Heart Of

Chapter 60 - Liquor

It was roughly four hours after the sun had set that the lights of Cape Vascha finally came into view. Tired and cold, the group was relieved to see their destination at last. Valleus distributed the moonflower to Rien and Aushen before they entered the city. "Just suck on it, and chew it now and then if you start to sense pheromones."

"I don't know if that'll be enough," Lenarik said wryly, cocking an eyebrow. "Cape Vascha is known as a play-place for alphas. Looking for a place to stay at night is basically asking to be assaulted by pheromones."

Rohdri's eyes widened. "Is it a red-light district?"

"Essentially, yeah. There are people turning tricks on the corner of every street that has an inn."

Aushen narrowed his eyes. "That's not ideal... What do you recommend, Vall?"

The knight thought for a moment, beginning to get a bit nervous. "I guess we should wear masks as well. We can put another leaf in the mask to help mask the scent more." The group paused so Valleus, Rien, and Aushen could prepare.

As soon as they passed through the city gates, they could feel the oppressive cloud of pheromones settled around them. The moonflower was helping to cut through the worst of it, but they weren't unaffected by the scents around them. Only Rohdri, being a beta, and Lenarik, under the influence of the Dragon's enchantment, were immune to the pheromones.

Aushen had the worst of it, beginning to feel hot and prickly all over. Valleus and Rien, both possessed by spiritual entities, weren't quite as affected as they could've been, but they weren't unscathed. "W-We need to find a place to stay as soon as possible," Aushen panted.

In spite of the hour—or perhaps because of it—the streets of Cape Vascha were busier than they'd expected. Just like Lenarik had said, there were people soliciting clients on every corner. As anticipated, most of the workers were women, but there were some male omegas here or there as well.

Rien kept his eyes glued to the ground, but he was apparently approachable enough to garner attention. They had to stop several times to save him from being snatched away. "It's so strange, being here and not feeling anything," Lenarik chuckled. "Normally I'd already be in bed with someone by now."

Rohdri twitched at the bandit's words, but the others were so bothered by the pheromones that they didn't notice. "I-It's always like this?" Valleus gasped, pulling his kerchief further up over his face.

"How can my aunt l-live here?" Aushen asked weakly, trembling as he walked.

"Cape Vascha's pretty much split into sections. There's an area where the old money lives— that's probably where your aunt is," Lenarik answered.

"Then why the hell are we in this part?" Valleus snapped. The pheromones were getting to him, causing him to be quite irritable.

Lenarik was entirely unbothered by Valleus' attitude. In fact, he seemed quite amused by the way the pheromones affected the knight. "C'mon, you really think there're places to stay in the rich part of town? Places we could afford?"

Valleus narrowed his eyes. He hated to admit it, but Lenarik made a very good point. "Still, even if we find an inn, is it gonna solve our ph-pheromone problem?"

"Ha, no!" the bandit chuckled. "To be honest, it'll probably be worse. I mean, the inns are all gonna be used for one thing, after all, so the pheromones get more concentrated when you go in."

Aushen leaned forward, grabbing both Lenarik and Valleus by the sleeve. His face was red, and his breathing was heavy. "What are we supposed to do, then?!"

"Have sex, I guess," Lenarik quipped, pulling away from the prince's grasp. "Lucky you two are already together. We'll have to find somebody for Rien—"