-Unedited-
Chapter 34 - An Old Affair
The next morning, general Craig himself escorted Xi Wei to leave the palace. Xi Wei arrived at Klaire’s door with his white cat. Klaire had already waited there, also holding a familiar little black cat in his arms. Once the two kittens saw each other, they immediately jumped down from their respective owner's bosom, then started meowing while holding a paw out towards each other, looking very happy.
“It always feels like they’re both more excited than both of us,” Klaire said.
Xi Wei smiled, “Let's go, Aiden should be waiting for us at home, we will pick up Carlo along the way.”
They left the cats under the care of Klaire’s brother, Kevin, then, together they entered the suspension car to head towards Carlo's home. Soon, Carlo also joined the party.
When the convoy arrived at Aiden's home, Aiden had long been waiting by the front door.
However, upon seeing that the tall general had once again came with Xi Wei, Aiden's brows reflexively wrinkled in a frown. When he was a child, every time he saw General Craig he would always feel afraid to the point of wanting to hide. Now that he had grown up, although his fear was not as great as before, there was still this uncomfortable feeling in his heart.
Meanwhile, once Craig's eyes landed on the young man, the strange feeling in his heart surfaced once again.
When he first saw the chestnut-haired child, he felt something familiar from him. He couldn't help wanting to get close, thinking that the child was too docile and lovable. But now that the child had grown up, the teenager's soft facial features and his thin body were overlapping with the image of a young man from his memory.
Craig stared at Aiden, whispering, “How old are you this year? Your birthday…… When is it?"
Hearing General Craig, the man who had always been so serious and indifferent to everything, suddenly asked this question, the four teenagers were surprised. They looked at each other.
Although Aiden wasn't very fond of him, but out of courtesy, he still replied softly, “I'm 14 years old, my birthday is in a few days, at August 25th.”
Fourteen years old, born in August. That meant his father's pregnancy probably occurred in November 15 years ago…The same time as when he was in Andromeda Galaxy.
Craig was surprised. He took another look at the boy's chestnut hair, now unable to keep the impulse to reach out a hand to touch him. Aiden's face paled, he stepped back unconsciously. Seeing this scene, Carlo suddenly felt angry, he couldn't help thinking: How old you are, how dare you stick out your hand to such a young omega?! Are you looking for trouble?!
However, due to the man's identity as a royal guard, coupled with Xi Wei's presence, Carlo tried to suppress his agitation. But he sneakily moved to hide Aiden behind him, pretending to be calm as he said: “Aiden, take us into the house, what are we still doing standing here?”
Xi Wei coughed, trying to control the situation: “General, Aiden's health is not good since childhood, he is not accustomed to having physical contact with strangers, so please keep that in mind.”
“…” Craig fell silent for a moment before finally whispering, “Can I go into your house and look around?”
Aiden was obviously reluctant, he looked at him with a frown.
Xi Wei had the difficult position of being the middle man. Somehow General Craig acted so strangely today. When Carlo heard the man's request, his face turned almost as black as the bottom of a pot. Klaire, too, was puzzled, glancing at Xi Wei in confusion.
Craig went on, “I'm only going to look, I won't touch anything. Can I?”
After all, this man was sent to accompany Xi Wei, he was also the head of the Royal Guard, his status almost as high as the Generals of the Military Corps, they shouldn't be rude to him. Since the other party had issued the request, it wouldn't be polite to refuse him directly. After thinking carefully, Aiden then nodded and said: “OK, but my father really doesn't like people touching his things, so general please keep to just walking around.”
Craig promised: “I understand, I just… want to take a look."
Only then did Aiden open the door. The three other teenagers and General Craig entered the house together while the rest of the royal convoy stayed outside.
Xi Wei and Klaire used to come to the house, so they were already familiar with the layout. On the other hand, it was Carlo first time coming here. He was very curious about the plants and animals in the yard, but in order to maintain his upright image, he followed Aiden with a serious expression.
As for Craig, he entered the living room for the first time. He looked at the blue flowers around the room, then at the picture of father-and-son on the wall and freeze.
The year Aiden was born, 14 years ago, Randy took a picture with his son and hung it in the lower left side of the living room wall.
In the photo, Randy looked very young. The combination of his slightly-longer chestnut hair and the shallow smile on his lips painted his face in a very gentle light. He was holding a newborn baby in his arms, little Aiden with a blue furry hat covering his head. The baby's eyes were as beautiful as his father's, opened wide in curiosity towards the camera lens.
Craig’s hands clenched tightly on his side.
That strange sense of familiarity instantly spewed out like an erupting volcano. The memories that were buried deep in his mind started to flash quickly before his eyes, as if he was watching a movie.
That omega should be taller now. Back then, when he stretched out his hand to hold him, that person’s height only came up to his shoulder.
That crazy night was something that Craig would never forget in his life.
Fifteen years ago, Craig's father died of illness, prompting the young Craig to be promoted as the head of the royal guard. His promotion coincided with the 500th anniversary of the Ellen College in Andromeda Galaxy. As an alumnus of this school, Queen Anna was invited to attend the celebration by the headmaster. It happened just a few days after Anna's pregnancy was discovered. His Majesty was busy with affairs, so he commissioned Craig to lead the Royal Guard to escort her.
The special thing about Ellen College was that all the students in this school were omegas, while the teachers consisted of a mix of Betas and Omegas, without an alpha in sight. Therefore, even with Craig's status as the head of the royal guard, he was still forbidden to enter the ground by the headmaster. He could only lead the convoy’s suspended cars to a safe distance away from the school, lest their alpha pheromones affect the students in the school.
Unexpectedly, a riot happened on the day of the celebration!
The moment he saw fire arose inside the school, Craig was shocked. He wanted to save Queen Anna, but was prevented by the rules. Ellen College's rule of forbidding any alpha from entering the school was not mere decoration. Without a special order from the military or His Majesty, rushing into the school would be seen as a capital offense!
Just as Craig was worrying about this, he suddenly saw a familiar suspension car flying in the air.
Fortunately, His Majesty had the foresight to prepare something else due to Ellen College’s refusal to let any alpha enter the place. He had specifically selected four beta guards to stay by the Queen’s side as protection. Those people apparently found out something was wrong and immediately took the Queen out of school.
Craig hurriedly approached the car and asked: “Queen, are you all right?”
Anna shook her head, saying despite her pale face: “I’m fine.”
With a frown, Craig asked his subordinates: “What is the situation in the school?”
The closest beta guard to him saluted and reported: “General, the intelligent machine armor used to do a performance for Ellen College's anniversary celebration suddenly lost control. It went crazy and attacked the students under the platform, a lot of students who stood close from the stage were seriously injured! Once we saw the situation had gone wrong, we immediately escorted the Queen out!"
Looking back at that scene, Anna was also frightened. The terrible screams of the surrounding students almost shattered her eardrum. Like a possessed demon, the machine armor on the big stage suddenly waved its electric knife madly, cutting many of the audiences. If not because Anna's status was high enough to be invited to sit with the headmaster, perhaps she would've already been cut into pieces! The ground was filled with blood, the students were running like crazy, the whole scene was chaotic. It was simply a human purgatory.
Hearing the guard's description, Craig also couldn't help but feel surprised, “How can the machine armor attack humans? Is someone working behind the scenes?"
Anna took a deep breath to calm herself then said, “Someone must be causing it deliberately. This matter needs to be reported to His Majesty as soon as possible!”
At that moment, Craig suddenly received a call with a secret order from His Majesty: “The military has just received the news. There is a Federation undercover agent lurking in the Andromeda Galaxy, they want to take advantage of this 500th-anniversary celebration to destroy the entire Ellen College! The Star Corps which stationed in the vicinity has been sent there as support. Craig, I ordered you to quickly control the chaos inside Ellen College, don't let any casualties appear among the omega students!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The ring on Craig's right hand suddenly lit up in a dazzling golden light, letting out his S-Class intelligent machine armor- Jinhe!
Among the few S-Class intelligent machine armors in the Empire, Craig's Jinhe was the least dispatched. Since Craig was the head of the royal guards, his only responsibility was the safety of the royal family. He wouldn't use his own machine armor unless the Royal Family's members were in extreme danger. This was a special case initiated in accordance with His Majesty’s order: he must suppress the chaotic situation as soon as possible before the Star Corps arrived!
Ellen College's students only saw a burst of golden light in the sky, before a huge crane-shaped machine armor was suddenly seen forcing its way through the electronic defense network over Ellen College in lightning speed! The golden claws of the machine armor were accurately protruding toward the smaller out-of-control machine armor in the college. In a flash, the small machine armor was directly torn into pieces!
The students who were now widely concentrated inside the security building stared at the tragic scene inside the campus with their eyes wide open.
Jinhe's battle strength was worthy of being an S-Class machine armor. Under Craig's control, the beautiful golden-colored machine armor expanded its pair of huge wings, hovering over the campus in high speed, then, once it found the out-of-control machine armor, it resolutely extended its claws to tear it completely!
The chaotic situation was quickly suppressed by Craig. In a blink, the only thing left inside the campus was the wreckage of the machine!
At this time, the support from the Star Corps finally arrived. Under General Byron's command, the Star Corps' battle armors quickly surrounded Ellen College.
The school was soon taken over by the military. After a simple handover of control to General Byron, Craig quickly picked up his machine armor to take the Queen to a nearby residence to rest. As a result, just as he had settled the Queen, the central star field of the Andromeda Galaxy suddenly became dark- an electromagnetic disturbance had destroyed the power network in Andromeda Galaxy!
General Byron sent a message to Craig: “The investigation team found traces of the Federation Army in the vicinity of Andromeda Galaxy. I'm taking some people to clean them up. General Craig, remember to protect the Queen’s safety!”
"Understand!"
Some of the Star Corps' soldiers were left behind, while the rest were led by General Byron to the periphery of the Andromeda Galaxy to fight with the Federation Army. A large number of aircraft flew high up in the sky, the sound of bombings that could be heard from time to time left the whole galaxy shaken.
At that time, a strange sound was suddenly heard from the outside. Craig let the vice-captain lead the soldiers left to protect the Queen, while he went to check out the situation.
However, as soon as he went out, he was shocked.
Because he smelled a strong omega pheromone, the scent of that sweet aroma almost made him lose his mind.
-Obviously, an omega nearby is about to enter Estrus.
Fortunately, Craig was a soldier, his self-control was extremely strong. Afraid that the accidental estrus of an omega would cause a riot among the soldiers, he immediately followed the scent, trying to find the source in the fastest speed.
The scent came from a room in the next-door Grand Hotel. Craig kicked the door without hesitation.
The disturbance of Andromeda Galaxy's power supply by the electromagnetic waves had also turned the hotel's rooms dark. Through the fire outside, he could faintly see a figure curled up next to the sofa. The person seemed to be shaking slightly, sweet scent of pheromone oozing off of him.
Once he found the target, Craig walked forward a few steps, but the omega was apparently also aware of the strong alpha pheromone coming closer. The omega's body suddenly stiffened, he shouted: “Stop, don’t come!”
The hoarse voice was a little hysterical, but Craig ignored his protest and quickly went over to restain him. At the same time, he ordered his machine armor: “Block the room, don’t let the pheromone smell leak out!”
“Yes, Master!"
Jinhe immediately started doing the command, spreading energy all over its parts. Then, the machine armor's body started deforming at an incredible speed, expanding until the whole room was completely covered. With a few ringing sounds, the metal parts of the machine armor were connected from one end to the other. The room had been turned into an airproof room.
Only after this did Craig feel relieved. He whispered: “Who are you?”
The omega did not answer, he just shrank there and trembled violently.
Craig frowned: “Are you a student of Ellen College?”
The other side still did not speak.
Craig then asked, “This… did you enter estrus accidentally?
The omega finally stood up, his height came up to just Craig's shoulder. It was faintly clear that his body was very thin. With a trembling voice, he said: “Please, please send me to the east side of Andromeda Galaxy. Someone will come to pick me up there…”
Craig interrupted him with a frown: “No, the whole Andromeda Galaxy is in a mess now, I can't send you away.”
“Please, please send me away, I will be grateful to you for all my life.” The omega pleaded softly.
Craig was startled, the gentle pleading from the omega softened his usually cold heart.
But he still had to be sensible and tell him that he couldn’t do so.
The identity of the omega had yet to be identified, His Majesty had also said that there was a Federation undercover agent lurking in the Andromeda Galaxy to create chaos during the 500th-anniversary of Ellen College. How could he, as a soldier, send this omega away privately at this critical time? What if this guy was the one who made the mess at Ellen College?
Craig considered his options for a moment, before immediately making a decision: “You stay here. Once the war outside has been concluded, I will naturally check your background and then decide what to do with you.”
Just as he said this, the omega's legs suddenly turned soft, he fell directly into Craig's bosom.
Craig: “…”
With the soft body pressed close to his, the scent of rich sweet pheromone instantly rushed into his nose. Craig's back turned stiff. The omega stretched out his right hand, clutching tightly onto Craig's shirt collar. His voice trembled as he said: “You, are you an idiot?! You think I can wait until that time?”
Craig stayed still, his mind blank.
The omega was breathing quickly, soft hair constantly brushing against his chin. The omega's pheromone scent and body heat were rising rapidly, leaving Craig suddenly feeling overwhelmed.
He had experienced so many things, had also faced countless out-of-control machine armor calmly and quickly suppressed the situation, but at that moment, facing an omega who was about to enter estrus, he actually didn't know what to do.
“What are you, what are you doing…” the omega unexpectedly had started ripping all of his uniform's buttons. Craig's brain was shocked, he exclaimed, “Hey, stop, stop it now!”
“I’m so cold, hold me… Hurry…… Hug me…”
The other side took the initiative to come into Craig's arms seemingly on instinct, taking off the man's heavy military uniform and throwing them aside.
“…” In the deep of Craig’s brain, a spark was flashing. His rational mind had short-circuited.
Turned out, Craig had overestimated his own self-control. He thought he could lock the omega temporarily at least until dawn, but he forgot that once an omega entered estrus, they would be completely out of control, especially if they had not been embraced and marked by an alpha. In cases like this, the omega would not be able to rely on willpower to resist their urges. Furthermore, Alphas were unlikely to be able to withstand the temptation of such a strong pheromone.
Even if his self-control was strong, even if he was a cold and ruthless person, the slightly trembling body of the omega in his bosom and that rich omega pheromone were repeatedly cutting into his rational mind like knives.
In the end, Craig also completely lost his senses. He forced the omega into his arm and mercilessly kissed him.
This kiss, was simply a start of something more. The two people who had completely lost their minds then rolled to bed while still hugging each other.
……
Craig was also very young that time, still in his twenties. He had no previous experience in that area.
According to books, Alpha would generally mark the omega on the third day of estrus. But somehow, at that time Craig directly completed the mark on the first night, and even more strange, the omega's estrus seemed to end at once.
After the marking, their sanity finally returned a bit. Craig hugged the omega's body tightly, filled with remorse and guilt.
To embrace an omega stranger, I’m simply lower than beasts!
Craig was thinking about asking the man's name to take responsibility for him, but the omega suddenly said softly, “Will you help me with my clothes, please?”
His voice was hoarse, his throat seemed to be wounded.
Having just completed the marking, Craig naturally wouldn't refuse the omega's request. He immediately turned to collect the clothes that had previously been thrown aside in their frenzy, then gently wrapped the man's body in them. He dropped a soft kiss on his forehead, then asked in a rare show of gentleness: “You… Are you hurt? Let my machine armor give you a good check up…”
“No need for that.” The omega suddenly took something out of his pocket, then hit Craig on the back of his head. Craig completely lost consciousness in shock.
When he woke up again, Craig felt his head hurting.
He looked around and was surprised to find that the omega had disappeared.
On the ground was a blue crescent-shaped ring, something that must have been accidentally dropped by the omega when he left. Craig picked up the ring carefully, he was going to ask his machine armor about what happened, but found that his machine armor -Jinhe- was in the state of shutdown!
Surprised, Craig immediately started it again and asked: “How could you shut down at such a crucial moment? What about the omega?"
Jinhe answered innocently: “I, I do not know! I was forced to shut down, Master. The omega is good, he not only subdued my system but also deleted all data from last night!"
Craig: “…”
Later, the shameful Craig took his machine armor and the blue ring back to the Queen’s residence. The war had ended, the Federation Army was driven away by the Star Corps. The electromagnetic disturbance in Andromeda Galaxy had also been completely lifted, the power supply fully restored. Ellen College had started on doing rehabilitation for the students.
Seeing that Craig had returned, Queen Anna couldn't help asking: “Craig, you didn't come back last night, what is the matter? Are you okay?"
Craig touched his nose stiffly and said, “I’m all right… I went to look out for unexpected situations."
He didn’t tell anyone about what happened because he felt that he had done something wrong and he was sorry for the omega.
But there was no denying that the warmth and intensity of that night was something that he would never forget. The sweet taste of the omega, the sounds that he let out, the mark, and even the teeth print on his shoulder, all were imprinted in Craig's heart.
It was just that… in that chaotic night he was so quick to complete the mark, he didn't even find out the omega's identity.
After that night, he returned to the Andromeda Galaxy for many times, but never found any information about that person.
Except for this blue ring, there was nothing else.
He even once speculated that the Omega must be the undercover agent from Federation Army who made the mess that day. That he might have returned to the federation already.
Initially, he thought that he wouldn't see that person again in this lifetime, but today, looking at the handsome young man in front of him, a strange feeling suddenly rose up inside Craig's heart. Something like… an inexplicable affection, making him, who had always been indifferent, couldn't help wanting to touch the child’s head.
However, Aiden did not like him after all, so Craig resisted this desire. He looked at the pictures on the wall again and asked: “Your father … Did he ever tell you who your alpha father was?"
Aiden’s face turned a little pale, he lowered his head, “Dad said that my alpha father had already died on the battlefield."
After a moment of silence, Craig asked: “Do you know this ring?”
As he said this, he took out the blue ring from his pocket. Aiden looked at it carefully, then said with astonishment, “Where did you get this? My father gave me an identical blue necklace."
Craig: “…”
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