Xiao Zai had been aware of Chu Yun’s presence the entire day, it was as if he had a sixth sense that told him where Chu Yun was.

But now, he had Chu Yun pressed against a shelf and that awareness had tripled. He could feel Chu Yun’s intakes of breath as if they were passing through him, he could see each of his individual lashes, and almost hear the soft drag of his red tongue wetting his lower lip.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want what Chu Yun was offering, it was that he wanted it too much.

“I’m just trying to help you,” Chu Yun said, his long lashes shuttering down his eyes.

His ‘help’ probably had all kinds of strings attached. Xiao Zai wasn’t stupid, Chu Yun had something in mind, but Xiao Zai couldn’t see what he stood to gain from this.

As always, he could tell there was a bigger picture behind Chu Yun’s actions, but his motives were inscrutable. It was maddening. It made Xiao Zai’s skin itch with the urge to peel Chu Yun apart like some soft fruit and have a look inside him.

Sometimes, like now, the desire was so strong that it made his teeth ache.

Something told Xiao Zai that if he were ever to sink his teeth into Chu Yun he would never let go. 

“Do you even know what that means?” Xiao Zai asked, nosing in along Chu Yun’s neck, breathing in the crisp smell of him. His fresh orchid and pine scent usually cleared Xiao Zai’s head, but not right now. At the moment it just made it harder for Xiao Zai to focus, but he couldn’t stop himself from inhaling deeply.

Chu Yun didn’t make any move to push Xiao Zai away. He remained oddly quiet even with his wrist pinned and Xiao Zai’s face pushed close to his neck. 

Xiao Zai heard the sound of him swallowing around nothing. “I thought of…offering an helping hand.”

The careful way he worded that sentence told Xiao Zai that was probably all that was on offer. A helping ‘hand’, nothing more.

Xiao Zai smirked against Chu Yun’s skin, letting him feel the shape of his canines. “What if I’m not satisfied with that?” 

Another loud gulp, Chu Yun squirming against Xiao Zai’s hold for the first time. “What did you have in mind?”

Xiao Zai slid his free hand up Chu Yun’s thigh, and then under, wrapping his fingers under his knee and hoisting Chu Yun’s leg around his waist. 

Chu Yun let out a startled gasp, but tightened his leg around Xiao Zai’s middle to keep himself upright. Xiao Zai’s fingers tightened around his wrist. 

“Maybe I want to fuck you,” Xiao Zai said, looking into Chu Yun’s eyes as he spoke. “What will you do then?”

Chu Yun’s throat worked as he tried to come up with an answer. It felt like a victory to Xiao Zai to finally leave him speechless.

The hand Xiao Zai had on Chu Yun’s knee drifted towards the seam of his robe, sliding inside, and touching the thin fabric of an inner robe — Chu Yun still refused to wear pants under his robes, unlike everyone else in Zui. It allowed Xiao Zai to reach his warm skin, feel it go even warmer under his fingers.

“We’re both alphas…how would it…how would it even work?” 

“That’s your only concern?” Xiao Zai teased, laughing when Chu Yun scowled in indignation.

He made a genuine bid to free himself of Xiao Zai’s hands this time, but Xiao Zai kept him in place “Beta men do it all the time,” Xiao Zai said, his tone leading, he could feel himself getting hard just thinking about it. 

Chu Yun’s eyes narrowed, he hissed through gritted teeth, “beta men don’t have knots.”

Xiao Zai’s fingers dug into the muscle of Chu Yun’s thigh. “I’ll be gentle with you.”

That finally pushed Chu Yun over the edge. He broke free of Xiao Zai’s hold with a growl, using his free hand to push against Xiao Zai’s chest — something he could have done from the beginning. 

Xiao Zai let go of him. He had proven his point. “So you see, it’s better if you stay away tonight,” he said, raising both of his hands in surrender.

Chu Yun gave him a look from under the sweep of his curling lashes, he had fully composed himself, and looked barely unruffled. His keen fox eyes roamed over Xiao Zai’s body, some secret calculations going on behind them that Xiao Zai would never be able to guess.

He squared his shoulders and tightened his robe around himself, from where the waist sash had come loose. He raised his chin and gave Xiao Zai a defiant smirk before leaving the room.

Xiao Zai let himself sag against the bookshelves the moment he left. Chu Yun had a way to get under his skin that was as enticing as it was aggravating. Xiao Zai never knew if he wanted to strangle him or kiss him — most of the time it felt like a combination of both.

Either way, he could feel his control slipping. He looked down at his hands and found them shaking.

It was still early, but maybe he should lock himself in his quarters now, just as a precaution.

—

The sun had barely set and already Xiao Zai could feel the pull of the moon moving under his skin, setting his blood on fire with its song. He had stripped down to his inner robes, to cope with the heat ravaging him from within. 

This was only the start, things would get much worse before the rut broke and Xiao Zai got any relief.

By now he was used to it. It was an unfortunate reality of being an unmated alpha, and something Xiao Zai had been dealing with since his teen years — but it never got any easier.

His senses were heightened by the rut, which was why he smelled Chu Yun approaching long before he knocked on his bedroom door.