The youngest son of the Mirae Group, the most sought after bachelor in the country, handsome, educated, powerful was, in an unbelievable moment, flailing his limb wildly about the now emptied floor, as a small creature clung to his leg.
“Get it off!” he yelled. “Why is it biting me?”
His leg swung in a large arch as his body guards tried and failed in grabbing the little creature that clung to him in a deathlike grip that Yoo Jin knew all too well.
Was this really the same alpha? Yoo Jin wondered as he gazed at the scene before him, stunned. The alpha’s shirt was now untucked and his previously styled hair stuck about in all directions as he tried to yet again unsuccessfully pry her off his leg but her grip merely tightened and Yoo Jin watched in fascination as his sister raised her head, angling it before once again biting down with a noticeable force.
The alpha yelped in pain and Yoo Jin rushed forward, scared that this man, who was several times the child’s size would hurt her. But before he could get to them, the alpha plopped down into the floor, extending his leg above him and simply shook his leg in an attempt to loosen the child’s grip but his hands did not touch her.
Yoo Jin paused for a moment as he watched the scene before him. He was suddenly and inexplicably certain that this alpha would not harm her.
“Get off! Get off! Get off!” the alpha repeated over and over again, shaking his leg, though not as vigorously as he could, Yoo Jin noticed.
He stepped forward, the bodyguards now simply watching, standing in a circle around their ward, and called out in a sharp voice, “Tae Eun Ha.” He then watched as her head turned slightly but her teeth remained sunk deeply in the alpha’s leg.
Any other day, he would have been proud of her and her fighting spirit but not now and not when she was about to rip out a chunk of a very, very expensive leg.
Yoo Jin made an attempt to grab her but the alpha was still trying to shake her off. Irritated, Yoo Jin’s hand moved swiftly forward and grasped the alpha’s leg in a tight hold, halting its movements and with his other hand, he gently pushed a thumb into his sister’s mouth, forcing her to release her bite. He then grabbed her beneath her arms and hulled her off and away from the alpha, holding her tight against his chest.
The alpha watched the entirety of the event, his hair still in disarray, his right leg still up in the air. He then stood, scrambling as he lifted his pant leg to see a bright, red mark upon his leg in the shape of a small mouth. But at least there was no blood.
“Look at this!” he exclaimed, pointing at the mark. He then turned to the man beside him and barked an order, “Call Dr. Yoon and have him prepare a rabies test.”
Rabies?
Yoo Jin then watched with growing apprehension as the alpha slowly straightened his spine, adjusted his clothes, and patted down his hair until almost nothing remained of the flailing man that had been there a moment before. He was now back to the alpha that Yoo Jin recognized from the club. His hold tightened around Eun Ha.
“What do you want?” he asked.
“You were hard to find,” said the alpha with an annoyed expression, “Tae Yoo Jin.”
Yoo Jin tensed. “Who the hell said you can just call me by my name?”
But the alpha ignored him. “You gave a fake name to the club and my people were forced to spend all afternoon trying to find out who you were.”
Yoo Jin felt the color drain from his face. Why? What was so important? Surely he couldn’t be so petty as to care about a little scratch, a scratch that couldn't even be seen anymore….
“I’d rather we talk in private. Take us to a room,” he suddenly commanded and Yoo Jin turned to see who he was talking to.
Liam, June, and Na Bi had followed him and were standing, barely a foot behind where he stood.
“This is my club,” said Liam softly.
“That’s why I asked you, didn’t I?”
Yoo Jin tensed up and took a step forward. “You–” but paused when he felt a hand on shoulder.
“I understand,” said Liam, the intonation of his voice did not change but Yoo Jin could tell that he was angry. “But your men will have to stay back as my staff will surely be discomfited by their presence.”
For a moment Yoo Jin thought the alpha would argue when surprisingly, he agreed almost immediately. One of the men protested. “That’s what he said and he’s the owner isn’t he?” said the alpha and the man promptly quieted.
Yoo Jin watched everything in growing confusion. The man was not turning out the way he had expected at all.
“Lead the way,” he said in an arrogant tone that Yoo Jin felt suited the man more and it strangely put him at ease.
Na Bi moved forward to take Eun Ha from his arms and after receiving assurance that his men would not touch either his sister or anyone else from the club, Yoo Jin followed the other two into Liam’s office.
He watched as the alpha sat himself in Liam’s seat. Dumbfounded by his audacity, Yoo Jin barely noticed as Liam pushed him into the chair that sat directly across from the alpha as he pulled up a chair beside him.
“What, may I ask, is your business with Yoo Jin?” Liam asked politely.
The alpha looked at him with an arch brow. “Why are you here?”
But Liam was unfazed as he sat down. “What is it that you wished to speak to Yoo Jin about?” he asked again.
Yoo Jin watched as the alpha gave Liam a funny look before turning to him. “I expect he knows why I am here.”
Yoo Jin peered sideways at Liam. Damn, he didn’t want Liam to know. If he found out and for some reason this alpha wanted some kind of retribution, Liam would insist on helping.
“Well, you see,” Yoo Jin began. “I didn’t mean to – well– I mean... damn! Look you big jerk, if you just hadn’t spilled your pheromones into the room like that I wouldn’t have hit you and you wouldn’t have gotten hurt–” He froze suddenly, closing his mouth shut in shock. The words had just spilled out. He hadn’t meant to say them.
He cleared his throat and tentatively turned his gaze back to the alpha.
“What are you talking about?” he asked with an irritated expression.
“Your face…”
“What about my face?”
Yoo Jin looked at him as if he was stupid. “That big gash that was on your cheek earlier today. That’s what you’re here for, aren’t you?”
The alpha’s expression turned to one of exasperation. “I don’t care about that.”
“Then what– you want repayment for the wall? For leaving Mara?” Yoo Jin asked, his confusion growing. He could think of nothing else as to why the alpha would possibly search for him.
“Who?” Yoo Jin couldn’t help but want to smack that stupid look on the alpha’s face.
“The omega you met today, your fiancee,” he replied with gritted teeth. “The woman I was hired to guard.”
The alpha scoffed. “She is not my fiancee and I couldn’t care less if you had left her. She was fine. Don’t make me laugh, I couldn’t possibly marry someone who would faint exposed to such a low dose of my pheromones.”
Yoo Jin’s hands clenched into fists. “Bastard,” he hissed. “You could have sent her into heat or even worse.”
“It isn’t my problem she knew what she was getting into when she agreed to my father’s demands. Regardless, I am not marrying her and I am not here for her. I am here for you and based on your foolish responses, it seems you have no idea what I am actually here for.”
Yoo Jin felt his body tense and he opened his mouth to respond to the provocation when he felt a hand gently grip his. “Why don’t you enlighten me then?”
The alpha leaned back and for the first time Yoo Jin peered at his face more closely. He was younger than he first thought, likely in his early to mid-20s and yet the tone in which he spoke…. “I’m here because of that hole you inadvertently punched in the club’s wall.”
So he did want payment… was he the owner? Damnit, he didn’t have the money, he didn’t even have a job.
Yoo Jin peered at the man then at Liam, who was watching them silently, then back at the alpha. He didn’t want to say it, didn’t want to appear pathetic in front of this bastard but – “I don’t have the money to pay it back right now but if you just –”
“I don’t care about the hole.”
“But you just –”
“I care about how you caused it.”
“What?”
“You punched through more than a foot of concrete,” the alpha continued.
Yoo Jin looked at him in disbelief. No, that wasn’t possible. The only real explanation was that the hole was already there or the foundation had significantly weakened before Yoo Jin’s fist made contact.
“And before you start your useless excuses, we had the wall examined. You were, without a doubt, the cause.”
Yoo Jin shook his head. “That’s not possible – a human couldn’t do that.”
“You’re right,” he said, his voice condescending. “A simple human can’t but a wizard can.”
Wizard. Wizard. Why the hell did this alpha keep talking about wizards? “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Easier for me to show you,” he said and without warning he picked up a heavy stapler from atop Liam’s desk and hurled it at Yoo Jin. It promptly smacked him in the cheek, the same cheek where the gash formed on the alpha earlier that day. Yoo Jin briefly wondered if this was some kind of revenge before the pain surged through him.
He yelled, placing his hand over his cheek and his body stood and rapidly made its way behind the table that separated them. He suddenly and again found himself in the same position he had been earlier, where his hand clutched at the front of the alpha’s shirt in a furious grip, ready to punch his lights out.
“Huh,” said the alpha in confusion, staring up at him. “That should have worked.”
Yoo Jin looked at the man as if he was a complete idiot. “What the hell were you trying to do, you dumbass!”
“Maybe if I do it again,” he said as if he hadn’t heard him and even as Yoo Jin held the front of his shirt, he twisted in an attempt to reach for the fallen stapler. Yoo Jin pushed the alpha back into his seat.
“Just explain! Use your words! Your words!” he yelled, one hand still holding onto his now swollen cheek and the other still gripping the alpha by the front of his shirt.
The alpha looked at him for a moment before speaking. “The impact would have caused a burst of mana, it would have been small considering the level of impact was trifling but it would have been enough for the burst to move the small objects in this room. Perhaps it was too small, maybe if I hit you with the chair…”
Yoo Jin’s eyes widened as his grip tightened. This alpha was crazy, there was no other explanation. “You’re nuts,” he said, releasing him. He then turned toward the door. “If you’re not here for payment then I’m out of here.”
Yoo Jin began to walk toward the door when all of a sudden the chair he had vacated rushed past him and slammed against the closed door, blocking him from leaving. Yoo Jin froze, indignant anger surging through him as he turned back to look at the alpha. But… he was still sitting in Liam’s seat on the other side of the desk, nowhere near where the chair had been. He turned to look at Liam and saw that his eyes were wide with not quite shock but indisputable surprise.
“The chair…” he said softly, “it moved on its own.”
Yoo Jin looked at them in disbelief but Liam was not one to exaggerate. He picked up the chair and analyzed it from every angle, looking for some kind of mechanism or trigger, something that could explain what Liam had seen. Or perhaps, Liam was simply getting old but he was only thirty nine, far too young for his mind to be failing him. Or perhaps, he needed glasses….
The alpha scoff. “The dumb expression on your face tells me you don’t believe me or your friend. Watch clearly now. Normally, I’d need a medium but the floor in this room is made of marble. Considering how poor you are, this was a surprise but it works to my advantage.”
Geezus, just shut up.
Yoo Jin watched as the alpha in an almost embarrassingly dramatic fashion rubbed his hands together and slammed them into the black marble floor. Yoo Jin winced, certain that the impact would have caused shock to run up the idiot’s arms. A second later however, his head swiveled into the direction of the chair as it was launched high into the air diagonally and slid back into its original location next to where Liam sat.
“Shit,” he whispered and turned back to look at the alpha who was smirking arrogantly at him. “Irrefutable proof,” was all he said and the flesh beneath Yoo Jin’s right eye twitched.
God, he was annoying and so despite the astonishment he had felt a moment ago, he couldn’t help the words that spilled from his mouth. “Was that supposed to impress me? Seems useless - moving a chair through marble flooring.”
The alpha looked at him in shock at his lack of amazement. “No, there’s a lot more to it.” He stood angrily, “Come with me and I’ll show you –”
“Just tell me what you want me with me,” said Yoo Jin, cutting his words short, he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be feeling right now. Wizard? Mana? Him? What kind of nonsense was this? Even if it were all true, why the hell did this alpha need him?
The alpha scoffed in disbelief. “As expected from a lowly commoner.”
Yoo Jin gritted his teeth. He really knew how to get on his nerves. “You–”
“Fine,” the alpha said. “It’s simple really. I want to make a deal with you.” He walked over until he stood just a foot away from him. Despite the fact that Yoo Jin, at 5’9, was significantly taller than most omegas, the man still towered over him. “I know you are having financial difficulties and this club,” he said slowly as he looked around “as dilapidated as it looks, is on the verge of going bankrupt.” He turned back and met Yoo Jin’s eyes. “I’ll pay that all off, provide for your sister's treatments, and deal with that beta woman’s ex-husband who is suing for custody of her child.”
Yoo Jin froze, gazing up at the man in wordless shock. He had obtained all that information in one afternoon? This man truly was powerful… so then what could he possibly want from him? “Why?”
“In return,” the alpha continued, ignoring his question, “I want you to become my omega.”
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