The Predator’s Fever

The night outside the window grew even deeper.

Li Chen pressed one hand against Shi Ji’s shoulder, forcefully pinning him to the padded chair. He slowly leaned down, the sharp tip of the knife in his hand inching closer bit by bit.

Shi Ji was forced to tilt his head back, swallowing hard with difficulty as he tried to avoid the blade that threatened to slice his skin at any moment.

His gaze flickered toward the area behind Li Chen’s head. The study door was tightly shut, with no sign of having been opened.

When did Li Chen get in?

Or was his own sleep quality truly that good—that someone could walk in with a knife to kill him without him realizing it?

His hands gripped the armrests involuntarily. Shi Ji shifted his gaze to Li Chen’s exquisite, beautiful face.

The moonlight from the window stained half of the boy’s cheek. His pale skin flushed with an eerie, feverish red. His red lips were slightly parted; even without leaning in, Shi Ji could feel the scorching heat radiating from his body.

The hand pressing on his shoulder transferred an excessive temperature through the fabric. In an instant, Shi Ji understood. Li Chen seemed to be… in heat again.

Could it be a rebound from the previous medication, causing an early onset of his estrus cycle?!

At this moment, Li Chen held him down with a strength that left Shi Ji, a Beta, completely immobile. The knife that could take his life stayed half a centimeter away from his jugular. Looking at the indifference in the boy’s eyes, one would never guess this was an Omega in the middle of a heat cycle!

Shi Ji’s eyelashes trembled. He gathered his courage and moved his lips: “What… do you want…”

He tried to keep his voice from shaking, but his tone still came out weak. Li Chen, hovering above, didn’t speak. Instead, he tilted his head and scrutinized Shi Ji thoroughly. Then, the corners of his mouth curled up.

He seemed very satisfied with Shi Ji’s fearful appearance, making no effort to hide the amusement on his face.

Staring at the curve of the boy’s lips, Shi Ji felt the blood in his entire body start to flow backward.

He didn’t remember a plot point like this in the original text.

And wasn’t Li Chen’s persona supposed to be a kind and righteous Omega? What was with this surge of excitement he was radiating right now?!!

Shi Ji began to call out frantically for the system in his mind.

Unexpectedly, after the familiar activation tone rang in his ear, all he got was a single repeated line—

[System interfered with by unknown signal, unable to make persona judgment!] [System interfered with by unknown signal, unable to make persona judgment!] [System interfered with by unknown signal, unable to make persona judgment!]

The warning blared so loudly it made Shi Ji’s eardrums ache. It felt as if a current had surged through his brain. His vision went black, and he instinctively jerked his head to the side. His neck accidentally brushed against the tip of the knife, and a thin wound was instantly carved into his delicate skin, bright red blood seeping out.

Shi Ji let out a cry of pain. The stinging sensation on his neck finally cleared his head a little. He had no time to wonder where that near-fatal electric shock sensation had come from; his only thought now was to find a suppressant.

Suppressant… suppressant.

He remembered there were a few left in that drawer.

His face pale, Shi Ji stretched out his arm, trying to open the drawer. But he hadn’t realized the distance was so great. No matter how he reached, he couldn’t grasp the handle.

Li Chen had already keenly discovered his intention. He released Shi Ji’s shoulder, grabbed the outstretched arm, twisted it back, and pinned it above Shi Ji’s head. He looked down at the man beneath him; the blood staining the man’s neck made him feel inexplicably even more excited.

The piercing red stained the white skin. He couldn’t quite distinguish who the person in front of him was. Only one voice in his mind was urging him—bite him.

Bite him, and he becomes your exclusive prey. Bite him, lick his blood, and make him surrender to you.

Li Chen narrowed his eyes. His gaze swept over the man’s deathly pale face. Those eyes that were supposed to be high and mighty were now filled with terror. At the thought that he was the one causing this fear, Li Chen felt his gland throb wildly. An unspeakable sensation continuously stimulated his nerves.

The heat flowing in his veins went mad. He couldn’t control himself as he lowered his head, sticking out the tip of his tongue to lick the wound on Shi Ji’s neck.

Shi Ji’s eyes widened, his charcoal-black pupils shrinking. The skin around the wound was maliciously licked; the saliva gliding over the cut caused a sting accompanied by excessive heat, leaving behind a patch of transparent moisture.

What was he doing?!!!

His heart rate spiked. An instinctive survival drive made Shi Ji resist. He twisted his body, trying to break free from Li Chen’s restraint.

But the Omega’s strength was terrifying. Before Shi Ji could escape, the pain in his neck suddenly intensified.

Li Chen bit his side-neck.

The sensation of skin being pierced by canines made Shi Ji’s vision turn white in waves. He felt something spilling out, and something else trying to burrow into the puncture site.

What was this?

A mark?

Li Chen was an Omega—how could he mark someone?

The boy’s pert nose pressed against his skin. Li Chen inhaled the scent of Iris pheromones clinging to Shi Ji, lowered his eyelashes, and interlaced his fingers with Shi Ji’s trembling ones.

Shi Ji opened his mouth to breathe with difficulty. He was a Beta; the pheromones of both Omegas and Alphas had a massive impact on him. Every pore in his body felt blocked and airtight. Shi Ji even mistakenly felt as though the very air he exhaled had been occupied by the other’s pheromones.

But he couldn’t smell anything. Shi Ji swallowed hard and whispered in a strained voice: “Li… Chen…”

Li Chen’s eyes sharpened.

He could feel the man trembling all over like a lamb caught by the throat by a wild beast. Even the voice calling his name was as weak as a plea for mercy.

Li Chen grabbed the hair at the back of Shi Ji’s head and yanked it back, releasing the fragile neck. Then, he tilted his head and leaned in, his hot lips capturing the other’s cold ones, transferring the blood that belonged to the man back into his mouth.

The metallic taste of blood exploded in his mouth, nearly making Shi Ji suffocate. His scalp felt numb, his chest heaved, and in the next second, he heard Li Chen’s laughter.

This wasn’t a kiss; it was a beast licking its food.

“Do you like it?”

The youth asked in a low, husky voice. He raised one hand to cup Shi Ji’s cheek, his lips intimately brushing the corner of his mouth.

“The taste of your own blood.”

“Do you like it?”

‘Madman.’

Shi Ji cursed in his heart.

He finally knew why the original owner had left that warning.

Li Chen was a madman!

Shi Ji’s body trembled even more violently from anger. He took large gulps of air, his peripheral vision catching the drawer nearby.

The previous struggle had pushed the chair forward a few inches. Shi Ji quietly lowered his numb arm, grabbed the handle, and pulled it open.

He looked at Li Chen expressionlessly, his heart thumping wildly. The glasses that were usually perched on his nose had fallen somewhere. Shi Ji’s vision was blurry, but he could still see that malicious smile on the boy’s face.

‘Too strange.’

‘How could Li Chen suddenly become like this?’

Shi Ji closed his eyes. His lack of struggle made Li Chen believe he had chosen to submit.

Li Chen bit Shi Ji’s lip, his tongue sliding along the shape of the mouth. Then, Li Chen’s gaze darkened. His warm tongue suddenly pushed against the seam of Shi Ji’s lips.

At that moment, a sharp pain suddenly came from the gland at the back of his neck. The Beta in front of him opened his eyes, reflecting the boy’s own face in those charcoal-black pupils. The suppressant was injected into the gland, the icy liquid suppressing the wild heat in his body within seconds.

Sanity reconnected. As Li Chen’s eyes gradually cleared, he saw Shi Ji. His eyes snapped wide, and he pushed Shi Ji away with a violent force.

The man hit the back of the chair hard, bouncing slightly from the impact. Li Chen stared fixedly at the corner of the man’s eye, which was reddened from the heat. His pupils shrank, and his face instantly turned pale.

What did he just do…?

He… he actually… actually kissed Shi Ji???

The unbelievable truth hit his brain like a flood, turning his sluggish thoughts into a string of scrambled code. Li Chen’s vision went black, and his body went limp, collapsing onto Shi Ji.