Inside the house next door, Yunfeng's nose twitched. He had been lying down beside muchen, eyes half-shut, trying to ignore the heat slowly creeping under his skin. But now, something was different.
A new scent had begun to spread into the air.
It wasn't Muchen's soft, mellow rose pheromone—no, this was something stronger. Richer. Sweet like burnt caramel, but also wild, sharp, and heavy. It didn't belong to an Alpha or Beta. It wasn't even something Yunfeng could categorize easily. But it was undeniably intense.
Too intense.
His eyes opened fully. Either his senses were returning faster than expected... or Jai was getting worse.
He turned to Muchen, who was flipping through the notebook they'd been using to communicate with Grandpa Kailun.
"Muchen," Yunfeng said quietly. "Can you go check on Jai? He's been gone too long."
