章 2: An Encounter Only Fate Could Set Up
The sound of awe-struck laughter resounded in the free weight area of the gym.
The source was from two dark-haired men standing by the bench where their friend laid, bench pressing about double his weight.They observed in amusement as a grunt snuck it's way from the back of the man's throat. He lifted the weight as far as his arms would extend for the last time; it was his tenth rep. The weight shook in his firm grip for the small moment he held it there, then he lowered it down back onto its stand. Unaware of the breath he was holding, he released it and sat up. Wiping his dark, unruly bangs from his sweat moistened forehead ,he gave his two friends a toothy smile.
"See? I told you I could do it. Now pay up Hunter." His eyebrows wiggled as he looked to the man on his right. Hunter was a cocoa-skinned Beta who currently held a disgruntled frown as he fished around in his duffel bag for money.
"Alright, Alright. You proved me wrong.Let this be a lesson to not question your strength again."
Hunter puffed his cheeks in a huff as he forked over a twenty dollar bill. He thought for sure he would win this bet, but how could he have known the other was capable of lifting that much, especially when the three of them had started weightlifting at the same time; at the same weight. Now he didn't even have enough money to get their usual recovery protein shakes at the drink bar,and the new mint chocolate flavor was calling his name too. The other Beta male,slightly smaller than Hunter and fair skinned, chuckled and shrugged his shoulders.
"You should've known better dude. Aosh is an Alpha. 'Alpha's always win' as they say."
"Shut up,Marcus." Hunter countered at the others' snide remark. Marcus smirked in the others face, clearly not intimidated by him.
Aosh laughed at them both as he got up from the bench,grabbing his water bottle off the floor next to it. Coming just short of Hunter's height, Aosh had well defined muscles that showed through a tight training top and a petite waist under his baggy joggers.His black locks were tamed only by a simple hair tie,holding it in place with a high ponytail.The only thing giving way to how unruly it was were the bangs that swept to one side.Using the towel around his neck, he continued to wipe sweat from his honey-colored face, running it over where delicate peonies were etched on his cheeks. At first one would assume he was delinquent in character looking the way he did, but those obsidian eyes let off a gentle warmness; his smile was attractive and alluring.Regarding Marcus, he turned to the man to make a comment.
"You know that saying doesn't mean shit, man. Hunter can usually match me in what he lifts and he's a Beta. Gender isn't everything ya' know." He patted Marcus on the back as he took a few gulps of water between his parted lips.
"Mmm...sure." the other mumbled under his breath, shrugging off the hand.
"C'mon guys. The winner has to get his shake! Mm, I'm thinking mint chocolate." The Alpha gestured for the two to follow him as he walked towards the drink bar.
...........
"So you guys heard right?"
Aosh and Hunter looked at Marcus quizzically from across the table in the recreation lounge, both sipping on a protein shake. Aosh felt bad for Hunter losing and bought him a shake as a gesture of goodwill. The latter looked pleased finally having the new flavor he sought after, and was not disappointed in the least at the taste. Aosh on the other hand would've preferred the regular chocolate and it showed by how much he was actually drinking. Marcus rolled his eyes.
"The new section of the gym that they finished building a couple weeks ago is going to be a dance studio."
The other males sucked at their straws in silence not really knowing why that news was relevant to them. Aosh and his friends didn't dance, they weight trained with a little cardio sprinkled here and there to keep things balanced. Leaning in closer to the other two, Marcus whispered.
"Apparently one of the dance instructors is an Omega. An Omega male at that."
"Dude, really?" Hunter grinned.
"Mhm. I've heard he's really cute too. Ten out of ten."
"Have you seen him?"
"Nah, it's just what I've heard, but Omegas are always beautiful." They turned to look at Aosh who continued to sip his shake in silence, looking away from the two.
"C'mon Aosh! You can't tell me you're not at least a little interested?!" Marcus looked at him incredulously.
"Marcus, you know-" Aosh started, exasperated, but was cut short by Marcus' short temper.
"Yea, yea we've heard it before Aosh. ' I want to find my fated mate. Fate picked someone out for me so that's who I want to be with. I want something meaningful not just a fling.' Blah. Blah. Blah. Can you just act like a regular Alpha for a change and stop worrying about some name on your arm?" Marcus jabbed at the area where the name was scarred on Aosh's left inner forearm for emphasis.
He pulled his arm close to him like he had been burnt and glared at his friend. The name there was Aosh's most cherished possession since he was a child. Even when he was getting tattoos he painstakingly made sure it went untouched. Currently it was nestled between a few blooming lotus which was a recent addition to the ever growing sleeve of flora and koi.
The glare from the Alpha was intense and intimidating. As a Beta, Marcus knew at his core he shouldn't push the other, Aosh's gender was above his after all. Even so Marcus tried hard to make it look like Aosh wasn't phasing him and turned to talk to Hunter instead who was unsurprisingly quiet during the whole exchange.He was never one to be confrontational, especially when Marcus got like this.
Aosh had heard it all before. How what he wanted didn't make sense. That he was a waste of an Alpha for saving himself for one person that may or may not want him back; someone he didn't even know. But Aosh liked to live by example in everything he did, and the best example of a relationship between fated mated was his own parents.
They loved each other and were happy with one another. Aosh wanted that. Growing up he saw what fate had done for them, how happy and oh so in love with each other they were, and wanted the same. He could admit he was a romantic,he was at least that self aware, and the whole idea of it all was so appealing to him.When he was in his younger teenage years he would digest unhealthy amounts of romance novels that depicted tender love stories of deep yearning and affections that crossed genders and boundaries. Stories that made his heart squeeze and his breathing stutter at the mere thought that he could have that someday. Yes, Aosh was a romantic, and maybe a little deluded,but he yearned for the person this name scarred on him belonged to like nothing else in the world mattered; and it would take more than a few jabs from his friend for him to rethink his whole philosophy on his love life.
Hunter and Marcus' current conversation became background noise as Aosh got lost in his thoughts; absentmindedly messing with his lip piercings between sips of his almost soupy shake.
...........
After they showered and changed into their everyday wear, the trio made their way towards the exit. As they began to pass the new dance studio Marcus stopped at the window to peek inside.
"Psst! Guys look!" He motioned them over with his hand. The other two came over to see why he had gotten so excited. Inside the room were two people; a taller man with close cut tawny hair and a shorter, more slender man with striking platinum blonde hair that looked like it sparkled in the natural light of the room. Those dazzling locks came to rest just under his shoulders. The latter stood on the tips of his toes at the railing on the adjacent wall. A small sweet smile graced his lips as he gracefully moved his arms and swayed to the quiet music playing inside. The other male adjusted his position at the hips and arms. In a swift movement the slender man dropped down to the flat of his feet and extended one leg out.
"I bet the Omega is the blonde one, look how slim he is." Hunter whispered.
"Look how flexible he is. Damn. Imagine that in bed. And that face. I think I'm in love guys." Marcus had a lecherous grin on his face as he observed the two.
"You think they're together?" Hunter questioned.
"Aw, don't ruin this for me man. Besides look. The other guy has a ring on and the Omega doesn't. Obviously he's married."
"Oh you're right..."
As the other two continued to ogle the Omega from behind the window Aosh couldn't shake this odd feeling he had in the pit of his stomach. His stomach felt like it was flipping inside of him as he looked at the two inside the room. When the light would catch the man's face, the subtle blush there and the glint of his eyes, there was a rush of emotions inside he really didn't understand. Confusion was the only word that came to mind as he searched his vocabulary to put a word to the feeling. He was disturbed by this empty feeling he got in the pit of his stomach, like he hadn't eaten in days and his body was slowly eating itself from the inside. The Alpha tore his eyes away from the two, unsure of why he had been staring so long.
With the emptiness still there he turned to leave, mumbling a goodbye to the two still at the window. They must've put something weird in that shake.
...........
"Look what I got my dudes!"
Marcus slammed a couple of papers down on the table where the other two had sat down.
"What are those?" Aosh asked as he used the towel around his neck to wipe the sweat from his brow.Today was cardio day and it was definitely showing how hard they had worked by how soaked he was in his own sweat.
"These, my friend, are enrollment sheets for the dance courses. I'm a genius honestly. We'll use the dance classes to get close to that adorable Omega. The way I figure it there are three of us, so the chance of him choosing one of us is pretty high. You guys in?" Marcus flashed a wicked grin, obviously proud of this plan to capture the desirable Omega.
"Oh hell yea! I'll take a piece of this action!" Hunter said without hesitation; grabbing one of the papers and filling out the information after fumbling around in his duffel bag for a pen.
"Well, big guy?" Marcus poked Aosh's tattooed shoulder, on top of one of the many koi fish that swam on his skin. A sigh left the raven-haired man's lips.
"Marcus…"
"Listen, if you don't want to go for that Omega that's fine. Whatever. But at least do it for us. It would look less suspicious if three of us joined. When have we ever asked you for much?"
Aosh could think of a million and ten times when they have asked him to do things for them,and he has only known them for about half a year. It bordered on them using him if he was being honest. But they were the closest thing to friends Aosh had. Reluctantly he grabbed a sheet of paper and snatched the pen from Hunter when he was finished.
"Wait...The course is...four hundred dollars?! Marcus!"
"Shhh it will all be worth it my, dude. Look it even says they partially refund your payment if you back out before the first two weeks. So we'll be fine and if I get that Omega I'll personally pay you back."
Aosh gritted his teeth as he finished filling out the form. He guessed he was eating cup noodle for a while until his wallet recovered from another one of his friends dumb ideas.
.........…..
Aosh did a lot of stupid things with his friends. Most, if not all of them, included trying to get somebody to hook up with either Hunter or Marcus. It really seemed like both of them had their brains in their pants at all times. Which Aosh could understand, he did have urges too, but he never pursued these urges due to his current status of 'waiting for the right person'. Marcus and Hunter on the other hand were horndogs in the purest form.
All of these plans Marcus came up with ended up about the same, with either man striking out. Hunter got laid once but he said that chick was so desperate she would've jumped anyones bones who looked at her the right way; apparently that didn't count as a success.
As often as they had bad luck in their dating games they never failed to use Aosh for their benefit. Two Betas hanging out with an Alpha, they can't be total losers right? And despite how intimidating Aosh initially looks he has never failed to draw a crowd. Marcus chalks it up to him being a 'prime specimen of an Alpha'.
Out of all the outrageous plans the two included him in this one was probably the stupidest, and that was saying something. There was a point where he had to convince a group of bridesmaids, out with their soon bride to be, that Marcus was good in bed. That ended up with them practically ripping his clothes off to get him to give the bride a lap dance. Granted he had been pretty drunk and would've been overwhelmed by the horde of horny women had Hunter not saved his ass,but this idea totally is more stupid. Especially since he paid and came to this dance course for their sake and neither of them were even here!
The Alpha stood awkwardly in the dance studio amongst ten other Beta women around his age. Where he leaned against the bars on the wall one brave woman,undeterred by his gruff yet handsome appearance, approached him.Seeing that someone had made the first move,the other women flocked to him like pigeons who just saw someone drop food.
"Hi!"
"What's your name?"
"Oh, I didn't think someone like you would take this kind of class!"
Aosh grew nervous as they closed in around him and continued to bombard him with questions.
"Umm...Uhh.." He tried to look anywhere but at them. Suddenly he felt hands on his biceps and he jumped at the unwanted touch.
"Oh my god you're so built!"
"I love your tattoos!"
'Dammit!' he screamed internally. This was all Marcus' fault that he was basically being bombarded by these women! What was with these chicks? Had they never seen a man before? Or an Alpha? Aosh needed to get away from these people. Marcus and Hunter weren't here anyway, if he went fast enough he could go by the front office to ask for at least some of his money back. Then call those two idiots to cuss them out for not following through on their own plan.
Aosh braced himself to push pass the throng of women but stopped when a voice spoke up from the other side of the room.
"Well I hope I'm not interrupting anything ladies." The Omega closed the door behind him. The women quickly dissipated from around Aosh, turning to face their instructor. His stomach began to feel uneasy again as he looked at the smaller man. The room was silent as the man set his duffel bag on the floor in front of the mirror wall adjacent to his students. Aosh could get a better look at him now that there wasn't a window filtering his view. The Omega's fair skin was dusted with freckles from his cheeks to his hands. His eyes held the same glint as they did the other day but now Aosh could see the color; a brilliant viridian. The platinum blonde hair that shimmered like starlight was pulled neatly up in a top knot, only letting his straight bangs softly kiss his forehead and the sides of his face. He was slender and petite,wearing a form fitting top and tights,but had gentle curves here and there. Settling dainty hands at his curvy hips he addressed the class.
"I'm glad everyone who signed up was able to make it today. But only time will tell if all of you will stay until the end. Ballet is a very physically demanding form of dance and is not for everyone. But at the same time it is very rewarding." His luscious lips perked up into a smile.
"My assistant is running a little late this time around but we'll begin with introductions while we wait for him. As you can tell by the little bit of an accent I have I'm from France but moved to the states a few years ago. I have trained at a prestigious dance academy in France and one of the top schools in this country.My name is Tiza Jeannot, and I'll have the pleasure of instructing you all for the next two months."
In that moment, when that name was uttered, time seemed to stop. The words echoed in his head. Tiza Jeannot. Tiza….Jeannot... His Tiza Jeannot? The same Tiza Jeannot whose name was etched into his forearm? The Tiza Jeannot he had spent his whole life up until now waiting for;longing to meet, longing to love? The same person that fate had decided he should be with for the rest of his life? After seventeen years of waiting, Aosh had finally found the one person he has been wanting to meet his entire life;and all it cost him was four hundred dollars?
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