Her Devilish Alpha

"Have you heard? Alpha Xavier is in a particularly good mood today. I heard he invited Beta Adrian to breakfast with him. He's never done that before, I don't think so," the first omega whispered to the other.

[Author's Note: First omega as in the first person who spoke, so it's easier to tell who's speaking.] 

Her friend whispered back, "Yeah, I know. And guess what? I heard from someone else that he was seen leaving Ms Madeline's quarters early in the morning. Apparently, he stayed there the previous night," another whispered. Is this his way of confirming there's something ongoing between the two of them? Is this proof that they're together?" 

The first omega gasped, her eyes wide as she asked, "Oh my luna, they spent the night together?! And who did you hear that from?" 

Indiana, who had happened to be passing by, happened to overhear their conversation. 

"I can't tell you who, but it's from a reliable source. They definitely spent last night together. And the person who saw Alpha Xavier leaving, also noticed his hair was all messed up, and that he was smiling and blushing," she heard one say. 

"Eh? Alpha Xavier, smiling and blushing? Are you sure that's him? It could be someone else, you know," the other omega reasoned, before she received a nudge in the ribcage. 

The two noticed Indiana who was walking nearby. 

They used their mindlink to communicate, feeling horrified. 

'Isn't that the omega who's been hanging around Madeline a lot lately? She's her friend, and she heard us gossiping about her!' The first one exclaimed, her eyes wide in panic and terror. 

'What if she tells Madeline? We're doomed!' The other said, feeling her chest being squeezed. 

Indiana said nothing as she continued walking, acting like she had heard nothing when she heard a great deal of their conversation.

'So… Xavier spent the night at Madeline's, fascinating,' Indiana thought to herself, trying not to let her emotions get the best of her. 

Inhaling, she took a detour. She was just about to visit Madeline, but she didn't feel like talking to anyone. All she felt like doing was curling up into a ball and crying herself to sleep. 

Honestly, she didn't expect it to hurt this much. 

Indiana had first thought she had gotten over her feelings. Some remained, but not enough to make her wince and feel her heart get torn apart whenever Xavier had anything to do with another girl. 

It wasn't jealousy; Indiana believed it not to be. 

Using her superspeed, she made it to her room in a matter of seconds. Locking her doors and closing her windows, she entered her bathroom. She first made sure no one followed her, and that she was completely alone. No one could enter her room unless they broke into it. 

Now that she was sure she was alone, she slumped down her bathroom wall, biting her lip so roughly she felt blood ooze out of the crack in her usually soft lips. 

Why?

Why was the world being so cruel to her? Why did it keep doing this to her?

Why was she so hung over a man she barely even knew? Indiana knew him like everyone else did. There was nothing special between the two of them, so why did she hurt so much?

Of course, she knew she'd wince whenever his name was brought up. That was a given, a part of her would always love him, but it felt so wrong. 

Like loving someone that already had someone in mind. 

He would never love her back, she knew that. 

'How foolish of me to continuously have feelings for him despite knowing he's someone else's mate?'

She sat down in a fetal position, trying to keep her tears from falling. 

'I'm overreacting, I shouldn't be behaving this way. He's not my boyfriend, he's not my friend, he's… Xavier. He's the alpha. So why do my feelings linger? There's nothing keeping me from no longer loving him, there never was.' 

Indiana had thought it over to the point she wondered if she loved him not for him, but for the idea of him. Someone that was in her corner, someone that would be there for her, someone like the highly respected, powerful alpha, Xavier. 

Was it the idea of him that made her love him?

Or him himself?

Indiana couldn't answer. She felt divided. Why did she love him? 

Unable to get herself to list any reasons, she wondered if this stemmed from something else that had happened ages ago. Maybe she was terrified of letting him go, that was what was keeping her from ending whatever this was. 

And the worst part of all of this was, Madeline knew no idea of this. 

She had the right to know, she was Indiana's friend. 

Alas, the world worked in mysterious, coincidental ways. Madeline wasn't only Indiana's friend. 

She was also Xavier's mate. And also, the woman he spent the night with. 

Maybe it wasn't as big as she was making it out to be. A man and a woman could be friends. They could spend the night together without doing anything. 

And besides, Madeline had made it out to seem like she wasn't interested in Xavier. 

Hmm, that was the wrong way to put it. 

It wasn't that she wasn't interested in Xavier, she seemed opposed to the idea of dating someone. Or loving them. 

Indiana knew better than to ask why. That was the stuff that began deep, meaningful conversations. They were taking their friendship one step at a time, there were still a couple of boundaries between the two girls. 

'There's also Briar,' Indiana reminded herself tearfully. 

Wiping her tears away, she asked, 'Why do I keep doing this? I shouldn't be crying over a man, I should be doing something else.' 

Taking a deep breath in and out, she said to herself, "I am fine. And if I'm not fine, I will be. As long as it takes, I'll be fine. This is just an inconvenience that will be solved." 

Those three words repeated in her head. 

"I am fine."

"I am fine."

"I am fine."

And yet she hadn't managed to convince even the tiniest bit of herself that she was fine. Maybe she would be in the future, but being fine and being happy wasn't in the cards for her now. 

She knew she had to meet Madeline afterwards, Briar had arranged another girl's night together. They had been talking about having one for days, so Briar would be holding one in her room. 

Speaking of Briar, the delta was unaware of what had happened between Madeline and Xavier last night. No one had told her, and she had been kept in the dark. 

Madeline thought it was best not to tell her, after all, Xavier had come to her having a bad day. It wasn't something you told someone else, it was something you kept to yourself, just like he'd want her to. 

Xavier had a reputation to keep. 

And as far as everyone else was concerned, the alpha didn't have bad days. He was meant to be perfect. After all, only the best would be accepted as the alpha. 

Although what happened last night wasn't enough to tarnish his reputation, it would show another side to him that no one but Madeline and Adrian knew of. The part of Xavier that wasn't constantly broody or so focused on work. 

And also, Xavier preferred if others wouldn't know. Not that he wanted to keep Madeline some sort of secret. Of course not. 

He had simply wanted to keep last night's events hidden from everyone except those he decided to tell. 

And the only exception to that was his dear friend and loyal beta, Adrian. 

Xavier had opened one of the finest bottles of wine he had preserved. 

"I'm beginning to think this wasn't because of one night of sleep," Adrian admitted, clarifying, "Not that I'm complaining, of course! Hehe, I love this Xavier, he's way more cheerful than the other Xaviers, but you're hiding something from me aren't you?"

So much for not questioning things further, his curiosity had gotten the best of him. 

The day Xavier was this happy because he got to sleep was the day pigs began raining down from the sky, something that was impossible and would never happen. Ever. 

If it did, he'd eat his shoe. 

"Come on, something had to have happened," Adrian said, grilling Xavier for answers. 

Unlike Indiana, Adrian had not been privy to the rumours and gossip circulating Eudora as of the current moment. No one had let him in on what was happening, but… 

He didn't need to be told. After all, he could get the news straight from the source. Xavier himself. 

Perhaps Xavier was in a good enough mood to tell him the reason why, or he'd keep it from him but give a couple of clues. 

"You may be on to something," Xavier said as he took a sip of wine.