The one-meter-long golden eagle perched on Xi Boyu’s shoulder. Golden eagles were birds of prey, fierce by nature, but no matter how Fu Yan looked at it, he couldn’t detect any trace of savagery in this one, instead, it looked rather simple and dopey.
Fu Yan glanced at the time and said to Xi Boyu, “You go back on your own. I have some things to take care of.”
Xi Boyu nodded and returned to the student dorms in the Blue Whale District, the golden eagle still resting on his shoulder.
He made his way back to dorm room 2708. On the floor, Jiang Yue was still lying there with both hands raised, like a warrior who refused to rest even in death.
His roommates had already started washing up. In the sweltering summer heat, even with the air conditioning on, the hot-blooded Alphas couldn’t resist stripping down, wandering around the dorm building in nothing but their boxers.
What a bunch of sweaty, stinking Alphas.
When Xi Boyu came back, all his roommates crowded around him, their eyes unanimously drawn to the translucent golden eagle perched on his shoulder.
“It’s really hard to believe,” Xi Sui said. “Jiang Yue turned out to be a total rookie with no spiritual training whatsoever.”
Jiang Sen cautiously reached out a fingertip to touch the eagle’s wing.
A chill spread from his fingertip, making him shiver. His dark green eyes were filled with awe. “My god, that’s so cool!”
Xi Boyu patted the golden eagle on the head. The one-meter-long bird pecked lightly at his finger, then spread its wings and flew toward Jiang Yue. Its body shimmered, dissolving into ripples of transparency.
When the last of those ripples faded around Jiang Yue, the girl lying on the floor suddenly opened her eyes.
Her first sensation: Numbness.
Her whole body was numb. Though her consciousness had returned to her body, it refused to obey her commands.
Her eyes darted around in terror. Towering over her were her burly roommates, all standing there in nothing but their boxers, forming a circle around her.
The scene was… indescribably suggestive. There was simply no way to put into words the feeling of having four half-naked, muscular men standing over you, staring down.
Boy next door.
Jiang Sen rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Why does she look so terrified?”
Xiang Sui folded his arms and looked down at Jiang Yue with a serious expression. “Yeah, she really is terrified. Her face keeps turning red and pale by turns.”
Kuri stood nearby, his red hair covered in a blob of shampoo foam. A towel hung over his shoulder, water dripping down his arms as he rubbed fat-burning oil onto his abs, the rhythmic thwap-thwap of his palms echoing like a ping-pong ball.
Kuri had fallen in love with northern-style barbecue, and his abs were now in imminent danger, so he’d bought a stash of fat-burning oil and spent every day making those ridiculous seal-like belly-slapping noises.
Bai Wang, toothbrush still in his mouth, waved a hand in front of Jiang Yue’s eyes a couple of times.
With great effort, Jiang Yue managed to lift a hand and cover her face, wishing she could erase this horrifying, surreal scene from her memory.
As sensation slowly returned to her body, she pushed herself up from the floor and, still in shock, snapped at her roommates, “Couldn’t you at least put down a blanket or something? My lower back’s practically crushed!”
“Come on, Jiang Yue,” Jiang Sen teased. “You’re an Alpha, why are you acting so delicate? Should we make you a princess bed, lay pink sheets on it, pile it high with stupid plush toys, and scatter some petals around so you can spend a rosy, girly night like a fragile little omega?”
Jiang Yue got to her feet, rolling her sore neck, and replied with utter sincerity, “I’d be moved to tears. I’d thank you and your ancestors eight generations back, and even as a ghost, I’d never forget your kindness.”
Jiang Sen burst out laughing, clearly taking none of her words seriously.
Jiang Yue sat down on a chair, her back aching, and took a sip of hot water from her thermos. “What happened after I passed out?” she asked her roommates. “Everything’s kind of a blur.”
Xiang Sui, who looked aloof but was actually quite kind-hearted, explained matter-of-factly, “Your spiritual body went outside.”
Jiang Yue blinked in confusion and pointed to herself. “My spiritual body? What nonsense are you talking about?”
“If you don’t believe me, ask Xi Boyu,” Xiang Sui said. “Your spiritual power turned into a golden eagle that clung to his shoulder, and even rubbed its head against his face like some shameless flirt. All that was your spiritual body’s doing.”
Jiang Yue flushed, her handsome face turning bright red as she looked at Xi Boyu and stammered, “I—I’m really sorry about that. I must’ve caused you trouble.”
Xi Boyu lifted a hand to press the gland patch on the back of his neck. The chill of her pheromones was still running wild through his body, leaving behind a strange, lingering sensation wherever it passed.
His ice-blue eyes flashed with irritation as he said coolly, “If you let that stupid bird come rubbing against me again, I won’t hesitate to kill it.”
With that blow, the glass-hearted little princess Jiang Yue was badly hurt by her aloof roommate, her fragile little heart felt as if it had been struck by a storm. She pouted plaintively and looked at Xi Boyu with an utterly wounded expression.
Xi Boyu: “…”
Good grief, what was wrong with this Alpha roommate?
The expressions of everyone else in the dorm began to subtly crack. They exchanged confused glances, question marks practically floating above their heads. After a long, awkward silence, Xiang Sui finally said dryly, “Jiang Yue, if you’ve got something to say, say it properly. Can we please act normal for once?”
Jiang Sen groaned dramatically. “Ah, I’ve been spiritually contaminated!”
Curry took off his headphones, stopped playing, braced himself on the ladder and made a gagging motion.
Bai Wang set the barbell down, hesitated as if about to speak, then forced the words out: “Jiang Yue, just say it properly, being disgusting is on you, not us.”
Jiang Yue: “…”
She choked on her words.
She realized her mistake! Now that she was a burly Alpha, pouting and acting cute just didn’t suit her anymore.
Clearing her throat, she quickly found an excuse and said with mock seriousness, “If you can’t appreciate my sense of humor, that’s on you. I can even give you a demonstration of the mighty eagle stomping its feet.”
Everyone burst out laughing, and the dorm was soon filled with cheerful, lively energy.
At night, Jiang Yue hugged her blanket, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. Beside her was the sound of Xi Boyu’s steady breathing, and a faint, cool scent of roses drifted over, soft and lingering, almost intimate.
In their six-person dorm, the beds were all close together, and she slept head-to-head with Xi Boyu. Every night, Jiang Yue could smell his rose-scented pheromones, tinged with a chilly edge.
Usually it was fine, but tonight it was driving her restless. Jiang Yue twisted and turned in bed, the pressure building unbearably, if she didn’t release it soon, she felt like she might explode.
When Jiang Yue had still been a girl, she had experienced similar feelings, but never to such an unbearable degree. Back then, she could usually grit her teeth and get through it, or distract herself with something else.
Alphas were different. They were like animals driven purely by instinct; once the feeling came, it was like a wild horse breaking free; there was no controlling it.
A fine layer of sweat formed on Jiang Yue’s forehead. Taking a deep breath, she quietly climbed down from the bed and slipped into the shared bathroom. She picked a small stall at random and went inside to deal with her physiological needs.
At a moment like this, it was impossible not to get lost in it.
A flash of white light passed before her eyes, and suddenly everything else seemed dull and tasteless.
Jiang Yue exhaled deeply, instantly slipping into a sage-like calm, a satisfied smile spreading across her face as she slowly pushed open the door.
But that smile froze abruptly.
Xi Boyu had somehow appeared in the bathroom, raising an eyebrow with a subtle, unreadable expression, his pale blue eyes fixed on her.
His gaze was pure, without a hint of impurity, cold yet almost holy. Under his icy stare, Jiang Yue suddenly felt guilty and awkward, forcing out a dry greeting: “Y-You came to use the bathroom too, huh?”
“Mm.” Xi Boyu glanced at her, his tone neutral, but his eyes flicked subtly toward Jiang Yue’s lower body.
The air was heavy with the scent of heather. Xi Boyu lifted one long, pale hand to cover his nose. Just as Jiang Yue was about to slip out of the bathroom, he said in a cold voice, “Clean up and change. I don’t want to smell this while sleeping.”
Jiang Yue still felt guilty. She coughed lightly and muttered, pinching her nose, “I like things clean too, okay? It’s not like this would soil my pants.”
Xi Boyu’s tone grew even colder. “I have no interest in discussing this ridiculous and disgusting issue with you.”
Jiang Yue’s anger flared, and she shot back, “Aren’t you an Alpha too? What’s disgusting about this? It’s a normal physiological thing, alright? Me doing this just proves I’m healthy. An Alpha who doesn’t… that’s unacceptable, you get me?”
Xi Boyu had reached his limit. Arguing with another Alpha about this in the middle of the night was utterly absurd, she was testing the bounds of reason.
He left Jiang Yue with only his aloof back in view and strode to the farthest stall, slamming the door shut behind him.
Jiang Yue stormed off in a huff.
She lay on the bed, gripping the edge of her blanket in frustration. In the darkness, she heard Xi Boyu climbing the ladder onto his bed.
The cold scent of roses wafted to her nose again, and that restless, burning sensation returned.
Jiang Yue could no longer bear it. She pinched her nose with two fingers and whispered, “Could you tighten your gland patch a bit? Your pheromones are drifting all over me.”
Xi Boyu paused, reaching up to touch his gland patch.
It was perfectly sealed over his gland; even he couldn’t detect the tiny amount of pheromones that might escape.
His pheromones were highly unusual, extremely aggressive. Anyone who smelled them would feel as if life itself had turned unbearable.
Someone had once described his pheromones like this: as if countless blood-red roses had sprouted inside the veins, blooming wildly atop thorns covered with barbs. The dense, vicious thorns pierced the veins, and nourished by the blood, the flowers blossomed even more vividly and violently.
His pheromones exhibited an incomparably strong aggression, according to the database, no Alpha had ever registered a compatibility score with him higher than twenty percent.
His father had said, “You shouldn’t be an Omega.”
Xi Boyu remembered replying, “So what?”
Even the Alpha roommates in the dorm naturally emitted small traces of pheromones.
The other roommates winced in pain when they caught even a whiff of his pheromones, covering their noses as they hurried away, but Jiang Yue seemed completely unfazed.
Xi Boyu was certain that the amount of pheromones he was emitting now was negligible; he had no idea how this Alpha Jiang Yue was able to detect them.
As he pondered this, he heard Jiang Yue lift her blanket, climb down from the bed, and bend over as she quietly slipped out of the dorm.
A little while later, she returned, moving just as stealthily.
Hmph, an Alpha with unsatisfied desires.
Xi Boyu wasn’t surprised.
About ten minutes later, he heard Jiang Yue lift her blanket again, climb down from the bed, and dash out of the dorm, breathing heavily and bent over.
Hmph, truly an Alpha with boundless energy.
Xi Boyu turned onto his side, facing the wall.
After a while, the female Alpha tiptoed back again. This time, she didn’t lie down, she reached out and quickly touched the back of Xi Boyu’s neck.
Her hand was icy cold, clearly having just washed it in cold water for a long time.
Xi Boyu was about to get angry when he saw her sneak closer, fidgeting as she pressed her forehead against his and whispered, “Please… fix your gland patch properly. If this keeps going, I really won’t have a single drop left!”
Xi Boyu: “…”
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Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152
so is he… an omega? I don’t get it