Chapter 24

"No, this has been going on since the first year," Zhou Keyu insisted.

Hu Yetao crossed his arms over his chest with an impatient sigh, wanting to give the impression of indifference as much as possible. "Did you have a point to make Keyu? Because I'm late for class …"

"I would like to offer myself to you as a secondary Alpha."

Hu Yetao's lips parted in shock. "A what?"

Zhou Keyu licked his lips and took a step closer. "I've known you were an Omega since the first of September."

"You have?"

Zhou Keyu nodded. "Ever since you shook my hand on the train, supporting our mixed study group idea."

Hu Yetao recalled that moment but couldn't remember Keyu acting any differently afterward. "Then… why did you wait so long to say something?"

Zhou Keyu smiled. "I thought I'd play it cool and try to be friends first, since nobody else seemed to realize the truth. Guess I shouldn't have waited quite so long."

Hu Yetao frowned, confused. "Then why did you stand me up for our Hogsmeade outing?"

Zhou Keyu's smile turned into a scowl. "Oscar ordered me not to go and insisted that he take my place."

Hu Yetao raised a brow. "And… you just let him?"

"No, he challenged me," Zhou Keyu muttered through pressed lips. "And won."

"He… fought you? Like with his hands?" Hu Yetao couldn't help exclaiming in astonishment.

Zhou Keyu chuckled. "No, it was a proper duel - with wands. It was all very civilized."

"Oh… okay. Well good," Hu Yetao replied uncertainly. He absently pushed his glasses back up his nose with a sigh. "Look Keyu, I… I'm not sure how to say this without hurting your feelings but I've only ever been drawn to Oscar. Even when I still thought he was an absolute git, I still wanted to be with him. And…I've never wanted to have more than one Alpha, it's not my… thing," he added uncomfortably.

"I understand," Keyu replied, sounding sincere, and, before Hu Yetao could react, he'd taken his hand in his. "Please think about it though, and remember what I said about being careful around Oscar, I would hate to see you hurt Hu Yetao."

Zhou Keyu withdrew his hand and smiled warmly before turning and heading back towards the school.

Hu Yetao stared after him for a moment, shell-shocked. That was... surreal. He shook his head and rejoined the group of students lined up along the paddock fence, listening to Zhidao as he demonstrated what the strange wooden contraption was for. There was a strange feathery animal calmly sitting next to him on the ground.

"What was that about?" Zhang Xinyao whispered as soon as he was next to him.

Hu Yetao kept his eyes on Zhidao as he whispered back. "He offered to be a second Alpha to me."

"What? Are you serious?" Zhang Xinyao gaped.

"Yeah," Hu Yetao replied with a nod.

There was no way he was going to mention that Zhou Keyu also suspected Oscar of keeping secrets. Zhang Xinyao would then ask if Oscar was hiding something and it would all get a little too close to the truth, and Hu Yetao knew he wasn't a good enough liar to muddle his way through that particular web of lies. Especially as Zhang Xinyao probably didn't fully trust Oscar yet, their truce was still very new and fragile.

"What did you say?"

Hu Yetao looked at him. "I said no, of course. I'm not interested in having fifty Alphas - one is plenty."

Zhang Xinyao snorted, relaxing as he turned back towards Zhidao. "Oscar will not be pleased to hear that other Alphas are sniffing around you - right here at Hogwarts no less."

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Hu Yetao said with an unconcerned shrug.

"He might be cross that it was his best friend though," Xinyao pointed out.

"I don't think they're all that close actually," Hu Yetao said vaguely.

The two tuned back into Zhidao as he asked for a volunteer, the white feathery animal now perched atop his woolly head and peering at the students with curiosity.

. . . .

As soon as class was over, Hu Yetao hurried back up to the school with Xinyao. He wanted to speak to Oscar as soon as possible to warn him that Zhou Keyu was becoming suspicious of him. He didn't think it was something to be concerned about though as Zhou Keyu had been suspicious for the past seven years without uncovering anything.

He knew he also needed to tell Oscar about Keyu's offer; if there was one thing he never wanted between him and his mate, it was secrets and lies. Plus, Keyu might surprise Oscar by challenging him to… a duel or something, and he wanted Oscar to be prepared. Just in case.

He stopped outside the door to the History of Magic classroom, telling Xinyao to go on inside without him.

The other students slowly trickled in, either openly staring at Hu Yetao as they passed by or staring hard at the floor and avoiding his gaze altogether.

"You're early Hu Yetao."

Hu Yetao turned to see Jing Long and Oscar walking up the corridor towards him. "Uh yeah, I needed to speak to Oscar about something."

"Must be the same thing that Oscar just has to speak to you about too," Jing-Long replied with a wink before disappearing into the stuffy classroom.

Hu Yetao frowned in confusion as he turned to Oscar.

Oscar took him by the elbow and steered him away from the classroom door to a quiet alcove across the corridor.

"What is it?" Hu Yetao asked nervously, reacting to the tension he could feel rolling off the Alpha in waves.

Oscar withdrew something that looked like yellowed parchment from deep within his pocket. "I received this letter in the post."

Hu Yetao took it from his outstretched hand with a frown. "I didn't see you get any letters this morning…"

"The owl was trained to give it to me only when I was alone."

Hu Yetao's trepidation only grew at his words, hoping it wasn't a personal attack on his mate due to The Prophet article already. He opened the folded parchment and read the simple message:

Your presence is required Sunday, September 27th at 7:00 p.m. in the Board Room.

Hu Yetao looked up with a bewildered frown. "Who is this from?"

Oscar took the letter back and folded it into his pocket. "It's from The Board," he said with quiet emphasis. "And it was addressed to the both of us."

"Oh." Hu Yetao's eyes widened as he cottoned on; he was to meet the official Board that resided over the Nundu. "Oh fuck…"

"Indeed," Oscar replied dryly. "I guess they saw the article."

Hu Yetao swallowed and tried not to panic.