~ Alexei~
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have hit you like that. You didn't know,"
I apologize as Dante looks over the blank page in his sketchbook, trying his hardest to ignore me but I know he can't. Putting his pen down he scratches his chin and turns slightly, giving me a good look at the nearly healed bruise I created in a moment of pure rage.
"Do you think Waylon your mate?" Dante asked and I nodded, but there was no happiness in his dark brown eyes.
"Before, when I told you I found someone different, it was Waylon, but I guess he chose you over me. They always do," he says with a sad smile and it breaks my heart but at the same time Wei is mine and I can't help that.
"I mean look at you, I never stood a chance to begin with," Dante laughs at himself, shaking his head as he goes back to sketching his next drawing.
"That's not true, once you have your mate I'm sure they'll think the world of you," I try to cheer him up but my presence alone dragged him down.
"Nah, I'm pretty sure they're gonna look at me and just say 'Really? This is what I've been waiting for?' then reject me. I'm not good enough for anyone Alex," He sighs, dragging the tip of his pen across the paper and puts the pen down before leaning back in his seat.
"Dante, you can't possibly believe that," I state, worried about my poor friend's mental health as he just shrugs and retreats further into his hoodie.
"Of course I do, because it's the truth. I'm not an optimist like you Alex, I don't have this perfect little mate following me along or some powerful alpha. I'm just a stupid below average lotus who can just barely pass Sensei Oro's class. I might not even show up to the ceremony to be honest. What's the point when I'm probably too pathetic and would rather be unmated then be some burden to someone who deserves so much better," He says with a depressed rage I've never seen in him before and we've been friends since we were six. Dante's like my little brother even though I'm only older by two months.
Dante fans his hand through his hair and lets out a long sigh, before turning to me with a fake smile as he tried to look happy when he turned to me.
"Anyway thanks for listening to my Tedtalk, I accept your forgiveness and I'm sorry for going on a pointless rant. I'm not really in the mood to hang out though so please go," He points to the door but I cross my arms.
"Fine, but this isn't the end of this conversation," I warn him and he rolls his eyes as he puts on his headphones and goes back to drawing. I gently rub his shoulder and leave him be, knowing he takes most of his frustrations out in his art.
Stepping out of his dorm, I'm taken aback when a crew of people in black designer bomber jackets and black face masks make their way down the hall. I've never seen a competition before but I know what a dance crew looks like when I see it so it's not abnormal.
What's abnormal is the apple blossom scent that follows after they pass.
"Wei?" I whisper my boyfriend's name as I look at the crew from behind, spotting their shortest member was a boy with hair identical to my sweet Waylon's but I couldn't be sure.
I guess there's only one way to know.
I let the crew of seven get a safe distance away from me before I start following them. As I do, I can't help but fight with myself as to how crazy I'm being as a boyfriend on a scale of 1 to insane.
Congrats, you've reached the insane threshold.
My wolf comments and I growl at the fool, hiding in doorways and around corners to see where they're going as they exit the dorm. It would be harder to follow them outside but I pull my hood up over my head as another crew passes me. I follow that one instead, trying to fit in but it was useless since I was stealthy in no way, shape, or form while wearing a burgundy sweatshirt and black skinny jeans but it was worth a shot.
Walking down the main path towards the dock where the ferry brings us onto Antum and takes us back to Kailea, I thought they were going to the pier. That was until they take a sharp turn once they hit the beach and keep walking with one of them holding a sphere of light in her hands. She must be in a younger gifted class.
But Waylon doesn't have light for his gift and he's scared of the dark so why is he walking down a pitch-black beach at eight o'clock at night with six strangers? Usually, he's studying at this time. Or at least that's what he told me.
Has he been lying to me this whole time?
Who's the real Prince Waylon then?
After walking for what felt like forever, I could feel the bass of the music in the sand beneath my sneakers as we walked up to a large cove beside the ocean on a small stretch of perfectly flat beach. The crowd had gathered as a group was dancing in the center while everyone watched and awed on the sides. The quiet ocean behind the group and firey torches surrounding them stood as the backdrop while they danced for three people sitting on three perfectly placed rocks as they diligently watched.
"Alexei? What are you doing here?" I look over after hearing my name and the golden eyes of Alpha Chase Forester find me, even under his mask. He quickly digs one out of his pocket and hands it to me. Thanking him, I put it on and feel like I fit in a little bit more.
"I think my boyfriend is here," I tell him, trying to talk over the music and he laughs.
"Are you stalking him or something?" Chase asks and I the beat drops with a scream from the crowd as the group does a synchronized backflip together as one.
"No, I don't-I just want to find him," I try to explain without sounding creepy but it really wasn't possible at this point.
"Well good luck with that, I gotta go prep just try to blend in," He says and I stand in the far back watching the next group go up, wearing the same bomber jackets it looked like they were the only ones with a dragon on one side and a tiger on the other. I watched the shortest one, those bright blue eyes were unlike anyone else's and I knew for sure it must be my baby.
But Wei's never told me he was a dancer before and certainly not like this.
The music starts and Wei's group stands out from the rest, with each powerful step they dance a hip hop routine that has everyone shouting their excitement but I watch Wei, his legs moving so fast I couldn't keep up and with one jump he's suddenly in the arms of another boy. I narrow my heated gaze on where the boy's hands were, with one on his hip before a flip.
I decide he gets to live another day and try to control the strong alpha telling me only I should be able to touch Waylon, no one else.
When they finish the crowd goes wild and my baby looked so proud of himself as they walked off the makeshift stage. Seeing him happy with others who look like they're his friends makes me happy and I just wonder why he kept this a secret from me.
The music suddenly changes and a guy takes the stage.
"While the judges decide our winner, we're going to have a free stage for duets so couples please take the stage!" He announces and the music hypes everyone up.
"God is a dancer, yeah, I heard on the radio, That she always goes harder 'Cause she keepin' you on your toes,"
The lyrics sing and I watch as Waylon excitedly hops up and down talking to the guy who put his hand on his hip and pulling his arm. He must be trying to get the guy to dance with him.
Wait, could he be cheating on me?
The guy gets up with some of Wei's coercion and joins the couples on the floor where I slowly make my way towards them. Unable to help myself, all I wanted was a better view to see if they were more than dance partners, but the guy sees me from a mile away and we make eye contact.
With a wink he takes Waylon in his arms, forcing his back to me as I get closer before spinning him out of reach, straight into mine. Waylon gasps before we make eye contact and he looked shocked as I held him in my arms for a second before he slipped away from me. Taking three steps back, he taunts me forward with his index finger and can't help but follow taking my hand and pressing it to his heart his body rolls back and he takes my hand again, twirling into my arms as he holds my hand over his. Sliding it down his chest to his hip before we move together as one.
Dancing together, it took everything in me to keep from laughing just from the fun we were having. While my copying of Waylon wasn't as good as his teammate's might have been, he made me feel comfortable while dancing like no one was watching.
Moon Goddess please protect my precious mate because I really don't know who I'll become without him.
The song ends too quickly as the judges come back and Waylon was literally jumping with joy like the small bean he is.
"That was so good babe! I didn't know you could dance!" He exclaims with so much passion and energy it was almost too much for me, so I just place my hands on his shoulders to stop his jumping.
"Why didn't you tell me you danced?" I asked and suddenly they called the name of his dance group.
"Ah! We won!" He cried out and his teammates celebrate the win with Waylon's dance partner taking the trophy from the judge before giving it to Wei.
"We wouldn't have gotten this without you," He says and Waylon stares at the shiny plastic. I couldn't see it under the mask but I can tell by his eyes and the way he stands that he has the widest smile on his face right now.
"Congrats baby," I tell him, kissing the top of his head through the mask as he stares at his reflection.
"Ah, I'm so happy I don't know what to say!"
******************
I've written a few cute characters, but Waylon tops them all.
For Patreons; the chapter update of the day is Sensei Oro x Sora with a tiny spoiler at the end, so shhh, don't say anything. Also, voting is still up on the site for who Dante's mate will be and I like the results so far. If you haven't yet please consider supporting the straight 7 hours of writing a day that I put into this right after working an 8-hour swing shift. I'm just using it to save for a new laptop before this one breaks in a month or so and I can't write at all.
*Exhaustion sets in*
Wearing myself out but I can't help it cause I love this story so much
BUT it's almost the weekend, happy Friday everyone!
goodnight! (Really good morning but I'm about to sleep so I don't know what to call it)