Chapter 2: The Hospital Test Result

          When the footsteps came closer, it was a waiter carrying a tray loaded with drinks. Noah's eyes locked onto the drinks. These specific dark red drinks were called Astra-Tonic. They were highly alcoholic and only Alphas were able to hold their liquor after drinking it. An idea popped in Noah's head. If he forced it down Kyle's throat, how would he behave? Would he still be as quiet as he was, or would he do something stupid and embarrass himself in front of the whole banquet?

   “Wait, let me take one of these, it's for my father.” Noah said, flashing him his signature angelic smile.

The waiter, completely fooled, bowed and stretched the tray out towards him. Noah collected it, and as soon as the waiter's footsteps could no longer be heard. His expression turned vicious as he turned to look at Kyle. He grabbed Kyle by the back of his neck, and pinned him against the wall.

  “Since you love to act like a pitiful victim, let's see how you act after a drink,” Noah sneered.

Kyle’s eyes widened in horror. He did not know what the red drink was, but his survival instincts screamed at him to run. “N…oah, no… p…lease…”

Noah did not care. He brutally jammed the rim of the glass against Kyle’s lips, forcing liquid down his throat. Kyle thrashed and choked, his hands desperately pushing against Noah’s chest, but his malnourished body was too weak, so the drinks still found their way down his throat.

    When the glass became empty, Noah tossed it into a nearby trash bin. He took out a silk handkerchief to dry his hands.

 “Stay here and reflect on your behavior.” He walked back to the ballroom, leaving the helpless Kyle alone in the corridor.

 Left alone in the dark corridor, Kyle collapsed to his knees, coughing violently. He clutched his stomach as he felt a heat inside his chest.

   Then he remembered the drink he had taken. It was the Astra Tonic, that was the drink his mum had warned him about in the lab before she died.

  “Kyle, if you see any red, heavy alcoholic drink, do not take it, it's called an Astra Tonic and it reacts strongly to the gland modifier. Never let them know you are an Omega…make sure to stay far away from the drink.”

   Kyle’s blood ran cold. The drink Noah had just forced down his throat contained the very tonic his mother had warned him about!

   Before he could even process the terror. He felt something snap on his chest, the modifier had permanently shattered. His pheromones suddenly exploded through the empty corridor. It had been years since his had perceived his pheromones, but he recognised it instantly, his mum had also told him that it was the intoxicating scent of Frosted Cedar, he didn't know what a frosted Cedar was because he had grown up in a lab, but his mum had said that it smelled nice.

“No… no, no…” Kyle whimpered.

    He stumbled around blindly, tears streamed down his face as he tightly clutched the back of his neck, trying to stop the pheromones from spreading.

He was terrified. His mother had told him that if anyone found out he was an Omega, the bad guys from the lab would do terrible things to him, worse than what they had done at the lab.

   He needed to find a place to hide, but his legs weren't helping. They were weak from the alcohol, and the whole corridor was spinning whenever he moved.

   

  Meanwhile, in a private VIP lounge just a few doors down the corridor, the atmosphere was thick with tension.

Mr. Devon Adler, the cold-blooded technology and business tycoon, was pouring himself a glass of whiskey. Sitting across from him was Hugo Keagan, the ruthless and youngest Commander-In-Chief the military had ever had. These two dominant Alphas were long-standing rivals who could not stand the sight of each other.

Hugo leaned against the chair with a mocking smirk on his face. “You're not going down to have a drink with your fiancé? I heard the Sawyer family is parading that little Omega around, telling everyone he's practically yours.”

Devon twirled the drink in his hand. “He is not my fiancé. You can have him if you want him so badly.”

“No thanks. I'm not the one he has a compatibility match with,” Hugo laughed, then, his face hardened as he stood up and stepped forward. “Don't change the topic, Adler. I came to this tedious banquet for one reason. Back away from tomorrow's bidding deal. Since you banned my personal assistants from even entering your company building, the only way to find you was to corner you here.”

   Devon finally moved his attention away from the drink. “What makes you think I'll back down? Coming all the way here to threaten me only makes me want to secure the deal even more.” 

Suddenly, both Alphas froze and turned towards the door simultaneously.

Their nostrils flared as they perceived the scent of Frosted Cedar.

   It was not just a pleasant smell, that made them react almost instantly.

   Hugo’s pupils dilated instantly. “You… you can smell it too?”

Without another word, the two powerful tycoons stood up and moved out of the room. Driven entirely by instinct, they followed the intoxicating trail down the dimly lit service corridor.

And there he was.

Kyle was stumbling blindly against the wall, tears pouring from his large, expressive eyes as he clutched his neck. When he heard footsteps, he looked up through his blurry vision. His eyes widened in pure horror when he saw the two huge, imposing men stepping out of the shadows.

  Are they here already? Kyle’s mind screamed in panic. Are they the scientists coming to take me back to the lab? But the shield only broke a few minutes ago… How did they come so fast?

The sheer terror, combined with the heavy alcohol suddenly became too much for his fragile body system to handle. Kyle’s eyes rolled back, and his body went completely limp.

Before he could hit the hard floor, Hugo moved with terrifying speed, catching the small boy securely in his arms. Hugo’s brow furrowed tightly as he lifted him. “He's too light. He feels like a feather.”

Devon stepped closer, his dark eyes fixed entirely on Kyle’s pale, doll-like face. Without a word, Devon released his own heavy, dominant Alpha pheromones, wrapping them around Kyle’s body like a thick blanket to completely conceal the frosted cedar scent from the rest of the building.

“Let's take my car. I'll drive,” Devon said, his voice was deep and unusually protective. The two of them cooperated and took the unconscious boy towards the private exit.

    The noise in the main entrance stopped as the people outside saw the VVVIP guests they were waiting to step outside, their aura was terrifying and their pheromones did not let anyone come closer to them.

    Hugo was carrying a thin, pale boy in his arms, and Devon walked right beside them. Both of their faces radiated a feral anger that made everyone instinctively step back.

 But of course, it didn't stop them from whispering.

“What is going on?”

“Who is that boy? Did he somehow offend them?”

“Look at their faces… They look furious. Whichever family that child belongs to, they are absolutely doomed.”

Suddenly, someone gasped, it was the lady in Bob hairstyle who had talked to Clarrisa Sawyer at the beginning of the banquet. “Wait! Isn't that the adopted son of the Sawyer family? The lab orphan?”

       Inside the banquet, Clarrisa Sawyer was still sipping champagne and talking to a group of socialites when the Bob hairstyle lady barged. 

“Mrs. Sawyer! Something terrible happened!” She gasped dramatically 

“It seems your adoptive son is in trouble. He just offended President Devon Adler and Master Hugo Keagan all at once! They just carried him out of the venue, and they looked absolutely furious!” She didn't bother to reduce her voice, the more people that heard it, the better.

Clarrisa Sawyer nearly lost her grip on the champagne flute. She looked around and saw Noah standing by the chocolate fountain, but Kyle was nowhere to be seen.

Panicking, she rushed through the crowd and grabbed Noah’s arm. “Noah! Where is your brother? What did he do?”

Noah frowned slightly at the word 'brother. “I took him to get some fresh air, Mom. He said he wanted to stay in the corridor for a little while, so I left him there to rest. Is there something you need him for?”

  Another wealthy guest chipped in, her voice full of worry. “Noah, your brother just offended the top two Alphas of the Oakhaven Republic! They carried him away! Did he do something crazy?”

Hearing this, Noah’s heart leaped with a mixture of nervousness and dark satisfaction. Did that little bit of red wine really make that useless lab rat lose his senses? Did Kyle actually go as far as to offend the two most powerful, terrifying men in the nation?

Good, Noah thought, If he offended those two tycoons, the Sawyers won't even have to lock him in the attic anymore. Devon and Hugo will make sure he disappears from this world forever.

   However, contrary to Noah’s delusional thoughts, the atmosphere in the private hospital was completely different.

  Devon and Hugo were standing side by side in front of a glass window, staring down at the medical report in Devon’s hands. Printed in bold, red ink at the bottom of the page was an impossible statistic that read: 99.999% Compatibility Match.

“Redo it,” Hugo growled, his jaw clenched tightly as he struggled to fight the urge to go into the room and pull the sleeping boy into his arms.

  Logan Denver, the doctor and owner of the hospital frowned as he looked at his friend. “Hey Hugo, I know this looks unbelievable, but this is already the tenth time you two have made me redo the match test! I swear on my medical license, redoing it an eleventh time won't change the medical reality. The boy lying inside that room is the perfect mat

ch for both of you. And it is a perfect, almost flawless match.”