...

Zaire had fallen into a steady rhythm with his life in the past month... he liked it. It was comfortable.

Schoolwork was beating his ass but he was fighting through it. Work was interesting. The club was always busy; lesser during the day but busy nonetheless. He met different people and what was surprising was that as much as they would try to hit on him, they were never pushy and that gave Zaire some sense of relief. Him and Quan had gotten rather close... he had also learned that Quan was a recessive alpha but he was fun to be around, so Zaire didn't mind spending his lunch breaks with him. They had never hung out outside of work because Zaire was not really a "hang out" person. 

Another worker Zaire had met was Danny, an omega but they had never chatted long because he worked another floor. He was nice and Zaire quite liked him. Hera was still acting weird around Zaire... he wasn't sure if she was flirting or what but he decided to pay no mind to her because he was a little intimidated by her. She was nice but Zaire wasn't sure if what intimidated him was her or how close she was to their scary boss. 

"How do you feel about working your first night shift?" Rei, the security guard that Zaire had come to get along with, asked as he walked through the lobby doors. 

Zaire sighed in thought before shrugging, "A little nervous, I guess. I heard it gets a lot busier and I was doing schoolwork all day. I'm a little tired."

"Oh... it does get busy but the night is still young. If anyone gives you issues in there, you know where to find me." Zaire smiled at that before nodding and Rei opened the door for him. Zaire muttered a little thank you before entering. He made quick work of putting his belongings away and went out to start working. Quan wasn't working with him for the first time and Zaire was a little saddened having no one else that he was particularly close to with him but that didn't mean he wouldn't enjoy his work. 

Destiny being the worried mother hen she was, had been worried about Zaire working late for the first time in his life but the omega was determined to prove to his sister that he could do it. He was going to survive through the night.

Close to midnight, the club was full to the brim. It was hot and packed... people dancing, drinking, kissing and watching stripper dances. Zaire felt a little flustered by it all because he had never been around at these times to witness all that was going on... he would stare enthralled by the graceful movements of the omega that was performing. Every after an hour or so a small group of obviously dominant alpha's would enter the club, disappearing upstairs. Danny had told Zaire that the second floor had private rooms and dominant alpha's preferred to party in smaller groups. Leo had entered earlier and had not come down since. Zaire would always see him going up but never leaving since he started working there. Hera told him that it was because Leo was a workaholic and would knock out later than everyone else everyday.

A rather loud group of betas and alphas entered the club, settling in a booth. They were obviously already drunk but decided on a second location to avoid going home. Their chatter didn't disturb anything because of the loud music as Zaire moved to go attend their table. The group had five people... two of which seemed to be in a relationship, judging by how the lady sat with her legs over the man's lap and they were all over each other while their other friends paid them no mind.

"Is there any I could get you or you would like a second?" Zaire asked with a polite smile as he pulled out a small notepad. Everything was going well as he took down everyone's order until the one seated closest to him at the edge of the booth was the only one left to take an order from. His eyes raked up Zaire's body, taking in his appearance and stopping for a second to look at his painted black, semi-long nails. He never liked his nails being too short.

"Is your number an option?" He slurred as he drunkenly leaned closer to Zaire.

Zaire gave a small laugh as he took a small step back. He wasn't sure if it was the alcohol or what was the reason for the stranger to be releasing pheromones out in public. He was a recessive alpha so his pheromones weren't as potent but Zaire's condition wasn't the best considering the amount of suppressants he had been taking for the longest time. He preferred to stay away from alpha pheromones because they made him feel queasy. "It's not, sir... but I can get you a snack or something to drink."

"Stop bothering him, Ken. He is trying to do his job." One of the ladies in the booth said.

He bit his lip before smirking at Zaire, "A beer."

"Okay." Zaire said before walking back to get their order with a small sigh of relief. 

Leo had left a small meeting he had in one of the private rooms with a business partner and stood over the second floor railing watching Zaire go back and forward with some drunk man that seemed to be insisting on getting Zaire's attention. The group must be visiting the club for the first time. Leo didn't like people pestering his workers... more so if the worker was unwilling, which Zaire obviously was. Leo straightened up as he moved to go hear what good reason the man had for holding Zaire's wrist. 

The man, Ken... had a lazy smirked plastered on his face as he held Zaire's wrist and begging for the man's number. "I know you are playing hard to get, just give me your number, handsome." Zaire was quietly starting to panic as he just stood there, silently praying that the man suddenly lose interest and let him go. "I can tell by your painted nails and pretty face that you must like men. You know, not a lot of people like gay betas... you should be glad that I'm even showing interest."

"Ken, just let him go." Another person in the group chimed in but Ken brushed his friend off.

"Ken...is it?" Leo's voice suddenly came from behind Zaire, startling him and everyone else at the table. 

Ken furrowed his eyebrows as he squinted up at Leo's height, "And who's asking?"

"I don't appreciate you keeping my employees from doing their job, Ken." Leo said calmly but his tone was chilling. Zaire stepped back, snatching his wrist back once he felt Ken's grip loosen. Leo's eyes caught the appearing bruise on Zaire's arm before he hid it and that angered the alpha even more. His alpha aura was starting to take up the whole floor as the other tables started turning to face them in curiosity. He obviously didn't like how Ken's tone was a bit disrespectful.

"I was just trying to get his number... I guess I will just have to get it another time." Ken chuckled nervously as he seemingly sobered up in a blink of an eye.

"I think not." Leo said. Zaire's hands started sweating from just being around Leo, the alpha's anger was affecting him but the omega was grateful that he wasn't releasing any pheromones... he definitely would not have been able to handle the alpha's pheromones.

"Uhhm..." one of Ken's friends that had been quiet the entire time, spoke up. "We apologize for his behaviour."

Leo nodded before bringing his eyes back to Ken. "Get out." 

"Sir..." Zaire blurted out as he looked up at Leo's stoic face. He felt bad because he didn't want to affect Leo's business and he had never experienced an employer throwing out a customer. If he was still working for Gina, she would have looked dead into Zaire's eyes and told him to apologize. Leo turned to Zaire and the shorter man's words caught in his throat. The grey in the alpha's eyes looked almost inhuman... it was too beautiful but Zaire couldn't bring himself to look away. Leo's eyebrow lifted in confusion as to why Zaire wasn't saying anything anymore but even he couldn't find anything to say. Not a lot of things could render the alpha speechless... he couldn't even pinpoint what was going through his own head as he stared into Zaire's eyes until Ken spoke up.

"You can't seriously throw us out because of that. Look man... it's my bad."

"Yes, I can." Leo scoffed, obviously offended by the man saying he "can't". "And I'm throwing you out unless your friends would like to follow you out." The group fell silent as Leo turned to leave, "Don't let me see you here again." Leo warned as he walked away. Zaire rushed behind him, Hera was just now seeing what was happening as the people returned to their own business because Leo finally calmed down and the tension disappeared.

"Sir..." Zaire called out making Leo stop. "I apologize for that... please don't fire me." 

"And why would I do that?" 

Hera walked up them, "What's happening? Why are you down here?" She asked Leo.

"I came to handle something. Get Rei to remove that group." Leo said as he pointed to Ken's group of friends. "Get back to work." Leo dismissed Zaire before turning to Hera again. "See me in my office later." Hera nodded before Leo returned upstairs. 

"Is he angry?" Zaire mumbled worriedly.

Hera chuckled as she patted Zaire's shoulder, "If he was angry... trust me, you would know. There wouldn't even be a question about it." Zaire nodded as his eyes worriedly followed Leo's retreating figure before he disappeared upstairs. "Relax... it's okay. Though, you should get back to work before he actually fires you." Zaire quickly moved as Hera went to make sure that the group was gone before going to see Leo in his office. 

The alpha was slouched on the leather couch in his office with his shirt open, exposing his toned chest. His curse mark was pulsing as Leo was heaving, his hands fisted in his lap because of the burning sensation and the blue pendant that he wore everyday was pulsing along with it. Every time his mark flared up, he would lose his ability to control his appearance... his eyes shimmered a silver-ish color, his fangs had elongated as he stared up at the ceiling. "What happened?" Hera asked as she stepped closer. "This normally happens when you are really angry but I doubt a stupid group of humans had you that heated."

"They didn't." Leo grumbled as the pain finally dulled a little. "Something about that boy doesn't sit well with me."

"You think Zaire is the one who triggered this?" Hera asked as she held her hand out in silent asking and Leo nodded. She placed her hand on his chest as she used her power to take away the pain and Leo sighed. "How could he even do that?"

"That's what I need to figure out. He might not be human or something." Leo shrugged as he leaned forward, watching Hera settle next to him. "His eyes... I look into them and..." he trailed off trying to find the words but he couldn't find any.

"And what?" 

He sighed, "I don't know... I just kind of froze. Like my being was trying to tell me something that I don't know but I can't put my finger on it."

"You want me to watch him?" 

Hera walked up shook his head, "No, I will do it." Leo said. "Let him work up here starting next week."