Apex Predator - Chap 6

The old house of the Qu family had been around for a long time. But unlike the You residence, which led people to believe that the family had fallen on hard times, this house was a historical treasure to be admired, having borne witness to three generations of the Qu family’s glory.

As they got down from the car, Qu Moyu approached Shen Dai’s side. He said under his breath, “No need to be nervous.”

His voice still contained a youth-like clarity, yet there was also a self-assuredness and authority that was far beyond his years. And although the tone used was unmistakably gentle, it sounded more like a command than an encouragement.

“I’m not.” Shen Dai genuinely wasn’t nervous. This was neither his own home nor the place for him to be the centre of attention. He was merely here as part of the scenery, not to defend a paper. As long as he played this role adequately, no matter what situation might arise, Qu Moyu would always be there. So, there was really nothing for him to be nervous about.

But in the next instant, he became genuinely nervous – because Qu Moyu took him by the hand.

This wide, dry, and powerful hand held and covered his own. The aroma of the ebony wood pheromones surrounded him in all four directions. Physical touch, temperature, smell – all of his senses made him feel as though he was being enclosed by Qu Moyu in layers.

Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum – that was the sound of his heart pounding wildly.

Qu Moyu led him inside. Tones of classical music resonated within the house. Guests were scattered all over the immense living room, some of them idly chatting, others admiring the artwork.Their entrance immediately captured everyone’s attention.

“Moyu’s back.” One of the elders smiled and nodded in their direction.

“Second uncle”, Qu Moyu greeted him, “What about my father?”

”He’s taking a call, might be in the library.” The elder turned toward Shen Dai. “And this would be…?”

“Let me introduce you. This is my wife, Shen Dai. He also happens to be a researcher at the Rare Earth Institute,” said Qu Moyu, smiling as he patted Shen Dai on his lower back.

“Elders, good evening,” greeted Shen Dai, with a slight bow.

“Then he must be very good at studying, not bad, not bad at all.”

“So does that mean you both were acquainted at the company?”

A few pleasantries were made, but it quickly became apparent that they had little interest in him as they huddled around Qu Moyu to talk.

The members of the Qu family were sophisticated people, all from affluent backgrounds, all of them astute. From the mere fact that Qu Moyu had chosen not to disclose the marriage to the public, they knew that Shen Dai was not fit to be put on display. Naturally, they had already heard the rumours regarding his upbringing. Which was why nobody truly took him to be “Qu Moyu’s wife”.

Shen Dai knew all this clearly, so he stood off to the side, relaxed, just a regular piece of the scenery.

When it came to Alphas – S-class Alphas, in particular, a marriage certificate did not count for anything. Holding a wedding ceremony or having a child together did not signify commitment either. The strongest bond that could be made with an Omega was a mark.

This was because an Alpha could only mark one Omega at any given time. Once the mark had been made, outside of the Omega’s passing or the removal of the mark, no one else would be able to conceive the Alpha’s offspring.

To add to that, it was illegal to coerce an Omega into having it removed.

To abundantly propagate their genes and pick out the most worthy offspring was an Alpha’s instinct. Therefore an Alpha could bestow his lifelong devotion on an Omega with a mark. This mark represented the monopoly the Omega had on their reproductive resources as well as their intense emotional bond. It also meant giving over their most weak and defenceless selves to the other person’s hands during their yearly occurring rut.

So it was plainly obvious that the act of marking You Baiyue by his cousin that Qu Moyu had spoken about was an overt declaration of war.

Also, having no notion of what riches the declining You family had in their hands, Shen Dai was rather curious.

The majority of Alphas would mark their companion after marriage, not only as a symbol of their sincerity, but also their respect. However, this was not the case with S-class Alphas. These arrogant rulers could not stand being bound by another person. Among them, there would exist a small number that would mark companions who could bring maximum benefits, which acted as leverage in exchange for their resources.

Some time passed before a middle-aged Alpha made his way down the stairs. This was the chairman of the board at the Xingzhou corporation, but also Qu Moyu’s father. Shen Dai had only ever seen him at the annual company meeting.

“Father,” called out Qu Moyu, pulling Shen Dai over with him.

Qu Shen nodded his head before his gaze fell upon Shen Dai.

Bowing, Shen Dai said, “Director Qu, Good evening.”

“You’re Shen Dai, aren’t you? I heard that you’re a researcher at the Institute of Rare Earths. A student of Professor Liu’s?“

“Yes I am.”

“The extraction and separation technology being researched by your group is not only critical to the future of our corporation but will also boost the global competitiveness of our country’s Rare Earth sector. You must keep up the hard work.“

“Yes. The professor and our team will work hard to live up to your expectations.”

“Come with me, I have a few matters to discuss with you.”

Turning towards someone who appeared to be a housekeeper, he said, “Dinner should be served at seven-thirty.”

Qu Moyu followed Qu Shen upstairs, leaving Shen Dai alone in a room full of strangers. He withdrew quietly towards the wall and admired a painting by Holbein that was hung there. Given that it was worthy of being displayed in the living room of the Qu family, it most certainly had to be an original.

His maternal grandfather had been a traditional Chinese painter. Despite never having painted any famous masterpieces, he was distinguished in the sphere of teaching, artistic research and the appreciation of art.

Had his grandfather still been alive, he could have snapped a photo of the painting with his phone, and then discussed it in detail with both his grandparents back at home.

Suddenly he really missed his grandparents. There were so many people here in this room. Though it was not very lively, everyone at least had a companion. But not him, and not his grandmother, either. While he stood alone staring at the painting, his grandmother was most likely alone staring at a potted plant or a book, confined to a tiny room that she could hardly call her own, left to ponder the people she knew and loved, the remaining years of her life swallowed up by suffering, loneliness and regret.

This sudden melancholy that was aroused within him made his chest hurt beyond measure, so much so that he didn’t even notice the front door opening again – another person had walked in.

At least, not until he heard the sound of footsteps approaching. As he turned his head, a tall young man appeared beside him.

In terms of appearances, this person shared a thirty or forty per cent likeness to Qu Moyu, while the remaining sixty or seventy per cent that wasn’t alike had its own appeal. However, just like Qu Moyu, he possessed an other-worldly beauty, appearing both dignified and imposing. And just like Qu Moyu, he made people aware of his powerful Alpha pheromones.

Shen Dai could guess at once who it was.

“Hi, I’m Qu Chengchen.” With both of his hands stuck in his pockets and a grin on his face, Qu Chengchen had the irreverent and casual air of an upper-class young master.

”You must be my elder brother’s new wife. It seems I should call you sister-in-law?”

Shen Dai nodded his head and said politely, “Hello.”

Qu Chengchen swept a glance over Shen Dai, “You don’t really look like an Omega. How on earth did Uncle You… pluck you out of thin air?”

Shen Dai thought quietly: ”Miscalculated, didn’t you? You thought that by stealing someone else’s fiancé, you could take over his place. I bet you didn’t expect your dear Uncle You to pull out an illegitimate son from his regrettable past.”

Instead, he maintained a placid expression and replied, “I’m not sure about this either.”

“Are you really You Xinghai’s son?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re really an Omega?”

“Yes”

Qu Chengchen hadn’t expected Shen Dai to be this obstinate. While he had answered everything, all his answers were useless.

He narrowed his eyes, “Then, why is it that I can’t smell your pheromones ?”

Abruptly, he took a step around to Shen Dai’s side, bending forward at the same time to get close to the back of Shen Dai’s neck.

Shen Dai instinctively wanted to turn around and evade him. Just like the throat, the gland at the back of the neck was a vulnerable spot. Even more so than the throat, the gland had a sexual connotation as an intimate part of the body. Regardless of what Qu Chengchen’s motives were, anyone who had a stranger get too close to their gland would react defensively out of instinct.

Except he was suddenly unable to move. His entire body had seemingly been possessed. He had lost all autonomy and had no choice but to let Qu Chengchen put his face close to his nape and take a whiff.

“Ah, so you really are an Omega. But your pheromone scent is so weak!”

In a split second, it was as if Shen Dai’s body had been released. He took a big step backwards and stared at Qu Chengchen with indignation.

In the course of a lifetime, everyone would have encountered an Alpha’s pheromone suppression to some extent, sometimes caused by a youthful lack of control and sometimes arising out of conflict. But the most severe encounters would be those from malicious attacks.

In making a comparison to other genders, one could draw an analogy between Alphas and boxers. Pheromones could be likened to fists, and naturally, different grades of Alphas would have different levels of punching power. Except that in this society governed by rule of law, they were obliged to restrain their strength in order to avoid hurting others.

For the most part, they would have no need to fight and could accomplish what they wanted with a mere wave of the hand, for instance, by emitting pheromones to intimidate others. When they were truly compelled to use their fists, they would usually only fight within their own weight class – provided that they were not irrational – making it a match instead of a one-sided assault.

But the pheromone suppression that Qu Chengchen had used on him had been the worst foul. Even if it had only temporarily restrained him from moving, it was already despicable enough.

What chilled Shen Dai the most was that while Qu Chengchen had released only a small amount of pheromones, nobody else in that crowded room of people had been able to sense it except him.

So this was an S-class Alpha.

Against average fighters, ordinary people would at least have some chance to put up a struggle or resist, but the way Qu Chengchen had exerted control over him had been as easy for him as breathing.

Blinking innocently, Qu Chengchen said, “Oh, you’re already mad. Let me apologise. What’s the scent of your pheromones? It actually smells rather nice, only that it’s too light. Are your glands underdeveloped or something? Wouldn’t that affect fertility?”

“Chengchen.” the sound of Qu Moyu’s sullen voice rang out from behind them.

Shen Dai inhaled sharply. He turned his head to look at Qu Moyu, the pupils of his eyes shining with anxiety, worlds apart from his usual calm demeanour.

Qu Moyu gave Shen Dai a reassuring glance. Looking coldly at Qu Chengchen he said, “What did you just do?”

“Big brother,” replied Qu Chengchen, smirking. “Just getting to know my elder sister-in-law”

”Did you just take a sniff of my wife’s glands?”

“Well, not to be rude, it’s just that his pheromone scent is really weak. I really thought he was a Beta.”

”Apologise.”

“I already did.”

“I didn’t hear you say it.” Qu Moyu glared at Qu Chengchen, with an infinitely penetrating gaze.

The smile on Qu Chengchen’s face gradually faded from the corners of his lips.

The two top-tier Alphas stared at each other face to face, with only a span of two floor tiles between them. What difference was there between them and two tigers trapped in a cage? Nobody in the living room dared utter a word. Two overbearing strains of pheromones lay poised to attack, making the scene even more unnerving.

Finally, Qu Chengchen shrugged his shoulders. Recovering his smile, he uttered to Shen Dai, “My apologies.”

1. …and admired a painting by Holbein.. | Hans Holbein the Younger (1497 – 1543): A German-Swiss painter and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style, considered one of the most important portraitists of the 16th century.