My Alpha
The smell of disinfectant still lingered in his nose. Si Qi sat on a hard chair beside the bed, having not slept for over twenty-four hours. His eyes repeatedly scanned the numbers on the monitoring screen, as if if he focused hard enough, they would stop ticking and remain fixed in a safe zone forever.
Shao Wei awoke in the morning sunshine. His eyelashes fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes. His gray-blue pupils melted like glaciers in the sunlight. Si Qi immediately leaned forward, his fingers hovering in the air, wanting to touch but not daring to.
"Water..." Shao Wei's voice was so hoarse that it was almost inaudible.
Si Qi quickly picked up the water cup on the bedside table and carefully lifted the back of Shao Wei's neck to help him drink the water. When his fingers touched the temporary mark on the wound, Shao Wei visibly flinched.
"Does it hurt?" Si Qi asked softly.
Shao Wei shook his head, but when Si Qi withdrew his hand, he leaned back imperceptibly, creating some distance. This subtle movement pierced Si Qi's heart like a needle.
The doctor pushed the door open and saw Shao Wei awake. He was surprised. "Mr. Shao, you've recovered faster than expected." He checked the monitoring data. "The pheromone levels have temporarily stabilized. This is truly a miracle."
"Temporarily?" Si Qi grasped the key words.
The doctor pushed up his glasses. "Yes. Temporary marking between Alphas usually lasts no more than 24 hours, but your compatibility is exceptionally high, so it might last longer. However..." He hesitated. "This only delays the symptoms, not cures them."
Shao Wei's expression remained unchanged, as if the doctor were discussing someone else's condition. Si Qi, however, felt dizzy. He clenched his fists, digging his nails deep into his palms. "Is there any other solution?"
"Theoretically, if there were a continuous input of highly compatible pheromones..." The doctor chose his words carefully, "perhaps we could buy more time for research. However, a permanent mark cannot be formed between two Alphas; this is a physiological limitation."
Si Qi looked at Shao Wei and found him staring out the window, his profile almost transparent in the sunlight. He suddenly realized that Shao Wei might have already accepted his fate, just as he had accepted the loveless marriage of the past three years.
"We will find a way." Si Qi said, not knowing whether he was making a promise to the doctor, Shao Wei or himself.
That afternoon, Shao Wei insisted on being discharged. The doctor reluctantly agreed, but gave him a long list of precautions and medications. Si Qi wrote everything down on his phone and had the doctor repeat it three times.
On the way home, the car was eerily quiet. Shao Wei leaned against the passenger window, his eyes half-closed. At the red light, Si Qi stole a glance at him and noticed that Shao Wei's right hand was unconsciously rubbing the temporary mark on the back of his neck, his brow slightly furrowed.
"Just tell me if you feel uncomfortable." Si Qi couldn't help but speak.
Shao Wei withdrew his hand: "It's okay." After a pause, he added, "Thank you for the mark."
This politeness made Si Qi feel uncomfortable. Before, Shao Wei never thanked him, as if all his silent contributions were taken for granted. Now that he was suddenly polite, it was like building an invisible wall.
After returning home, Shao Wei went straight to the guest room. Si Qi followed him and asked, "Do you need anything? Medicine? Food?"
"I want to rest for a while." Shao Wei stood at the door and politely refused him to enter.
Si Qi had no choice but to nod: "I'm in the study, call me if you need anything."
In his study, Siqi turned on his computer and began frantically searching for information on Alpha Pheromone Disorder. Most literature claimed it was a rare, incurable condition, with patients typically dying within three to six months of diagnosis due to a complete breakdown of their pheromone system. Only one obscure paper mentioned that "high-matching pheromone administration might slow the progression of the disease."
A thought suddenly struck Si Qi. He opened the safe and pulled out the family research document he'd noticed earlier. The document was prominently printed with the words "Alpha Pheromone Disorder: Causes and Interventions," signed by the Si Biotechnology Research Center and dated fifteen years ago.
Si Qi's fingers trembled slightly. Fifteen years ago, he was only seventeen, and Shao Wei... He quickly calculated in his head that Shao Wei was only fifteen then. The document's contents were professional and cold, detailing how to induce disruption of Alpha's pheromone system through stimulation of specific pheromones, along with observational records.
"This is impossible..." Si Qi muttered to himself. His family was conducting human experiments? And Shao Wei's illness...was man-made?
As night fell, Si Qi stood outside the guest room door, hesitating whether to tell Shao Wei about his discovery. A slight cough came from inside the door, followed by the sound of a medicine bottle being opened. Si Qi knocked gently on the door: "Shao Wei?"
There was no response. He knocked again, still quiet. Worry overcame reason, and Si Qi pushed open the door to find Shao Wei asleep against the headboard, the medicine bottle clutched in his hand. The soft light from the bedside lamp shone on his pale face, his eyelashes casting fan-shaped shadows under his eyes.
Si Qi tiptoed over to take the medicine bottle, but accidentally knocked over the folder on the bedside table. The documents were scattered all over the floor. He squatted down to pick them up and found a copy of his medical examination report. The pheromone data was circled in red pen, and the side was filled with dense notes.
Another document made Si Qi's breath catch—Shao Wei's own medical records, detailed down to the daily changes in symptoms and reactions to medication. Next to the most recent date was written: "The pain has eased after the marking, but his pheromones are too strong and always remind me of..."
The sentence stopped abruptly, as if he didn't dare or didn't want to finish it. Si Qi carefully returned the document to its original place, his gaze fixed on Shao Wei's exposed neck. The teeth marks from the temporary markings had already scabbed over, and the surrounding skin was slightly red. Clearly, it wasn't as "fine" as Shao Wei had pretended.
Si Qi couldn't help but reach out, his fingertips pausing a centimeter from the wound. Even in his sleep, Shao Wei's pheromones instinctively repelled another Alpha's touch. The scent of cedar was stronger than before, yet still chaotic, like a forest in a snowstorm.
"I will find out the truth." Si Qi promised in a low voice, closed the door gently and left.
At three in the morning, Si Qi sneaked into his father's study. He was familiar with the old house's security system and easily circumvented it. His father's safe was more complex than his own, but he managed to open it in half an hour. The documents inside made his blood curdle—dozens of files on Alpha test subjects, one of which was a shockingly fifteen-year-old Shao Wei.
The young man in the photo, Shao Wei, had a blank expression on his face, but his gray-blue eyes were filled with fear. The experimental records indicated that he had been injected with a pheromone stimulant to "test the Alpha's tolerance to forced pheromone changes." The person who signed the approval was none other than Si Qi's father.
"Beast!" Si Qi gritted his teeth and quickly took photos of all the information with his phone. The last page was a recent document proposing to restart the experiment, stating that "the first subject has shown the expected symptoms, proving the long-term latent test is successful."
Siqi's hands were shaking so much he could barely hold the phone. Not only had his father experimented with Shao Wei fifteen years earlier, but he was still watching him slowly die, like bacteria in a petri dish.
When the sky was just beginning to turn pale, Si Qi returned home and found Shao Wei already up and making coffee in the kitchen. Seeing Si Qi coming back from outside, Shao Wei was visibly taken aback: "You... went out?"
Si Qi walked right up to him and pulled him into his arms without a word. Shao Wei froze for a moment, then relaxed, letting Si Qi bury his face in the crook of his shoulder.
"What's wrong?" Shao Wei asked softly.
Si Qi raised his head and looked directly into those gray-blue eyes: "I found the reason why you are sick."
Shao Wei's pupils suddenly contracted, and the coffee spoon in his hand fell to the ground with a clang.
Si Qi showed him the photos on his phone and felt Shao Wei's body growing colder in his arms. "Why didn't you tell me?" Si Qi's voice was hoarse. "You always knew it was caused by the experiment?"
Shao Wei pushed him away and bent down to pick up the coffee spoon, moving slowly as if to buy time: "So what if he knows? He's your father."
"So you'd rather wait for death than ask me for help?" Si Qi raised his voice. "Is that the kind of person I am in your eyes? Would I sacrifice my life for the family?"
Shao Wei turned to face him, his eyes frighteningly calm. "I don't know who you are, Siqi. For three years, you've never let me understand the real you."
This statement was like a bucket of cold water poured over Si Qi's head. He opened his mouth to refute, but found that Shao Wei was right. Three years into their marriage, they had been like two strangers living together, each guarding their own secrets.
"Give me a chance to make amends." Si Qi grabbed Shao Wei's hand. "I will solve this matter. I swear."
Shao Wei watched him quietly, then suddenly a violent coughing fit struck him. He bent over, blood seeping from between his fingers. Si Qi held him in fear, feeling the frighteningly high body temperature of the person in his arms.
"It's happening again..." Shao Wei said weakly, "faster than last time..."
Without a word, Si Qi carried Shao Wei to the sofa and lifted his collar. The area around the temporary marking had become inflamed, and the pheromone imbalance had caused the glands to swell. Without hesitation, Si Qi bit the fragile skin again.
Shao Wei arched his back in pain, his fingers gripping the sofa cushions tightly, but he didn't push Si Qi away. The fresh infusion of pheromones caused the numbers on the monitoring bracelet to fluctuate, eventually settling into a low but safe range.
Si Qi raised his head and licked the blood from the corner of his mouth. He found Shao Wei's eyes were dazed and he was in a semi-comatose state. He gently patted Shao Wei's cheek: "Don't sleep, look at me."
Shao Wei's focus slowly narrowed, landing on Si Qi's face. For a moment, he seemed to forget his disguise, his eyes revealing pure dependence and longing. He raised his hand, his fingertips touching Si Qi's lips, which were still stained with his blood.
"Why..." Shao Wei's voice was so soft it sounded like a sigh, "Why now..."
Siqi grabbed his hand and put it against his face: "Because I'm an arrogant fool."
The corners of Shao Wei's mouth curled up slightly, and then he closed his eyes, leaning forward and kissing Si Qi. The kiss was light, with the smell of blood and pheromones, but it made Si Qi's heart stop. When he responded, Shao Wei had already fallen asleep, as if the intimacy just now was just an illusion.
The next day, Siqi convened a family board meeting. In front of his father and all the board members, he projected the experimental data. The meeting room erupted in an uproar.
"This is a crime," Si Qi said coldly. "Using minors for inhumane experiments, and then continuously watching the victims die."
Father Si's face turned pale: "You betrayed your family for a dying Alpha?"
"No." Si Qi looked directly into his father's eyes. "I betrayed evil for justice."
He immediately renounced his inheritance and called the police to investigate the illegal experiments at St. Petersburg Biotech. Amidst the stunned gazes of the crowd, he turned and left, his back a resolute one.
When Si Qi returned home, he found Shao Wei sitting in his seat in the study, looking through the experimental materials. Hearing footsteps, Shao Wei looked up with a complicated look in his eyes: "You gave up the family."
"Yeah." Si Qi walked over to him, squatted down, and looked him in the eyes. "But I got something more important."
Shao Wei reached out and touched Si Qi's face, and this time he didn't back down: "Is it worth it? I might still..."
"It's worth it." Si Qi interrupted him, "And you won't die. The doctor contacted me this morning and your pheromone system showed signs of self-repair. The highly compatible Alpha pheromone may have activated your dormant gland function."
Shao Wei's eyes widened slightly: "Really?"
"Really." Si Qi smiled, "So from now on, I will give you a temporary mark every day until you recover."
Shao Wei's expression softened. He looked down at Si Qi and suddenly asked, "How did you feel when I kissed you this morning?"
Si Qi was stunned: "You remember?"
"I remember," Shao Wei admitted softly, "I remember every moment I dared not let you know."
The sunlight filtered through the window, casting a golden veil over the two of them. Si Qi stood up and pulled Shao Wei into his arms. This time, there was no hesitation, no fear, only a genuine hug that was three years late.
Outside the window, the first ray of sunshine after the rain penetrated the clouds and shone on the newly planted lavender in the garden.
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