Chapter 93

Oscar's face was drawn and weary, his eyes dull, as he led Hu Yetao through the throng of nattering guests to the exit, causing Hu Yetao's insides to twist sharply with guilt every time he caught a glimpse of his mate's expression.

Hu Yetao mostly kept his head down and gaze averted as they made their way across the large estate; not wanting to attract any attention to the two of them or to the fact that they were leaving early.

He didn't wish to speak with anyone, he just wanted to get back to Hogwarts and be with his Alpha. The build-up of tension and worry over what Oscar was thinking was reaching breaking point; he was beginning to fear what this meant for the future of their relationship.

Yes, Oscar's behavior had contributed to Hu Yetao's erratic emotions, but Hu Yetao was the one who'd acted inexcusably. He had done something he had never thought he would ever do to a partner; to someone he loved.

What if he'd inadvertently destroyed the trust his Alpha had in him? What if this incident caused Oscar's feelings for him to change? Would he be left pregnant and alone?

Hu Yetao was so distracted by his thoughts that he barely noticed the trip back to Hogwarts; it seemed like they were outside the Su's home, walking through the softly falling snow, and then suddenly they were traipsing up the stairs to the third-floor corridor.

They walked through the doors into their private room and Hu Yetao hovered by the door a moment, feeling twitchy and uneasy, wanting to blurt out something - anything - to fill the quiet, to begin to apologize for his betrayal, but the growing silence was making it harder and harder to start.

Oscar carefully sat on the edge of their bed, gaze at his folded hands. He finally looked up to meet Hu Yetao's gaze.

Hu Yetao nervously licked his lips and waited, wondering if this was the moment Oscar told him that it was over.

"Are you all right?" Oscar eventually asked. "Did Zhou Keyu injure you?"

Hu Yetao shook his head, pulse thundering in his ears.

Oscar nodded and looked down at his hands again. He sighed. "I'm sorry Hu Yetao."

Hu Yetao was so positive that Oscar's apology was a regretful dismissal that tears immediately sprang into his eyes. He swiftly clenched his hands into fists, trying to keep the tears from spilling over by sheer will.

"I… I understand," Hu Yetao finally replied, trying his hardest to keep his voice steady.

Oscar glanced up with a frown.

"What do you understand?" He straightened when he caught sight of Hu Yetao's glassy eyes. "Hu Yetao…?"

Hu Yetao quickly wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his shirt as Oscar stood and came to stand in front of him.

"He did hurt you," Oscar concluded, eyes narrowing.

Hu Yetao let out a choked sort of noise that was half laughing, half sob, as he shook his head. "No, he didn't. I promise."

"Then what's going on?" Oscar asked in concern. He paused and then asked, "are you that disappointed with me?"

"With you?"

"Yes, for… for driving you into the arms of another Alpha."

Hu Yetao frowned in bemusement. "But I… You…. So you're not breaking up with me?" he finally managed to get out.

Oscar blinked, clearly taken aback. "Breaking up with you?" he repeated incredulously. "Hu Yetao, do you not have any idea how mateships work?"

"I… what?"

Oscar reached out and gently stroked two fingers down the side of Hu Yetao's neck and over the Claiming Mark, brow furrowed as he absently watched the path his fingers took. "This isn't some sort of flippant teenage romance Taotao; we're bonded. I've claimed you as my mate and… and this is for life. You have every right to choose another Alpha should you so wish to - and," he quickly stressed as Hu Yetao opened his mouth to interrupt, "although you said you're not interested in Keyu, or any another Alpha, it would never be something that would cause me to walk away from you. For fuck's sake, you're carrying my child."

Hu Yetao gave a somewhat wobbly smile as Oscar's hand dropped to gently cover his abdomen. "I'm sorry I hurt you," Hu Yetao said sincerely, covering Draco's hand with his own. "I don't care what you say about Alphas and Omegas; it still couldn't have been easy when I told you what I'd done."

Oscar swallowed but held his gaze. "No, it wasn't. But if I'm honest, it was easier to hear that than to believe that Zhou Keyu had forced himself on you. If Su Min hadn't alerted me to the situation, I would never have known."

And then Hu Yetao suddenly understood the extent of everything that had gone wrong. "You were asleep, weren't you? So you weren't able to sense that I was in danger."

Oscar nodded, clearly pained to admit that he'd made such a grievous error.

Hu Yetao sighed and gave Oscar's hand squeeze. "We need to learn to communicate better, don't we? If I'd just told you how I was feeling then this wouldn't have happened."

Oscar took a step back, pulling Hu Yetao with him. "Come on, let's go shower and get into bed. I'd rather be comfortable for this conversation."

"Yeah, all right." Hu Yetao smiled, optimism seeping into his body and filling that hollow ache that had appeared when he'd thought Oscar was leaving him.

He followed his Alpha to the ensuite and they both stripped out of their fine party attire. Hu Yetao stepped under the hot spray of the shower next to Oscar with a sigh and they silently soaped each other up and washed each other's hair, matching grins of relief on their faces and lingering looks filled with contentment in between the fleeting touch of lips and the gentle caress of fingers.

Hu Yetao knew taking a shower with Oscar would have driven him crazy only a few hours ago, but now he was barely half-hard as Oscar tenderly washed every inch of him. It seemed his mad hormones were finally giving him a bit of a reprieve after the emotional stress of the evening.

Oscar turned off the shower and they both toweled off before climbing into bed.

Hu Yetao adored this part of the day; when he and Oscar got into bed and talked or fucked or slept in a tangled mess of warm limbs, he thought it was the absolute best part of being bonded to someone.

"I'm sorry I'm too tired for anything more," Oscar said quietly as they settled on their sides, facing each other.

Hu Yetao couldn't help smiling as he linked his hand with his mate's. "That's okay; I'm not in the mood for anything more tonight anyway."

"I'm going to start taking Dreamless Sleep," Oscar abruptly declared with determination. "I know I'm being foolish and that you're not in any danger in our bedroom, and even if something were to come up, that you can handle yourself. I just… can't seem to explain that to my more protective side."

"Good," Hu Yetao responded with relief. "We'll speak to Madam Chen tomorrow. Do you think you'll need one tonight? I can get Xiào to fetch one for you."

"No, I think I'll sleep tonight no matter what. Just promise not to leave our room if you wake before me?"

"Of course," Hu Yetao agreed, and then his lips stretched into a grin. "Believe me, I'll want to be right here," he said, patting the mattress, "once you've had a good night's sleep. I'm sure my crazy hormones will be back to normally come morning."

Oscar smirked in response but he was beginning to look a little drowsy again, now that the immediate unrest had been resolved.

"Did you and your father talk after your mum and I left the Manor?"

Oscar absently plumped the pillow under his head as he replied. "Yes, a little."

Hu Yetao raised his brow. "Anything you want to tell me about?"

"No," Oscar smirked as he settled back down again. "But sufficed to say, I soon realized that as I was agreeing with my father, I was probably in the wrong."

Hu Yetao chuckled.

Oscar's light-hearted expression suddenly faded. "You don't believe that I don't want this baby, do you?"

Hu Yetao winced with guilt at his mate's words. "I'm sorry I insinuated that in front of your parents. I know that's not true."

Oscar turned onto his back and slid an arm around Hu Yetao's shoulders, pulling him in to curl around him, dark head coming to rest on Oscar's warm chest.

The last of Hu Yetao's lingering tension left his body on a sigh as he settled comfortably against his Alpha.

"I was so sure that you were going to leave me," Hu Yetao confessed into the quiet.

"Never."

Hu Yetao smiled against Oscar's warm skin, hearing the smirk in his mate's voice. "Good, because no one else will want this daft pregnant Omega."

"Are you joking? A pregnant male Omega is like taking Amortentia."

Hu Yetao frowned. "Really? That's not what Keyu said."

"Yes and then he proceeded to try to get into your pants, so I doubt he was being completely honest Yetao."

"Oh." Hu Yetao realized the truth of his Alpha's words as soon as he heard them.

Oscar's chest rumbled under his ear as he chuckled at Hu Yetao's naiveté.

"Shut it," Hu Yetao responded with a grin. "I'm still learning about all this Alpha and Omega stuff."

A kiss pressed into his shower-damp hair was the only apology he was going to get.

Hu Yetao's thoughts began to flit back over the evening as he lay there. He frowned as something Oscar mentioned in passing drifted to the forefront of his mind.

"Hey, did you say Su Min was the one to tell you what was going on? What did she see exactly?"

He desperately hoped she hadn't witnessed his shameful infidelity.

Oscar stroked a warm hand down Hu Yetao's back when he unconsciously stiffened with unease. "All she saw was you shouting at Keyu who had you pinned to the ground. I don't believe she witnessed anything that may have traumatized her." He paused. "Then she said something odd; she said she knows she wasn't supposed to go outside, but you looked ill so she thought you were leaving the party and followed you."

Hu Yetao gasped and bolted upright. "Fuck, she still has my Cloak!"

Oscar blinked up at him. "Your Invisibility Cloak?"

Hu Yetao nodded, swiping a hand through his damp hair in agitation. "Yeah, I lent it to her to have some fun with during the party. With everything that happened I just… I forgot." Hu Yetao shook his head, irritated by his absentmindedness. "I didn't even remember it when we left, how could I be so careless? I'm not supposed to be walking around in public without it. Your father will kill me if he finds out."

Oscar snorted and reached out to tug Hu Yetao back down to him. "I won't tell him if you don't Yetao."

Hu Yetao settled back into place with an exasperated sigh. "I suppose I'll just have to owl her about it tomorrow."

The two fell silent and Hu Yetao could feel Oscar's breathing begin to even out and his heart rate slowing beneath his cheek.

Hu Yetao wasn't the least bit tired but he knew Oscar desperately needed a good night's sleep, so he remained silent, staring up at the ceiling over their bed and listening to the soothing sound of his mate finally getting some vital rest.