Lost in Arcadia

Encounters (3)

After reaching his sister’s two-bedroom unit that she had bought fully furnished, Kade put away his shopping in the spare room and got to cooking.

Addie mostly ate out or ordered in and really only used this place to rest and sleep. Nearly everything in her kitchen was gleaming, barely seeing any use.

Well, now that Kade would be living here temporarily, that would change.

He made a large serving of prawn curry in mustard gravy paired with Java rice and marinated some other stuff for later. Once done eating his large portion and cleaning up, he decided to wash his newly bought office clothes—but not before trying some on and snapping pictures of himself to show off on social media.

“Do I look respectable enough?” he captioned. “#NewJob”

He also sent another picture to a private group chat. It was of him in a dressing room, wearing a tux that could barely be buttoned up due to how broad his chest and arm muscles were.

His hair was still long in the picture, making him look like a surfer dude more than anything. It shouldn’t have jived well with the formal attire, but it did.

He followed the picture with the message: “Ready when you guys are~”

Rhys Holcroft, Ren’s soon-to-be husband, immediately replied: “You don’t have to come.”

“Heh!” Kade typed with a sneer. “Why? You jealous?”

Ren joined the chat. “You’ll upstage us looking like that. Don’t come.”

Kade fumed:

“You guys are such meanies!”

“I didn’t even buy the tux, I was just trying it on!”

“I’ll wear whatever you guys prepared!”

Rhys replied: “Then have fun wearing a sack.”

Someone sent a laughing emoji in response. It was Mei Griffiths, a female alpha and Rhys’ long-time friend, who’d be serving as his best woman.

“Why are you laughing?” Rhys said to her. “You’ll be wearing a sack too.”

Mei sent an angry emoji.

Kade: “LOL. Joke’s on all of you anyway. I look good in ANYTHING!”

Ren: “Enough of this. You both still on tomorrow?”

Kade: “Yup!”

Mei: “Mhm again.”

“We’ve been standing here for half an hour!”

Having taken only a few steps, Arden stopped and looked behind him.

He looked amused as he said, “I’ll take ten with me, Big Joe.”

Big Joe lifted his eyebrows. “You sure?”

“Why not?” Arden replied with a nonchalant shrug. “The more the merrier, right?” All of a sudden, he grew serious. “Except…”

He didn’t have to finish the thought. Big Joe was already nodding at him in understanding.

“Yeah, I got you.”

After nodding as well, Arden went on walking and left the bouncer to choose which ten people to let in.

…

On a half-loft overlooking the nightclub’s dancefloor, Kade sat on a couch placed beside the railing. This was the VIP area, and most of the other people at the nearby tables were also alphas. While it pained him to admit it, he and his companion were among the oldest ones around.

He was sitting with his friend Hayley and taking occasional sips from his drink. As he had plans tomorrow, he wasn’t planning on getting drunk tonight.

After he arrived a quarter of an hour ago and they did some catching up, he had mostly been listening to Hayley’s complaints about her upcoming engagement to another alpha.

“He’s just so old, you know?" she said with a groan. "Or maybe I’m just too young? Any way you look at it, it’s totally unfair that he got to wait until he’s thirty-five before needing to get hitched. I also want to enjoy the rest of my youth, you know?”

“So why don’t you refuse?” Kade asked, not unsympathetic. Hayley, a raven-haired woman of Southeast Asian descent, was from one of those high-status alpha families who put bloodline, connections, and reputation above everything else.

“Are you kidding me?” she replied, sounding like the thought never even crossed her mind. “You know I can’t do that. What am I supposed to do if my parents cut me off?”

“Uh… work?”

For a moment, Hayley just looked at him strangely. Then she laughed and shook her head.

“I keep forgetting—you live in a completely different world than the rest of us. My parents won’t just stop at cutting me off, you know? They’d make sure I won’t be able to survive anywhere on my own. Then I’d be forced to crawl back to them and get back in line. As much as it sucks, I can only do their bidding.” She shrugged and tossed back her drink. Upon placing her empty glass down with a sharp clink, she added, “For now, at least.”

“Well…” Kade hedged as Hayley signaled for another drink at the bar in the corner. “If you’d rather wait, you can try to convince them to let you marry a female beta instead. There are plenty of rich and well-connected ones around. Higher chance of producing offspring with them too.”

Hayley shook her head again. “Nah. I know of some families that tried that already. It didn’t always work as well as they’d hoped.” All of a sudden, she smiled and bumped her shoulder against his in a friendly gesture. “Sorry, Kade. I’m really just b*tching here. That’s all I can really do, you know? No need to take me too seriously.”

“Just b*tch away, then, bud. It’s all good.”

“Nah, don’t wanna bore you to death. Oh!” She bumped against Kade again and winked. “Why don’t we go ‘hunting’ together like we used to? For old times’ sake, you know?”

Kade smirked at her. “Aren’t you about to get married?”

“Do you see any ring?” Hayley clapped back. “Come onnn. Gotta get in enough fun before it all ends.”

“I’m not really up to it tonight,” Kade replied, turning on his seat so he could look down over the railing. “But I can wingman you, in case you need it.”

The “old times” that Hayley was referring to were from back when they were still in high school. She and Kade, along with a few other young alphas, would often go out at night, easily entering bars and clubs like this one despite being underage, all in the pursuit of so-called conquests.

They had made a game out of identifying the most desirable clubbers around, and then seeing which one of them they’d choose to go off with.

It was a pissing contest more than anything. Kade had lost his taste for it as he grew older, but not, unfortunately, for the ultimate goal itself.

That is to say, he no longer went out of his way to “hunt,” but if anyone came up to him offering themselves, who was he to refuse?

As he looked around at the dancefloor while Hayley did the same, his eyes were drawn to a long leather couch on the far side of the large room. There was a noticeable congregation going on there, as if over a dozen people had come here together as a group.

At the very center of the couch, a man sat with a couple of people on either side. He was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt that was cut low to reveal his thin collarbones. He had styled his hair in messy swept-back waves, and even from afar, it could be seen that he was wearing some light and tasteful makeup.

His upturned eyes looked large on his small face. With those high cheekbones of his worthy of a supermodel, he looked almost elf-like.

But even though this man was supposed to be with them, there was this strange sense that he was apart from the people around him. His nearest companions were all turned towards him, paying attention to nothing else. Even the ones who were dancing just a few feet from their table were throwing glances his way, as if wanting to check if he was looking at them.

Indeed, like he was scattering breadcrumbs, the man would spend moments looking in their direction before turning away again.

Kade had this weird impression that the man was some royal who was holding court.

“He’s a looker, isn’t he?” Hayley suddenly said by his side. She had noticed where Kade’s attention was.

“You know him?” he asked, not looking away from the man.

“He goes by Palmer,” Hayley answered, sounding amused. “He’s a regular here—and a favorite all around because he’s free with his money.” She clapped Kade on the shoulder. “Give it up, though. It’s no use even if you’re interested.”

Kade raised a brow. “I’m not interested,” he said in denial. After a second… “Why?”

“Because you're an alpha. And that guy only goes for betas.”