Desire Me If You Can Novel - Chapter 23

“Why do I have to be the one running too, when all we need is for that bastard to be humiliated?”

At his reasonable protest, Wilkins calmly persuaded him.

“We could just make him run alone, sure. But we need something that will overwhelmingly crush that bastard. We need a control group to show that no matter how good Miller is at seducing women, it’s useless in a real-life scenario.”

Wilkins tightly grasped both of Dane’s arms so he couldn’t escape.

“You are essential to this plan, Dane.”

At the darkly glittering eyes, Dane winced, making a disgusted face.

“Don’t you think including an ‘essential’ condition in any plan makes it a failed plan from the start?”

To Dane, who was attempting to escape until the last moment, Wilkins persuaded him with a sincerity he hadn’t shown until now.

“Dane, I didn’t just plan this with the sole intention of making Grayson Miller look foolish. If that bastard actually experiences that he’s out of his league compared to us, won’t he be a bit more docile in the future? A year is a long time. Do you know what kind of havoc he’ll cause in the future? We have to assert dominance early on, don’t we?”

Of course, for Wilkins as the team leader, the priority would be to manage Grayson Miller somehow. Since the idea of Grayson obediently following orders was unimaginable, proposing to force him to comply, even semi-voluntarily, was a natural thought for a team leader.

Dane still looked thoroughly unconvinced when Ezra suddenly chimed in.

“You should cooperate, too. Think about it, what if that bastard gets isolated when we go out on a scene together? Someone would have to go in and save him. Who among us could do it?”

Dane grimaced and silently pointed at himself with his index finger. As if asking, Do I really have to be the one to save that guy? Ezra nodded resolutely.

“Exactly. Of course, I or the others would go in with you, but you would be essential. Why? Because your physique is the best among us! You’re the only one who could even manage to drag Grayson Miller out!”

The passionate explanation was nothing short of sophistry, but it seemed difficult to escape this sturdy trap.

“Now, Dane Striker.”

Following the cruel reality, Wilkins called Dane by his full name. He looked at Dane with a more serious expression than ever before and opened his mouth.

“Should you do this, or should you not?”

“…Ha.”

In the end, Dane covered his face with one hand and let out a deep sigh. That settled everything.

3

It was a bright midday, the sunlight beating down intensely.

The sky stretched out in a clear, pure blue without a single cloud, and the strong sunlight illuminated the ground brightly. The glass windows of buildings sparkled blindingly in the distance, and thanks to the blowing wind, the air felt cooler. The weather was perfectly clear. But the moment Dane saw the scene unfolding at the destination, he suddenly felt like shielding the sun with his hand.

Other team members were already waiting at the spot they arrived at. Seeing a group of female employees gathered, too, befitting the purpose of this ridiculous test, Dane sighed involuntarily. Adrenaline was already surging through the team members. Watching them pump their fists, chanting Dane’s name, and jeering at Grayson, Dane suddenly wondered if he should just turn around and go home.

“Come here, now. I’ll explain the course. Dane, Dane! I said come here!”

At Wilkins’ shout, Dane reluctantly headed toward him. Grayson had already arrived and was waiting for him. With the two men standing on either side of him, Wilkins unfolded the map he had brought and spoke.

“Alright, this is our fire station.”

Wilkins tapped the map with his finger as he explained.

“You start here, go all the way around like this, and come back. Got it? If you finish quickly, you’ll be back within 30 minutes. Look, you pass through here, and go like this…”

Dane just stood there listening to Wilkins’ explanation, casually glancing at the map. The reason was that this course was already a familiar route. This route, circling the low mountain behind the fire station, wasn’t significantly different from the course they sometimes ran during fitness training, so he didn’t need to memorize it. The only difference was perhaps a secluded curve off the main path. It was clearly added to raise the difficulty level beyond the usual test. Since it was merely a formality for a physical fitness test and actually a plot to make Grayson Miller suffer, modifying it was understandable.

Not that it will make much difference anyway.

He put one hand on his hip and watched disinterestedly, when suddenly he felt a vague sense of unease. The moment he lifted his head, Dane met a pair of violet eyes staring fixedly at him.

How long has he been watching?

He couldn’t tell, but it was certain that the time spent staring at Dane hadn’t been short. Is this a contest of wills? It was a continuous stream of utterly ridiculous incidents. But he had no intention of avoiding eye contact, so Dane stared straight back.

At that moment, the deep violet eyes grew even darker. Along with his pupils, which were tinged almost black, the sweet scent that always subtly drifted around Grayson intensified several times over.

The sensation was as if the very air had turned sticky. The intense pheromone that swept the surroundings in an instant caused an immediate change.

“Oh!”

“Jane, are you alright?”

“Mark, what’s wrong? Mark!”

“Does anyone have medicine?”

Omega-trait colleagues were affected and momentarily stumbled. Some even started breathing rapidly, their faces turning flustered. Ha. Dane let out a short sigh of disbelief. It was because of the scent overflowing from this damned Dominant Alpha.

A scent of agonizingly sweet pheromones.

Despite his ridiculously large size, his pheromones were excessively sweet.

As if biting a concentrated mass of it would rot all his teeth.

Of course, Dane wasn’t unaffected either, but thanks to his long experience and special trait, he could lightly shrug off this kind of situation. The problem was the ordinary Omegas who were affected. To scatter pheromones arbitrarily like this—he was a guy with not a speck of consideration for others. Just like all Dominant Alphas.

He felt the impulse to just knock this annoying bastard out, but he firmly suppressed it. It wasn’t good to solve things this way every time.

For the first time, he felt that making him behave, as Wilkins suggested, might not be a bad idea. Since people like this would have built their muscles by just drinking protein shakes at the gym, they were usually surprised or lagged behind when actually undergoing rigorous training that required using every muscle in their body. So, there wasn’t much time left for him to pull stunts like this. Thinking that, Dane kept his composure.

“…So, got it? Both of you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Of course.”

Dane and Grayson answered consecutively, but their gaze remained fixed on each other. Wilkins looked at the two alternately, shrugged his shoulders, and rolled up the map in his hand.

“Alright, let’s start now. Head to the starting line, hurry.”

Come on, come on, he said, urging them forward. Just as they began to walk, following Wilkins.

“Dane, Dane.”

The person who called him in a small voice was DeAndre. He glanced around, pulled $10 out of his pocket, and pressed it into Dane’s hand.

“Hit that bastard when no one is looking, okay? Preferably the face.”

He was serious. Dane looked down at DeAndre’s fierce face, then briefly glanced down at the banknote, folded it, and put it into his trousers pocket.

“Ten dollars is enough, right?”

At the indifferent question, DeAndre paused. Soon, he frantically searched his pockets and hastily placed crumpled banknotes he pulled out from here and there onto Dane’s palm. To DeAndre, who wore an expression tense with waiting for judgment, Dane silently unfolded the bills, checked the amount one by one, and nodded.

“Thirty-eight dollars… and 25 cents. Got it.”

After DeAndre completely emptied his pockets, giving him even the coins, Dane put it all in his pocket, patted his client on the arm, and turned around.

“I trust you, Dane! I trust you!”

Dane merely waved one hand toward DeAndre, who was shouting urgently behind him, still keeping his back turned. And he walked toward the starting line where everyone was waiting.