The Cat I Picked Up Turns into an Alpha and Always Wants to Mark Me - Chapter 2

The morning alarm beeped, and Tang Le deftly switched it off. She took a deep breath and sat up from her warm bed.

It wasn’t the alarm that woke her each day, but poverty.

When she opened the box for her Scent-Blocking Patches, she saw the Suppressant was gone. She sighed deeply.

Suppressant was so expensive, costing half her monthly salary.

Every time she checked her bank balance, she silently cursed her fate for not differentiating into a Beta.

Omegas were rare enough, but one like her, drifting alone in the world, was even rarer.

Typically, after differentiating into an Omega, families would dote on them, knowing how delicate and in need of careful protection Omegas were.

Once, she had been her parents’ darling, the apple of their eye. But after their sudden deaths, she learned the cold reality of human nature and the harshness of the world.

Carefully applying the Scent-Blocking Patch over her glands, she noticed something felt off.

The glands at the back of an Omega’s neck were their most sensitive area, and she usually avoided touching them. This morning, they felt strangely numb, and when she checked in the mirror, they were slightly red.

Tang Le figured she’d caught a chill from the wind and wrapped a scarf around her neck.

After applying the Scent-Blocking Patch, the pheromone scent in the room gradually dissipated. Xiao Dong, curled up on the bed, seemed to sense the change. Her ears twitched twice in annoyance before she opened her eyes, glanced at Tang Le, and drifted back to sleep.

Tang Le prepared a day’s worth of food for Xiao Dong. Seeing her still asleep, she draped a small blanket over her and gently scratched her chin with her index finger.

The kitten tilted her head back and purred contentedly.

“I’m leaving now. I’ll bring you cat food after work tonight,” Tang Le said, even though she knew Xiao Dong couldn’t understand human speech. “I envy you so much for not having to work.”

Xiao Dong lazily opened her eyes; her black pupils were round and bright. She stretched out a paw and gently hooked it around Tang Le’s hand.

Adopting Xiao Dong had made Tang Le even poorer.

Sister Jia had dragged her through a crash course on cat care, and Tang Le, caught up in the moment, had splurged on cat supplies: food, a bed, canned treats, and even, under Sister Jia’s influence, developed a cat-snuggling addiction.

Every night when Tang Le came home, she would scoop up Xiao Dong and give her a thorough petting, from head to tail. Xiao Dong was remarkably well-behaved, enduring Tang Le’s affection without complaint. Only when she’d had enough would she leap onto the wardrobe to escape Tang Le’s attentions.

Today, another Alpha had rushed up to her and released his pheromones.

Although there were laws against deliberately releasing pheromones in public places, punishable by ten days’ detention upon verification, some Alphas, blinded by lust, still dared to do so in broad daylight. News reports of such incidents were all too common.

Fortunately, the constitution stipulated that marking an Omega against their explicit refusal constituted rape, punishable by up to twenty years in prison. This legal protection allowed single Omegas like her to survive in the cracks of society.

“I miss Mom and Dad so much,” the fragile Omega murmured, tears welling in her peach-blossom eyes, the rims red and swollen. Her kitten, Xiao Dong, nuzzled closer, licking her cheek. Its inky-black pupils reflected her dejected expression.

“I don’t like those Alphas,” Tang Le muttered softly, tapping Xiao Dong’s nose with a finger. “They’re so rough. I only like you. If only you could turn into a person.”

Her voice was soft and sweet. “If you could become human, we could be together. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about those bad people bullying me anymore.”

*****

Even before dawn, a sweet white peach scent began to fill the room, growing stronger and richer, like the full fragrance of a ripe peach.

Tang Le lay on the bed, her body soft and hot, the wisps of hair at her forehead damp with sweat. She let out a soft moan, and an unnatural flush crept across her face.

She tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt impossibly heavy. Through the haze of her consciousness, she could feel the glands at the back of her neck swelling faintly, an early sign of her Heat approaching.

Normally, Omegas experience Heat monthly. During this time, if they don’t receive pheromonal comfort from an Alpha, they need to inject Suppressants.

Her Heat had always been regular. She’d already taken a Suppressant last week when it came, so it shouldn’t be happening again. There were still over two weeks until her next expected Heat, and she had no Suppressants at home.

Oh no, she thought.

Other Alphas lived in this building. The moment she stepped outside, she’d be discovered. Omegas in heat released massive amounts of pheromones. Her high rank meant even Alphas with Omegas might struggle to resist her pheromones, let alone the single Alphas in the building.

Helpless, the Omega curled into a ball on the bed, her posture both vulnerable and delicate. Raven-black eyelashes, wet with tears, framed her pale cheeks. A slender, pale leg peeked from beneath the hem of her nightgown.

A strange sensation surged from deep within her. Tang Le felt like she was being roasted alive, every cell in her body screaming for Alpha pheromones.

The black cat, which had been lying at the head of the bed, quietly opened its eyes. Its pupils glowed like luminous gems in the night. It stretched languidly, its front paws extending as it arched its back, then casually padded over to Tang Le.

The cat’s pink paw pads made its movements across the bed utterly silent.

Tang Le’s fingers gripped the sheets helplessly as her consciousness gradually sank into the depths of sleep.

The black cat meowed a few times near her ear, but when she didn’t react, it turned and burrowed under the covers. A moment later, a woman emerged from beneath the blanket.

The woman was strikingly beautiful, with vivid features and a slender figure that could capture anyone’s attention at a single glance.

Fu Dong stared at her ten fingers, her mind momentarily blank.

She quickly remembered that she wasn’t a cat, but a human who could transform into one due to her unusual bloodline.

Strangely, her memories only began from the night Tang Le took her home. She couldn’t recall anything before that.

The room carried the scent of white peach, a fragrance she had always loved, even when she was a cat.

It was the pheromone of the delicate Omega who lived in this house.

The Omega was curled up beside her, her usually clear peach blossom eyes tightly closed, her eyelashes glistening with moisture.

It was clear she was in distress.

This Omega needed Alpha pheromones.

And by chance, Fu Dong was an Alpha.

Amidst the overwhelming sweetness of white peach that filled the room, a foreign pheromone suddenly emerged. Cold and impossible to ignore, its initial notes were faint as winter snow, blanketing the air with a chilly stillness. Yet the lingering scent was a delicate rose, its velvety softness soothing Tang Le’s agitated blood like a gentle caress.

Though her consciousness was clouded, Tang Le’s instincts remained. Drawn to the Alpha pheromone, she unconsciously leaned closer, pressing her cheek against Fu Dong’s leg.

Fu Dong lowered her gaze. Her phoenix eyes, with their pale irises and sharply upturned corners, radiated an aloofness that seemed to keep the world at arm’s length.

Like a rose blooming in snow, both exuded a cold, proud nobility.

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