Azrael's hands clenched on the papers, his eyes scanned through the entire document, and flipped through the piles of photos with anger. One caught his attention particularly, and it was a shot of Knox with a man walking out together from a café.
Knox was telling something to the man while the latter listened with a smile on his lips. Even from the picture, Azrael could see that the two were very close.
Azrael parted his lips and uttered with a heavy voice, "Who?"
Across him, Sandro was feasting with the wings, while watching the amusing spectacle before him. He swallowed his food and brought down the chicken on his plate. He took a tissue and wiped his mouth, then his hands, and then he adjusted his jacket.
"I'm going to throw you out if you still don't answer, you b*stard."
Sandro laughed lightly. He purposely didn't include the name of the other man in the photo in his report. Now, he was certain. His dear friend has feelings for that omega.
"Chill, Azi~ we're not inside your office, you know? Anyway, that man is Knox Arden's boss, Athan Horace, president of the HZ Clothing Brand where Arden works, and also, the youngest son of the Chairman of Horizon Corporation," Sandro explained.
He took a photo from the pile and pushed it to Azrael, "I personally think, there's more to their relationship than just a boss and a secretary."
The photo was Knox and Athan playing at a claw machine outside a convenience store. Knox was hugging a koala plushie as big as his backpack while Athan was fishing another one. Both were looking like they were on a date.
Sandro continued, "Four years ago, it was hard for me to track him abroad. It seemed that he changed places after arriving in England. Now it's found out, from England, he flew to Australia. He studied and graduated there, and then he went back to England and worked under one of the subsidiaries of Horizon.
"Then, he went back here, more than a month ago, and started working as Athan Horace's executive secretary. Well, in regard to his personal life, I couldn't find much at all. His life seemed very private. His routine, going to work at eight and leaving the company at exactly six in the evening. Then, he'd go straight home, sometimes he stopped by a small café, and oftentimes, Athan Horace would drive him home…"
Sandro whistled after slipping his tongue which made Azrael even more furious. He shook his head and tapped the table, "Look here, Mr. Del Valle, it seemed that, that omega was already in a happy and nice relationship, so why not, forget him and move on? Besides, aren't you already engaged?"
He suggested that in fear that Azrael might do something to the poor omega. He works under him to find people, but those people deserve to suffer the wrath of Azrael Del Valle. However, Sandro thinks that Knox Arden is innocent. So, he feared that the information he brought would be used to harm him.
He scratched his head and asked carefully, "Hey, you're not thinking of ruining that omega's life, are you? Tell me, your purpose for this is just because you're madly in love—wait, that's not it, huh?"
A drop of sweat trickled down Sandro's forehead from the deathly glare he received. He gulped and asked his friend, "Did he owe you something?"
Without answering, Azrael gathered the papers and stood, "I'll wire you the remaining balance later."
"Hey, I'm asking!"
Azrael ignored him and drove off. Along the way, the images on the pictures resurfaced in his head, and they seemed to have come alive as they moved and spoke, driving him even more crazy.
His hands clenched on the wheel. He gritted his teeth, his jaw clenching and veins bulging in his arms, struggling with his restrained anger and contempt.
He muttered in a gravelly voice, "What are you, Knox Arden? After me, you're changing to some chairman's son? Hah! You picked the wrong one. I'm not someone you can easily trifle with."
His car disappeared through the night, along with his fury. On the other hand, at the same time, Knox arrived at the back door of Franz's café with much difficulty. He traveled through the alleys to avoid bumping into anyone because his pheromones were leaking.
It's not like alphas can smell his scent again, but it's more like seeing him in a weakened state can still attract malicious strangers.
'How did this happen?' Knox wondered as he let himself slide on the door and wearily sat on the step. He leaned his head and looked at the night sky, while trying to calm his breathing and the beating of his heart.
It's been four years since he last saw that man, and he still looked the same, just a little bit more huge and colder. Just seeing Azrael, made his pheromones go wild. It's like his body was rejoicing that it finally was within reach of its master.
He shivered after recalling those glaring eyes and cranky attitude he showed, along with a whiff of the scent he missed dearly.
"No, stop thinking that way, Knox. That man will surely choke me to death if he ever finds me. He's generous and nice before, but he's also dangerous and borderline evil. Let's not get involved," Knox mumbled to himself.
He inhaled deeply and exhaled louder. Then, he stood and patted his bottom before pulling the door. He stopped on the way, remembering that his little one had a hyper-sensitive olfactory sense, which allowed him to develop a heightened sense of smell.
Because of that, Knoa could smell the small nuances in his scent, which always made him upset and he would even cry especially when he was younger. He asked a doctor about his condition before, and the doctor explained that Knoa might turn up to be a dominant alpha, since he was already expressing dissatisfaction about the scents that lingered in his omega father.
Back then, when he heard that Knoa was an alpha, he was over the moon to the point that he cried for hours, taking the heavens silently. He was relieved that his son wouldn't suffer the same difficulties, discrimination, and dangers that lurk from being too weak and powerless.
He was even excited to register Knoa's sub-gender already, but he remembered that they only manifest after the age of four.
He took out a perfume from his backpack and sprayed it all over him. The perfume was a lavender scent because Knoa likes it.
The café was still open, but there were only two customers sipping coffee in the corner. That place used to be a small diner before he went abroad, but Franz turned it into a café and separated the diner, turning it into a mid-class restaurant on the upper floor.
A young man running around caught Knox's attention as soon as he stepped out of the staff room. There was no one behind the counter, and the only staff inside was busy trying to catch a ball of fluffy little human.
Shawn noticed Knox's presence and he beamed with joy, "Ahh~ Knoa, come out, come out, wherever you are, you're Papa is here~"
"Not true!"
A tiny voice shouted from below the table next to the two customers. They giggled after hearing the cute voice and pretended like they didn't see him when Knoa glanced at them and pouted.
The female customer whispered to her companion enough to be heard by the little kid, "Is that his daddy? Ohmygod, he's so handsome and beautiful at the same time!"
Her companion answered with twinkling eyes, "Yeah~ he's like a celebrity! I wonder who the mommy is? I'm envious!"
Knoa's ears grew wide after hearing the girls admire someone. He peeked under the table and only saw a pair of shoes. But when he sniffed the air and caught a smell of that purple scent, he excitedly crawled out and shouted, "Papa!"
"Gotcha!"
"Kya!"
Shawn caught the crawling little human by the armpits and lifted him higher. He laughed melodiously after seeing Knoa struggle; the corners of his mouth downturned and his little eyebrows pulled together.
"Let go!"
Shawn mimicked Knoa's voice and even danced him in the air, which earned a slap on the head from Knox. Knoa giggled and his about-to-cry face beamed. He kicked Shawn's face and stretched his arm to his father.
"Stop bullying my son," Knox reprimanded Shawn as he claimed Knoa. He pinched his nose and asked gently, "I thought you were sleeping already."
Shawn answered instead, "He just woke up before you came. He started to look depressed so I asked him to play with me."
Knox laughed at the way Shawn spoke. He was like a child, even though they were only a year apart. Maybe because Shawn is a dominant omega which made his physique smaller than Knox's, and his face looked like a teenager, even his brain turned childish as well.
"When did you start working here?" Knox asked after noticing that Shawn was wearing the café's apron.
Shawn replied as he walked over the counter, "Just today. Got kicked out of the house and all my cards were frozen. So, I need money. Right, why don't I just apply as your nanny?! I heard you're hiring?"
Knoa yelled over his father's shoulder, "No!"
Knox chuckled. Knoa seemed to dislike Shawn, but Franz and Athan were okay. Suddenly, a thought dashed in Knox's head, 'Don't tell me even that biased trait he inherited from…'
"Oh, Knox, you're here," Franz appeared, brushing away that thought from Knox's mind.