Free Web NovelChapter 191: All Settled
In the last moment, Ren’s mind was kind of fuzzy, making soft cries. Kestrel leaned down, stopping all his sounds with a kiss. The biggest control she ever had in her life was maybe at this exact time.
A slight taste of blood mingled between their mouths, and it was impossible to tell who bit who.
Once everything was over, Ren looked lost, not able to concentrate on anything.
The room held the smell of mixed pheromones and the loud heartbeats of two individuals.
The bag filled with random things was ripped open, and Kestrel took out a piece of cotton fabric to give to Ren, thinking that when Ren woke up, he would likely want something to cover himself with.
Ren’s noticeably shaped fingers reached out, grabbing the fabric, wrapping himself up completely. It looked like he was getting better.
Kestrel saw he start to rebuild the psychic barriers, drawing in all his spread-out feelings and shutting himself down again. His heat cycle seemed to have passed, and the feelings that had come out were hidden away again.
The tendrils, now done with their tough job, looked pretty happy, sliding joyfully around the small room’s walls, smooth and content. They found a stream of black liquid coming their way, which had Ren’s psychic energy, near the air vent.
"What’s this?"
"Found a weird one." freeωebnovēl.c૦m
"Who are you?"
"It seems to have a tiny fish smell on it."
When the black blade slid out of the air duct, this is what it saw.
At first, a bunch of tendrils surrounded it, scrutinizing it closely, then through a small space, it saw Kestrel, who it had missed a lot, sitting on the floor, cleaning her hands with a small towel.
The mood in the room was pretty strange, obviously something just happened.
Ren, that dude, was lying beside Kestrel, covering himself completely with a piece of ripped fabric, with only a head of tangled hair and red ear tips visible.
"What’s going on? Am I late? It’s finished?!! I worked so hard, fought such a scary creature risking everything for you! I struggled so much to put my body back together, crossed millions of pipes to come back to you! And now you’re saying it’s all over?! Without me?" The black blade jumped next to Ren, pulling on Ren’s ears and grumbling. "Just like that! Where’s the reward you promised? No, your have to do it again! Otherwise, I’ll throw a tantrum!"
Ren hid under the ripped fabric, ignoring it. The black blade got really mad, hopping energetically beside Ren’s head, yelling, "You thankless alpha!"
It was about to cause a big fuss without thinking when some alphas outside the door began to notice what was going on. Seeing this, the tendrils quickly grabbed this jumping character and moved the black blade away.
"Hey, dude, no need to stress. I’ve got all the memories right here."
"I can share them if Little Fish doesn’t mind."
Hidden beneath the ripped fabric, Ren stayed silent, his unruly hair moving a bit, and unexpectedly, he didn’t protest. The tendrils figured this was his silent agreement. At this point, the tendrils were very eager to find out what kind of favor Ren owed this blade, such that he was even agreeing to this.
So, the tendrils wrapped around the one holding the black blade and moved towards a corner.
"Who’s asking for a replay, huh? You think just a little replay will satisfy me?" The black blade complained and whined, but eventually, its tone softened, grudgingly going along with the cluster of tendrils.
Soon, its voice came from the shadows, "Hehehehe... actually, nothing really happened..."
"What’s in it, they even blurred it."
"It’s just a hand... uh uh uh, I won’t speak anymore, stop covering my mouth."
Ren stood up from the floor, organizing himself and the surroundings quickly, his face devoid of emotion. He remained the cool and strong soldier who boldly infiltrated enemy lines on his own, not daring to peek at Kestrel even once.
Kestrel felt the need to voice something.
"Well... don’t overthink it," she mumbled, even using her hands to help express her stumbling words, "You understand the situation was really risky earlier, to keep you safe, I had no option but to..."
Suddenly, Ren turned a shade paler, spinning around to gaze at her, his face showing utter shock when he heard ’had no option’. That look held a deep complexity, carrying a form of sorrow, which caused Kestrel to falter in her next words.
Kestrel realized she misspoke, wanting to correct it, but for a moment, she struggled to find the right words, only managing to continue awkwardly, "We’re friends, right?... I couldn’t just stand there and let you get caught. That was just a bit of assistance..."
In Ren’s view, her voice dwindled as she spoke. Even if her statement had no logical errors, she couldn’t figure out why she felt so guilty.
In her mind, she reassured herself, "Yes, in that setting, at that perilous time, to shield him, I had no alternative but to transfer my beta pheromones to him. Though the mouth-to-mouth method is somewhat personal, this... this isn’t a huge issue, right? Obviously, I also aided him with my hand during the process. What else was I supposed to do? Should I have allowed the queen to snatch him?"
After rationalizing the events, she believed her actions were sensible, her reasoning sound, and she held back any excessive urges. It appeared she hadn’t done anything improper, yet she still felt an overwhelming sense of guilt.
Outside, distinct footsteps and conversations could be heard, the light in the cramped room was very dim. The suggestive smell still hung in the air.
Ren’s face looked really pale. He was staring hard at Kestrel, trying to figure out what she was thinking from her face. But, the feelings hidden deep in his eyes were too complicated for Kestrel to get.
Ren had put up a strong shield around himself, keeping his feelings under control. Without the tendrils’ help, Kestrel felt a bit lost and scared.
Kestrel tried to make sense of all the feelings she once could understand — sadness, hurt, kindness, happiness, nervousness... but none of them seemed right. Understanding people was really hard; she felt like she was just beginning to learn.
Ren was standing there in front of Kestrel. He was tall, his black hair wet, standing upright with a pale face that looked a bit sad. Even though he was much taller than Kestrel, he looked like a sad raven wet from the dew after a spring rain, lowering his head sadly.
He looked really sad.
Kestrel started to say something, but Ren stopped her, "Don’t say anything. I get it..."
His voice was quiet, fading away quickly like a breath of white mist in the cool spring air.
Near the end, Ren tried to smile with his pale face, as if trying to leave a smile for Kestrel. But this sight seemed even sadder than seeing him cry.
He didn’t say anything else, and when no one was looking, he opened the door and left. The black blade was right behind him, twisting to keep up, sticking to his waist, mumbling and laughing about something only it knew.
The tendrils covered Kestrel’s mouth.
"Don’t say anything."
"Be quiet."
"It would have been better if you stayed quiet."
The Queen made a new rule to lock the Tower, looking for an alpha in the heat cycle.
Everybody knew that whether you were a beta or an alpha, when in that condition, you couldn’t hide your true form without a partner’s help. It was a feeling that came from the very bottom of your heart, and once it started, it couldn’t be stopped without causing a scene.
Even an alpha with a partner would find it hard to control that rush of heat quickly. Only if they matched really well with their beta, and the beta’s pheromones were strong and clear.
In the Empire, all partners matched with an alpha were registered betas. If everyone got checked, it would be impossible for someone causing trouble to be in the Tower, able to stop the heat cycle quickly and then face the investigation.
Luther stopped the search, took the list, and called back all the alphas in the tower for a check and confirmation.
When it was Ren’s turn, he looked neat in his alpha uniform, his hair nicely combed, standing with his hands held behind him, his eyes looking normal. Aside from his slightly pale face, everything seemed fine.
After all the chaos, many alphas looked pale and seemed nervous. Ren, however, seemed completely innocent and didn’t look suspicious at all.
Luther marked a big check next to Ren’s name, and patted Ren on the shoulder, feeling a huge sense of relief deep down. It was as if seeing Ren safe and well confirmed something, letting him shake off his worries and stop feeling so restless and strangely upset — even if the Queen was grumpy and giving him a hard time.
At last, Luther’s heart, which had been uneasy for a very long time, finally felt at ease, like it had safely come back to the ground.
