The Emperor didn't hurt him. He just simply held him, his nose drifting dangerously close to the nape of Xiaochuan's neck. The Alpha took a deep, sharp breath, and Xiaochuan felt the man go rigid.
"Plum blossoms," he whispered, his voice sounding breathless, almost pained.
Xiaochuan struggled, his elbow catching the man in the ribs. The grip loosened just enough for Xiaochuan to break free. He didn't look back. He broke through the stunned crowd and ran until his lungs burned, disappearing through the thick trees of the forest.
The silence that followed Xiaochuan's frantic escape was heavy and thick with the stunned confusion of hundreds of onlookers. The commoners whispered behind their hands, eyes darting between the scattered pears on the ground and the Emperor, who remained standing exactly where the boy had left him.
Xiao Chengyuan did not move. He stood in the center of the road, the golden light of the torches dancing across his dark imperial robes. His hand remained slightly raised and his fingers were still curled as if they were still brushing the air where a slim waist had been just seconds before. The scent of wild plum blossoms still clung to his gloves, sharp and heartbreakingly familiar.
It was him. The omega from the forest, the one who was currently about to drive him mad.
Chengyuan's hard gaze flickered toward the Night-Stalkers, who were already tensed, waiting for the command to hunt.
"Get him."
That was enough to get them running after the omega.
King Zhou Yiran, who had been standing slightly behind him, took some steps towards him with fluid grace. His eyes scanned the dark treeline where the pink-haired boy had vanished. He remembered the dinner the night before, how Chengyuan, usually a man of ice and stone, had spoken of a ghostly fragrance he had caught in the winds of the forest.
"That was him, wasn't it?" Zhou Yiran asked in a low voice, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. "He's fast." He murmured, still looking at where the omega had disappeared to. "But don't worry, my men will have him pinned and brought to your feet before the parade reaches the palace gates." Yiran said and Chengyuan could feel the smirk in his voice.
Chengyuan slowly lowered his hand and a ghost of a smile, something far more terrifying and beautiful than his usual cold mask, touched his lips.
"No," Chengyuan murmured, his voice resonating with a strange, dark calm. "You do not trap such beautiful creature like that with steel and dogs." He said calmly and turned to look at Yiran, pinning him with a dark stare.
"And he's mine to worry about."
He said deeply and looked down at one of the bruised pears resting near his boot. To the shock of the onlookers, the Emperor reached down, picked all the fruits back into the burlap, and tucked the small sack into the sleeve of his robe.
Chengyuan thought he had been daydreaming, that maybe the omega in the woods was just a figment of his imagination. But he is real, the omega with the wild plum blossom scent is very much real.
A sense of profound, predatory satisfaction filled the Emperor's chest.
"Continue the parade," Chengyuan commanded, his voice booming with a newfound vigour that startled the royal guards and the people.
He climbed back onto his midnight black horse, his posture regal and his heart thrumming with a rhythm he hadn't felt in a lifetime.
"Bold of you to think you can run from me little moon." Chengyuan whispered to himself as the drums started up again, louder and more triumphant than before.
——————
The door to the small, lopsided cottage slammed open, and Xiaochuan burst through like a hurricane. He was wheezing, breathing so hard it looked as if he was running from a serial killer. And his pink hair was matted with twigs and leaves from his frantic sprint through the forest.
Zhiqing, who had been hunched over a flickering candle, trying to mend a tear in one of their old cloak, jumped nearly out of her skin at the sound.
"Goddess, Xiaochuan! You scared the life out of me!" She yelled as she stood up, her face instantly shifting from shock to a stern scowl. "And look at the time! The sun has been down for an hour. I told you specifically-"
She stopped, her eyes dropping to his empty, trembling hands. "The fruits, Xiaochuan. Where are the dates and pears for the offering?" She asked calmly, silently praying to goddess that her son would say something meaningful and not spew nonsense that would make her want to murder him.
Xiaochuan froze and his stomach did a slow, sickening flip. He looked at his palms, then back at the door, then back to his mother. "The burlap…I…I dropped it. I lost it in the market." He stammered.
"You lost it?!" Zhiqing's voice rose an octave, her hands flying to her hips. "Do you think coins grow on the trees in this forest? I slaved over those embroideries for three days to buy those-"
Zhiqing cut herself off and the harsh words died in her throat when she finally looked at her son's face. Xiaochuan was deathly pale, his eyes were wide and shimmering with unshed tears of pure terror. He looked like a hunted animal that had barely escaped a trap.
"A-Chuan? she asked, her voice softening into a whisper. "What happened? Did the Night-Stalkers find you?"
Zhiqing knew her son wasn't very fond of the Night-Stalkers. On some days they were full of teasing, and on some, they were quite terrifying. And Xiaochuan just came back running from the woods, Zhiqing could only imagine the worse.
Xiaochuan sank onto a wooden stool, his legs finally giving out. "Worse, Mother. Much worse." He swallowed hard.
"What is it A-Chuan? You can tell ma." Zhiqing said softly as she moved to sit beside him on the stool.
"There was a parade, I...I wanted a glimpse of the Emperor, then I got pushed and I tripped right into him."
Zhiqing gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. "You touched the Emperor?"
"He caught me," Xiaochuan whispered, his voice trembling. "He held me, mama. He smelled my neck and….he looked at me like I was a ghost. Then I hit him, I elbowed the Emperor in the ribs and I ran. He already sent the guards after me, but I think I managed to lose them, he's going to kill me, he probably won't stop till he gets his hands on me."
He wailed and buried his face in his hands. He couldn't believe things had turned out like this.
"I can't go back to the city. I can't go to dance practice tomorrow, if I show my face, I'm a dead man."
Zhiqing went silent for a long moment, the gears in her head turning. Then, her eyes sharpened. "Wait, dance practice? Does this mean you finally joined the Golden Crane troupe like I told you?"
Xiaochuan looked up sheepishly. "No…I joined the Cāng Yuè Wû Duì. The Azure Moon team."
"The Azure Moon!" Zhiqing groaned, throwing her hands up. "That troupe is for the elite! They are under the direct eye of King Zhou Yiran! Why must you always pick the most difficult path, boy?" She sighed, rubbing her temples, but then a strange, calculating glint entered her eyes.
"But…. you say he didn't call the guards immediately? He just held you?"
"Hmm." Xiaochuan nodded. "He only sent them after I ran." he muttered.
Zhiqing's posture changed. She scooted closer and placed a firm hand on his shoulder. "Then you are going back tomorrow. And you aren't quitting." She said firmly.
"Mother, are you mad? He'll recognize me!"
"Listen to me," Zhiqing said, her voice hard with desperation.
"If the Emperor wanted you dead, you wouldn't have made it to the treeline. If he held you and let you go, it means he saw something he liked. We are starving, Xiaochuan. If the Emperor has taken an interest, you don't run from it, you need to grab that opportunity."
She gripped his chin, forcing him to look at her. "Go to that studio tomorrow A-Chuan. Hide that fear behind a mask of grace, and fate has dropped the Emperor into your lap, you don't throw him back."