Apex Predator - Chap 16

Qu Moyu rushed over to the bathroom only to find Shen Dai in the furthest cubicle.

Shen Dai was curled up on the floor next to the toilet bowl, with his arms wrapped around his body. He was trembling. A thin layer of powder now covered his snow-white neck, like a puppy abandoned on a cold winter’s day.

The fragrance of the epiphyllum filling the air, though still rather faint, would have eluded one’s perception in normal circumstances. The pheromones released during heat were all-pervasive, invading the senses of all Alphas around them.

Qu Moyu knitted his eyebrows into a frown and crouched down.

”Shen Dai.”

Hearing the sound of movement, Shen Dai visibly shrank back. Not daring to turn and look, he said, “My inhibitors are in my laptop bag”

“I’ve got them,” replied Qu Moyu, passing the bag over to him.

Only then did Shen Dai approach slowly, fearing even to brush against Qu Moyu. He quickly fished out two inhibitors from inside his laptop bag, unscrewed them and gulped them down.

”You have to take two?”

“Maybe even …three.” Without doubt, Shen Dai knew that an overdose of inhibitors was bad for the body. After all, inhibitors alone were already bad for the body. But his heat was far more intense than that of the average person. If two could not suppress it, he would still have to increase the dosage.

Qu Moyu looked at Shen Dai. His face was glistening with sweat, his cheeks flushed. His eyelashes fluttered open and shut, like a butterfly caught in a torrential rain. It seemed he could shatter at the slightest touch.

But these inhibitors would not take effect so quickly and were ordinarily taken in advance. Till then, the excessive heat and dryness of his body had no means of subsiding. Shen Dai lowered his head, not daring to meet Qu Moyu’s eyes. “President Qu, I’m sorry. I’ve caused you trouble again. I…I’m not doing it on purpose…”

How could he, a fully-grown adult, be reduced time and again to such a wretched state? He had carefully monitored his body’s reactions and carried inhibitors with him all year round. After struggling for twenty years for such an opportunity, if it turned out that he had ruined it all for something as silly as this…

Qu Moyu murmured, “It’s not your fault.”

The mishap which happened three years ago had been investigated, with the cause found to be doping by a rival, who was later fired and expelled from the university. But this time it was clear that things had turned out this way due to the influence of a high number of Alphas.

“Can you take me away?” asked Shen Dai softly.

“Alright,” Qu Moyu removed his coat and wrapped it around Shen Dai before carrying him up.

In an instant, Shen Dai’s body, which had been too weak to even exert strength, became as stiff as a board. The Alpha pheromones belonging to Qu Moyu had forcefully infiltrated his sense of smell, which was for him at this moment the same as pouring kerosene over a fire.

As he was still in a clear state of mind, he didn’t dare move an inch, afraid to do something that might overstep his boundaries.

Yan Mingxiu was still loitering outside. Catching the scent of Shen Dai’s pheromones, he took a step back.

“Is he alright?”

”He’s taken an inhibitor, but the faster we leave here the better. President Yan, can you lend us your bodyguard for a while to escort us to the lift?”

“Sure.”

As they were leaving the bathroom, Shen Dai buried his face in Qu Moyu’s chest.

In fact, the majority of the audience were still in the auditorium at present. As there were only a few people scattered around the corridor, the scenario of being surrounded by tons of spectators in his most pathetic moment did not happen.

But suddenly the one most responsible for his current predicament emerged. He heard Qu Chengchen’s voice accompanied by the sound of footsteps gradually getting closer.

”What’s happening here? Is everything alright with Engineer Shen?”

Qu Moyu shot him an icy look, then turned to leave.

“Could it be that he’s gone into heat?” said Qu Chengchen, catching up to him. He could not stifle his laughter and tried to cover it up with a cough. “Oh no, it must have been our fault. Engineer Shen, I’m so so sorry!”

Shen Dai was seething inside but couldn’t show it. He gripped the lapel of Qu Moyu’s coat tightly. All he wanted was to leave as quickly as possible, to someplace no one could find him, someplace where he could feel safe.

“Big brother, where are you taking him? What he needs now is professional assistance. How about calling the emergency ser-”

Here Qu Moyu suddenly halted. He glared at Qu Chengchen.

“Oh no, you’re angry now! You should calm down a little! If you end up releasing pheromones again, I’m not sure if he’ll be able to take it,” said Qu Chengchen with a smile.

Qu Moyu uttered under his breath, “Get lost,” before turning on his heel and heading towards the lift.

How was it that the inhibitors still hadn’t worked? Why was it that his mouth was still parched? His thoughts started to race. Why was his mind getting more and more jumbled, his body hotter and hotter, his urges stronger and stronger – should he be taking another inhibitor?

Less than five minutes later, Old Wu hurriedly arrived. Peering at Shen Dai through the car window he asked, ”Young master, what happened to Mr Shen?”

The look that Qu Moyu gave him implied that he shouldn’t ask.

Old Wu grasped his meaning immediately. The both of them boarded the vehicle.

As soon as the car door shut, the air of the narrow and hermetically sealed compartment instantly became saturated with the fragrance of the epiphyllum. Qu Moyu glanced at Shen Dai, hiding under his coat, and his expression turned dark. With one hand he loosened his tie and then lowered the window of the car.

Only when the cold air from the exterior began to flow into the car, dispersing that indistinct and bewitching floral fragrance, did he dare to breathe normally again.

”How long till home?”

”Less than forty minutes.”

”Hurry.”

“I want to go home,” said Shen Dai, his voice trembling.

“We are going home.”

“Not your home. My home…” Shen Dai hung on to the last shred of his consciousness to recite his address.

Back home his grandmother could take care of him. He could shut himself in his tiny room where he could spend the worst next few days. More than relieving his sexual desire, what he wanted most was a safe hideaway.

Old Wu entered the address into the navigation system.

”It’s a little far away. There might be congestion on the way out of the city. Should take over an hour.”

“Head back home,” commanded Qu Moyu.

“Alright.”

Shen Dai was letting out little sobs, writhing under the coat in discomfort. He tugged at his own clothes and rubbed his legs against each other, but none of it could soothe the dry-heat in his body that was getting increasingly intense…somewhere else had started to swell to the point of aching.

Qu Moyu realised that leaving the window open wouldn’t work either. The fragrance of the epiphyllum pheromones was getting thicker and thicker. At this rate, it could potentially affect the pedestrians around them. He had no choice but to close up the window.

Although Old Wu was only a Beta, even he could guess what had happened. He stole a glance in the rear view mirror before quickly looking away.

Shen Dai felt like he wasn’t going to be able to bear it any longer. The present situation had amplified his sensory perception. Despite covering his nose, the ebony wood pheromones were inescapable. The scent of a top-tier Alpha was that potent, that savage, that oppressive, that charged with powerful masculine strength, that it invoked all of his base impulses, persuading him to abandon himself recklessly to fulfil his genetically-driven reproductive duty.

He rolled down from the car seat and curled himself up painfully in a foetal position on the floor mat.

He knew there was little chance of holding out until they reached the house before he would lose his sanity.

This time around he had taken medicine to delay heat, only for the pheromone influence of dozens of Alphas to then wreak havoc on his endocrine system.

The degree of severity was perhaps equal to three years ago when he had been drugged. Since two oral doses of inhibitors had not worked, a third was unlikely to work either – what he needed was something much stronger. He said weakly, “a….a hospital, or a pharmacy. I need a high-efficacy inhibitor”

High-efficacy inhibitors were inhibitors that were directly injected into the gland. Despite their detrimental effects on the body, they were able suppress heat within the fastest possible duration.

These types of inhibitors were not sold over-the-counter. A pharmacy would typically need a prescription from a doctor. But during an emergency, it was possible to take them first and have the prescription filed later. And this was definitely an emergency.

The fragrance of the epiphyllum was an assault on the senses. Qu Moyu had initially forced himself to look out the window. But now, he could not help but turn around to look at the person beside his feet. Eyes that were clouded with sexual excitement, the corners of which were reddened and glistening. Cheeks that were stained with tears. Hair clinging untidily to skin. And a shirt collar which had been torn open to reveal much of his fine collarbone. The agony of self-restraint could also incite the utmost temptation.

Having turned to look, he could no longer look away.

Old Wu gave Qu Moyu a look from the rear view mirror, as if to ask if he should be heading to the clinic or pharmacy after all.

Qu Moyu shook his head. With a car worth tens of millions, coupled with an Omega in the thick of heat, any bystander in possession of a mobile phone could make him the subject of unthinkable gossip the very next day.

His uncle was just waiting for him to make the slightest mistake. And a matter like this would definitely cause a stir, even a dip in the share price. He was not going to take this kind of risk.

Qu Moyu bent down. He reached his hand out slowly and wiped the tears from Shen Dai’s face. Catching Shen Dai’s chin between his thumb and fingers he studied him impassively.

”Please…” Shen Dai kept begging, yet wasn’t sure of what he was begging for exactly. Was he begging him to take him to the hospital, or begging him to relieve his suffering, right there and then.

With the push of a button by Qu Moyu, the partition separating the backseat started to gradually turn opaque, obscuring the view of the driver.

1. excessive heat and dryness of his body | The phrase used was 身体的燥热, referring to a condition of excessive heat or dryness in the body, and not heat in the A/B/O context.