Forcibly Marked by My Fiancé’s Best Friend - Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Rumble, rumble—

A bolt of silver light descended from the heavens. A flight craft circled above, rapid-fire rounds erupting from its belly, mercilessly strafing the horde of corpses.

Lian Xu squinted his eyes. The hovering craft was silver with a vibrant, deep crimson tail—it was clearly the same model as the one he was piloting.

The rounds rained down like a torrential storm, punching massive holes through the bodies of the walking dead.

“Get down!” Lian Xu shouted. He pressed the little girl into the dirt, shielding her with his own body to ensure no stray rounds struck her.

After a series of deafening explosions, the horde was completely wiped out. A field of rotting corpses lay scattered on the ground, the stench of blood and decay stinging Lian Xu’s nostrils.

He jumped down from the craft and sprinted toward the slope.

Lian Xu had just helped the girl up and hadn’t even regained his balance when he was tackled back to the ground by He He. “Are you fucking insane?!”

“Cough, cough…” Lian Xu tried to catch his breath but was pinned down so hard he choked. He tried to push the Alpha off, but he had no strength left.

Raindrops pelted his face, making it hard to keep his eyes open. He parted his lips to tell He He to get up, only to be fiercely silenced by the Alpha’s mouth.

“Mmm…” Lian Xu struggled, his boots scraping against the ground and kicking up mud everywhere. “He He, get… mm…”

He bit his lower lip with punishing force, only pulling away after a long moment. “Wrestling with a pack of corpses—you don’t want your life anymore, do you?! Where’s your gun? What happened to these wounds on your body?!”

“And why did you cut the comms? Do you hate seeing me that much?!”

After the long, heavy kiss ended, Lian Xu finally caught his breath. He spoke in a faint voice: “Out of ammo… something happened, it wasn’t convenient to talk.”

Hearing this, his shoulders shook. He hurriedly scooped the Omega up, carefully avoiding the wounds on his shoulder and arm, kissing the corner of his mouth in a panicked daze.

“I’m sorry. I’m late.”

Lian Xu turned his face away. He hated to admit it, but without He He, he might have truly died here. Yet, this was a dangerous place; he hadn’t wanted the other man to come.

“Get in the craft first. We need to treat those wounds.”

Lian Xu gave a faint hum of agreement.

“Ba—by—”

As the two were about to lead the girl away, a corpse suddenly stood up, stumbling through the pile of bodies. It was the one who had warned Lian Xu to run; he had survived the strafing because he was shielded behind the tree. Now, he knelt in the gore, cradling a corpse riddled with holes, tears streaming from his eyes.

“Sor—ry—”

Lian Xu watched the corpse, feeling a sudden pang of emotion. He reached out and pushed down his gun.

“Take him with us.”

He turned to look at him. “At a time like this, you’re worried about a corpse?”

Lian Xu didn’t answer. He shook off He He’s supporting hand and strode toward the man who wasn’t fully turned—who could still be considered human.

“Come with me. I promised to take you home.”

At the word “home,” the man suddenly burst into loud sobs.

“I want to take him home—home—” His speech was clearer than before, as if his linguistic faculties were slowly recovering.

Lian Xu tried to communicate: “He can’t walk anymore. But I think he would really want you to leave this place.”

The man cried even harder. “I—don’t want to go. I want to stay with him.”

“He is…”

Before Lian Xu could finish, the man spoke: “My lover. We promised to go home together.”

The sentence was clear and fluent. The man had obviously regained his human consciousness. Lian Xu was amazed at the speed of his recovery. What had caused these people to become walking dead? And what was the trigger that allowed those who hadn’t fully lost themselves to recover?

“Why are you wasting your breath on him?” He walked over and knocked the man unconscious with a swift strike to the neck. He wrapped a clean cloth around the man’s ankle and dragged him toward the flight craft.

The hatch remained open. He wouldn’t allow the decaying man inside the main cabin, but he didn’t stop Lian Xu from keeping an eye on him.

There were specialized medical supplies on the craft. He began by disinfecting the wounds. When the medicine hit the raw flesh, it felt like being branded by fire. Lian Xu gritted his teeth, fine beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

His rain-soaked uniform clung to his body, and the plummeting night temperature made him shiver. He held him, then looked back at the girl sitting in the co-pilot seat.

“You need to rest. I’ll take her to my craft.”

Lian Xu shook his head. “No, it’s too dangerous.”

He rubbed the Omega’s face roughly. “It’s safer than a craft with an open hatch! She’ll be fine there; the hull is strong enough to protect her, and you won’t be distracted.”

As he spoke, the Alpha leaned down, his nose brushing against Lian Xu’s ear. “Your clothes are soaked. I need to change you; you can’t have her watching. Besides… I missed you.”

He kissed the gland at the nape of Lian Xu’s neck, releasing his pheromones to envelop the Omega.

Lian Xu had no resistance to his pheromones to begin with, and now, injured, he was at his most vulnerable. As soon as a tiny amount of the scent entered his system, he felt himself drowning in it.

“Be good. Let her go over it.” His fingers nimbly unbuttoned Lian Xu’s clothes, revealing pale collarbones. His warm palm pressed against the skin, rubbing gently. “Or is Team Leader Lian actually quite happy to let others admire you in this state?”

As the warm breath tickled his ear, Lian Xu shivered. He felt a wave of heat beneath him, and his voice was muffled when he spoke: “Mmh…”

He rubbed his earlobe. “Good boy.”

He released Lian Xu, draped his own military coat over the Omega, and opened the right hatch.

His cold voice addressed the girl: “Follow me.”

The girl glanced at Lian Xu, seeing him huddled tightly in the coat, then looked at the towering Alpha. She couldn’t help but ask, “Will Brother be in danger?”

She had seen the terrifying wounds the corpses had left on Lian Xu. The rain on the Desolate Star wasn’t clean, and she was worried about infection.

He said expressionlessly, “He’s fine.”

From the moment he saw the girl, he had guessed why Lian Xu had acted so recklessly. He was angry enough to want to tie the man up, shove him into a craft, and lock him away—anything to keep him in sight. But seeing the wounds on his shoulder and arm, he swallowed his reprimands.

Lian Xu had a mission and wouldn’t return without completing it. Seeing a defenseless child in danger, he was even less likely to stand by.

But he had overestimated himself.

Seeing He He’s expression grow darker, the girl obediently hopped off and followed him to the other craft.

“No matter what happens outside, do not come out,” He commanded.

The girl nodded. She knew this place was fraught with peril and didn’t want to cause trouble for the two “brothers.”

As he was about to close the hatch, the girl spoke again: “Are you Brother’s lover?”

“Hmm?” He raised an eyebrow, a smirk tugging at his lips as his dark expression instantly softened. “Why do you say that?”

Was it just because he had kissed Lian Xu in front of her? But kissers aren’t always lovers.

“You’re very worried about him, and he cares about you too.”

He froze; that wasn’t the answer he expected.

He patted the girl’s head and joked, “Yeah, I like him. I like him to death! But he doesn’t like me. He’s very mean, isn’t he?”

The girl shook her head in disagreement. “You only act tough in front of the people you like because you don’t want them to worry.”

He narrowed his eyes.

Lian Xu was a stubborn, proud man. Every time they sparred, he fought like he was a mortal enemy. He’d fight even when he knew he couldn’t win, preferring to walk away covered in bruises rather than yield. If he would just act a little spoiled, He wouldn’t mind letting him win, but the man chose to suffer for the sake of his pride.

This kid had only known him for a short while—how could she know what kind of person Lian Xu was? The children were too simple.

“Stop asking questions. Sleep!” His expression shifted slightly as he slammed the hatch shut.

Outside, the rain had stopped, and the temperature plummeted. The craft had a climate control system, but with the hatch open, they’d be frozen solid by midnight.

He stood outside and showed Lian Xu the current temperature on his light-brain. “It’s going to drop further. If we don’t close the hatch, we’ll both freeze.”

Lian Xu glanced at the temperature trend for the coming hours, frowned, and rolled over, turning his back to He He. “We have to watch him.”

“Heh…” He laughed out of sheer frustration. “So you’re willing to let me freeze to death for the sake of some random guy?”

It was unnecessary, but Lian Xu felt this man was vital. He turned back around and looked at He He, his tone becoming more negotiable. “Put him in the back.”

He looked at the man on the ground. After a moment’s thought, a meaningful smile played on his lips.

“Fine. Whatever you say.”

He dragged the man to the back. The space was tiny, but he managed to fold the man’s legs and tuck him in.

After dealing with the man, he closed the hatch, turned on the heater, and went back to holding Lian Xu.

Lian Xu pushed against his shoulder. “I’m not dead. You don’t need to hold me.”

“How can I not? It’s been so long since I’ve seen you. Let me smell your pheromones.”

Lian Xu turned his head away to dodge him.

By any honest count, it had been barely half a day.

He rested his chin on the top of Lian Xu’s head, taking his cold hands and rubbing them to warm them up. Thinking of the girl, he smiled. “That kid is actually quite cute.”

Lian Xu knit his brows. Not sure what he was getting at, he said, “If you like her, take her back as your goddaughter.”

He added, “If her parents agree, that is.”

“In a place like this, do you think her parents are still alive?”

The likelihood was that they were long gone, otherwise why would a little girl be left alone in the wilderness?

He had applied a strong scent-blocker and taken a suppressor shot before coming; he should have been fine for three or four days. But for some reason, the moment he met Lian Xu, his Cedar pheromones couldn’t help but coax out the White Camellia, becoming completely uncontrollable.

He rubbed against the tip of Lian Xu’s ear and whispered, “Do you like kids?”

Lian Xu almost laughed. “If I say yes, are you going to call me ‘Daddy’?”

He chuckled. Dream on.

“I like them,” he said.

“Oh, well, that’s perfect. Adopt her then. If her parents are gone, she probably can’t survive here on her own. Take her back as a charity case; she can take care of you when you’re old.”

“Why don’t you raise her?” He asked.

Lian Xu thought for a moment and answered, “I didn’t say I liked kids. But if you really want to call me ‘Daddy,’ I suppose I could accept it.”

He let out a soft snort. He continued to rub Lian Xu’s fingers, intentionally applying more pressure at the knuckles as if playing with a hard-won treasure. Once they were warm, he gave them a firm squeeze. “Always thinking about taking advantage of me… why don’t you talk about having one with me instead?”