it hard to breathe, he instinctively moved closer to the unconscious Pei Xingyu, chasing the disorienting scent of the dendrobium orchids.

 

*Pheromones. Where are they coming from?*

 

Pei Xingyu’s neck.

 

Jin Ran, half-kneeling, leaned closer to Pei Xingyu, his head dipping towards the slightly disheveled collar of Pei’s uniform. The scent was intense now, almost overwhelming. His brow furrowed suddenly.

 

*This isn’t the scent of an Alpha!*

 

Jin Ran snapped back to full awareness. He immediately grabbed Pei Xingyu, lifting his limp body with one hand. Roughly, he yanked open the uniform collar, revealing swollen glands, glistening and almost ready to burst at the slightest touch!

 

*Not only is he an Omega—he’s in heat!*

 

Jin Ran gritted his teeth, torn between the urge to slap Pei Xingyu awake and demand how he’d gone from an Alpha to an Omega—and how he’d ended up in heat during a fight! Did he have a death wish?

 

This ship was full of Alphas. If he had passed out in front of someone else, he wouldn’t even know how he died. And he’s a commander! No sense of self-preservation!

 

Jin Ran could barely control the storm of emotions surging through him. His hands trembled uncontrollably. He didn’t even realize that his own pheromones were spilling out, triggering Pei Xingyu’s unconscious body to tremble. Jin Ran, suffering from a pheromone deficiency, could barely control the flood of pheromones within him. He clenched his fists, struggling not to give in to the overwhelming urge to sink his teeth into those glands.

 

*Don’t bite.*

 

Jin Ran forced himself to look away from Pei Xingyu’s swollen glands. The cramped confinement room was thick with the heat of their mingling pheromones. Jin Ran unconsciously tugged at his collar, popping a button marked with the Ziwei Yuan, which clattered to the floor and rolled in circles.

 

Pei Xingyu’s pheromones had a calming effect on him, yet they were also an unbearable temptation.

 

Jin Ran, unable to control his pheromones due to his deficiency, found everything he’d learned at school useless. He could only rely on what remained of his sanity to resist.

 

His vision blurred, his eyes stung and grew red. His hand, moving beyond his consciousness, found its way to Pei Xingyu’s glands. His calloused fingertips gently stroked them, and he was drawn in, lowering his head.

 

*Dendrobium orchids.*