A Fated Mate and a Friend

While Aosh was dumbfounded and processing the information he just learned Tiza had begun to ask around the room for the student's names and their expectations for the class. Finally he came to Aosh.

"And what's your name, stud?" The words came out cocky and was a jab at the fact he was the only male who had entered the class, as if Aosh wasn't already painfully aware. Aosh fumbled to find words, his brain frazzled by a sudden rush of nerves and emotions. Which was very unlike him, he was usually a very collected guy. His mouth was dry as he opened it to proclaim who he was, to tell Tiza who he was.

"I'm sorry I'm late everyone! The wife wasn't feeling too good so I had to take her to the clinic." The tawny-haired man entered the room quickly, cutting of Aosh before he could even say anything.

"I'm Sean Jeannot. Tiza's brother and former teacher. I'll mostly be here to supervise and help with positioning occasionally. I am by no means teaching this class, but making sure Tiza starts his first class on the right foot." He brushed his bangs from his face and smiled wholeheartedly.

Tiza clapped his hands excitedly.

"Alright now let's get started with some stretching and basic positions. Everyone, find a spot on the bars!"

For the rest of lesson Aosh was really at a loss for words. Well more than he was before. He honestly couldn't take his eyes off of Tiza. He's almost too afraid to blink ,in fear this all being a dream. It was real however. Just as real as the burn he felt in his thighs and ankles as he practiced the stretches and positions Tiza put them in. Aosh had to admit to himself he was rather bulky to be moving like this. He was all muscle and there was nothing elegant about him trying to accomplish these exercises. At one point the Omega had come up to him to adjust his hips when the Alpha attempted the fourth position. His slender hands barely touched him,guiding the other into the correct angle.

"It's easier if you relax, you know." He cocked an eyebrow at Aosh.

The faint body heat coming from where Tiza stood behind him was causing his brain to short circuit.Opening his mouth to say something, nothing came out. His mind was too focused on the tingling sensation the Omega's feather light touch left on his hips. When Tiza didn't receive an intelligible answer he walked away to help position someone else.

It was then that Aosh decided he needed to get his act together and stop acting like a damn fool in front of the other man. He needed to confront him in private. To tell him his name, who he was, and that they were meant to be together; even if that sounded cheesy in his own head. He braced himself on the bars as he plied as wide as his legs would go.

'After class, that's when I'll do it.' he thought as he tried to go deeper into the plie; the burn in his legs unlike any he had felt before. This is exactly why he only lifted weights.

..............

"Alright class that will do it for today. You all did pretty well for beginners. Classes are usually held four days a week but since it is a Thursday the next class won't be until Monday. That should give you all plenty of time to get the appropriate attire from the front office." Tiza dismissed the class for the day; all of the students talked amongst each other and began gathering their things.

Aosh made a beeline for the Omega who was about to walk out the studio. Just as he was close to reaching him two women stepped in front of him.

"Hey! You did really great in class today."

"Yea, I didn't think you could bend like that."

"You want to come to the drink bar with us? It'll be our treat."

"Not interested." He said rather bluntly and pushed passed them ,then out the door.

Tiza was nowhere to be found.

Aosh sighed into his hands as he sat down on the steps that lead up to the main entrance of the fitness complex. If he had just said something during class he could have avoided all this. Now he would have to wait until next Monday to confront the man about who he was. A small ring sounded from his phone and he rubbed his face before he pulled it out of his pocket to answer it.

[ Where the hell were you Aosh? You left Hunter and I looking like idiots.]

It was Marcus. 'Good.' Aosh thought. Now he could chew him out for leaving him to his own devices in that class.

{Where was I?? Where were you?? You left me alone in that ballet class full of women. I had to fend for my life.}

[Ballet class? Dude you were supposed to sign up for the hip hop class. Wow. It doesn't matter anyway that Omega babe wasn't teaching the class the other dude was. Hunter and I already got our money back.]

{It would be nice if we all had agreed on that. It was like that class was filled with a bunch of horny school girls. Anyway something good came out of it.}

[ Man of course you would end up surrounded by women. Just my fucking luck. What happened,did you score?]

Aosh rolled his eyes. It took him awhile to figure out how to word what he'd type next.

{You're not going to believe it but that Omega is my fated mate. I didn't get a chance to introduce myself, but I think I'll stick in the class another week so I can do it properly. Honestly, I have to thank you dude. If you haven't had the idea to take these classes in the first place I would've never met him. Seriously man, thanks.}

Aosh wished he could express how grateful he was via text without it turning out to be a couple paragraphs long. This much would suffice until he was able to see Marcus again in person.

Marcus could be an asshole ,but sometimes he was a good friend. Even if the two men didn't share the same opinion of fated mates, maybe Marcus could appreciate what he experienced and see things the way he saw them for once. 'Love didn't have to be as difficult as he made it.' Aosh thought. He had left things to fate up to this point and everything was turning out just fine, despite the fact that he had to wait three more days to see his fated mate again. To him this amount of time was insignificant, he had been waiting for this moment for seventeen years after all.

After a few minutes went by without a response from Marcus, Aosh got up and headed down the street; realizing that he was going to be late for work if he didn't run home now to get changed.

.........….

The weekend seemed like it dragged on forever. This was most likely due to his excitement in seeing his potential mate again. The mundane tasks he had to endure at work and the lack of school work to be done made it feel like time came to an aggravating halt.

There was a silver lining to the wait. Having three days to build up his confidence and figure out what he was going to say is exactly what the nervous Alpha needed. Most of the empty time was filled with Aosh writing what he was going to say, rehearsing it, and re-writing it again. God forbid he was a bumbling mess in front of the ballet instructor again.

It was odd, he thought. Neither Marcus or Hunter had returned his text messages over the weekend. Aosh tried not to let it get to him,but a familiar feeling of dread filled his thoughts. Even now as he walked briskly up the fitness complex's steps the feeling wouldn't go away.

The Alpha forced himself to push it to the side; there were bigger things to focus on. He decided to arrive early to today's dance lesson. Determined to not make a fool of himself,especially in front of all those women, he wanted to try and catch the Omega before class started so they could hopefully talk in private.

After stopping by the locker room to drop off his duffel bag and changing into some loose fitting clothes he traveled to where the dance studio was.

Coming to the double doors that led to the studio, Aosh peaked in and saw no one inside. He didn't think Tiza would be there to be honest, so he continued down the hall and made a left to where the offices were. Going down the hallway that housed the offices his eyes swept up to the signs above the doors to find the right one. He finally found the right door at the end of the hallway, but paused mid-knock as he heard voices from the other side.

"-he doesn't deserve someone like you."

"Who are you talking about? Get out of my office-"

Silence.

"Oh? You going into heat? For me? That just proves we're meant to be together."

"I don't want to be with anyone- LET ME GO!"

A crash, a thud, and more silence. Without hesitation, Aosh burst through the door. As the door swung open it brought with it the sweet smell of Omega pheromones. The concentration of it smacked Aosh in his senses and made his head spin if only for a moment. But it didn't last.Before his eyes he saw Tiza,belly down on the ground,pinned under Marcus.

The blonde was flushed with anger and heat, his wide feral eyes brimmed with tears; plump lips curled around the hand that tried to keep him quiet. Biting into the flesh and causing it to bleed, the Beta above him pressed Tiza's slender body into the cold tile floor in response.

"Well..speak of the devil-" Marcus' words were cut short as Aosh lunged at him, dragging him off Tiza by the collar of his shirt and holding him against the office's back wall. Immediately scrambling off the floor when the weight was lifted off of him, Tiza bolted through the open door and down the hall out of sight.

"Hmph...you let him get away." Marcus leisurely said, looking over the Alpha's shoulder. Aosh was very aware he let the omega go. His entire body was screaming at him to follow after an Omega in heat; such a saccharine aroma was like a siren calling and Aosh was a sailor easily lured by it's song. It was taking quite a bit of effort on his part to not give chase. The hand holding Marcus against the wall reflected this, his grip tightening dangerously in a show of restraint in not following the pheromone trail as it slowly drifted away.

"What the HELL do you think you're doing?!"Aosh brought him closer to eye level and bored his obsidian eyes into the Beta.

"What does it look like I was doing dip-shit? Taking what I want, since someone isn't 'Alpha' enough to do it himself." Marcus sneered.

"Why?!Didn't you even read what I sent you?! He's my-"

"You're fated mate, yea yea, I read your message. I'm so sick and tired of this fated mate bullshit, Aosh. Fated mate this, fated mate that. Fuck you, Aosh. You want to know why I'm tired of it?" Marcus stood up straighter and got in Aosh's face.

"Because Alpha's get everything on a silver platter, while Betas get the scraps. Do you know what it's like to get sloppy seconds your entire life, asshole?!" Marcus punctuated that last word with a knee to Aosh's stomach. The Alpha stumbled back and Marcus wasted no time throwing a punch to his chest; sending him slumping against the only desk in the office and then onto the floor. Marcus mercilessly kicked his side as he continued.

"Alphas can have any Beta or Omega they want, but a Beta can't even get an Omega to look their way! We have no ruts or pheromones to attract them! We're not blessed with brains or physical ability from birth! So excuse me for being a little underhanded in getting what I want. Excuse me for sticking around your sorry ass thinking that your good reputation you were gifted at birth would get me somewhere by association! Letting an Omega in heat get away from you, you really are a waste of an Alpha."

Those last four words were spat out in utter disgust. Marcus went for one last kick, but before he could, Aosh's hand shot out to catch his foot and pull it. Unceremoniously the Beta toppled over giving Aosh an opportunity of attack. Marcus couldn't even retaliate before he was sucker punched between the eyes.

The Beta was punched so hard his head hit the tile and he was knocked unconscious. Aosh crouched over him. His breathing came out shallow and his brows were furrowed in anger; hot tears pricked at his eyes as he stared at the man he once called a friend.

It happened again.

It's not like he didn't expect it to not happen again, but he always hoped it wouldn't.Yet here he was, his heart stretched in two directions. One by the Omega he desired who was out of his reach once again, and the other by the Beta he had the heart to call a friend; only to find out that the other never even considered him as such.

Aosh told himself he should be used to it by now, it wasn't the first time he had been used by others just because he was an Alpha. Even so,things had ended up like this and it still felt like his heart was ripped to shreds. Like a fool he put too much trust in people; they say you learn from your mistakes, but sadly for Aosh that just wasn't the case.

He refused to let those tears shed and he refused to let his emotions get the best of him; not like punching the Beta wasn't exactly that, but the bastard started it.

A faint hint of Omega pheromones still lingered in the small office and it brought Aosh out of his thoughts. He needed to make sure Tiza was ok. The terrified expression the blonde wore when he opened the door was practically burned into his mind's eye. Resolutely he turned around, not bothering with Marcus anymore and followed the sweet trail left behind by the fleeing Omega.

.........….

By the time Aosh started to follow Tiza's pheromones the trail was too faint for him to tell where he had gone. His body ached where he was kicked and punched but even so Aosh went throughout the complex looking for the Omega. After running around to the main offices, the lobby, and the locker rooms with nothing to show; Aosh resigned himself to finally check the dance studio on the off chance Tiza would be there. When he walked by the studio, class had already been going on for sometime. Sean,Tiza's brother, was teaching the class but Tiza was not there. Aosh decided to wait and question his brother when the lesson was over, if anyone knew the whereabouts of his fated mate it would be him.

After the classes, while the tired students filed out, Aosh approached Sean, clearing his throat to get his attention.

"Excuse me is Tiza-"

"Is Tiza what?" Sean's answer was short and laced with malice, that Aosh could easily tell.

"Is Tiza ok after being attacked by you and your friend? No. No he's not."Sean turned away from him to continue packing away his teaching materials.

"I had no part in what he did, and I helped Tiza."Aosh said taken aback by the hostility and being accused of being Marcus' accomplice when it was the furthest thing from the truth.

"And am I supposed to believe you? Or am I supposed to thank you? Yes, thank you. Without you who knows what would've happened to my brother. But also, without YOU and YOUR friends seeking out these classes for the sole purpose of getting near MY brother, this would've never happened. Before you say anything, yes, I figured it out; if not from you being the only Alpha in this class then it was from those other two asking where my brother was in my hip hop class. And now Tiza is being blamed by the faculty for not taking heat suppressants before coming to work and putting others in danger. The fact that he was sexually assaulted is being glossed over. But that's nothing new, considering he's an Omega." The Beta threw his duffel bag over his shoulder in a huff and brushed past Aosh to leave.

"Wait-wait! I don't have any negative intentions for your brother I just-"

"Save it! Do you know how many times he and I have been through this before? If you have no intention of taking this class seriously, get out. If you have no intention of leaving my brother alone,GET OUT." With that Sean shoved the double doors and walked away; leaving Aosh just as angry as he was before in the quiet of the studio.