Desire Me If You Can [Novel] - Chapter 23

“Why do I have to go through all this trouble just to mess with him?”
At Dane’s reasonable protest, Wilkins calmly explained,
“We could just let him run the course. But we need something, something to utterly crush that bastard. No matter how good Miller is at sweet-talking women, we need a clear contrast to show that he’s completely useless in real action.”
Wilkins grabbed both of Dane’s arms tightly, preventing him from escaping.
“Your participation in this plan is essential.”
Dane grimaced, as if repulsed by the intense look in Wilkins’s eyes.
“Isn’t a plan that requires an ‘essential’ condition already a failed plan?”
Dane made one last attempt to get out of it, but Wilkins, his expression more serious than before, continued his persuasion.
“Dane, I’m not doing this just to mess with Grayson Miller. He needs to experience firsthand that he’s not on the same level as us, so he’ll behave himself in the future. A year is a long time. Who knows what kind of trouble he’ll cause? We need to establish dominance early on.”
Of course, as the team leader, his top priority would be handling Grayson Miller one way or another. Since he couldn’t even imagine Grayson obediently following orders, forcing him into compliance like this was a perfectly reasonable approach for a leader…
Dane was still reluctant when Ezra suddenly interjected,
“You better cooperate. Think about it, what if he gets trapped during a call? Someone has to go in and rescue him. Who among us can do it?”
Dane grimaced and pointed at himself with his middle finger, as if asking, Do I really have to rescue him? Ezra nodded firmly.
“Exactly! Of course, I or someone else would go in with you, but you have to be there. Why? Because you’re the strongest among us! You’re the only one who can drag Grayson Miller out!”
His passionate explanation was nothing more than pure sophistry, but it seemed impossible to escape this carefully laid trap.
“Now, Dane Striker,”
Wilkins said, having laid out the harsh reality, calling Dane by his full name. He looked at Dane with an unusually serious expression and opened his mouth.
“Are you going to do this, or not?”
“…Ha.”
In the end, Dane sighed deeply, covering his face with one hand.
The matter was settled.
3
It was a bright, sunny afternoon.
The sky was a clear, vivid blue without a single cloud, and the strong sunlight illuminated the earth. The windows of distant buildings glittered blindingly, and the gentle breeze cooled the air. It was such a perfectly clear day. But the moment Dane saw the scene unfolding before him, he suddenly wanted to block out the sun with his hand.
His teammates were already waiting at the designated location. Seeing a group of female staff members gathered there, a clear indication of the true purpose of this absurd test, Dane couldn’t help but sigh.
They were practically buzzing with anticipation. They cheered for Dane and booed Grayson, pumping their fists in the air. Dane briefly considered turning around and going home.
“Here, come here. I’ll explain the course. Dane, Dane! Get over here!”
At Wilkins’ shout, Dane reluctantly trudged over to him. Grayson was already there, waiting. When the two men stood on either side of him, Wilkins unfolded the map he had brought and said,
“So, here’s our fire station.”
Wilkins tapped the map with his finger and explained,
“You start here, go around like this, and come back. Got it? You should be able to finish the course in 30 minutes if you’re fast. See, you go through here, then go this way…”
Dane just stood there and listened with an indifferent expression, his eyes casually skimming the map. It was understandable, since he was already familiar with the route.
It wasn’t much different from the course they sometimes used for physical training, a loop around the small hill behind the fire station, so there was no need to memorize it. The only difference was a secluded curve section off the main path.
They had probably added it to make the test a little more challenging than the usual test. It made sense, since this wasn’t really a physical test but a scheme to mess with Grayson Miller.
Not that it would make much difference.
He stood there with one hand on his hip, watching blankly, when suddenly, he felt a prickling sensation on the back of his neck. He looked up and met a pair of purple eyes staring intently at him.
How long has he been watching me?
He didn’t know, but it was clear that Grayson had been observing him for a while. Was this a staring contest? This was such a ridiculous series of events. But Dane had no intention of looking away, so he met Grayson’s gaze head-on.
At that moment, the deep purple eyes darkened. Along with the eyes that turned almost black, the sweet scent that always lingered around Grayson intensified, becoming several times stronger.
The air felt thick and heavy. The potent pheromones that suddenly swept through the area caused an immediate shift in the atmosphere.
“Ah!”
“Jane, are you okay?”
“Mark, what’s wrong? Mark!”
“Does anyone have their suppressants?”
The Omega colleagues swayed momentarily, affected by the sudden surge of pheromones. Some of them gasped for breath, their faces flushed with surprise.
Dane sighed, exasperated. It was because of the overwhelming scent emanating from this damn Extreme
Alpha.
The intoxicatingly sweet fragrance of pheromones.
His body was ridiculously large, and his pheromones were excessively sweet.
As if they would rot your teeth if you took a bite.
While Dane wasn’t completely unaffected, his unique secondary gender and years of experience allowed him to easily withstand it. The problem was the ordinary Omegas who were affected. This guy had no consideration for others, releasing his pheromones so carelessly. Just like all Extreme Alphas.
He felt a brief urge to knock this annoying bastard unconscious, but he suppressed it. Resorting to that every time wasn’t a good solution.
For the first time, he thought it might not be a bad idea to teach Grayson a lesson, as Wilkins had
suggested. This type of person usually built their muscles in the gym, fueled by protein shakes, so they often struggled or fell behind when actually faced with real, strenuous training that required full-body strength and endurance.
So his days of acting like this were numbered. Thinking this, Dane felt his annoyance dissipate.
“…So, understand? Both of you got it?”
“Yes.”
“Of course.”
Dane and Grayson answered in turn, their gazes still fixed on each other. Wilkins looked back and forth
between them, shrugged, and rolled up the map.
“Alright, let’s get started. Head to the starting line, now.”
As he followed Wilkins, who was urging them on,
“Dane, Dane.”
DeAndre called out to him in a low voice. He glanced around, then pulled out a ten-dollar bill from his
pocket and slipped it into Dane’s hand.
“Beat the crap out of that bastard when no one’s looking. Aim for the face, if possible.”
He was serious. Dane looked down at DeAndre’s grim face, then glanced at the money, folded them, and
tucked it into his pocket.
“Ten dollars’ worth, right?”
DeAndre paused at his casual question, then hurriedly rummaged through his pockets, pulling out a handful of crumpled bills and placing them in Dane’s palm. Dane, seeing DeAndre’s anxious and expectant expression, silently unfolded the bills one by one, checking the amount and nodded.
“Thirty-eight dollars… and twenty-five cents. Got it.”
DeAndre emptied his pockets, even handing over the loose change, and Dane pocketed it all, patted his
client’s arm, and turned around.
“I’m counting on you, Dane! I believe in you!”
Dane, still facing away from the desperately shouting DeAndre, simply waved his hand. Then he walked toward the starting line where everyone was waiting.