Chapter 40 - 38

"I ditched a date that would definitely end in a hot and steamy night and that bastard really left us for his Omega. Should we disown him?" Chad lazily sat at the couch after Keith left. Honestly he envied his friend for finding an Omega that changed his perspective in life. Keith may have not admitted it yet, but he's definitely falling in love with his Omega that is if he's not yet madly in love but yeah definitely in love. He wanted that kind of love too but he couldn't find anyone who would held his interest for even a week.

"We actually disowned you a long time ago." Jules slurped the last bit of his instant noodles and lazed around the couch like Chad. "You're just jealous that Keith found his mate." Jules said while rubbing his forehead.

"Well hopefully his Omega will not betray him." Martin replied with a shrug, catching the two Alpha off guard with his reaction. Jules exchanges glances with Chad.

"Whoa! Negative much?" Chad said, raising a brow towards Martin. "I may yet to experience that fluffy kind of love or that till death do us part or even that me against the world thingy or whatever great love you can think of but I do believe in love and trusting that person we choose to love. Not everyone would betray us my friend, maybe they don't love you enough to do that. Don't be too cynical that you might be missing out on something far greater." Chad knew a bit about Martin but he really thinks the other Alpha is being too hard on himself.

"Sometimes you really do make sense. Keep it up, that's the reason we keep you around." Jules said, giving Chad a pat on the back.

"I'll always be at your service my dearest friends." Chad dramatically proclaimed, bowing like a knight. He gave Martin a knowing look and Jules a teasing wink. "Anyway, I thought you're grandfather's back in town, I'm surprised your mother allowed you to leave and come here" Chad asked Jules after finally remembering that he wanted to ask his friend about his presence here today.

"They are busy preparing for Jamie's engagement party. Mom's too engrossed in impressing her in laws to mind my presence." Jules replied nonchalantly. His friends know how overbearing his mom can be and that she wants to make sure they are always in his grandfather's good graces. Afterall, the patriarch of the Bernardt family still holds the power in their family dynamics.

"Your brother's getting married? Was it an arranged one?" Martin asked curiously with no ill meaning behind his question. In their world, arranged marriage is pretty much the norm.

"Nope. My brother met and fell in love with my future sister in law without my mom's influence. It was pure luck on my brother's part that the one he fell in love with happens to be the daughter of an elite household." Jules explained.

"This talk about love and falling in love is making me cringe." Chad shuddered exaggeratedly. "Shall we raid Keith's liquor stash?" Chad suggested with a glint of mischief in his eyes. The other two Alpha agreed immediately. That's Keith's punishment for leaving them alone in his house, not that Keith would mind them drinking a bottle or two. Maybe the other Alpha would be too in love to notice a bottle missing from his inventory.

*******

"Where should we go first?" Helena asked, linking her arms to her Omega son. They just finished eating after their heart to heart talk. Her son has already calmed down and Alex looked brighter than when she first saw him this morning.

"Is there any shop you want to go to, mom?" Alex asked back to his mother. He feels much better now after realizing that his mom doesn't hate him and will not hate him no matter what. He feels so blessed to have a family like them. His brother might be a different case but he's sure now it will all be okay in the end. He honestly wants to see Keith right now to tell the Alpha about his talk with his mom.

"I'm thinking of buying you some new dress shirts to wear for your internship, after all you want to look good for someone now right." Helana winked at her son, making Alex blushed. "Not that my baby is lacking in good genes, you got plenty of it from me of course, but don't tell your Dad about it he might sell if he knew." Helena giggled heartily. "Hmmm maybe we should buy a few shirts for Dad and Matty too." Helena replied while looking around the shops, thinking where they should head first.

Alex couldn't help but smile at his mom's enthusiasm. He's really glad he came today. It made him realize just how much he misses his mom's hugs and her tender words. He was too caught up with his guilt and his fears that he forgot how caring and forgiving his mother is. Being with his mom like this, washed away the heaviness in his heart. Also, his mother's excitement is quite contagious.

"Mom isn't this too expensive?" Alex whispered softly to his mom, embarrassed that the sales staff might hear them. It's the third shirt he tried and each time he checks the price he wants to return it and drag his mom outside of the store. It's like triple the price of what Matt gave him as a gift and that one is already pretty expensive. They are not poor but still, it's too much for just a shirt.

"Don't worry your Dad will be the one paying this" Helena replied with a mischievous laugh. "Seriously Alex, it's alright. You're dad won't mind if we splurge once in a while." Helena assured her son and in the end they purchased one shirt for each man in the family. George will probably faint when he see the credit card bills.

"Mom, are you not buying anything for yourself?" Alex asked while looking at the shopping bags he is holding.

"I'm fine son. I'm happy to just be able to buy things for my men." Helena smiled and gave Alex's cheeks a gentle pat.

"That's so unfair mom. I have my savings too okay? You can't say no, I will be happy if I'm able to buy something for you." Alex didn't wait for his mom to argue back and just walk to the women's section, Helena followed her son happily.

Alex selected a few dresses and blouses for his mom to try on and while his mom is queuing for the fitting room, he roams around to see if he finds anything else suitable for his mom. While he was so engrossed in what he was doing he accidentally bumped into someone, he immediately apologized to the sophisticated woman he collided with, luckily she didn't make a fuss and just went on to what seemed to be a VIP fitting room.

Satisfied with the purple dress and the navy blue silk blouse he selected for his mom to choose from, Alex decided to head back to where his mom is. Just as he's about to walk back, his eyes caught a shining thing on the floor which turned out to be a white gold bracelet with small diamonds. He immediately thought of the woman from earlier, he contemplated if he should wait for the woman to come out of the VIP room. "Ahmm excuse me, the woman who went inside the room dropped this bracelet, would you be kind to return it to her?" Alex asked the sales staff at the VIP section, he decided to just leave it to the staff as he don't want to keep his mom waiting.

"Take care sweetheart okay, please don't be afraid to come home and thanks for this too." Helena raised the paper bag containing the silk blouse Alex bought for her. She then gave Alex a kiss before getting on to the taxi, she even opened the window and gave her son a wave goodbye.

Alex watches as his mom's taxi fades from his view, he remains standing there until he feels a hand snake behind his back. He smelled Keith's scent a while ago so it wasn't a surprise for him to find the Alpha beside him though he still gets flustered from the Alpha's action as he's still not used to this.

"Are you okay?" Keith asked softly as he gave Alex a kiss on top of his head. Alex nodded in response. They walk back with their hands intertwined to where Keith parked his car.

"Should I drive you home?" Keith asked. Alex shakes his head in response. "Hungry?" Keith asked, to which Alex answered with another shake of his head.

"Is there anywhere you wanna go?" Keith asked as he started the car. Keith swallowed hard when Alex still did not respond.. Sensing the pheromones coming from Alex, the Alpha drives with a destination in mind.