I Married A Degraded Alpha
Chapter 74: Tuss Marked Yuri

Chapter 74: Tuss Marked Yuri

Yuri was a seasoned pro. In no time at all, she’d resolved the problem within Tuss’s Sea of Consciousness. Opening her eyes, she was met with Tuss’s sleeping face.

Before they slept, they’d lain side by side. Now, he was turned towards her.

A grin tugged at Yuri’s lips. They always said that alphas were particularly clingy during their heat periods. Either holding their betas close while they slept or facing them — the stories weren’t false, it seemed.

Adorable, she thought.

Tuss, in his sleep, made no attempt to suppress his pheromones. A faint, woody scent filled the entire vehicle, leaving no corner untouched. Yuri felt surrounded by his scent, as though embraced by him.

She didn’t hate it. On the contrary, she found it comforting.

Her body temperature gradually rose until it stabilized at a little over 37 degrees Celsius.

She was entering her own heat cycle, triggered by Tuss’s pheromones.

Yuri wasn’t angry about it. After all, her heat cycle was about to start anyway. Having their cycles align actually saved them quite a bit of time.

After all, whether it was a heat cycle or a heat period, both required seclusion and mutual support.

Yuri injected herself with suppressants and then moved to the driver’s seat. She booted up her opticomputer and returned to her long-abandoned mecha manufacturing coursework.

That day, one of them studied while the other slept. It passed without incident.

The next morning, Yuri woke up feeling overheated. The moment she stirred, Tuss awoke too.

"I’ll get you some water. Just lie still," Tuss told Yuri, who was trying to get up.

Yuri shook her head. "I need a bath."

Tuss handed her a glass of water before rasping, "Can you walk?"

Yuri looked up at Tuss with eyes full of innocent bewilderment and replied softly, "I can’t."

Tuss felt like she was a siren, not only drinking his blood but also draining his soul. And yet, she didn’t seem to want his body.

Tuss bent down to lift her and only then realized she was soaked through. Her thin, soft clothes clung to her, revealing every curve of her body.

Blood started flowing from Tuss’s nose, staining Yuri’s chest.

"It’s your fault," Tuss proclaimed righteously.

Yuri: "...Okay, it’s my fault."

"You take care of it," Tuss demanded.

"I’ll clean you up," Yuri said, not giving him the chance to make any other demands.

Tuss: "..."

He really couldn’t win against her, he felt so wronged.

As she immersed herself in the clear pool, the heat that plagued her body rapidly dissipated. Yuri let out a content sigh.

Not far off, Tuss watched her from another pool, looking pitiful as if Yuri had committed a great crime against him.

"I’m doing this for your own good. Even nosebleeds are blood. If you lose too much, you’ll feel weak," Yuri argued.

Tuss gave her a cold smile and retorted, "Why don’t you come and let’s see if I’m weak or is hard than ever?"

Remembering her knowledge about alpha physiology, Yuri panicked a bit. "Are all alphas naturally gifted in... certain areas?"

"It’s not just us alphas, you betas are gifted too. Want to give it a try?" Tuss’s words were filled with temptation.

Yuri shook her head, "I’m still young."

Tuss countered, "Not young. You’ve grown in all the right places."

Yuri: "..."

A rogue, she concluded, and let it slide.

They soaked in the cold water for a solid hour before reluctantly getting out.

Before they even got back to the vehicle, Officer Lyao sent a communication request, urgently instructing, "You two need to evacuate Planet 132 immediately, no, not enough, leave the Fritillaria Galaxy, return to Planet Alpha."

Startled, Yuri and Tuss asked in unison, "What happened?"

"Insectoids," Officer Lyao explained. "The earlier ones were just the vanguard. The main force is coming."

Yuri and Tuss paled, Tuss asked, "How many insectoids are there, roughly?"

"Exact numbers are still being assessed, but it’s likely to be in the hundreds of thousands," Officer Lyao responded swiftly. "The government on Planet 132 is organizing an evacuation. You two don’t need to assist, just evacuate as quickly as possible. Remember, speed is crucial."

Ending the communication, Tuss turned to Yuri. "There’s a way to speed up the end of the heat cycle. Do you want to try it?"

Tuss’s gaze was intense, almost as if he wanted to burn her. She could sense his ill-intent, his aggression, and his anticipation—

"I won’t accept a full mark," Yuri firmly responded.

Tuss chuckled, his voice low and seductive, "I won’t fully mark you before you turn twenty-five. I don’t fancy being jailed."

Knowing it wasn’t a full mark, Yuri breathed a sigh of relief. "So, what’s the alternative?"

Under these urgent circumstances, anything that could end their heat cycles sooner was more than welcome.

"Besides a full mark, there’s a temporary mark. A temporary mark can shorten the heat cycle by two to three days. An alpha’s mood during a heat period can also be stabilized by a temporary mark," Tuss explained.

After pondering for a while, Yuri gritted her teeth, turned around, and said, "Go ahead."

The moment she turned around, Tuss laughed. His grin was full of triumph and fulfillment. He brushed aside Yuri’s hair, revealing her gland.

He couldn’t help poking it.

Yuri’s body stiffened as if she’d been hit with a pressure point, nearly toppling over.

Tuss seemed to anticipate this reaction, catching her deftly and hoisting her up, like he was holding a child.

Yuri felt a strange sense of shame. Can we have chosen a different position?

But Tuss didn’t give her a chance to back out. Holding her next to the bed, he lowered his head to her neck, his warm breath causing a tickling sensation on her gland.

Yuri’s mind started racing. Will a bite hurt? Will an injured gland get infected? Should I get a rabies shot?

She’d heard that marked betas become emotional, inseparable from their alphas. Will I turn into that?

...

Yuri was contemplating escaping.

Then, the man behind her bit down—Yuri shivered, her body thrashing in response.

Fear and unease flooded her, seemingly never-ending...

"Don’t be scared," he mumbled.

These two words seemed to hold an enormous power, miraculously calming Yuri’s body and mind.

A temporary mark involves an alpha injecting pheromones into a beta’s gland, marking them with the alpha’s own pheromones.

It reminded Yuri of a puppy marking its territory by urinating.

It was kind of awkward.

As the pheromones entered her gland, Yuri felt herself growing weaker.

"Is it over?" Yuri asked pathetically.

Tuss, listening to her soft, pitiful voice, felt his eyes darken even more.

Seeing her like this only made him want to tease her more.

"It’s over, you can relax," Yuri snapped, anger tingeing her words. But even in anger, her voice was still soft and lacked any form of intimidation.

Afraid that she might hold a grudge later, Tuss reluctantly let go of her gland, not daring to push her too far. "You could barely handle a temporary mark. What will you do when it’s time for a full one?"

The mere mention of a full mark made Yuri shudder, "I don’t want a full mark." The diagrams in the physiology books alone were terrifying enough, she didn’t want to experience it.

Tuss didn’t comment, knowing that it wouldn’t be her decision when the time came.

She was his.

The moment she was free, Yuri sat up, her red eyes shimmering with moisture as she glared at Tuss.

Tuss wasn’t scared at all. He found her adorable, but he put on a sincere face and said, "I’m sorry, I couldn’t control myself."