The Omega Pretending to Be an Alpha Was Accidentally Marked by His Boss - Chapter 8

Squad Four was highly efficient. The team members immediately began clearing the battlefield while Sang Yongyi was escorted away by the squad medic. Looking around and seeing nothing left for him to do, Huo Honghai tore open the packet of dried mangoes and popped a piece into his mouth.

NB-420 had been heavily wounded; there was absolutely no escaping this time. Squad Four had finally nailed their objective, and since it was a B-rank assignment pulled off right under the Director’s nose, the sheer, triumphant thrill of it was intoxicating.

As for the final containment work, they would leave that to their brother unit to handle. Since it was a joint operation after all, it was only fair to leave some of the leftovers for the other team.

Huo Honghai was happily savoring the moment when, in the blink of an eye, the entire bag of dried mangoes was smoothly snatched right out of his hand.

“Hey? You.” Huo Honghai whipped his head around, only to realize that the person hijacking his snacks was none other than the Director himself. The rest of his sentence instantly veered into an abrupt u-turn. “You also like dried mangoes, Director?”

Inhaling the crisp, sweet scent of the dried fruit, Xie Yunnian merely raised an eyebrow.

This guy certainly has his ways, doesn’t he?

Xie Yunnian didn’t answer the question. He felt the atmosphere on the field was somewhat different from what he had originally anticipated.

Strangely enough, not a single person had lit a cigarette to subtly bow to him like he was some kind of good-luck charm.

Xie Yunnian scanned the perimeter carefully. There truly was no such thing happening. Everyone was occupied with their tasks, completely relaxed, as though they had just won a massive, historic victory.

In fact, whenever a squad member happened to lock eyes with Director Xie, they would simply offer a bright, open smile—appearing incredibly candid and at ease.

Xie Yunnian’s eyelid twitched. Shaking his head in silent bewilderment, he took long strides toward the tree line to follow Qiu Nan.

Behind him, Huo Honghai called out, trying to make polite small talk. “Director, do you also need to relieve yourself? Our Captain Qiu is just up ahead in there!”

After all, it would be pretty awkward if they bumped into each other.

Xie Yunnian fell silent.

As the saying goes, a general’s traits trickled down to the entire army! No wonder his squad is like this.

Xie Yunnian located Qiu Nan deep within the thickest part of the woods.

The Captain had just discarded the empty syringe of a scent-blocker and was currently retrieving a fresh vial of suppressants from its box, preparing to inject it.

Hearing footsteps, Qiu Nan instinctively hid the syringe behind his back. Only when he saw that the intruder was Xie Yunnian did he let out a breath of relief, offering a silent, faint smile.

“Director.”

The moment Xie Yunnian caught the thick wave of pheromones bleeding into the air, a sudden dryness hit his throat, and certain raw instincts within his body began to stir.

It was a perfectly natural reaction. The person standing before him was an Omega he had permanently marked. When his partner entered a heat cycle, a possessive, territorial drive would naturally manifest within the Alpha.

He locked his gaze onto the suppressant in Qiu Nan’s hand, his brow furrowing slightly—an expression that made him look rather unapproachable.

“Is your body really going to be fine like this? Relying entirely on drugs to force through it.”

Suppressants were meant for Omegas to use during “unforeseen emergencies,” and they carried a certain amount of wear and tear on the gland. But given the frequency of Qiu Nan’s usage, his “emergencies” were far too frequent. If he kept this up, his health would inevitably collapse—which was precisely one of the reasons the Bureau forbade Omegas from field duties.

“I’m fine,” Qiu Nan offered a weak smile. Dismissing the concern with casual indifference, he pressed the syringe against his bicep.

But the button never went down.

Xie Yunnian clasped his hand over Qiu Nan’s wrist, releasing a subtle, testing trace of his own pheromones as he murmured, “Do you need me to help you?”

Qiu Nan blanked. His muddled, glassy eyes stared at the man for a few seconds before the realization of what that “help” implied finally registered in his muddled brain.

“I.” He shook his head forcefully, fighting to maintain a thread of sanity amidst the intoxicating Alpha pheromones. He gently pulled his wrist out of the man’s warm grip. “No need. I can handle it myself. Besides, my allergy.”

He sternly warned himself in his heart: Even though the Director means well, I absolutely cannot allow a repeat of yesterday’s catastrophic disaster!

Xie Yunnian looked down at him calmly. “Is your salary even enough to cover your monthly usage of suppressants and scent-blockers?”

The precision strike hit close to home. Qiu Nan’s movements faltered, and he stared at the syringe in his hand in a momentary daze, a flash of genuine financial heartache surfacing in his eyes.

Xie Yunnian knew that under normal circumstances, the Captain might not show such vulnerability. But during a heat cycle, any Omega would become exceptionally fragile, and their deepest insecurities would be magnified tenfold.

He had reviewed the files earlier and knew that Qiu Nan seemed to be constantly strapped for cash, living a rather frugal lifestyle. He had always wondered where the hefty paycheck the Captain received at the end of every month was being channeled.

Now, Xie Yunnian finally understood exactly where the money went.

Having successfully pinned down another one of Qiu Nan’s little secrets, Xie Yunnian found himself in an excellent mood. His voice dropped into a slightly raspy register as he asked once more, “Shall I help you?”

Under the dampening effect of the scent-blocker, the mango pheromones had been reduced to a barely perceptible trace. But watching his Omega’s flushed face and aroused state, Xie Yunnian would have to be a saint to simply turn around and walk away.

Every fiber of his being urged him to pull the man into his arms, press his lips against the delicate gland, drink deeply of that intoxicating fragrance, and flood it with his own scent—possessing him entirely, watching him lose his composure completely for him.

This was the primal, uncivilized instinct of a dominant Alpha.

Moreover, their compatibility rating was a staggering 99%. There was mathematically no way he could remain indifferent to this Omega.

Yet, Xie Yunnian maintained immaculate control. Like a true gentleman, he politely sought the young Omega’s consent, though he still subtly let out a minute trace of his green pine pheromones, gently coaxing and enticing him.

His little Omega, however, proved to possess far more fortitude than he had expected—nearly matching his own level of self-control.

Qiu Nan bit his lip, shaking his head. “I don’t want to, I don’t want to land myself in a hospital bed all over again.”

Qiu Nan didn’t understand why this particular heat cycle was progressing at such a terrifying speed, nor did he understand why he hadn’t decisively slammed the suppressant button down to alleviate his symptoms. Even though his intuition screamed that he was standing on the precipice of losing absolute control, he still found himself lingering to explain things to Xie Yunnian.

Perhaps it was because the man was his Director, or perhaps it was because the man was his Alpha.

“There won’t be a hospital visit,” Xie Yunnian murmured. He lightly caught Qiu Nan’s wrist and gave a gentle tug, causing the Captain to stumble forward straight into his chest.

Leaning close to his ear, his magnetic voice vibrated against Qiu Nan’s skin. “You’ve only just been discharged. The anti-allergy treatment is still active in your system.”

“Huh?” Qiu Nan’s glistening lips parted slightly, his Adam’s apple bobbing. His brain was functioning too sluggishly to immediately process the underlying logic of Xie Yunnian’s words.

The scorching breath fanning the crook of his ear sent a sharp shiver down his spine, causing a low, involuntary whimper to slip from his throat.

The world seemed to spin around him. In his blurred vision, Xie Yunnian’s pitch-black eyes felt like two deep vortices, threatening to swallow him whole.

For a split second, he actually felt a sudden, reckless urge to press his own mouth against those lips that always carried a trace of aloof chilliness!

No!

An absolute alarm bell went off in Qiu Nan’s subconscious. Summoning the last remnants of his willpower, he twitched his fingers, finally reaching the trigger button of the suppressant syringe. With a heavy press, the cold fluid surged rapidly through his arm and into his bloodstream.