Cocoon (Lily ABO) - Chapter 22

Han Jingman was bewildered as to why Ling Yu’s temperature had shot back up after taking the medicine. She leaned down and touched Ling Yu’s forehead; it was indeed a bit hot. She felt the back of her neck—no sweat.

She looked suspiciously at Ling Yu’s unusual complexion. It wasn’t a high fever anymore, yet the flush on Ling Yu’s face was abnormally vivid. This no longer looked like simple heat caused by a fever. Moreover, even without leaning in close, she could smell a thick scent of milk drifting through the air—Ling Yu was wantonly releasing her rich pheromones.

No way.

If it was just a suspicion at first, as Han Jingman watched the girl begin to toss and turn restlessly, she took a step back, her heart now entirely certain.

Ling Yu’s heat had arrived.

With it happening right when Ling Yu was sick, Han Jingman momentarily lost her lead. Her first instinct was to go back and get Ling Yu’s suppressants, but the dosage of cold medicine she had fed Ling Yu over the past two days was not small. Taking common market cold medicine and Alpha suppressants simultaneously carried a high risk of causing anaphylactic shock. This conflict was exactly why research into non-medicinal pheromone blocking was currently such a “hot” topic in the academic world.

Cold medicine and suppressants simply could not be taken together.

Ling Yu sat up in bed, her head swimming. The familiar, distinct sensation in her body made her realize instantly that she had entered her heat. She had been so exhausted with work lately that she’d had no time to keep track; she had a vague, hazy memory before sleeping that it might be due around now, but under the influence of the medicine, she had forgotten in an instant. Now, it had become a major problem.

Han Jingman was still deep in thought, considering whether to call Wei Zhen, when she saw Ling Yu stumbling off the bed on her own, heading for the door barefoot. Han Jingman hurried forward to catch her. “Where are you going?”

Now that she was awake, Ling Yu’s physiological reactions became even more pronounced. She could feel exactly how excited the “wicked thing” in her lower abdomen became the moment Han Jingman drew near. Terrified, she struggled to break free of Han Jingman’s grip, mumbling incoherently, “No… I have to go.”

Go, go, go! Always wanting to leave. Where could you possibly go?

Han Jingman truly had no way to deal with her. “Ling Yu, stop acting up. You’re still sick, and your heat is starting. Where do you think you’re going?”

“There’s a way… suppressants…” Ling Yu staggered like a drunkard, her hands clutching the doorframe while her body instinctively leaned back toward the person behind her. Han Jingman reached out to catch her, but Ling Yu gritted her teeth, still insisting on suppressants.

“You took cold medicine; you can’t take suppressants. You know that.” Han Jingman supported Ling Yu calmly, trying to guide her back to the bed, but the usually obedient girl was now throwing a tantrum.

Ling Yu pushed Han Jingman away, refusing to let her close. “Stay back… go out.” Ling Yu wanted to lock herself in the room alone. She could endure the heat on her own.

Compared to the current stubborn Ling Yu, Han Jingman was always the more calm and rational one. She dragged the restless girl back and pinned her to the bed. “Ling Yu, don’t be stubborn. I’ll find a way.”

Her phone was in the study. Han Jingman got up to call Wei Zhen. Whatever the case, as a fellow Alpha, Wei Zhen would know more than she did.

When the call came, Wei Zhen was wearing a ridiculous apron, pan-searing cod fillets in the kitchen. The dark purple fabric featured two comical cartoon characters making faces—Jian Ying’s twisted sense of humor.

“Hello,” Wei Zhen answered, freeing one hand.

“Wei Zhen, I have an urgent question for you.”

“Mm.” Hearing Han Jingman’s serious tone, Wei Zhen didn’t feel like teasing her.

“Ling Yu’s heat has started, but she’s taken a large dose of cold medicine. I don’t dare give her a suppressant. Have you ever had a similar experience?” Han Jingman didn’t beat around the bush; she didn’t even care that she would normally never ask such a private question.

“Oh?” Wei Zhen turned off the stove, her narrow eyes tilting up. She reached for a bowl of sauce she’d just prepared and carefully drizzled it over the golden-brown cod. “So, you’re asking what an Alpha in heat should do after taking cold medicine, do I have that right?” She unhurriedly plucked a sprig of fresh basil and some sliced cherry tomatoes to garnish the plate.

“Yes.”

Wei Zhen looked at her culinary masterpiece with satisfaction and took two sets of gleaming silver cutlery from the cabinet. “Jingman, what does an Alpha in heat need most? Do you really need me to teach you that?”

Then, remembering the wine, Wei Zhen picked up a corkscrew and leisurely began to open a selected bottle of white wine. As the cork slowly emerged, the fragrance of the wine filled the air.

“I understand. Thank you, Wei Zhen.”

Pop— The cork left the bottle. Wei Zhen hung up, grabbed two slender wine glasses, placed the food on the table, and walked gracefully toward the dining area.

Han Jingman had made her decision by the time she left the study. She took a deep breath, preparing to push open the bedroom door, only to find it had been locked from the inside.

Ling Yu ignored the knocking from outside. She had wrapped herself tightly in the duvet. Taking advantage of the moment Han Jingman stepped out, she had rushed out of bed to lock the door. She gritted her teeth, her whole body trembling. She didn’t believe it—did a heat cycle have to involve venting physiological desires on someone else? Even if that were true, she didn’t want that person to be Han Jingman; yet, besides Han Jingman, she wanted no one else.

She couldn’t let a repeat of the night Han Jingman’s heat was induced happen. Ling Yu wrapped herself tighter, covering her ears and pretending not to hear Han Jingman calling from outside.

This brat.

Han Jingman bit her lip until it nearly bled. She had finally worked up the courage to make a decision, yet this person was hiding inside and refusing to come out. Did she really think she could survive a three-day heat cycle on her own?

It wasn’t that some “foolish” Alphas hadn’t tried. There were always people who liked to challenge the impossible, choosing not to use suppressants and locking themselves in confined spaces to see how long they could last. The current record was seven hours, but those Alphas who went in laughing came out with a series of pheromone imbalances and physiological dysfunctions.

Realizing Ling Yu wasn’t going to open the door, Han Jingman gave up on knocking. She turned and went to rummage through Ling Yu’s backpack in the living room. Back then, she had made a full set of spare keys for her home and given them to Ling Yu, including the one for the bedroom. Ling Yu usually kept that keychain in her bag at all times. Han Jingman decided to try her luck.

Sure enough.

After searching the bag, she finally found her keys in a small, separate compartment.

The lock clicked as it turned. Han Jingman pushed the bedroom door open gently. In an instant, an overwhelming scent of milk surged forward. The powerful, dense pheromones were so intense that Han Jingman’s legs nearly went weak. The source of it all was the shivering, heaving lump huddled on the bed.