Vine tilted his head slightly to look at the passenger seat.
The young female had her back to him, her body curled up. She was so still, she looked like she was asleep.
It was exceptionally quiet inside the vehicle. This off-road military vehicle, designed for the wilderness, was almost completely soundproofed from the outside world once the windows were rolled up.
However, as an alpha wolf, Vine possessed senses far keener than most Beastmen.
Especially on missions, his highly trained body would automatically enter a state of heightened alert and observation.
He could perceive the whisper of warm air from the vents, the hum of the engine, and even the crunch of the wheels rolling over the snow.
The young female’s constantly vibrating terminal, her slight movements, and the rhythm of her breathing all revealed she wasn’t asleep.
None of this distracted him from his driving, but a certain scent inside the vehicle, growing ever stronger, was making him increasingly tense.
It was her scent.
In such a confined space, amplified by the warm air, the sweet fragrance seemed to be boring its way into his very flesh.
It was even more potent than the scent he’d caught in the bathroom that night.
When the two Mixed Breeds were in the vehicle, their scents had still been able to mask hers.
Now that it was just the two of them, he could still smell her clearly, even though her clothes were masked with the scents of Alex and the fox.
Vine’s breathing slowed. He wiped the sweat from his face with the hem of his shirt, feeling perplexed.
It wasn’t that he’d never encountered females or smelled their scents before, but he’d never found them particularly special. To him, those scents were merely a way to tell male from female.
Vine wiped his forehead again. He soon landed on the only logical explanation for why her scent was affecting him so intensely.
"Are you in heat?" he asked cautiously, looking at Gu Ning’s back.
Hearing him, Gu Ning’s eyes flew wide open. She thought she must have misheard.
’What did he just ask me?’
"It’s winter. How could you be in heat?" Vine seemed to be asking her, but he was also muttering to himself, his tone filled with confusion.
Soon, he came up with a slightly more plausible reason. "These past few days, have you been spending every night with Alex?"
Cook and the fox were both Mixed Breeds; they almost never went into heat, especially not in winter.
’Gu Ning really didn’t want to talk to Vine, especially not about something like this.’
’She had only met Vine a handful of times, and before he knew she was a female, he’d treated her like a Mixed Breed. He’d only ever spoken to her with an interrogating or lecturing tone.’
’How could he suddenly steer the conversation in this direction?’
Gu Ning thought about it for a moment and quickly came up with a possible reason.
She lowered her head and sniffed at herself.
She couldn’t smell anything particularly strong. She had sweated a little earlier, but now that her heavy coat was off, the temperature felt just right.
’It was strange,’ she thought. ’Even if a Beastman’s sense of smell was several times better than hers, it couldn’t be that a little sweat was enough to make him ask something like that.’
’When she lived with Barto and Alex, they never asked her things like this.’
Gu Ning’s gaze returned to her chat with Andrew.
She had resisted the urge to complain or tattle to Andrew, simply giving him an update on their route. But now, she really wanted to ask him to have Alex switch places and get in this vehicle.
Just as she was debating whether to send a little complaint to Andrew, she heard Vine’s serious voice. "In an unsafe area, don’t be too preoccupied with mating. The scent will attract unwanted beasts."
Gu Ning: "..."
’Wh-wh-what... is he talking about?’
Vine frowned and continued, "As an alpha wolf, how can Alex have so little self-control?"
’The young female is young and inexperienced, but doesn’t he know any better?’
’He couldn’t even control himself when they were about to leave the district. Fortunately, she was surrounded by their own men—all strictly trained soldiers.’
Vine touched the small tactical pouch on his hip. ’Good.’ No matter the situation, he always carried various Inhibitors. They allowed him to maintain a state of perfect rationality, which he considered a soldier’s most basic duty—to minimize the influence of external factors, even suppressing his own natural instincts.
"Alex didn’t scent you properly," he added.
Hearing that, Gu Ning decided she couldn’t just keep ignoring him while pretending to be asleep. It would be better to talk to him and clear things up, before his train of thought spiraled off into a black hole.
She was just about to turn around, but Vine’s next sentence stopped her in her tracks.
"I’ll do it," Vine said. "Take off your outer coat."
A cold sweat broke out on Gu Ning’s back.
’What is he trying to do?!’
She didn’t hesitate any longer and typed into the chat box:
[Admiral Andrew, I have a request! (paws together)]
’Alex had told her she could ignore anything Vine said that wasn’t mission-related, but it was obvious he was about to do something.’
’This wasn’t a problem that could be solved by simply ignoring him anymore.’
Andrew:
[What is it?]
[Don’t hesitate to ask. I will do everything in my power to accommodate you.]
Gu Ning:
[Could you have Alex switch vehicles with Captain Vine?]
Andrew stood at the edge of the high platform on the wall, gazing into the distance where Gu Ning and the others had departed. He saw the young female’s message, pondered for a moment, and replied:
[Can you tell me specifically why you don’t want to be with Vine?]
[I want to better understand the soldiers under my command. If he’s done something wrong, I’d like to correct him now to prevent him from making worse mistakes later.]
Gu Ning:
[Nothing bad happened. Captain Vine is very professional. It’s just that, you know, I’m more familiar with Alex.]
Seeing that the young female didn’t want to give the real reason, Andrew didn’t press her. He knew the abilities and temperaments of every soldier under his command, especially the ones he himself had promoted.
[A switch is possible,] he replied. [But it can’t be Alex right now. He needs to guard the rear of the convoy. How about a different soldier?]
This was what Gu Ning had expected. She typed: [In that case, could it be someone who won’t initiate conversation with me?]
Andrew smiled and replied with an [Okay].
Gu Ning let out a huge sigh of relief. ’As long as they’re switching someone, I’m fine with it.’
The next second, she heard Vine apparently open a communications channel.
"Admiral."
’It must be Andrew.’
Gu Ning’s breath caught as she felt Vine’s gaze land on her.
"Yes, she’s asleep," Vine said.
Gu Ning felt a pang of guilt. Clutching her terminal, she strained to hear Vine’s conversation with Andrew.
However, she could only hear Vine’s side of the conversation.
"Understood." Vine was silent for a full half-minute before he spoke again.
After saying that, he disconnected the call.
After another long silence, the vehicle came to a stop.
Gu Ning figured Andrew must have gotten through to Vine, so she cautiously turned her head to look at him.
Vine was taking off his jacket.
"..."
Gu Ning’s eyes met his for an instant before she looked away, scooting closer to the window.
Vine handed the jacket he’d taken off to Gu Ning. "Take off your coat," he said. "Wear mine." He paused. "Or just cover yourself with it. Your scent is too strong."
Wordlessly, Gu Ning reached out and took the jacket.
"That’s the in-vehicle communicator," Vine said, pointing to a button on the center console. "Use it to call if anything happens."
Gu Ning’s gaze fell to the button he indicated, and she nodded.
Hearing a faint sound from the roof of the vehicle, Vine didn’t hesitate. He pushed open his door and stepped out.
Seeing Vine emerge bare-chested and covered in sweat, and catching the scent wafting off him, the Beastman who had been on the roof frowned.
He leaped lightly down from the roof and reached for the handle of the driver’s door.
"Wait," Vine said, grabbing the other’s hand to stop him. "She’s changing."
The Beastman: "...."