* * *

"RELAX, IT'S starting to leak," Tian Zi whispered. Compared to Jonathan, who was also an Alpha, Tian Zi had noticed Fyre's pheromones because he was especially sensitive to them. Fyre normally doesn't emit any pheromones at all so when they start to leak out, even just a little, Tian Zi will not fail to notice it. Fyre releasing pheromones would mean that the Omega would soon go into an attack, …and that will, once again, bring them to a dangerous situation. The last time they were lucky. This time around he wasn't so sure. He didn’t want something like what had happened between him and Maverick Sullen to happen with Fyre as well.

". . ." Not saying anything, Fyre followed Tian Zi’s command and tried to relax himself. Thankfully, he successfully started to calm down. Tian Zi finally let go of Fyre with a heavy sigh, sensing the pheromones were slowly disappearing. Even though it was brief, pheromones are still pheromones. And, as an Alpha, he still has Alpha urges, although they were not overwhelming enough for him to have lost his control. The only urge he had at the moment was to pull Fyre into his arm and bury his face against his neck. It was still an Alpha urge, …one that would potentially evolve into something else if indulged.

Additionally, even if it was just a hugging urge, he didn't want a little Chihuahua barking at him non-stop in the aftermath.

Fyre was really convenient due to his skills. However, one major drawback was him being so short-tempered to the point where it would later affect his body. He was too unstable, which was dangerous to them considering that they were an Alpha and an Omega.

After clearing their heads, they plopped down on the couch next to each other, looking all worn out.

"Your name really suits your personality," Tian Zi suddenly commented, leaning his back to the couch. The name Fyre was no doubt based on the element fire, although fire is strongly associated with passion, recreation, and assertiveness, it also represents destruction. Comparing Fyre's character, he is easily angered, …just like how the element fire would destroy anything in its path. No matter how harmless Fyre looked on the outside, the Omega was actually a walking ball of chaos.

"Thank you, I-I couldn't help it with that man," Fyre stuttered, holding his hands together as he fidgeted. There was a stubborn pinkish blush on his cheeks that didn’t seem to fade as long as he felt extremely embarrassed. He had promised himself that the last time would be the only time that he would let Mo Tian Zi help him, but now there was a second time. His body had never been this easily prone to undergo an attack before, so it was rather unexpected for him. He couldn’t help but think of his body as bothersome now.

"Hmmm, I get it. He does tend to annoy me a lot as well, I'm actually glad his attention is being directed to you," Tian Zi said. When Fyre heard him, the blush in his cheeks dissipated in an instant! He then looked over at the Alpha, relaxing himself, his embarrassment from before totally forgotten.

"You're welcome," Fyre said through gritted teeth, annoyed at the Alpha, which only made Tian Zi chuckle.

"Yeah, thank you..." Tian Zi said between his chuckles, making Fyre even more annoyed. He already knew Mo Tian Zi had this kind of personality, but it was really really annoying. If only the Alpha wasn't so smart, he would have left long ago. The only reason why he was staying and working with the Alpha was because he wanted to learn new things, techniques that would further widen his knowledge in programming and also… to find out how to defeat the arrogant bastard in his game!

"Don't be mad now," Tian Zi said softly. It was really amusing how it was so easy to annoy Fyre! It was very fun seeing how his reactions would shift from one to another. Figures why Jonathan loved teasing Fyre. But Tian Zi knew well enough how bad it would be if the teasing got out of control, so he didn't want to get too deep into that.

"I'm not mad, …just annoyed that you two are both jerks."

"Well, we can't help that you're easy to tease," Tian Zi countered before he laughed lightly and patted Fyre's head. He lightly rubbed the area making the Omega groan in annoyance. But before he could push Tian Zi's hand away, his eyes suddenly widened as the Alpha near him. The blush he thought was gone earlier quickly came back as he panicked internally. He was about to ask what he was doing when the Alpha sighed in defeat and grabbed Fyre's shoulders, putting some weight on them.

"What are you doing so suddenly?" Fyre asked, frowning. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought that Tian Zi was gonna kiss him or something.

"Do you know that Hanlu and his wife are going to marry next week??" Tian Zi suddenly blurted out.

"Yes, that's the only thing people keep talking about these days, why?" Fyre replied, giving off a confused face. Who wouldn't know about the most anticipated event of the year?? The fairytale-themed wedding that everyone was talking about. It was a waste of money but for Mo Hanlu that was probably just pocket change. People all over the country were all waiting for the day to come because apparently, the Alpha had decided to broadcast the ceremony on live TV. Unlike his older brother, who also had a grand wedding ceremony, private photographers had been the only ones allowed to enter, not the media. So people could just imagine what the wedding looked like until they allowed some pictures to be released.

"Do you want to attend it with me?? Perhaps??" Tian Zi asked, he sounded unsure, but his eyes were like they were pleading for Fyre to accept his invitation, which Fyre found weird. It was like even if he declined, the Alpha would find a way to make him say yes.

"Uhh, why so suddenly? I'm not even invited."

"Well..." Tian Zi stood up and jogged towards somewhere for a brief moment before he came back to the couch holding a white card that Fyre had an inkling of what it was. The motive behind him doing this was because of something his older brother Hanlu had asked him to do. If he didn't follow it, then Hanlu wouldn't sign the contract to give him full control over his inheritance. He didn't know how the legal terms in his inheritance had become like this, but apparently he needed that signature, …and he wouldn’t get it if he didn’t make Fyre his partner on the wedding day.

He knew that day when Hanlu had seen him together with Fyre that it would somehow bring him to situations like this, but he didn't know the older Alpha would use his inheritance as hostage. Without that inheritance, how was he going to build his company without the funding?? Of course, he could raise funds by finding investors but that was too troubling, even for him. He absolutely did not want to have to go through such a bothersome process, just to get funding.

"You are now," Tian Zi said and handed out the white card, and as soon as Fyre saw it, he knew his earlier guess had been right. It was indeed an invitation card to the Wedding of the Century. Fyre grabbed the card and briefly read it, despite knowing what should be written on it. But as he read the letter, his eyes blinked in disbelief. His brain could not comprehend what was transcribed as he read it. Instead of reading "You are invited to the Wedding of the Century" or something along those lines, Fyre was reading something else entirely.

"Is this a joke?" Fyre asked, still unable to believe what he was reading. There was no way he was going to become a bridesmaid at some stranger's wedding! Although both Mo Hanlu and Ian Andrews are public figures, they are very much strangers to him. He’d only met Mo Hanlu once, and he hadn’t ever even met Ian Andrews before! Besides, considering the Omega's line of work, he didn't think it would be good for him to meet Ian Andrews either.

"Unfortunately, it is not. I know this is sudden but please consider it. I'll do anything you want if you do," Tian Zi asked helplessly. He didn't want to beg but he had no choice. Even though he was constantly competing with his older brother all the time, he couldn’t deny that he had no power over him if he really wanted to restrain him.

"A bridesmaid? Are you kidding me? We've only even known each other for less than a year. I've only met Mo Hanlu once and I haven't even met Ian Andrews. He's a freaking policeman! I can't get too close to a person that could potentially send me to prison anytime," Fyre roared in disapproval. He had done so many illegal activities in his hacking career; stealing money from gangsters and banks, or classified government and national information to sell them to Mafias or other parties. If Ian Andrews found out that he was the person behind the username JUNKANIME, one of the top wanted hacker names in the country …and perhaps the world, he didn't know if he could avoid prison by then.

He may be an Omega, but his background was more complicated than anyone he knew. The only reason he hasn’t been found out even until now was because his skills were considered second to none. Plus who would think a young recessive Omega would, or could, do all of those?

"I know. I know this is absurd but I was given no choice. Older brother Hanlu saw you that day so he insisted on you coming. I couldn’t do anything. If we don't do this, then the work we've been doing until now will all go in vain. Older Brother Hanlu may look harmless, but he's a sadist that enjoys watching people in pain, …and especially seeing me struggling," Tian Zi explained, grabbing and holding onto both of Fyre's shoulders again. Listening to the Alpha’s explanation, Fyre still failed to see why he had to go, …or why he had to become a bridesmaid.

He was only willing to help Tian Zi because his debts keep piling up. The first was Remi’s safety. The second was that time when he’d had an attack in his library. And earlier, the Alpha had had to calm him down before something worse could happen.

"S-Still, why do I have to be a bridesmaid?" Fyre asked again.

"I don't know either. But if you do me this favor, I will forever be indebted to you," Tian Zi said again helplessly. It was really embarrassing to him that he sounded like he was begging, but he was indeed begging, …and truly he had no choice. This was for his dream to come true. And if this was what it took for it to happen, then ignoring his pride today was just a little price he had to pay.

"..." Not saying anything as he continued to contemplate, Fyre looked at Tian Zi's hopeful gaze and finally sighed. He thought for a bit, weighing all the consequences, and at last nodded okay. As long as no one knew his identity, no one would be able to trace him to that username. Additionally, being a bridesmaid wouldn’t be that hard if in exchange he would have THE Mo Tian Zi indebted to him. It was not a bad deal at all.

"Okay fine," Fyre replied, “but you need to keep them from knowing what I do for a living. Just tell them we're schoolmates or something.”

"Deal," Tian Zi replied, his eyes sparkled gratefully.

* * *

To be Continued...