Chapter 2

Brian.

Brian  was tired. And horny. Which made for one extremely hard to deal with alpha. All of his employees had already been gone for hours, and yet he was still at his desk, going over the end of year financial statements. It was a job he probably could have foisted off on someone else, but he'd always had a problem with needing to personally make sure things were done right. It was something his business partner Liam was always harping on about.

Yes, working 16-hour days, 7 days a week was neither healthy nor sustainable, but he was a bit of a workaholic. He reached over and grabbed his coffee, taking a sip and grimacing at the stone-cold temperature. He looked at the time and saw that it was almost 10:00 PM already and sighed. It was Saturday night and he should be out at a bar, finding a Beta to help relieve some of his stress.

But honestly, Brian hated the whole rigmarole of going to a bar and hitting on someone, convincing them to let you take them home for the night. Ten out of ten times when he brought someone to his apartment, what was supposed to be a one-night stand turned into reverse courting when they found out he had money. He sighed and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his tired eyes and trying to decide if he should just give it up for the day and head home. He looked at the half-finished stack of reports on his desk and felt his eyes burning from focusing on the tiny numbers for hours. What ended up convincing him to go home was not his tiredness, but the fact that if he kept working in this state, he was going to start messing up his numbers. .

On top of being a workaholic, Brian was also a perfectionist, and he couldn't allow himself to start screwing up these reports. He rapped his knuckles against the desk and stood, leaving his neat stacks of papers where they sat and grabbed his coat on his way out. He walked through the dark office, which was a familiar sight for him. Brian very rarely left work when the sun was still up, and even more rarely arrived after it had risen. He knew that he was getting too bogged down in the everyday running of the company. He'd started the business because he was passionate about technology and innovations in computer science. He missed working with the engineers and coding for new products. These days he felt more like a glorified accountant with a big fancy office. The elevator dinged and opened, he stepped inside, pressing the button for the garage and leaned against the back wall as he waited and felt himself descend to the lowest level. Now that his mind wasn't focused so much on work, the hot shifting under his skin was the main center of his attention. Brian really needed to get laid, but the mere idea of going out to a bar tonight filled him with a bone-deep fatigue.

He'd considered trying to find a boyfriend or girlfriend, for the sole purpose of having someone to f*ck when he needed to,but he knew he didn't have the time or proper motivation to start up a relationship. That would just end badly. He exited the elevator and made his way to his black Audi, hopping in and groaning at the idea of going home alone again.

Masturbation had lost its appeal quite some time ago. His inner alpha longed for a beta to ease him and wasn't impressed by his own half-hearted handjobs. At this point, it was about the equivalent of throwing a bucket of water on a forest fire. Not very effective.He eventually convinced himself to go to a nearby club to look for a beta to f*ck and ease his sexual frustration.

If only he knew that the decision of entering the night club that night will eventually change his life forever.

Ray.

The name flashing on my screen has me frozen, my hands stopping mid-air above my keyboard. Hesitantly, I grab my cell, swipe my thumb across the screen, and bring it to my ear. "Hello Tania." "Ray Ray." The feminine voice is unexpected and unsure but desperate "Tania," I say calmly.

"What is it?"

Is everything okay? Are you fine? I couldn't help try shiver in my voice "It's the landlord" she breathes out. "He's packed our things out, You need to come home." Stunned into silence, I struggle to respond. I should've known when it was her number that showed up it wouldn't be a friendly catch-up call. "Ray Ray," she says, her voice reprimapnding.

"Did you hear me? We can't stay away from this. You need to come home.Have been begging him but he is not listening" I am coming home now but are you really okay?" I manage to sputter out.

"Is he there?" "No."

The word is definite, and my body deflates at her certainty. "I'm sorry," she says empathetically. "I didn't mean to scare you. He sent me out and it's bad, but am under the rain with no shelter Ray Ray." Visions of my 12 year old younger sister flitter through my mind, nausea and heartache consuming me at the memory of it all. Malnourished and skittish, silent and tense. girl that our fraternal family system failed. The girl who needed hard convincing that she was loved and her life was worth living. Now am convinced that I need to get this job before everything comes tumbling down.

"I got the job",

I clapped as Ricky looked as if I had four heads. He could not understand how happy I was since he was not in my situation so I told him to drop me off at home so I could start another round of begging to the landlord. After Ricky left and I have successfully fed my 13 year old sister, set up my laptop at my usual table after she slept,and clicked on the history section. When I asked Ricky if he'd share them, he'd laughed in my face.

He couldn't understand why I'd willingly want to study when I wasn't gaining anything from it when I refused his help Apparently, pointing out that I was gaining knowledge wasn't something he could wrap his tiny brain around. All credit to him though. He shrugged and gave me his login, telling me it was my time to waste. So that was how I spent my days. Sat alone in my small home, quietly working my way through the history degree syllabus. It wasn't the same. Of course it wasn't. No one would mark my essays. I couldn't use the library facilities, so my resources were limited,I opened my notebook and recapped my notes to distract myself from my growling stomach.

Some people might point out that it was ridiculous to have a laptop when I could barely afford to feed myself, but those people could f*ck off. It was the one indulgence I allowed myself because I'd lose my mind without it. Going to university might be out of my reach, but that didn't mean I couldn't still study the material. It wouldn't lead to a degree or anything…but what else was I going to do with my time? I had no friends,just 1 family I need to provide for, no hobbies.

Studying was the only thing that sparked joy these days, so I was going to Marie Kondo the sh*t outta it. Using my Ricky's credentials, I logged onto the University's server and clicked on the history session.