CHAPTER 1

In a world where Alphas and Omegas were the rarity, I am just an average beta female.

The secretary of the Golden Hive Corporation's CEO.

And also his fiancé.

"Goodbye Mom, Dad. Grandma, Grandpa." Carlos and I bid farewell to his family as we exited the mansion. The cool air made me shiver a bit as we walked towards the car, silently thanking Carlos as he gave me his jacket. Once we got into the car, away from the watchful eyes of his family, I reluctantly gave Carlos his jacket back,

"Wooo. That was exhausting! Could you imagine if they asked us to kiss??" Carlos sighs as he ruffled his previously gelled hair, letting his golden locks loose and messy.

I merely shrugged, "I'll do anything we have to do in order to deceive them." I said bluntly while I put on my seatbelt

"Oof. Come on now Tia, don't word it out like that. You make it sound like its a crime." Said alpha chuckles as he starts the car and slowly drove into the moonlit streets, the scarcely placed light posts leading their way into the busy city

"But that is basically what we're doing, is it not? Seriously, Carlos, its been 5 years. Until when are you going to hide Sandra from them?" I quickly intercepted with a glare towards him,

Sandra. An orphan omega female that was born into a poor household. My best friend and Carlos' secret girlfriend of 6 years,

"We're already both in our mid twenties. 24 and 26. We're adults now, isn't it better to just tell the whole truth to your family before it's too late?"

"Tia... You know how my family is. I'm already planning on it but we have to continue just a little bit more until the baby is born."

Ah yes. Sandra is also going to be the mother of their child.

I sigh and nod nonchalantly, looking to the side to stare at the car window as my gaze settle on the city lights. Our false couple charade has been going on since we graduated college and got our jobs. We were already childhood friends at that point and his family is basically mine as well, it wasn't too hard to convince them that we were dating.

Although they were nice to me, they did have a judgmental side to them against omegas. Mostly because of a family issue that transpired years ago.

"You think they'll welcome them with open arms? After years of lies?"

"They will! Or at least they will accept the baby and in turn come to accept Sandra as well."

I shook my head, rubbing my temples at the sheer naïvety of my best friend and long time crush. Yes. I've been in love with this dork of an alpha since high school but of course, fate had other plans. The day we entered college was the day our lives changed. We met Sandra. A sweet omega female that we happily accepted into our friend group and from then on our best friend duo became a trio. I wasn't mad about it, in fact I was ecstatic to have a girl best friend. But it truly broke me when they both came up to me to tell the news that they've begun dating. That night I broke down and trashed my apartment.... although I knew that they weren't to blame. It was my own stupidity and my mindset that us being just friends was enough. But deep down, I knew it was inevitable. He's an alpha, she's an omega and I am but a common beta. It was only natural that they would fall in love. And now years later they are already expecting a child.

"Hey... Drop me off here."

"But Tia, that's a clu-"

"I'm getting off."

I opened the door of the still moving car impatiently as Carlos frantically tried to park it. I ran my fingers through my hair as I stepped out of the car, carelessly taking off the engagement ring from my finger and tossing it to Carlos,

"H-Hey! This was really expensive!"

"Tell Sandra I said hi. I'll be visiting soon."

I waved him off as I walked into the fancy club and didn't look back. The cold air of the night nipped at my skin but it was still much better than the suffocating atmosphere in the car.

I walked my way towards the bar, ordering a drink as I lazed down onto the counter, stretching my arms out and gently banging my head onto the wooden surface,

"Now that's not very lady like."

I looked up and slowly turned my head to look at where the voice came from, "Why the hell do you care?" I spat before a familiar scent wafted through my senses,

An alpha.

The man merely chuckles as he sat on the stool next to me, "I'd rather be assured that I will be courting a woman. Not that I'm not into men-"

"Yeah yeah, whatever." I grumbled as my order was set down in front of me. I picked up the glass and pressed it onto my lips before quickly drinking it in one gulp,

"Woah there. You in a rush or something?"

"I don't want to take the risk that you might drug my drink."

"Fair point."

The man hums as he orders two drinks, "Don't worry though, I'm a gentleman."

"How charming."

I rolled my eyes as I leaned on my elbows, rubbing my eyes as they adjusted to the flashing lights,

"The name's Travis. You are?"

"None of your business."

"Oooh, feisty. I like it. I'll call you Firecracker then."

"Do as you'd like."

The drinks were set in front of us as the club's music blared through the large speakers. Drunk bodies littered the dance floor, grinding onto each other and conversing with one other as they wasted their night away. Not that I was doing any better.

"So, firecracker. Is it a heartbreak? Were you dumped? Perhaps replaced?"

I whipped my head to turn to Travis with a glare while he held his hands up in defense with a cheeky smile on his face, "Guessing I'm right?"

"....You're not wrong.... but you're not entirely right either."

How would I be dumped if we weren't dating in the first place.

Travis clicks his tongue before humming as he picks up his drink and took a sip, "Well, I don't know if it would make you feel any better but, something similar happened to me."

I raised my eyebrow at him, as if signalling for him to continue,

"Curious, are we? Well, too put it simply...." He starts, taking another sip from his drink,

I felt his once playful aura turn sorrowful as I saw a flash of hurt, betrayal and despair gloss over his eyes while he continued, "My wife to be ran off with her secret lover in the middle of our wedding."

I slowly nodded before looking over at his attire. I let out a quiet gasp as he chuckled once again, although you could hear the crack in his voice at the end, "Yep. It happened just a few hours ago..."

"That's...."

"Pathetic?"

"No, It was cruel of her to do something like that... And also stupid of you to not realize it sooner."

Travis blinked, looking at me in disbelief before bursting out laughing, "Yeah. I am pretty stupid... but hey, I was lovestruck, who could blame me?"

"Yourself."

"Want me to make that pretty little smart ass mouth shut up?"

"Wha-"

My eyes grew wide as Travis crashed his lips onto mine before pulling away with a sly smile, "Care to waste away our worries with me?"

My mind slowly processed what happened. Part of me wanted to punch him. What he did was like, sexual harassment! But part of me also thought it wasn't that bad, it actually felt quite nice. Or it was just my loneliness getting to me.

I bit my lip, as his alpha pheromones became overwhelming even for a beta like me and it made it hard to think through the possibilities on how this would end but one thought triumphed over all of them,

"Sure."

I wanted more of him.

I gently opened the door to the office, quickly being met by a frantic CEO, "Are you alright? No one harassed you at the club right?" Carlos bombarded me with questions.

Harassed? I blushed at the thought, remembering the things that occured in the previous night before quickly shaking my head and walking towards my desk, "Yes, I am indeed fine. I can take care of myself, Carlos."

Carlos sighs as he followed after, leaning onto my desk giving me another worried look, "It's not that I think you can't take care of yourself. I'm just... worried."

"You're family isn't watching, you can drop the act."

I placed my papers down before jumping as the alpha in front of me slammed his hands onto the wooden desk so hard I thought it would've broke,

"TIA! I'm worried for you as a friend, not as your fake fiancé." He growled before quickly covering his mouth, shaking his head and whispering a small apology, "You're still important to me, as fake fiancé or as a friend,"

I gave him an indifferent look before sighing and giving an affirmative nod, "I understand. Can we go over your schedule now? You have a meeting with Diamond Dust's CEO, Mr. Travis...." I looked over the papers and stared at name printed on it. Travis. No, get your mind out of the gutter, a lot of people are named Travis, don't get ahead of yourself.

"Earth to Tia? Well?" Carlos calls out, snapping his fingers in front of my face

I quickly shook my head and gave him a glare before continuing going over his schedule.

No. It definitely can't be him.