Daren gasped in shock when he realized that he had hit a tall man, and even his nose hurt from hitting the man's chest plane with force.
But because of the collision, he almost fell backwards. However, the man swiftly wrapped his arms around Daren's waist and pulled the blond Omega toward him.
"Ouch..."
"What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to stay there?" the man asked.
Daren looked up and saw that the man was his bodyguard. He squeezed the man's black T-shirt and tried to speak. "There's a guy following me! He keeps flirting with me, he's a drunk Alpha!" he replied frantically.
Hearing that, Axel immediately looked at the drunk man who was walking towards them. He removed his arm from Daren.
"Stay behind me," he said as he gently pushed the Omega behind him and handed him the two cans of drinks he had bought earlier.
"Hey, that's my Omega! I found it first. You go find another Omega! Hey you, come here! Don't hide! You Omegas love to run away," the drunken man said and tried to grab Daren.
Axel quickly grabbed the strange man's wrist. "Don't you dare try to touch him."
"Huh? Let go of me! My hand hurts when you grab it like this!" he said in annoyance.
When he didn't let go, he made a fist to smash the bodyguard's face. Axel's reflexes were quick to dodge, especially since his opponent was a drunk.
Without thinking, he elbowed the man in the stomach, knocking him backward.
"Ukhh shit-!"
Not ready to fight back, Axel kicked both of his legs until he fell and finally passed out from hitting the ground.
BRUK!
"H-he fainted already? Oh thank goodness," Daren said with a sigh of relief.
He looked at the man closely while kicking his legs, and the man was indeed no longer moving.
"No one will realize if he fainted from hitting the ground. Everyone will know he just passed out from being drunk," Axel said as he looked at the drunken man.
"You're right, he was horrible earlier. Tried to touch me and even chased me here. Lucky I met you."
The Alpha took his coffee can from the Omega's hand. "Yeah, it's lucky you chose to run instead of facing him. You moved quickly."
"I knew it would have been risky to fight him myself and I didn't want to take that risk," Daren replied and took a drink from his can of soda.
Ring ring... Ring ring...
A call came into Daren's cell phone from Ivan. He answered the phone and heard his best friend's panicked voice.
"Daren, where are you?! You and Axel weren't there!" he said frantically over the phone.
"Oh me and this annoying Alpha are near the vending machine. We're not far from you, we'll be right there," Daren replied casually calling Axel 'Annoying Alpha'.
'He still had time to call me that after I helped him?' Axel thought with some annoyance but he didn't want to comment on it and left with his employer.
"You were chased by an Alpha?!" asked Ivan in surprise as he heard the story from Daren once they were in the car.
He told Ivan everything which immediately surprised him.
"It's also my fault for telling him to go buy drinks," Daren explained as he glanced at Axel who was driving.
If only he had gone along with his bodyguard to buy drinks and not sat alone on the side of the road like that, surely the incident wouldn't have happened.
"But thank God you're okay and no one got hurt." Ivan rubbed his good friend's shoulder.
The Alpha male glanced at the rearview mirror in the center of the car, looking at Daren who was smiling with relief. His gaze was the same when looking at the Omega, but that gaze seemed to hold something in it.
*****
Finished with dinner, they returned to the hotel to rest because tomorrow was their last day of vacation.
Tired of traveling all day, Daren immediately flung himself onto the bed and hugged the soft pillow.
"Mnnn... It feels good to be back at the hotel too. Especially after what happened earlier," he muttered as he rubbed his face against the pillow like a cat rubbing its head against someone's hand.
Axel took off his jacket and hung it up, he glanced at Daren who was enjoying himself on the bed.
"Go take a shower first, then you can sleep," he told the man.
"Later... I still want to relax first. You go shower first," Daren replied.
"Alright then." The Alpha man went to the bathroom to clean up.
Meanwhile, the exhausted Daren immediately closed his eyes in drowsiness until he finally fell asleep soundly.
In his dream, Daren returned to his school. He saw the school hallway that he always passed every day with Ivan. As he was walking and paying attention to his surroundings, Daren accidentally bumped into someone in front of him.
"Look who's here," said the man Daren had bumped into.
He looked up and saw the face of an Alpha he knew well from high school. One by one, other faces appeared, from the Alpha to the Beta who always bothered him.
"N-no... Get away from me--! Don't come any closer!" Daren walked backwards, trying to avoid them all.
However, they kept coming closer while laughing and pointing at him. Terrified, Daren ran away from there. He kept running down the hallway without stopping with the sound of laughter following him.
"You weak Omega, you are nothing but a baby factory!"
"Omegas like you are useless, no matter what family you come from. You're still just an Omega!"
"Open your legs, Omega. This Alpha will give you what you want!"
All those words continued to surround him, making Daren feel terrified.
At the same time, Axel had just finished showering. He came out of the bathroom and looked at the sleeping Daren.
"I knew he'd be asleep." The dark-haired man walked over to Daren and looked at the Omega.
"Uhhh... Hiks... Leave..." said Daren in his sleep. His tears flowed, making Axel flinch slightly, though his face remained calm.
He sat on the edge of the bed and saw how Daren's body was trembling. Although he had been in the same room when Daren fell asleep, he would only be there after an hour when the man was fast asleep and then leave.
This was the first time for Axel to see Daren delirious in his sleep and looking scared. "Nightmare, huh?"
The Alpha reflexively touched Daren's head and rubbed it lightly. He stroked the Omega man's head, as if trying to calm him down.
Sure enough, Daren stopped moaning in his sleep and fell asleep peacefully. Axel wiped away Daren's tears and looked down at his innocent sleeping face.