Shi Qi slowly opened his eyes, staring blankly at the ceiling.
It was as if he had awakened from a long and luxurious dream. The heat that had surged through his body was gradually subsiding, and the insatiable desire of his heat had finally been sated.
Correspondingly, his limbs were limp, completely devoid of strength.
He blinked once and tried to move.
As he did, a faint noise came from his ankle. Something heavy and unyielding held him firmly to the bed.
Huh?
Shi Qi struggled to lift his hand and pulled back the fluffy, soft down comforter. His eyes widened in disbelief.
Metal chains, like serpents, were coiled around his straight, slender legs. The black chains stood out in sharp contrast against his snow-white skin.
As though afraid of hurting him, a pair of fluffy white ankle cuffs had been wrapped around his ankles. The cuffs were positioned so that the chains latched onto them from the outside, preventing direct contact with the hard metal within.
Tiny golden bells were attached to the cuffs. With his movements, they jingled lightly, letting out crisp sounds.
The faint jingling abruptly shattered the eerie atmosphere. As if waking from a trance, Shi Qi shook his head and looked again at his ankles.
This wasn’t a dream.
Why would something like this be on him?
“You’re awake?”
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Shi Qi turned his head.
Shang Sui stepped into the room, towel-drying his hair as he walked toward him. The Alpha had just showered, and his long, damp hair hung loosely down his neck. The eyes beneath his bangs were especially bright. His entire presence exuded a lazy and satisfied air.
Shi Qi immediately asked, “Why is this here?”
His memories of the heat were fragmented and chaotic; he had no recollection of the chains around his ankles. Instinctively, he turned to Shang Sui for answers.
Shang Sui saw that he’d thrown back the blanket and was looking up at him.
Shi Qi was wearing only a wine-red silk nightshirt, his legs slightly bent. His thighs and calves had been thoroughly kissed and licked; blush-colored marks bloomed like peach blossoms across a snowy field.
Shang Sui’s gaze paused involuntarily.
Realizing his heartbeat was quickening and arousal was creeping in again, Shang Sui clenched his fingertips, forcing himself to regain control.
No. He couldn’t.
He had given Shi Qi a temporary mark last night, and he’d promised that would be the end of it, with no more to come.
An Alpha’s physiology was naturally built for domination and conquest, with superior strength and endurance. Compared to the average Alpha, his body was even more extreme and harder to satisfy.
At first, Shi Qi had been driven by instinct, demanding over and over again. But eventually, he couldn’t take it anymore and started to beg for mercy.
The worst moment had been when Shi Qi, dazed and delirious, tried to crawl off the bed like he was escaping. If Shang Sui hadn’t reacted quickly enough to catch him, he would’ve fallen straight onto the carpet.
He had deliberately teased him back then, suspending him right at the edge of the bed without stopping.
Thinking of how Shi Qi later clung to him using both his hands and feet due to a lack of security, Shang Sui’s eyelids twitched slightly, and a rush of dark desire surged up from within.
Realizing it, he cursed silently to himself.
Fuck, stop thinking about it.
When no answer came for a long while, Shi Qi tilted his head, calling out in confusion, “Shang Sui?”
The Alpha, addressed by name, shifted his gaze to the chains, then naturally looked over at Shi Qi.
Just waking up, the Omega’s platinum-blond hair was a tousled mess, but it did nothing to diminish his beauty. A few unruly strands sticking out only made him appear even more innocent and dazed.
Seeing that Shi Qi seemed to have temporarily forgotten what happened during his heat, Shang Sui tossed the towel he’d been using to dry his hair aside.
“Can’t you tell, Xiao Qi? You’re trapped here. You’re not going anywhere.”
He slowly walked to the side of the bed, his eyes fixed on Shi Qi. “It’s too easy to be found in Qijiang. In a few days, I’ll take you back to the capital or abroad. I’ll find a place that’s safe and beautiful to hide you.”
Shi Qi’s large, bright eyes shimmered slightly, as though trying to judge whether he was telling the truth.
Shang Sui softened his voice. “I’ll take good care of you.”
“Over time, you’ll gradually forget everyone else. Each day, you’ll see only me, talk only to me.”
As he spoke, he bent down, reaching out to lift Shi Qi’s chin.
Shi Qi looked into his dark eyes, and in them, he saw the surging desire.
After a moment, Shi Qi ordered, “Then you go get a chain too. Lock yourself up with me.”
“Hm…?”
As if surprised by his words, Shang Sui paused for a moment, then responded with a slow, amused smile, “Alright.”
Shi Qi curled his lips, unclear whether in grievance or speechlessness.
Shang Sui reached out to smooth his slightly messy hair. “You don’t believe me?”
“Stop acting. I remember everything now,” Shi Qi bluntly exposed him. “I put the chains on myself.”
Fragmented images flashed through his mind one after another. Shi Qi tried to piece them together and eventually managed to reconstruct most of what had happened.
He had clung to Shang Sui, insistent in his demands, the two of them stumbling from the dining room to the bedroom. By the latter half of his heat, the master bedroom was a total mess.
On the third day, they moved to the guest room. When they entered, Shi Qi noticed the heavy, solid chains placed inside.
He had asked Shang Sui about them and learned that not long after that night six years ago, Shang Sui had specially ordered those alloy chains. Even though he no longer lived here, it was as if he were trying to atone for past mistakes, and he’d left the unbreakable restraints in the house.
“So…” Recalling how he locked himself in the studio during his ruts, Shi Qi finally understood. “All these years you chained yourself up—was it because of me?”
Shang Sui immediately denied it. “It’s just a habit of mine. It has nothing to do with you.”
Even though he had once believed that his actions during his rut had driven Shi Qi away, in the end, using the chains had been his own choice. He couldn’t shift the blame onto Shi Qi.
“It’s true. I wanted it that way.” Shang Sui noticed that Shi Qi had kept his eyes lowered, seemingly in a bad mood, and tried to comfort him. “I’ve talked it over with Shen Qianyu. I’ll use other methods to get through future ruts. I won’t use them again.”
Shi Qi suddenly looked up. “Were you scared?”
“…”
Before Shang Sui could reply, Shi Qi walked over to the heavy chains.
He reached out, grabbed a chain, and in front of Shang Sui’s surprised gaze, decisively clasped the shackle around his own ankle.
“You don’t have to be afraid. I won’t leave you.”
Shang Sui opened his mouth, about to say something, but in the end, his expression grew unreadable as he looked at Shi Qi.
Shi Qi saw him step toward him, one foot at a time. Only one small light had been turned on when they entered the room, and the Alpha’s tall figure nearly blocked out its glow. His eyes, which always carried a trace of a smile, now swept over Shi Qi’s face inch by inch.
His previously steady pheromones spilled out uncontrollably. Shang Sui’s gaze was dark and intense, like a flame burning in the shadows.
Seeing him about to lose control, Shi Qi unexpectedly felt a vague sense of pleasure inside him.
“There’s one more,” Shi Qi said. “You do it yourself.”
Shang Sui picked up the remaining shackle and knelt on one knee in front of him.
What had once been a hated restraint now held an entirely different meaning. Lifting his eyes, he met Shi Qi’s unwavering stare.
He took hold of Shi Qi’s slender ankle, and the latter raised his leg cooperatively.
Shang Sui paused, then said quietly, “You’re being too good to me.”
“Alphas are good at pushing boundaries, and even among them, I’m especially greedy. If you keep indulging me like this…” he said half-truthfully, “maybe one day, I’ll lose control completely in front of you.”
Perhaps it had to do with his personality, or perhaps it was because Shi Qi was a once-lost treasure he had regained. Even Shang Sui himself could feel that his feelings for Shi Qi were laced with a dangerous kind of obsession, too intense to contain.
“Then go ahead,” Shi Qi said coolly. “Try it. Let’s see if I can handle you.”
The hand that had loosely circled his ankle suddenly tightened. Shi Qi raised a brow slightly.
Gone mad?
Clack—
The shackle closed around Shi Qi’s left ankle as well.
The specially made alloy chains were even heavier than expected, nearly anchoring him to the spot. Before he could adjust to the weight, he was shoved hard.
He fell backward onto the bed. The force of the push sent his chain-bound legs briefly flailing in the air. Then the Alpha’s mountain-like weight came crashing down. Shang Sui forced his knees between Shi Qi’s legs and stared down at him from above.
Shi Qi couldn’t help the way his eyes curled into a smile.
He reached out, letting his fingers trace from the pronounced arch of Shang Sui’s brow down the bridge of his nose, then lightly touched the mole at the corner of his eye.
It was as if the person before him wasn’t an Alpha on the verge of pheromone overload and mental collapse, but a toy he could manipulate at will.
“You’re doing this on purpose?” Shang Sui saw that Shi Qi still had the leisure to touch him like this, unsure whether to call it provocation or a reckless act of seduction.
He licked his teeth, nearly overcome by the urge to fuck Shi Qi to death right there on the bed. “What good does driving me crazy do for you?”
Shi Qi showed a look of curiosity instead.
So it turned out that a single word or gesture was all it took to make Shang Sui lose his grip on reason.
The Alpha he liked really liked him too.
“I don’t know,” Shi Qi was in a good mood and replied truthfully. “I just thought it was interesting.”
…
“Remember now?” Shang Sui stopped deliberately scaring him and gestured toward the shackle on his foot. “Want me to unlock it for you?”
The back of Shi Qi’s neck felt faintly warm. Another person’s pheromone lingered inside him, giving off a faintly sweet scent.
Last night, Shang Sui had given him a temporary mark, bringing his heat to an end.
The mark between an Alpha and an Omega could link their bodies, and through it, he seemed to sense a bit of the Alpha’s emotional state.
Shang Sui seemed to really enjoy seeing him restrained like this, reluctant to undo it.
So Shi Qi chose to go along with him. “No need for now.”
Perhaps because it was their first time, Shang Sui had taken great care with him throughout.
Aside from the night he’d lost control, Shang Sui had focused on pleasing him, making sure he was satisfied and happy.
If he liked seeing him locked up, then he’d wait a little longer.
Consider it a reward for Shang Sui behaving so well.
At his response, Shang Sui’s eyes flickered slightly. “Then how about I apply the medicine?”
Shi Qi nodded, pushing himself upright against the pile of pillows and drawing his knees up slightly to make space for the other man to climb onto the bed.
The medication Shang Sui used was a solid gel type, designed to slowly melt with body heat.
During the process of applying it, the cold sensation made Shi Qi twitch and squirm a bit. The shackles on his feet rustled softly with his movements.
He furrowed his brows slightly, showing some resistance to the medicine.
“I feel uncomfortable.” The mark on his body instinctively made him more dependent on Shang Sui. He made a willful request, “Kiss me.”
The Alpha obediently leaned in, lowering his head to press his lips to Shi Qi’s.
Shi Qi couldn’t help but stretch his arms out. Just as he was about to wrap them around Shang Sui’s shoulders, he noticed the blossom-like marks that still lingered along his forearms.
How many hickeys had Shang Sui left on him?
But he didn’t have time to think any further.
The soft sensation in his mouth sent tingles down his spine. Shang Sui kissed him deeply, hooking around him as his nimble fingers slid up his back, easily finding the spot that brought Shi Qi the most comfort and gently began to stroke.
Shi Qi gradually relaxed without even realizing it, as the medication slowly melted.
In a dazed murmur, he muttered, “So much liquid.”
Sticky and messy—he didn’t like it.
Shang Sui chuckled and said meaningfully, “This doesn’t count as much.”
By the end of last night, Shi Qi had been so out of it that he started talking nonsense, saying he wanted to eat honey.
He clearly couldn’t eat anything, yet still clung to him asking for food, like some seductive spirit out of an erotic dream.
Seeing the dazed look on his face, Shang Sui leaned in and lightly licked the Omega’s plump lips. “Baby, you were like a little fountain last night.”
Shi Qi was puzzled. “But I didn’t apply the medicine last night.”
Shang Sui couldn’t hold back his laughter, the corners of his eyes and brows seemed tinged with the colors of spring.
Shi Qi stared at him, seemingly entranced, as the lily of the valley pheromones spilled out uncontrollably.
Then, all of a sudden, he realized something was off.
His brain, momentarily clouded by beauty, finally caught up and understood that Shang Sui was making a dirty joke with that smile. Annoyed, Shi Qi shoved him. “What kind of dirty thoughts are in your head!”
Shang Sui didn’t resist and let himself fall backward.
The sash on his robe had been loosely tied and quickly came undone. Only then did Shi Qi notice the scratches all over his body, stretching from his broad shoulders down to his firm abdomen.
Some of them even looked like the skin had broken.
Shi Qi glanced several times, feeling a bit guilty.
Noticing where he was looking, Shang Sui immediately seized the opportunity. “Xiao Qi is so rough, you really hurt me.”
Even knowing he was probably just pretending to be weak, Shi Qi still said, “Then should I put some medicine on you too? Do you have anything for scratch wounds?”
“No need,” Shang Sui replied. “Just kiss it and it won’t hurt anymore.”
Shi Qi gave him an indescribable look. His lips parted slightly, and Shang Sui guessed he was about to ask if he was out of his mind.
But in the end, Shi Qi said nothing.
Such a good baby.
At that thought, Shang Sui’s gaze shifted, gradually drawn to the shackles around Shi Qi’s legs.
He tugged lightly at them and commented with cheerful satisfaction, “A cat leash.”
“…” Psycho.
Shi Qi ignored him, but Shang Sui got even more excited, wrapping the chain around his leg and tracing lazy circles on his calf with a finger. “Kitty baby, what kind of leash do you like? How about red next time? It’d really pop against your skin.”
His tone was so clingy that Shi Qi was reminded of the comments under his social media posts.
Before he was in a relationship, most of his fans were always calling him “baby this” and “baby that,” and occasionally asking what color sack he preferred to be kidnapped in.
“Depends on my mood,” Shi Qi said. “If you can make me happy next time, do whatever you want.”
Then he added, “If it weren’t you, I wouldn’t let myself be tied up like this.”
Shang Sui’s fingers froze, and he looked up at him.
The earlier glint of madness in his eyes faded, as if something Shi Qi said had accidentally touched a soft spot. Shang Sui’s eyes shimmered. “Xiao Qi…”
Early in the morning, Shang Sui was brimming with energy, lively enough to perform a whole sitcom by himself.
Shi Qi couldn’t keep up with him anymore and flopped back onto the bed. “I want to sleep a bit more.”
He lifted a leg and lightly hooked it over the Alpha’s shoulder, an act that was part coquettish, part commanding. “Get up here and sleep with me.”
Shang Sui agreed obediently.
His hair was still damp. Unlike Shi Qi, he didn’t lie down completely; instead, he reclined half-upright at the edge of the bed.
As if he instinctively knew what Shi Qi liked, Shang Sui released a touch of sweet, rich pheromones and wrapped an arm around him, drawing him close.
Shi Qi nestled into his embrace and suddenly remembered something. “What do you think, how are Shen Qianyu and Jiang Yan doing now?”
Shen Qianyu had helped them so much, and Shi Qi murmured without thinking, “I wonder if they’ve made up.”
“You’re pretty concerned.” Shang Sui smiled. “Sleep first. When you wake up, I’ll go ask.”
Shi Qi nodded and buried his face into Shang Sui’s chest, listening to the steady, powerful rhythm of his heartbeat.
Shang Sui gently patted his back, lulling him to sleep.
Until now, his attention had been entirely on Shi Qi, with no time to think about anyone else.
Now that his mind was free, he recalled how five days ago, Shi Qi had sent Jiang Yan Shen Qianyu’s address on the night of a thunderstorm.
To be fair…
Shi Qi really had given Shen Qianyu a big gift.
–
A sudden crash of thunder shattered the silence, and the room was momentarily cast in black and white.
Shen Qianyu reached for a bottle to pour himself a drink, but nothing came out. After a moment’s delay, he realized the bottle was empty.
He rubbed his temples and finally noticed the several empty bottles of whiskey lined up on the table.
He rarely drank to excess. But since he’d lost contact with Jiang Yan, he’d resorted to alcohol to numb his nerves.
Perhaps it was the oppressive thunderstorm outside, or maybe his mood had sunk so low he couldn’t suppress it anymore, but memories buried deep in his mind began to surface uncontrollably.
Eight years ago, he and his mother were traveling in Haicheng. While descending a mountain, they were caught in a sudden downpour, and a car pulled over to offer them a ride.
The driver was a middle-aged man with a refined appearance. He looked like a Beta and spoke with a strange warmth and ease that immediately earned trust.
Only later did Shen Qianyu learn that this man was the perpetrator behind the Haicheng serial murders.
That unsettling charisma had been the result of mental manipulation.
Normally, he would never have trusted a stranger so easily, but that day, without knowing why, he got in the car with his mother.
The next time he woke up, his hands and feet were bound with coarse rope. He was locked in a basement, his mother unconscious beside him. He vaguely heard thunder outside.
He seemed to have been injected with a sedative, and his mind was foggy. He could only make out the dim yellow light and two figures facing off not far away.
“Pick one of the two. If you chop off one of their fingers, I’ll let them live for one more day.”
The voice sounded vaguely familiar, and Shen Qianyu realized it belonged to the driver who had picked them up.
Unlike his previously gentle and refined demeanor, his voice was now wild and manic. Shen Qianyu could smell pheromones on the verge of explosion and only then realized that the man was an Alpha disguised as a Beta.
“All ten fingers, and this mother and son get to live ten more days. How about it? Quite the bargain!”
The other figure seemed to be a young boy. Shen Qianyu heard him repeatedly refuse, but he was pushed step by step into a corner. The Alpha gripped his shoulders and coaxed him.
“You’d be a great benefactor who helped to extend their lives. Even when they die, they’ll thank you for it!”
The Alpha’s pheromones were violently oppressive, reeking of blood and rotting flesh. Even at a distance, they sent a chill through the bones.
Overwhelmed by the pressure, the boy finally broke down. “Don’t touch them! You can cut off my hands!”
“I wouldn’t hurt you.” The Alpha paused. “But if you won’t do it, then I’ll just have to kill them.”
The boy’s voice trembled. “…No, you can’t!!”
“Should we ask them what they think?” the Alpha said with a smile. “Would they prefer to lose a finger, or just die like this?”
When the boy didn’t answer, the Alpha suddenly raised his voice, cold and fanatical. “Ask them! Young master, not everyone is born superior like you, with the power to decide who lives or dies!”
“For those meant to be slaughtered, they never had a choice.”
Shen Qianyu could faintly sense someone approaching, a splash of icy water hitting his face.
He was forced back to consciousness, barely able to make out his surroundings.
He heard the Alpha finish the rest of his sentence, “Of course, sometimes we let these people share what’s on their mind.”
A hand yanked his hair. The Alpha, treating him like livestock, showed no trace of mercy. His demonic eyes swept across Shen Qianyu’s face. “Well, kid? What’s your choice?”
Rather than speaking to him, the Alpha seemed to be pushing the other person to respond.
Not far away, the young boy looked pale under the suppression of pheromones. He was kneeling, blood at the corner of his mouth.
Their eyes met, and in the boy’s gaze, Shen Qianyu saw repressed fury and despair on the brink of explosion.
That was the first time he saw Shang Sui.
…
Ding-dong, ding-dong—
Someone was ringing the doorbell, banging on the door and calling out.
“Shang Sui? Shang Sui, are you in there?”
After a long wait with no answer and calls going unanswered, Jiang Yan finally exploded, “What’s his problem? Doesn’t even answer the phone. So rude!”
As he muttered in frustration, the door suddenly swung open from inside.
Jiang Yan brightened. “Finally, you—”
His smile froze when he saw who it was.
For a moment, he and Shen Qianyu stared at each other. Jiang Yan instantly broke out in goosebumps.
Before he could back away, his arm was seized.
Shen Qianyu’s pheromones were laced with heavy alcohol, and the usually cool, restrained scent of elderflower was now on the verge of losing control.
A flash of lightning tore across the sky outside, thunder rumbling endlessly.
Shen Qianyu stared at him without blinking, then suddenly smiled.
Delivered right to his door on a thunderstorm night he hated the most…
Truly, a great gift.
Jiang Yan’s wrist was locked in his grip. He couldn’t escape and had no choice but to offer a stiff greeting.
“Well, good evening?”
