After the Divorce, I Went Back to My Hometown, Pregnant and Became the Sheriff - Chapter 24

The two who had been standing finally sat down.

Jiang Xu pulled up a chair for Tongtong, then went to the kitchen to fetch a bowl and chopsticks for Shen Yucheng. The group finally settled into a quiet dinner, each lost in their own thoughts.

At that moment, the doorbell rang again.

“I’ll get it.” Jiang Xu beat He Xianxing to the door. The suppressants, which should have arrived first, were finally delivered. Jiang Xu let out a sigh of relief.

“This door is certainly busy tonight,” He Xianxing teased.

Jiang Xu held the bag and said, “I’m going to the bedroom to take my medicine. You guys keep eating.”

He returned to the bedroom and opened a bottle of suppressants. These were only meant to be taken once a day; he had already taken two yesterday and one this morning. However, fearing that a standard dose wouldn’t stop the impending heat cycle, he shook out several more pills and swallowed them.

The pills slid down his throat and into his stomach, the burning sensation extending from his throat all the way to his abdomen. His vision blurred. Jiang Xu braced himself against the headboard, shoved the bottle into a drawer, and took several deep breaths. Once he was sure he looked normal, he headed back toward the living room.

But as he took his first step, a wave of vertigo hit him. He staggered for a few paces before the light before his eyes vanished entirely.

His body felt as if it were sinking into a deep-sea vortex, his consciousness spinning and falling. Jiang Xu felt as though his limbs were being crushed, as if they were being torn from his torso. Amidst the unbearable pain, he clenched his hands haphazardly; the slight sting of his nails digging into his palms offered a small distraction from the agony. He tried to grip harder, but his hands were gently pried apart.

Jiang Xu finally opened his eyes to find Shen Yucheng’s face. Feeling dazed, he instinctively asked, “Where’s Tongtong?”

The burning pain from the medication still lingered in his throat. Jiang Xu tried to sit up, but Shen Yucheng held him down on the bed.

“He Xianxing is giving her a bath,” Shen Yucheng said, resting his hand on Jiang Xu’s forehead. “Just lie down. Don’t push yourself.”

Jiang Xu breathed heavily, his eyes half-closed as he nodded. The suppressants had taken effect; though he felt hot, his pheromones were remarkably stable.

If an Omega does not have an Alpha to provide relief during a heat cycle, the period becomes exceptionally long and difficult to endure.

In truth, Jiang Xu didn’t dislike intimacy—he had always been honest in bed—but that didn’t mean he enjoyed the feeling of being controlled by pheromones until he lost his mind. His alcohol dependency was already enough of a headache; he preferred to avoid physiological cycles whenever possible.

“Is it very uncomfortable?” Shen Yucheng’s thumb gently brushed across Jiang Xu’s forehead.

Jiang Xu shook his head. “What time is it?”

“Ten-twenty.” Shen Yucheng checked his watch. “I’ll call in sick for you tomorrow. Stay home and rest. I’ll take Tongtong to kindergarten. Do you hear me?”

Jiang Xu wanted to ask if he even knew where the kindergarten was, but remembering the man had found the after-school center yesterday, he remained silent. He simply said, “You shouldn’t have troubled He Xianxing to bathe Tongtong.”

“Would you rather he be in here taking care of you?”

“Is misinterpreting me really that entertaining for you?”

“…Tongtong likes He Xianxing very much,” Shen Yucheng said, a trace of gloom in his voice. “I haven’t fulfilled my duties as a father. Perhaps you should give me more of a chance, if only for the sake of the child.”

Jiang Xu turned his face away, and Shen Yucheng’s fingertips naturally slid to the corner of his eye, forcing Jiang Xu to blink.

Shen Yucheng leaned down. His fingers touched Jiang Xu’s eye and brow lightly, as if playing a piano. Jiang Xu’s features were sharp and straight. Shen Yucheng suddenly recalled Jiang Xu at the Police Academy; back then, despite being low-profile, a certain sharpness had always been hidden in his eyes.

Many years had passed, and the light in those eyes seemed to have been extinguished entirely.

He realized he didn’t know Jiang Xu as well as he thought.

Shen Yucheng looked at the feverish, sickly flush on Jiang Xu’s face. Aside from when they were intimate, he rarely saw Jiang Xu like this.

“Is the song finished, great pianist?” Jiang Xu finally closed his eyes against the intrusion. The shadows of Shen Yucheng’s long fingers still flickered across his vision.

“It’s a very long song.”

Nevertheless, Shen Yucheng stopped his fingers, covering Jiang Xu’s eyes with a gentle, soft motion that felt almost itchy.

In the silence of the long night, there was only the sound of their steady breathing.

Shen Yucheng moved his hand. Jiang Xu looked up, his gaze immediately landing on the wedding ring reflecting the light. Before he could look away, Shen Yucheng’s phone rang at an inopportune moment.

Shen Yucheng paused and answered it. The person on the other end spoke rapidly and with great excitement. Shen Yucheng raised an eyebrow as he listened. When he hung up, his blue eyes seemed to glow in the dark as he looked at Jiang Xu. “Jiang Xu, I have to go to the detention center.”

He stood up immediately. “Su Wan said she has something she will only tell me. We might finally have a lead on the case from five years ago.” Shen Yucheng grabbed his trench coat from a nearby hanger, only remembering to check Jiang Xu’s reaction as he reached for the door.

“Go.” Jiang Xu’s expression was neutral, as if he had expected this choice all along.

Shen Yucheng gave a nod of acknowledgment and, without a hint of hesitation, turned and left.

The warm yellow light from the living room briefly illuminated the bedroom as the door opened and closed. Jiang Xu panted. The pain he had forgotten during their conversation returned with a vengeance.

A scorching ache seared into his bones. Jiang Xu curled into a ball, hugging his arms tight. Sweat began to trickle down his temples, snaking along his tensed jawline. He fought to remain silent, but the waves of agony crashed over him relentlessly.

Was a natural heat cycle always this unbearable?

Jiang Xu reached for the suppressants in the bedside drawer. His palm shook as he gripped the cold glass bottle, and it slipped, rolling across the floor. He had to force himself out of bed to retrieve it. The bottle rolled toward the door just as it opened again.

He Xianxing picked up the glass bottle. “What kind of medicine is this?”

“Give it to me…” Jiang Xu reached out.

He Xianxing raised his hand to keep it away. By the light of the living room, he read the label. He looked at Jiang Xu’s pale, sweat-streaked face and said in shock, “Jiang Xu, you’re in a heat cycle, aren’t you?”

Jiang Xu snatched the bottle back, his hands shaking so much he couldn’t open the cap. “So what if I am…”

“Stop taking these.”

He Xianxing grabbed Jiang Xu’s wrist and took the bottle away. Jiang Xu was drenched in sweat, his chest heaving. “This isn’t normal! You’re in heat and you don’t even have pheromones. How many of these have you taken over the last two days? You’re going to kill yourself, do you know that?”

“I’m fine, you—” Jiang Xu was lifted up by He Xianxing. “Hey! What are you doing! Mmm—”

He Xianxing silently tossed him back onto the bed. He looked down at Jiang Xu, who was struggling to catch his breath. “Relax. At the very least, I’m not going to screw you.”

“What…?”

He Xianxing leaned over, pinning Jiang Xu down. “Hey, where’s your husband? He just left you like this?”

“What are you talking about,” Jiang Xu shoved at him. “Get off!”

“I don’t want to.”

“He Xianxing!”

A faint, sweet scent rose in the air, like melting cocoa. “Jiang Xu, save your strength.”

It was the scent of He Xianxing’s pheromones. He had stripped away the Alpha aggression, leaving only a soothing aura meant to calm an Omega.

Jiang Xu instinctively gasped, drinking in the scent that helped him settle down. “He Xianxing…” he murmured to himself, the restlessness in his body finally stabilizing a little.

He Xianxing pulled the covers over them and pulled Jiang Xu into his arms from behind.

“To have an Alpha as useful as me and ignore me—you’re really wasting a good resource.” He lowered his head, his nose brushing against the gland on the back of Jiang Xu’s neck.

The tension left Jiang Xu’s spine. He slumped against He Xianxing’s chest, giving in to instinct.

“A heat cycle should look like a heat cycle.” He Xianxing kissed Jiang Xu’s damp neck. The man in his arms spasmed slightly. “Omegas and Alphas craving each other—it’s nature. It’s instinct.”

“But if you’re led around by the nose by instinct, aren’t you just an animal?” Jiang Xu said, sounding exhausted.

He Xianxing rested a hand on Jiang Xu’s heaving chest. “Overcoming nature and instinct is impressive, sure, but the majority of people just follow it. This isn’t your rebellious phase; there’s no shame in going with the flow. Right, Jiang Xu?”

Jiang Xu gave a hoarse, bitter laugh. “Inspector, you’re surprisingly good at reasoning.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

He Xianxing continued to whisper something, but Jiang Xu’s mind was too muddled to hear. Once his tensed nerves relaxed, a wave of sleepiness washed over him. The heat hadn’t fully vanished, but the pain in his bones had receded under the influence of the Alpha pheromones, becoming a minor annoyance.

Just before falling into a deep sleep, Jiang Xu called out He Xianxing’s name. Something brushed lightly against the back of his neck perhaps He Xianxing’s eyelashes as he opened his eyes.

“Just sleep,” He Xianxing said.

“…Okay.”

“I’m not the type to take advantage of someone in this state.”

“Haha, quite the noble statement.”

He Xianxing chuckled softly in response.

In a barely audible voice, Jiang Xu said, “Tonight, thank you.”

Then, he was pulled tighter into the embrace. Darkness surged upward, and the sweet scent of cocoa lingered in his dreams all through the night.

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