The weekend seemed like it dragged on forever. This was most likely due to his excitement in seeing his potential mate again. The mundane tasks he had to endure at work and the lack of school work to be done made it feel like time came to an aggravating halt.

There was a silver lining to the wait. Having three days to build up his confidence and figure out what he was going to say is exactly what the nervous Alpha needed. Most of the empty time was filled with Aosh writing what he was going to say, rehearsing it, and re-writing it again. God forbid he was a bumbling mess in front of the ballet instructor again.

It was odd, he thought. Neither Marcus or Hunter had returned his text messages over the weekend. Aosh tried not to let it get to him,but a familiar feeling of dread filled his thoughts. Even now as he walked briskly up the fitness complex’s steps the feeling wouldn’t go away.

The Alpha forced himself to push it to the side; there were bigger things to focus on. He decided to arrive early to today’s dance lesson. Determined to not make a fool of himself,especially in front of all those women, he wanted to try and catch the Omega before class started so they could hopefully talk in private.

After stopping by the locker room to drop off his duffel bag and changing into some loose fitting clothes he traveled to where the dance studio was.

Coming to the double doors that led to the studio, Aosh peaked in and saw no one inside. He didn’t think Tiza would be there to be honest, so he continued down the hall and made a left to where the offices were. Going down the hallway that housed the offices his eyes swept up to the signs above the doors to find the right one. He finally found the right door at the end of the hallway, but paused mid-knock as he heard voices from the other side.

“-he doesn’t deserve someone like you.”

“Who are you talking about? Get out of my office-“

Silence.

“Oh? Are you going into heat? For me? That just proves we’re meant to be together.”

“I don’t want to be with anyone- LET ME GO!”

A crash, a thud, and more silence. 

Without hesitation, Aosh burst through the door. As the door swung open it brought with it the sweet smell of Omega pheromones. The concentration of it smacked Aosh in his senses and made his head spin if only for a moment. But it didn’t last.Before his eyes he saw Tiza,belly down on the ground,pinned under Marcus.

The blonde was flushed with anger and heat, his wide feral eyes brimmed with tears; plump lips curled around the hand that tried to keep him quiet. Biting into the flesh and causing it to bleed, the Beta above him pressed Tiza’s slender body into the cold tile floor in response.

“Well..speak of the devil-”

Marcus’ words were cut short as Aosh lunged at him, dragging him off Tiza by the collar of his shirt and holding him against the office’s back wall. Immediately scrambling off the floor when the weight was lifted off of him, Tiza bolted through the open door and down the hall out of sight.

“Hmph…you let him get away.” Marcus leisurely said, looking over the Alpha’s shoulder.

Aosh was very aware he let the Omega go. His entire body was screaming at him to follow after an Omega in heat; such a saccharine aroma was like a siren calling and Aosh was a sailor easily lured by it’s song. It was taking quite a bit of effort on his part to not give chase. The hand holding Marcus against the wall reflected this, his grip tightening dangerously in a show of restraint in not following the pheromone trail as it slowly drifted away.

“What the HELL do you think you’re doing?!”Aosh brought him closer to eye level and bored his obsidian eyes into the Beta.

“What does it look like I was doing dip-shit? Taking what I want, since someone isn’t ‘Alpha’ enough to do it himself.” Marcus sneered.

“Why?!Didn’t you even read what I sent you?! He’s my-“

“You’re fated mate, yea yea, I read your message. I’m so sick and tired of this fated mate bullshit, Aosh. Fated mate this, fated mate that. Fuck you, Aosh. You want to know why I’m tired of it?” Marcus stood up straighter and got in Aosh’s face.

“Because Alpha’s get everything on a silver platter, while Betas get the scraps. Do you know what it’s like to get sloppy seconds your entire life, asshole?!”

Marcus punctuated that last word with a knee to Aosh’s stomach. The Alpha stumbled back and Marcus wasted no time throwing a punch to his chest; sending him slumping against the only desk in the office and then onto the floor. Marcus mercilessly kicked his side as he continued.

“Alphas can have any Beta or Omega they want, but a Beta can’t even get an Omega to look their way! We have no ruts or pheromones to attract them! We’re not blessed with brains or physical ability from birth! So excuse me for being a little underhanded in getting what I want. Excuse me for sticking around your sorry ass thinking that your good reputation you were gifted at birth would get me somewhere by association! Letting an Omega in heat get away from you, you really are a waste of an Alpha.”

Those last four words were spat out in utter disgust. Marcus went for one last kick, but before he could, Aosh’s hand shot out to catch his foot and pull it. Unceremoniously the Beta toppled over giving Aosh an opportunity of attack. Marcus couldn’t even retaliate before he was sucker punched between the eyes.

The Beta was punched so hard his head hit the tile and he was knocked unconscious. Aosh crouched over him. His breathing came out shallow and his brows were furrowed in anger; hot tears pricked at his eyes as he stared at the man he once called a friend.

It happened again.

It’s not like he didn’t expect it to not happen again, but he always hoped it wouldn’t.Yet here he was, his heart stretched in two directions. One by the Omega he desired who was out of his reach once again, and the other by the Beta he had the heart to call a friend; only to find out that the other never even considered him as such.

Aosh told himself he should be used to it by now, it wasn’t the first time he had been used by others just because he was an Alpha. Even so,things had ended up like this and it still felt like his heart was ripped to shreds. Like a fool he put too much trust in people; they say you learn from your mistakes, but sadly for Aosh that just wasn’t the case.

He refused to let those tears shed and he refused to let his emotions get the best of him; not like punching the Beta wasn’t exactly that, but the bastard started it.

A faint hint of Omega pheromones still lingered in the small office and it brought Aosh out of his thoughts. He needed to make sure Tiza was ok. The terrified expression the blonde wore when he opened the door was practically burned into his mind’s eye. Resolutely he turned around, not bothering with Marcus anymore and followed the sweet trail left behind by the fleeing Omega.

By the time Aosh started to follow Tiza’s pheromones the trail was too faint for him to tell where he had gone. His body ached where he was kicked and punched but even so Aosh went throughout the complex looking for the Omega. After running around to the main offices, the lobby, and the locker rooms with nothing to show; Aosh resigned himself to finally check the dance studio on the off chance Tiza would be there.

When he walked by the studio, class had already been going on for sometime. Sean,Tiza’s brother, was teaching the class but Tiza was not there. Aosh decided to wait and question his brother when the lesson was over, if anyone knew the whereabouts of his fated mate it would be him.

After the classes, while the tired students filed out, Aosh approached Sean, clearing his throat to get his attention.

“Excuse me is Tiza-“

“Is Tiza what?” Sean’s answer was short and laced with malice, that Aosh could easily tell.

“Is Tiza ok after being attacked by you and your friend? No. No he’s not.”Sean turned away from him to continue packing away his teaching materials.

“I had no part in what he did, and I helped Tiza.”Aosh said, taken aback by the hostility and being accused of being Marcus’ accomplice when it was the furthest thing from the truth.

“And am I supposed to believe you? Or am I supposed to thank you? Yes, thank you. Without you who knows what would’ve happened to my brother. But also, without YOU and YOUR friends seeking out these classes for the sole purpose of getting near MY brother, this would’ve never happened. Before you say anything, yes, I figured it out; if not from you being the only Alpha in this class then it was from those other two asking where my brother was in my hip hop class. And now Tiza is being blamed by the faculty for not taking heat suppressants before coming to work and putting others in danger. The fact that he was sexually assaulted is being glossed over. But that’s nothing new, considering he’s an Omega.”

The Beta threw his duffel bag over his shoulder in a huff and brushed past Aosh to leave.

“Wait-wait! I don’t have any negative intentions for your brother I just-“

“Save it! Do you know how many times he and I have been through this before? If you have no intention of taking this class seriously, get out. If you have no intention of leaving my brother alone,GET OUT.”

With that Sean shoved the double doors and walked away; leaving Aosh just as angry as he was before in the quiet of the studio.