Xiao Zai held his breath. He didn’t know if Chu Yun was asking because he genuinely didn’t know or because he was trying to get under Xiao Zai’s skin. He had an uncanny ability to do it, so Xiao Zai didn’t put it past him.

He knew Chu Yun well enough by now to know he wouldn’t let Xiao Zai leave without getting his answer.

He sucked on a fortifying breath and grit his teeth. “I go into rut on the full moon.”

Chu Yun blinked up at him, those long curling lashes fanning down over his keen fox eyes, and then blinked again, his confusion mounting.

“Do all wolves go into rut on the full moon or just you?” His frown deepened. “Because that would be extremely unproductive, from an evolutionary standpoint.”

Xiao Zai sighed. Of course that was what Chu Yun would focus on.

“No, but all wolf ruts are triggered by stages of the moon. Full moon, new moon, first day of the waxing moon, first day of the waning moon.” 

It wasn’t something Xiao Zai had ever stopped to consider, and it certainly had never caused any sort of problems for Zui, in all the centuries that the wolf clans had ruled it.

Chu Yun still looked amused by it somehow, as if this was a weakness he could exploit. It raised Xiao Zai’s hackles to see that look on his face. The full moon was drawing nearer, and his senses were heightened. 

Chu Yun’s scent was inescapable in the cramped room. The floral orchid notes made Xiao Zai’s breath itch on each inhale. Being so near another alpha so close to his rut usually made Xiao Zai aggressive, short tempered, but Chu Yun’s scent made him want to get in closer, burrow into his neck and scent him to his heart’s content.

This close to his rut, that impulse was harder to resist.

Which was why he needed to leave.

He turned towards the door again, but Chu Yun’s fingers where still wrapped tightly around his wrist.

Chu Yun looked up into Xiao Zai’s eyes, and ran the pad of his thumb over Xiao Zai’s pulse point, on the inside of his wrist.

This time, Xiao Zai’s intake of breath was audible. Chu Yun’s smirk grew.

“Why are you in such a hurry, don’t you want to stay here with me just a while longer?” Chu Yun’s tone was leading, he was teasing Xiao Zai.

Xiao Zai didn’t appreciate being made fun of. He knew the signs of his attraction to Chu Yun were amusing to him. Xiao Zai couldn’t fully make sense of it either. Chu Yun had a terrible personality, his smugness was unbearable, the only likely explanation was pure physical attraction — but that shouldn’t have been possible because they were both alphas.

By all counts, Xiao Zai seemed to be the only one affected. And fuck everything if that didn’t make him hotter for Chu Yun.

Intractable fucking bastard, stone cold motherfucker, irresistible fucking fiend. 

On the best days Xiao Zai could ignore the arousal simmering under his skin, on the worst he wanted to shut him up with his cock. If he was choking on his cock Chu Yun wouldn’t be able to say any of the words he turned on Xiao Zai like blades.

Chu Yun’s smirk grew as if he could read every single one of Xiao Zai’s thoughts. 

“Stop looking at me like that,” Xiao Zai warned, trying to pull his wrist free.

“Why?” Chu Yun asked, reeling him in, closing the distance between them. “What are you going to do about it?”

Xiao Zai’s nostrils flared. If Chu Yun kept provoking him he wasn’t going to hold back. “You’ll find out very soon if you don’t let go.”

Chu Yun hooked an arm around Xiao Zai’s neck and pulled him down, until their eyes were almost level. “Do your worst,” Chu Yun whispered, his lips brushing against the shell of Xiao Zai’s ear.

Xiao Zai held his breath and closed his eyes, but Chu Yun wasn’t done torturing him.

He chuckled, and then ran the flat of his tongue over Xiao Zai’s neck, digging in with his canines dangerously close to his scent glands — an open provocation.

Xiao Zai let out a growl and spun them around, slamming Chu Yun against the wall behind him.

“You only have yourself to blame.”

He stopped trying to hold himself back and took Chu Yun’s mouth in a rough kiss, like he’d been wanting to since they walked into the closet, and he’d gotten that first waft of his scent.

He bullied Chu Yun’s lips open with his tongue, fought for entry inside his mouth and kissed him roughly. He could feel the bite of Chu Yun’s sharp teeth against his lips, could feel the vibrations of his angry snarl where their skin touched.

Xiao Zai had warned Chu Yun, now he was going to do what he wanted. He held the back of Chu Yun’s head to keep him in place, and drunk his fill from his lips. 

Chu Yun matched his aggression, clawing the front of Xiao Zai’s robes, etching red marks on the skin of his chest. The sweet pinpricks of pain only made Xiao Zai more heated. He grabbed Chu Yun’s wrist and pinned it above his head.

Xiao Zai felt the shape of Chu Yun’s smirk against his lips, and then the vicious bite of his teeth, drawing blood.

It ran in rivulets from Xiao Zai’s lower lip, down his chin, and into Chu Yun’s mouth, who lapped it up like a kitten cleaning up milk.

The sharp sting of pain was enough to return Xiao Zai to his senses.

When he pulled away from Chu Yun’s mouth he found him smiling bloody at him, his lips so red and shiny it was as if he had painted them.

Chu Yun’s chest was heaving with effort, but he was grinning triumphantly. He met Xiao Zai’s eyes and then spit all the blood in his mouth at Xiao Zai’s feet. 

“Is that all?” he asked, his teeth stained with red.

He didn’t wait for an answer before leaving the cramped room. Xiao Zai slumped against the wall, as soon as the door banged closed behind him. 

He could still feel Chu Yun’s scent as if he was there with him, taunting him even in his absence.