CHAPTER 24: NOT INTOXICATED ENOUGH TO DEAL WITH PSYCHOTIC ANTICS!

Zander taps his forefinger on the bars marble countertop. His blood red drink is untouched in front of him, his phone face up beside it. When the screen lights up, the dominant alpha frowns when it’s just a notification for spam mail. It has been more than twenty minutes since he sent a text to Ethan.

Twenty minutes of no response. Ethan made himself scarce after Zan took him out to dinner with his mother. It doesn’t matter if Zander tries for casual conversation through texts, Ethan grows more distant as time passes. It’s annoying.

"You’re going to burn a hole through it." Beau mutters from the stool beside him. He reaches over and grabs Zander’s drink. Raising it to his lips he chugs it and then cringes. "Shit, that’s awful. What in the world is this?"

Zander frowns at the now empty cup. "A rut suppressant drink." He sighs and rustles his hand through his black hair. His phone lights up again, a calendar notification this time. His cheek ticks as he reads it. His rut cycle is coming up soon. Just another reason why it will be difficult to get Ethan’s attention. He can’t exactly roam about with his pheromones secreting from his every pore. He’d set off any alpha in a five mile radius, and attract every omega nearby.

Zander shudders as he remembers locking himself in the bathroom after Chris slipped an inducer in his coffee. It could have been the worst night of his life if Ethan wasn’t there with suppressants. It was very responsible

of him.

Beau frowns and asks the bartender to get another drink for Zander. "You should’ve told me. I wouldn’t have drank it if you did."

Zander drags his gaze to his best friend and glares at him. Beau is dressed casual, with a light jacket and jeans. His curly red hair is loose and unkempt around his ears, his hazel eyes gleaming. Why did Beau drag him out here? A steady throb builds in the back of his head, and he starts to regret following him. He should’ve stayed at the office to finish up the investment proposal for On The Rox.

His finger continues to rap against the surface of the counter. He knows he can’t directly bring it to Ethan or his mother himself. He has no doubt they would refuse and see it as charity. The last thing he wants to do is insult the two hard working betas. He grabs his new remade drink and swallows it in one go. He cringes at the taste of medicine and slams the glass down, wincing when it cracks from the force.

"Relax." Beau frowns. The bar tender says nothing as he takes back the broken glass and sets a bottle of water in front of Zander. "Why are you trying to supress your rut? Just grab your choice of omega and-"

The rest of his words falls onto deaf ears. Zander scans the intoxicated crowd and his dark eyebrows furrow. No one catches his attention or stands out. He’d rather go through his rut alone than risk another incident like the one Chris tried to pull on him.

Just text back. It shouldn’t be too hard. Is he just busy with closing the store? Tap, tap, tap. Or did he just forget? Zander clenches his jaw and glares at his phone. Would Ethan deliberately ignore him on purpose? The question makes his hands curl into fists.

Zander isn’t usually left on read like this. This beta must really not like him. Zander sighs and drinks from the bottled water.

"Why such a long face?" A femine voice comes from his other side.

Zander glances over to find Mila taking the seat on his left. Her silky long brown hair stops at her waist, gracing the curves of her figure. Her tanned legs are bare in the short sequence dress she wears, and her brown eyes are glazed over with a buzz. She laughs at the discomfort on Zander’s face.

"What do you want?" He pinches the bridge of his nose. He’s not intoxicated enough to deal with her psychotic antics.

"It’s not what I want, though." She giggles behind her hand, the black polish on her nails a contrast to the glittery strip of cloth she calls a dress. "Didn’t you say you needed to teach a certain little omega a lesson?"

Beau groans and leans his forehead against the counter, "Swear to god you two will get me arrested." He mutters under his breath. Mila snickers and rests her head on her hand.

"Guess what?" She leans forward and grins, showcasing perfect white teeth. "He’s in the trunk of my car."

Zander grabs his silent phone and after a second of just staring at his dark screen, he huffs and shoves it in his back pocket. Ethan will just have to wait. Not that he’s getting anywhere with him right now anyway.

"Do I have to go with you? Can’t I just stay and-" Beau yelps when Zander grabs him by the collar and drags him up to his feet. "Okay, okay. Would hate to piss you off any further."

Mila has a prep to her step as the two alphas follow her out through the backdoor. Her car is more of a black van than anything. A man in black leans against it, a pheromone cigarette lit in his hand. He immediately stubs it out when he sees Mila, and opens up the back door.

With his mouth taped shut, and his hands and feet bound tight with thick rope, Chris lays on the floor of the bed. His face is red, one side of his cheek swelling with discoloration. He leaks fat, wet tears, the blood draining from his face when he catches sight of Zander’s unpleasant expression from over Mila’s shoulder.

"Look at his face." Beau mutters. "Did you really have to do that to him?"

"What, you think I did that?" Mila throws her head back and laughs. "He was already being smacked around by some thug. I just took advantage of his situation." She gives a half hearted shrug. "So, what are you going to do with him?"