Chapter 389 - 349: She Has Officially Gone Into Heat
Chapter 389: Chapter 349: She Has Officially Gone Into Heat
Gu Ning slapped her forehead. That’s right. On the way to Zone 15, they had run into Mutant Species and lost a lot of their luggage.
"Have clothes delivered? You mean from a store?" Gu Ning asked.
The 12th District was part of the Central District, so there should be quite a few females living there. It was just that their current location was on the outskirts, so they hadn’t seen any.
And since it was a city where females lived, it naturally had all sorts of shops that catered to them.
"Yeah, I’ll have Seth go to a store and buy some for you." Alex scooped the little female back onto the bed, then grabbed a book and lay down beside her. "If you can’t sleep, want to read a bit?"
Gu Ning saw that he had taken the language book from her bag. ’I really need to work hard on this,’ she thought, leaning against his arm and waiting for her Wolf Teacher to begin the lesson.
Alex took the opportunity to pull her into his arms. He flipped open a few pages and, once again, started teaching the little female from the very basics.
Half an hour later, Lanuo came by for his routine check-up. As soon as he entered the ward, he saw a huge, unsightly male lounging on the hospital bed, his little patient sleeping soundly in the man’s arms.
Lanuo’s brow furrowed. He walked over, pointed at the wolf, and scolded, "She’s still sick—"
"Shhh."
Alex raised a finger to his lips, signaling him to be quiet.
"Ningning just fell asleep." ’It wasn’t easy getting her to sleep,’ he thought.
Having taught Gu Ning so many times, he knew exactly how to make her drowsy with his lessons.
Lanuo shot him a glare and warned in a low voice, "I gave her some strong medicine. Even though she looks much better, she can’t do any strenuous exercise. Otherwise, the side effect won’t just be drowsiness—it will affect her heart and lungs. Understand?"
Alex gently placed the book aside. Cradling Gu Ning, he slid down the bed a bit and tucked her in. Then, he looked at the glaring Jin Mu and said, "Turn off the lights on your way out."
"..."
At dusk, Barto returned to the ward carrying a bag of food.
"Time to eat—"
He pushed open the door, and both his smile and his steps froze.
On the hospital bed, Gu Ning and the alpha wolf were sleeping in each other’s arms. Her head was nestled in the crook of his arm, her hand resting on his neck.
The fox silently gazed at the intimate scene. After a moment, he closed the door with a dull thud, casually dropped the food on the table, and shrugged off his cold-tinged coat, tossing it aside.
Alex and Gu Ning were woken one after the other by the commotion.
"Time to eat. Look at the time, and you’re still sleeping."
Barto glanced at the pair, then rummaged through the bag with a loud rustle, pulling out the food containers inside.
Gu Ning stretched. She looked at Barto, a bit dazed, then smiled lazily. "You’re back, Barto."
Barto snorted. "Hurry up and eat. It’s going to get cold."
Gu Ning wanted to laze in bed. "The room... has heating. It won’t get cold."
Alex leaned over and kissed her warm cheek, nuzzling against her face. "Still sleepy?"
Seeing his handsome face magnified before her, Gu Ning blinked, her mind gradually clearing.
’No wonder the bed was so warm. How could it not be, with such a large, human-shaped furnace in it?’
Having overslept, Gu Ning felt groggy. She lazily pushed herself up, leaned against Alex, and hugged his arm with a soft hum.
"What time is it?"
Alex had never seen the little female act so affectionately with him. He took a slow breath to calm his racing heart and smoothed down her messy hair. "A little after six."
Hearing it was already six, the last traces of sleep vanished from Gu Ning’s eyes.
’I actually slept that long!’
Her gaze swept across the bed, and when she saw the book by her pillow, she slapped her forehead several times. Reading in bed always made her drowsy; she’d always used it as a sleep aid. Even with Alex teaching her, it was no exception. She didn’t even know when she had dozed off.
Gu Ning quickly threw off the covers, jumped out of bed, and pushed her IV pole over to the window.
’Good. It isn’t dark yet, and it’s still snowing. I can still shoot a short video after dinner before nightfall.’
After checking the weather outside, Gu Ning pushed her IV pole over to Philinos’s bed.
It had been almost four days, and the Little Fairy Bird still hadn’t woken up. However, color had returned to his face and lips; he was no longer as frighteningly pale as before.
Gu Ning’s gaze softened as she looked at the Little Fairy Bird. Hearing Barto urging her to eat, she quickly pushed her IV pole into the bathroom.
Barto and Alex instinctively started to follow and help her, but Gu Ning shut the door before they could take a step.
Ever since she got the IV pole, Gu Ning hadn’t let them follow her into the bathroom, except to help her wash up in the mornings.
Barto sat back down, arranged the food containers, and opened them. Steam and the aroma of food billowed out, instantly filling the entire ward.
"What did you make for her today?"
Alex walked over and asked.
Barto ignored him. With his eyes lowered, he took out two sets of utensils and arranged them. When there was nothing left to do, he finally let out a slow breath and said, "Do you even know she’s still sick?"
Leaning against the sofa, Alex said, "I know. What are you getting at?"
Barto snapped, "Don’t play dumb. The doctor repeatedly stressed that she needs to rest. If you can’t control yourself, go take a few more shots of Inhibitor. If you can’t even afford them, you can just ask me."
The fox’s thinly veiled insults and sarcasm didn’t faze Alex in the slightest.
Alex said, "So generous?"
Barto replied, "I can afford that little bit of money."
Alex said, "A standard heat Inhibitor costs around five thousand Beast Coins. Better ones go for ten thousand or more. That’s not a small sum for you, Black Market Iron Fox."
Barto froze at the sound of that long-forgotten nickname. He shot up in anger, strode forward, and poked Alex’s shoulder with a sharp fingertip. "The money isn’t for you, you damn dog! Who do you think you are? You think just because she’s accepted you, you can do whatever you want with her?! Let me tell you, if you recklessly coax her into mating, I’ll tear—"
"You know we didn’t do anything," Alex interrupted, his tone flat.
Barto choked on his words. "I... I’m warning you! Even if you can’t take it, you better hold back!"
Having been interrupted, much of his fiery bravado deflated.
Alex calmly landed another heavy blow. "On what grounds?"
Barto’s remaining bluster deflated like a leaking balloon. "I’m her family."
Alex glanced at Barto’s transformed fingertips. "You’re family she chose, yes, but this is a matter for her mate to handle. After all, you don’t understand this sort of thing."
Barto’s hand slowly fell to his side.
Alex delivered the final blow. "She’s officially gone into heat. Are you going to bypass her and choose a mate for her? Or perhaps you’d like to do it yourself?"
Barto froze.
Alex continued, "You haven’t noticed her scent is different from her bleeding phase? In that case, you’re even less qualified to discuss this with me."
Barto clenched his fists. "Of course I smelled it."
"So? You think you understand females better than a normal male?"
The words "normal male" were like a knife twisting in Barto’s heart.
"You can’t be the one to take care of Ningning." Alex pulled an Inhibitor glowing with a faint blue light from his pocket and handed it to the fox. "But she has to take care of *you*. As her mate and future family, that means you and Cook are my responsibility now, too. Ask for whatever you want, but do not cross the line when it comes to matters between her and me. You know your own situation perfectly well. Prying is pointless, so don’t cause her any more trouble."