A hand latched onto Rika's wrist and pulled her back. She looked back at Damian's expressionless face, but the alpha was not looking at her.
Instead, his eyes glared daggers into Mark's face, and he looked ready to kill the older alpha.
Any lesser man would have backed out of this fight, but Rika knew her brother well. They had grown up together, their bond forged through countless battles and shared victories.
He would not let anyone else have the last words…unless you were Suzie.
"Brother Mark, it is nice of you to stop by and pick Rika up, but we still want to hang out with your sister. But don't worry! We will drop Rika off once we are done for the day."
Emily positioned herself before Rika just as Damian tugged her to sit back down.
Their actions agitated Mark, and Rika saw signs of her brother's temper rising.
"I always knew that you two were a bad influence on my sister. I don't understand why our parents don't see this as a doomed friendship. And Rika, what are you doing sitting down? Hurry up and come here."
Mark barked in an agitated voice.
It was unsurprising to Rika since Mark had always disapproved of her friendship with the Alpha pair.
The pheromone concentration in the room must be incredibly high to make her brother lose his cool like this.
"Don't speak up in our matter. Rika, hurry up and come here."
Rika was sure that her brother was releasing tons of pheromones in an unconscious attempt to intimidate Rika.
But the joke's on him because Rika could not feel anything.
'Now, let me see. What kind of excuse would work on Mark and make him back down?'
Rika had a ton of excuses she could make, but the best one had to be about Suzie. And with this large number of pheromones in the air, Rika had a believable lie.
"Mark, do you want me in the same space as Suzie in my current state? I am sure my clothes are drenched with alpha pheromones of people Suzie is unfamiliar with. She might go into shock."
Her words successfully knocked Mark out of the headspace he had been in. Just Suzie's name was enough to calm Mark down at these times.
"...."
Mark said nothing, but his glare told Rika everything she needed to know.
"Don't worry about Rika, brother Mark. We will make sure she returns home on time. You don't have to worry about a thing."
Emily's arms snuck around Rika's waist slowly and sensually. All this time, Rika continued to look at her brother and maintain a smile of superiority while looking at the older alpha.
Rika felt uncomfortable with this touch but could not move because Damian had his arm around her.
'Darn, these two alphas are too open with their affection, but only when it suits them. I should not read too much into these casual touches, but they make my heart skip beats.'
The most usual way to tell if someone was flirting with you or not was to read their pheromones.
Or at least, that was what everyone had told Rika throughout her life. That was the disadvantage of growing up in an alpha-omega-rich environment.
"Fine! I will back down this time because I cannot expose Suzie to unnecessary pheromones from you two. But let me tell you that it is all a futile chase. I wonder how long you can keep your alpha pride intact."
Mark's comment made Emily's arms tighten around Rika's middle, and Rike swore that she heard Damian growl behind her.
The air was tense, but Rika's dull senses did not react to anything.
Mark finally left with an annoyed look, and the pair holding Rika relaxed. The air had finally cleared out.
"My brother is gone! You can let me go now."
Rika's voice came out as a whisper, but she dared not move even a single inch.
"Stay still."
Damian said nothing while tightening his grip around Rika's wrist. It was so tight that it was beginning to hurt.
Thankfully, Emily noticed this, and she quickly hit Damian's arm to make him let go.
"Hey, be careful. You are hurting Rika by holding her wrist so tightly. I've told you often that you need to be gentle."
Damian finally let Rika go, and Emily pulled away as well.
On the way out, the janitor gave Rika a wide-eyed and uncomfortable look.
'Wow! I must be stinking of pheromones because of this idiotic pair. God! I can't look anyone in the eye right now.'
Usually, betas could not sense pheromones, but there were a few exceptions.
A few sensitive betas could feel pheromones on a regular level. If the concentration of pheromones was high enough, even a regular beta could sense or be influenced by them.
However, Rika was highly insensitive even to beta.
She could not sense pheromones, no matter how much there was in the air or how badly it stank. She had even gone to the hospital to get it checked out.
But the doctor who treated her family was an alpha-omega specialist. He had no idea how to tackle Rika's situation.
Rika had wanted to go to a beta doctor, but those people were found only in general and public hospitals. It became a big fight, and Rika never brought up this topic.
'I remember Mother arguing that a local hospital would not have doctors qualified enough to treat me and that she would find a beta expert to treat me. And then she forgot all about it because Suzie got sick…again.'
Rika was not better about this…. she was not.
Well, maybe she was a little bitter. But some situations could not be helped.
'Once I am in Maxwell Academy, I will have a chance to see a normal doctor. Hopefully, he will have a solution for me.'
Rika felt hopeful about her situation, but a pinch brought her back to the present.
"Well, now that we are free, shall we go out and have fun? There is a bar I wanted to go to for some time now. Shall we head there?"
Emily asked cheerfully as she warped her arms around Rika's and dragged her out.
Damian followed out without fail.