Omega Manual chapter 11

Thank you, Boss

The iodine-soaked cotton ball gently brushed over the back of Shelley’s neck, not as painful as he imagined, just cool and slightly itchy, soon followed by a wave of heat in the treated area.

Honestly, this was harder to endure than pain.

Too close, too intimate.

Even before his secondary gender differentiation, Shelley had never allowed anyone this close.

The sensitive nerves around his gland could clearly feel Irey’s delicate movements, the occasional brush of his fingertips, and the inadvertent warm breath.

Excessive intimacy spread in the cramped, narrow hotel room.

Whether he liked it or not, he was an Omega marked by the Alpha behind him, and every nerve in his body instinctively yearned to be close to him.

His touch, his breath, his scent, all instinctively made Shelley feel safe.

This was even more intimate and suffocating than that night in the cabin at Lansai.

Until a sharp pain came from the back of his neck.

“Hiss!” Shelly flinched forward in pain, and the fog-like ambiguous atmosphere dissipated completely.

“Don’t move.” Irey pressed Shelly’s forehead with his hand, not stopping his actions, “It’s all festering, I can’t disinfect it properly without cleaning it up. Bear with it.”

“Easier said than done!” Shelly’s eyes were almost tearing up a few times, but Irey’s actions didn’t soften at all. The cotton swab moved quickly and harshly over the wound, squeezing out all the pus and blood.

“Done. Better a short pain than a long one.” Irey discarded the pus-stained cotton swab, picked up a clean one, and continued applying the medicine.

Shelly breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back wearily in his chair.

Irey’s technique for handling wounds was indeed very skillful. Anyone else would probably take much longer and be more torturous.

“You seem quite good at this,” Shelly said, “handling wounds and such.”

“Caroline—my sister, used to get hurt a lot as a child,” Irey said. “She loved running and jumping around, coming home with injuries every day.”

“Oh.” Shelly suddenly didn’t know what to say.

There was a brief silence in the air, only the sound of Irey changing bandages and screwing bottle caps could be heard.

“By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask, what does your pheromone smell like?” Irey suddenly asked.

Shelly was taken aback for a moment, then realized that the glands at the back of his neck had instinctively released some pheromones due to the pain, not a lot but noticeable.

An Omega releasing their pheromones in front of an Alpha was definitely considered a form of seduction, a realization that made Shelly’s cheeks flush with embarrassment.

“I—uh, I didn’t do it on purpose, it’s you who…” Shelly gestured vaguely in the air, then gave up on explaining further, “Tuberose.”

“Tuberose?” Irey obviously hadn’t heard of this name.

“A type of flower, used as a raw material for many perfumes and fragrances. It only emits a strong scent at night, hence the name tuberose, also known as night-blooming jasmine among the people,” Shelly lowered his eyelids, explaining casually, “It’s quite strong, I don’t like it either.”

“Is that so? I think it smells nice,” Irey commented simply.

Shelly suddenly felt like laughing.

The scent of pheromones was very personal and private. Especially Omega pheromones, which were considered to be directly related to sexual attraction.

Complimenting the scent of pheromones should be a very suggestive and ambiguous act, but Irey said it as if he were complimenting a perfume.

No, he might not have even smelled perfume. It was more like he was complimenting some random wildflower he saw by the roadside.

Despite this, Shelly didn’t feel offended; instead, he felt a sense of relaxed ease.

“Alright.” Irey threw away the last cotton swab, tore a piece of bandage, and stuck it on the gland. “Don’t get it wet, don’t take a bath, avoid spicy and greasy food, and it’ll heal in a few days. The wound isn’t that serious; it’s only this bad because you neglected it.”

Shelly winced in pain, a wave of irritation rising in his heart. “How was I supposed to know such a small wound could get infected so easily…”

“It’s obvious you haven’t been hurt much, young master.” Irey mocked.

“You—” Shelly rarely got into direct confrontations with people and couldn’t think of any retort for a moment.

Irey didn’t give him the chance either. He picked up his coat from the bed and headed for the door, “I’m going out for a bit.”

The door clicked shut, leaving only Shelly and the scattered disinfectant supplies on the table in the narrow room.

Shelly exhaled slowly, put the bottles and jars back into the medical kit, and glanced out the window.

The town lights were flickering, and the blue moon hung in the sky. The night wind wailed between the man-made jungle of buildings.

When Irey returned, Shelly was leaning against the headboard, seeming a bit drowsy, nodding off now and then.

Just as he was about to turn off the light, a loud stomach growl echoed in the room for several seconds.

Irey then saw his boss’s fair cheeks gradually turn pink at a visible speed.

“Hungry?” Irey placed the bags he had brought on the table and opened them, “Sandwich, hot dog, cookies, yogurt, what do you want?”

“You went out to buy food?” Shelly was somewhat surprised.

“After a whole day of running around, of course you’d be hungry. Anyone could guess you’d be reluctant to eat the food here,” Irey said. “I got these from the supermarket, all uniformly packaged and preserved. If you can’t accept these either, I can’t conjure up a lavish feast for you.”

“A sandwich, please,” Shelly said, “Thanks.”

“Too polite, boss.” Irey tossed the sandwich towards Shelly and placed the yogurt by his bed.

Caught off guard, Shelly nearly missed catching it, but managed to grab it by a corner at the last moment and slowly began unwrapping it.

Irey seemed to have misunderstood him quite a bit. He didn’t always eat lavish meals; he often ordered takeout or ate fast food when busy. He avoided small eateries mainly out of hygiene concerns.

But now, he didn’t have much choice.

“When I went downstairs earlier, I checked the supplies in the car,” Irey sat down at the foot of the bed. “There are five barrels of gasoline, one spare tire, and three replacement valves. Is that enough?”

“Enough to reach Mount Yinbu,” Shelly took a bite of the sandwich.

Irey looked at him and suddenly smiled.

“What are you smiling about?”

“You talk as if you don’t plan on coming back from Mount Yinbu,” Irey said.

Shelly paused, a small piece of sandwich fell from his fingers, rolled over his sleeve a few times, and finally dropped onto the blanket.

However, the next second, Irey stood up from the bed, bypassing the topic, “How about waking up at seven tomorrow morning? The next city is far away, and if we don’t leave early, we won’t get there before dark.”

“Alright,” Shelley said.

“Okay, then finish your meal and rest early. I’ll call you when it’s time tomorrow morning.” Irey walked to the window, drew the curtains, and blocked out the void of the night beyond the fabric.

Shelley looked at Irey’s slender figure and suddenly felt a bit guilty.

If there were any other way, he wouldn’t have involved someone unrelated in this one-way journey.

“Halton,” Shelley called.

“Hmm?” Irey turned back. Shelley was holding something in his hand. When Irey took it, he saw it was a brand-new chip card.

It looked somewhat like a bank card, yet completely different from the old-fashioned bank cards.

He had heard before that even though the telecommunication system had collapsed, the wealthy in the upper city still used new electronic accounts to transfer and spend sums of money that ordinary people couldn’t even imagine.

He never thought he would own one someday.

“This is a new account opened for you yesterday. The default password is the last six digits of your ID number. You can change the password and withdraw money at any Manta branch.” Shelley said, “I just transferred a thousand yuan into it, today’s payment.”

Irey raised an eyebrow, “Daily wages? Such a good deal?”

Shelley didn’t explain much, just gave a simple “Hmm.”

“Okay, thanks, boss.” Irey deftly flicked the card.

After washing up, Irey turned off the light, and darkness instantly enveloped the damp and narrow room.

Their beds were so close that they could reach across the gap between them. The sound of fabric rustling was close to Shelley’s ears. He closed his eyes, but couldn’t shake off the unease in his chest.

A strange city, a strange hotel, a strange Alpha he had bonded with.

The smell of iodine still lingered in the air, and the wound on the back of his neck throbbed slightly with his pulse. He turned his head towards Irey’s bed, but he couldn’t see anything in the darkness. He couldn’t judge Irey’s posture or expression, nor guess his thoughts.

The quilt was heavy and thick, emitting a musty smell, and the sheets were hard and uncomfortable.

The thought that these sheets and quilts likely bore traces of others’ revelry made Shelley’s scalp tingle and his temples throb.

“Boss.” Irey’s voice suddenly came from the darkness.

“What?” Shelley reflexively turned his head, then realized that in the dark, they couldn’t see each other.

“I just thought of something. Marwen probably sells gasoline,” Irey said. “They have oil resources and the conditions to extract it. The meteor shower five years ago didn’t seem to damage their facilities much.”

“Yeah,” Shelley said. “A lot of gasoline in Nantes comes from Marwen.”

“No wonder,” Irey said. “Then we just need to refuel in Marwen as we pass through. We can buy spare tires and replacement valves on the way if we need them.”

With that, Irey turned over. Shelley could hear the rustling from the bed opposite, then it went quiet, and only the sound of the night wind brushing the window remained.

Somehow, Shelley’s tense heart suddenly relaxed, and the persistent unease dissipated.

Soon, Irey’s steady breathing came. Drowsiness overtook Shelley, and before he knew it, he had fallen into a half-sleep.