CHAPTER 26: WHAT AM I, A VILLAIN?

Zander frowns at the hole he just punched in the marble counter. He shakes the dust from his hand and takes a deep breath, but it does little to quell the dark aura emitting from him. He counts to five in his head then turns around to face the tied up omega.

Chris is a tear stained mess, the rope chafing against his skin.

"The two thugs disappearing is my doing." Zander admits as he recalls helping Ethan from the other night. They didn’t actually disappear. If their boss had done his job right in searching for them, he’d know that the two are now locked up in a jail cell.

Chris blinks up at him with confusion.

"Why did you send them to that restaurant?" The dominant alpha continues to interigate him. "Did you hire them to harass the beta that ruined your scheme?"

Chris frowns, "My scheme?" He repeats the word, glancing at Beau. "What am I, a villain?"

"Do you think you’re not?" Zander scoffs at the innocent look on the omegas face. "You mess with my drink and almost took advantage of me. Then when you didn’t get what you wanted, you threw a tantrum and sent thugs to beat me up that same night." Zander lists off each offence with a finger. "I believe that entails you to the title of a villain."

Chris chews on his bottom lip and avoids his gaze. His arms and legs have gone numb from being in the same position for a long period of time, and though he tries to flex some blood back to them, it does little to help. He shakes his head, "No. I like him, he’s nice. We just became friends-"

Zander’s glare makes his jaw snap shut. "We’ll get to the friends bit later." The dominant alpha mutters, a bitter taste entering his mouth. "If you didn’t send them, then why did they go there and try to make a fool out of him?"

"Personal vendetta." Beau cuts in, drawing both of their attention to him. He taps his finger against his chin and nods, "Maybe the momma’s boy pissed them off."

"He did seem out spoken when he found me in the alley." Zander murmurs. "I wouldn’t put it past him. Now," Zander flashes a fake smile, "You just became friends?"

Chris glances at Beau, but the alpha shrugs. It’s his own fault for saying it. Beau knows that when Zander gets that certain look in his eyes, it’s better to just roll with him rather than against him.

"How?" Zander tilts his head and sits down on the couch opposite of Chris. "When did you guys even meet? Do you-" Zander scoffs and scratches the side of his face, "Do you have his number?"

Chris tilts his head and sneers, "Do you have a thing for him? The beta?" Zander doesn’t answer, the frown on his face turning sharp.

"Do you-"

There’s a notification chime and the room falls into silence. Chris frowns as the two alphas stare at him.

"Bring me his phone." Zander says. Beau sighs and leans over to pat the omega down. If Chris had the ability to move freely, he’d have pushed Beau away from him. They’re all crazy. The alpha finds it in his back pocket and tosses it to Zander, who catches the electronic with no trouble.

Ethan’s name flashes against the screen along with the number Zander familiarized himself with. He has his number.

Why is the beta texting the omega and not him? How did they even know each other? When did they find time to have a proper conversation?

"I’m deleting his number from your phone." Zander mutters. He stands up from the couch, walks around to stand behind the omega, and uses his finger print to unlock the phone. "He doesn’t need a lying omega beside him."

He scrolls through the short list of messages exchanged between them. It isn’t much, just a couple of stagnant conversations.

"Who are you to decide that?" Chris snaps at him, trying to look over his shoulder at Zander.

"Does he know your unjust tendencies?" Zander wonders out loud. He moves to stand in front of him. "What do you think he’d say if I told him you were the reason he had an almost feral dominant alpha in his restaurant’s restroom?" His lips quirk into a smirk and he taps the device against his chin, "Or that you were the one who hired those thugs to beat the shit out of me?" The alpha chuckles, "He seems sensitive to stuff like that, no?"

Chris frowns up at him before turning his face to the floor. "F-fine. I’ll leave him alone."

Zander hums and tosses the phone onto the floor in front of him. "Untie him." He orders. Beau sighs and crouches down behind the omega and starts to in untie the role knots that bound his arms and legs.

"You’re really not going to kill me?" Chris mumbles, not really intending for Zander to hear.

"Why in the world would I do that? You’re the son of Charlie Florence." Zander scoffs and waves a hand at him, "I’d be dumb to do something like that."

The thick rope falls from the Omegas wrists, and he lifts his arms to see the skin has been rubbed raw. His wrists are red and tender and when he touches it, he hisses as pain flares to life. When Beau unties the rope around his ankle, Chris leans over to inspect the damage.

"You have a flare for the dramatics." He mutters, trying to swallow back the harsh words that come to mind. He guesses that if anything, this incident makes them even. He stands on his feet and wobbles as blood flow returns to his legs. When he has his full balance, he picks up his phone.

Ethan’s chat has been deleted, along with his contact information. When Chris approached Ethan at Hyjinx, he didn’t have any ulterior motives. He thought the beta was cool in how he handled a dominant alpha in rut. Usually, everyone is scared to approach one, but Ethan was level headed. He saved Chris from making a horrible mistake. He just wanted to get to know him better.

"Get out." Zander dismissed the omega with a wave of his hand. "Mila and her henchman should be outside still. They’ll take you home?"

"That crazy lady?" Chris pales and stares at the exit.

He’d rather walk back home than sit in the car with her.