Clingy! The Sickly but Beautiful and Strong Alpha Is a Loyal Puppy Who Needs Pampering - Chapter 18

By nine o’clock, Bei Yin still hadn’t seen Ruan Fei return, so she decided to step out and look for her.

Just as she reached the entrance of the banquet hall, her footsteps halted.

At this hour, no other guests were arriving. The empty space, devoid of people, held only her—and a certain little leopard commander.

The white light above the door illuminated only half the staircase.

Ruan Fei sat in the shadowed darkness of the lower steps, her right foot resting on the third stair from the bottom.

Her arms were draped over her knees as she gazed absentmindedly at the moon veiled in a grayish haze.

Despite her usual sharp hearing, honed even in sleep, she didn’t even register the sound of high heels clicking against the floor.

It was proof enough—her mind was in turmoil, her mood utterly, utterly foul.

Bei Yin didn’t approach her directly. Instead, she stepped back inside and sent a message: I miss you. Where are you off playing?

Ruan Fei’s round eyes flicked sideways at the notification. The first three words—so full of dependency—instantly washed away half the gloom clinging to her.

Ruanruan: …I miss you too, jiejie. I’ll be right back. Wait for me.

Bei Yin: It’s too noisy in here. I want to step out for some quiet. Stay where you are—I’ll come find you.

Seeing Ruanruan send her current location, Bei Yin smiled. So obedient.

Soon, the sound of high heels grew closer.

“Enjoying the crescent moon from here?”

Ruan Fei turned her head.

Bei Yin stood bathed in the bright light behind her, a soft golden halo outlining her figure. Her lips curved as she looked down, radiant and ethereal, untouched by the mundane.

Ruan Fei nodded, her gaze locking onto the Omega descending the steps. “Mhm. Just admiring the moon.”

Bei Yin stopped at the stair where light and shadow met.

Ruan Fei, still seated in the darkness, spoke up: “Stay there. I’ll come up.”

But Bei Yin, standing in the light, merely glanced at her, lifted the hem of her dress, and with a soft click, stepped into the shadows.

Ruan Fei watched as the darkness first swallowed the diamond-studded heels, then the skirt that seemed woven with starlight.

Finally, the woman stood entirely within the same shadows as her, grinning mischievously.

“Jiejie is the boss. I don’t have to listen to you.”

Ruan Fei covered her eyes, laughing. “Jiejie…”

“What’s with calling me ‘jiejie’?” Bei Yin replied, moving to sit down.

Halfway through bending, a hand swiftly steadied her.

The Alpha took off her dark red jacket, spread it on the step beside her, and only then guided Bei Yin down by the hand.

As she smoothed out the wrinkled skirt, she answered with a smile, “I want jiejie to pat my head.”

Bei Yin set her fan on her lap and went to work with both hands, ruffling Ruan Fei’s silky mid-length hair into a bird’s nest.

When she finished, she pressed a kiss to her forehead.

The faint scent of blue roses seemed to carry some kind of tranquilizing effect. With each breath, the turmoil in Ruan Fei’s chest eased slightly.

Picking up the folding fan, she began gently fanning Bei Yin, finally able to flash her little fangs in a grin.

“Hehe~ Jiejie is so clingy. Can’t even last a moment without Ruanruan.”

Bei Yin didn’t argue against the blatant reversal of roles, playing along. “Yes, yes, jiejie is like sticky candy, clinging only to Ruanruan…”

Then she paused, guiding the conversation with deliberate ease. “You keep calling yourself ‘Ruanruan,’ but I still don’t know your real name.”

The pair of dark eyes fixed on her profile darted away, evasive. “I am Ruanruan…”

“Do you really think I’d believe that?”

“Wuu…”

Sensing she wasn’t entirely resistant, Bei Yin hardened her tone. “Whining won’t work. You’re telling me your name today, or I won’t cook for you anymore.”

Ruanruan slipped one arm around her waist from behind, while the other encircled her front, resting on her left shoulder.

She buried her face in the hair at the crook of her neck, nuzzling and squirming playfully. “Nooo, I want cold noodles!”

Bei Yin patted her head lightly. “If you don’t talk, you won’t even get cold water to drink.”

The little leopard fell silent for a moment before whispering tentatively, “Does sister know about Districts 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1?”

Chief Bei didn’t bat an eye, her heartbeat steady. “Not at all. I don’t even know who the Supreme Commander is, and I have zero interest in finding out.”

Ruanruan peeked out with one eye, scrutinizing her profile briefly before hiding back in her hair, murmuring in an almost inaudible voice, “Ruan Fei.”

Bei Yin praised her with a positively manipulative tone. “Such a beautiful name—why keep it hidden? You should’ve told me sooner.”

The dark eyes hidden in her hair curved with delight. “So you could make banners and embroider flags?”

“Pfft—do you want that?”

“Hmm… I guess it wouldn’t hurt. Just write ‘Bei Yin loves Ruan Fei forever’ and hang it on a spaceship, flying it across all 30 districts so everyone can see.”

The little leopard clung to her Omega, grinning mischievously. “That way, no clueless Alpha would dare set their sights on you.”

Bei Yin laughed so hard her shoulders shook. “Don’t be so extra.”

After chatting for a while, having set a cheerful mood, Bei Yin began to lay the groundwork. “Where did you go earlier? I couldn’t find you at the door.”

“Went to play…”

“Oh? With whom?”

Ruanruan didn’t answer, only tightening her arms around Bei Yin, her body noticeably tenser than before.

Bei Yin kept her tone light. “I talked with Bai Yi for a bit. Someone named Jiang An asked him to pass along an invitation to meet. I don’t really like her, so I didn’t go.”

Ruanruan stated firmly, “Sister knows her.”

Bei Yin nodded. “Yeah, I do. Neither Bai Yi nor my best friend Jiaojiao knows about it.”

“How do you know her?”

Bei Yin sighed. “I treated her once.”

Back then, she had just arrived in District 18 as an ordinary military doctor.

By age, Ruanruan was still in a closed military academy, not yet an adult.

One day, Jiang An’s father came to her with a request—to treat Jiang An’s rare condition: an allergic reaction to Omega pheromones.

And she was forbidden from disclosing it.

Unable to refuse and desperately in need of money, she agreed.

Her first impression of Jiang An had been favorable—gentle, gracious, always smiling.

After diagnosis, she realized it wasn’t a physiological issue but a psychological one.

Over the next month of interaction, Jiang An opened up to her.

She confessed that her father’s infidelity had left her Omega mother without timely relief during her heat, indirectly causing her death.

Jiang An had witnessed her mother coughing up bl00d before passing, which traumatized her—now, the mere scent of Omega pheromones triggered violent vomiting.

At the same time, she could no longer release her own pheromones normally.

Initially, Bei Yin believed her without question and devised a desensitization therapy plan.

For the next two months, she visited the Jiang household every five days for counseling, and their relationship gradually deepened.

But she always saw Jiang An only as a patient—while she admired her gracious demeanor and even considered friendship, Jiang An’s behavior remained so normal that Bei Yin never sensed any possessiveness.

Until that day she took leave without notifying Jiang An and went to the Jiang residence unannounced.

The Jiang family bodyguards were familiar with her and didn’t bother notifying Jiang An.

Not finding her in the bedroom, she went to the small garden where they often spent time together.

There was a flowerbed specially planted for desensitization therapy, now trampled into ruins.

Jiang An stood in the middle of the flowerbed, gripping an Omega by the throat and pinning them against an iron frame.

Gone was her usual gentle demeanor—her face was twisted into a terrifying snarl.

The Omega, veins bulging, was on the verge of suffocation.

When Jiang An spotted her, she released the Omega and instantly reverted to that gentle facade, sweetly asking why she wasn’t at work today.

Everyone has their temper, and at first, she thought perhaps the Omega had destroyed the flowerbed, provoking Jiang An’s rage.

But that wasn’t the case.

Gasping for air, the Omega glared at Jiang An with venomous hatred and hysterically revealed the truth.

It turned out Jiang An had fabricated an elaborate lie, using her deceased mother as the script.

Her psychological issues didn’t stem from her mother—they came from too many permanent marks.

Like an extreme backlash, she had grown to loathe and despise Omega pheromones, feeling nauseated at the very scent.

At the same time, her own glands had become disordered, her pheromones tainted with a bloody stench.

That Omega was one of her victims, sobbing and cursing, “Why did you trick me into a permanent mark? To survive, I had to have my glands removed. The doctor says I only have five years left! And I’m not the only one—how many Omegas have you ruined, Jiang An? You’re a monster who deserves to die horribly!”

Far from being promiscuous, Jiang’s father had remained single, devoted to his late wife.

He had no idea what had happened to his daughter. Countless doctors had failed to cure her.

By chance, he heard of a specialist in District 18 who treated rare conditions and sought her out.

Ironically, her unrelated desensitization therapy had indirectly cured the psychological disorder.

Back then, she was barely in her twenties, far less composed than she was now. Upon learning the truth, fear and panic were inevitable—she wanted nothing more than to flee from the madwoman.

To this day, she vividly remembers trembling as she backed away, while Jiang An advanced step by step with the gentlest smile.

Softly coaxing her, insisting they complete the permanent mark, telling her not to be afraid.

Just as Jiang An was about to seize her, her father arrived just in time to save her.

Afterward, she received a hefty consultation fee and severed all ties with Jiang An.

Not long after, Bai Yi transferred her to District 6.

Three years into her new life, Jiang An arrived as the wealthiest person in the region.

By then, she had fully moved past the shadows and could face Jiang An with complete calm.

Jiang An never disturbed her life, only occasionally appearing at certain events she attended.

So she dismissed it, treating her as a stranger.

But she had underestimated just how deranged the madwoman truly was.