Alpha Bounded (Alpha's Little Secret Universe)

Chapter 14: Meeting and Greetings

My brief encounter with Aryan was exactly that, brief. Walker had explained to me countless times that he and Aryan went to the same private school before they started acting, so they grew up very close. I never questioned Walker's intentions with Aryan because I knew how he felt about the Alpha. It was completely platonic on Walker's side of things. However, I questioned Aryan because all of the Alphas that seemed to get close to Walker had every intention of trying to court him.

I looked over at Walker, who was staring out the window at all the guests, his eyes spotting Aryan who was probably waiting for us to arrive. They had planned for the three of us to go together because Aryan didn't have a plus 1. A big part of me felt a little weird about that, but I didn't say anything.

"C'mon Malachi!" Walker exclaimed as he excitedly exited the vehicle. I followed behind him as he skipped towards the alpha. Walker proceeded to look the boy up and down, smiling at him like he liked what he saw. I couldn't help but be jealous at the fact that Walker was looking at anyone that wasn't me. It was a natural reaction.

"You look amazing Aryan!" He said with the biggest of smiles. Aryan wore a small smile, checking out Walker with his own eyes.

"Thank you, you don't look to bad you self," he replied. I tried to keep a straight face in attempt to ignore it, but I couldn't. Aryan was quick to notice, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Is there something wrong?" Aryan asked me. I quickly shook my head no, forcing myself to get over the fact that I was insanely jealous. Walker looked back at me, frowning slightly as he grabbed my hand. The last thing I wanted to do was ruin this for him, but I couldn't exactly stop myself from feeling the way I did. Aryan was an alpha. An attractive one at that. How was I supposed not feel some kind of way about it.

"This is my fault. I haven't properly introduced you two to each other. Malachi, this is Aryan, one of my best friends. Aryan, this is Malachi, my boyfriend," Walker announced while staring between the both of us. I naturally stuck my hand out, giving this a chance. If Walker believed Aryan was safe then I could trust him. Aryan took my hand, shaking it with a tight grip before letting go.

"Sorry for being king of awkward. I can't help but get a little jealous when you interest with Walker. It's really not on purpose and it's nothing against you," I explained. Aryan nodded, smiling at me like he expected it.

"You don't have to worry about me going after Walker, like ever. I mean don't get me wrong, he's gorgeous, but he's not a female," Aryan snickered. Most alphas didn't care about the gender of their omegas, but some did have preferences. I guess I had assumed he was attracted to boys too.

"Oh...that's information that would've been useful about 3 days ago," I laughed. Walkers eyes got big with embarrassment as he shuffled his feet.

"Sorry, I didn't think it would be that important. I didn't know you'd get that jealous," Walker replied.

"I wasn't THAT jealous," I said, anxiously looking off towards the entrance of the ceremony.

"Yeah and I'm not an omega," Walker jokingly replied, rolling his eyes at me. I playfully hit his arm lightly as we all began to walk into the event space.

It was a large space with many tables and people who I assumed were relatives of Drake Baldwin and Maxwell Jenkins. There was a sprinkle of other famous actors like Jacob Tremblay and Oscar Sam Curtis, but for the most part it was regular people or people who were too rich to be known. I spent a majority of the ceremony being Walker's plus one as he did most of the talking while I smiled and played my part at his quiet alpha. I was naturally shy and didn't like small talk, but Walker was my complete opposite. Aryan pretty much followed my lead and kept his conversations short, only seeming to really talk when he was with someone he knew.

"Malachi?"

I spun around to see who had said my name. When Ben's face came into view I froze. He was holding someone's hand. That same someone he had left me for. He looked different. Happier in a way. Which made me feel like I was useless all over again.

"Uhhh...hey Ben," I replied. His blue eyes had that same pity filled glare in them from when he first started moving on from me. I had gotten used to it, but it always made me remember that I wasn't enough for him.

"W-what are you doing here?" He stuttered, quickly placing a hand on his neck when my eyes noticed the mark there. The fact that he was marked already didn't surprise me. He was never meant to be mine, which he made very clear.

"I was invited by Max and Drake personally. I didn't know you'd be here," I replied as Walker finally finished whatever conversation he was having. Walker slipped his hand into mine, smiling at Ben with complete ignorance. He had no idea this was my ex.

"Umm...Walker, this is Ben. Ben, this is Walker," I said, introducing the omegas. Instantly felt a jolt of fire course through me from Walker. If I had any wanting that Ben would be here I would've declined the invite or made up some excuse not to come. The mere mentioning of Ben made Walker angry and it wasn't for the reasons that made sense to me. Ben made him angry because of the way he has lead me on for so long. It was time I could've spent searching for him instead which I guess made sense in his head. I really didn't want to argue about it.

"Oh...it's finally nice to meet you!" Walker exclaimed with the most forced smile he could produce. The omega was fuming underneath and I had no clue how to pull him away from the situation

"Likewise...umm...well it was good seeing you again Malachi. I hope everything goes well," the boy said before practically running off to find his alpha. I released a breath, thanking whatever higher being was watching me right now.

"He's nice," Walker said as he gripped my hand a little tightly. I didn't respond. There was no point in talking about something he'd be venting about later when we traveling back to LA.

Thankfully, the sound of microphone feedback and someone clearing their voice distracted us long enough to forget all about Ben.

"Good Evening everyone! My name is Patrick and we're here to celebrate Max and Cookies engagement..."

I looked down at Walker who communicated to me that Cookie was Drake's nickname that his siblings called him.

"...I just want to say I'm extremely proud of my older brother. He's been through so much and to see him finally find his happily ever after is a godsend. I was planning to give some very long winded speech, but I really don't feel like talking much. So I hired a singer to communicate everything I want to say to my brother instead. I would like to introduce you to Etienne!"

The entire room went silent, the welcoming applause seeming to go mute as a boy with long curly blond hair that was free from the confines of a hair tie, green eyes, and beautiful golden skin that gleamed under the lights of the stage. Standing there with nothing but pureness pouring out of his mouth was Etienne.

The Etienne.

My Etienne.