Broken Bond: Between Vices and Virtues (BL)
Chapter 138: An interesting find

Chapter 138: An interesting find

Thirty minutes later, the kids were hopping on their walk to the white beach. Knox held Knoa while Azrael held Aresh, and the two kids joined hands.

There were still two hours before lunch, so they just ran and played around on the beach. Knoa and Aresh played catch with the seawater, they’d chase the retreating waterline, yet they’d run once the wave returned.

Knox fondly watched the kids as he sat over a plaid blanket and under the umbrella Azrael built. He was watching the kids when he noticed Azrael’s returning figure, who went away for a bit to buy some snacks, walking toward him. He was blocked by a smaller guy who was visibly a dominant omega.

Knox sprung up on his feet. He didn’t know what to do. Should he go over or just wait here? He kept asking himself, seemingly forgetting whom he should be watching out instead. He stood there anxiously, watching the two with sharp eyes.

’They were just talking...maybe I should just wait for him,’ he thought afterward, concluding that the omega must have been just asking for some direction since he was pointing somewhere.

However, when the pretty dominant omega who wore a full-body stinger suit hugging his slim and delicate body moved closer and even clung his arms to Azrael’s arm, the wait was over, and the watchful eyes turned to a narrowed and accusing one.

Knox strode to them, scrutinizing eyes directed to the unbothered Azrael, saying ’Why aren’t you shaking his arm off? Your nostrils used to flare whenever I entered your one-meter radius!’

The dominant omega who flashed a coquettish smile at him exclaimed, "Oh, come on, I know you’re just saying that as an excuse. I can show you where to buy this swimwear if you come with me~."

Knox hadn’t even reached a meter away from them, yet he could already smell a strong scent of lemon permeating his nose. His eyes widened in shock. He hastened his steps and grabbed the omega, shouting, "Hey! Don’t offer your bloom in a public place! Are you insane?!"

The omega was startled by his sudden appearance. He snatched his arm and haughtily looked at Knox, sporting a deep frown. The omega hissed, "What’s it to you? Is my scent so strong that even a beta could smell it? Don’t worry though, you won’t be affected. So, can you please get lost?"

Knox was dumbfounded, "What?"

The dominant omega raised his brow at him, "You’re interrupting us, get lost. We don’t need you here."

Witnessing the dominant omega’s fingers wrapped in Azrael’s biceps, his eye twitched in utter annoyance. His forehead creased, ignoring the omega’s remarks, and his eyes moved to Azrael who was seemingly amused at his open display of jealousy.

Realizing this, Knox puffed out an exasperated breath, scowled at the omega, and spat, "You’re blooming in the wrong garden. Go find your own field, and don’t f*cking regret it when pests rush to you, you pea-brained." Releasing a bloom in a public area teaming with half-naked alphas was like basically telling them to f*ck him.

’He’s not sane.’ Knox said inwardly. However, he didn’t care anymore. He glared at Azrael next, infuriated that he wasn’t shoving the omega away just because he wanted to see him feel jealous.

Azrael smirked. He shoved the omega away by the face quite forcefully and was about to speak, but Knox already turned away, giving him a cold treatment. He grabbed his hand but Knox refused to face him and just blurted out, "You reek of lemon. It’s stinging my eyes, let go."

"Alright, alright, I’ll wash it away, but it’ll be faster if you just cover with me your scent," Azrael suggested, starting to panic at Knox’s reaction. He tried to turn him around again, but Knox shrugged off his arm without saying anything. Azrael explained hurriedly, "Look, he came to me and I just asked where did he buy the swimwear. I figured you’d want to swim later, so you need something to wear. No way I’d let you go half-naked."

Knox noticed the omega still standing behind Azrael. Their eyes met. Knox threw him a ’what else are you standing there for?’ look, and received an eye roll from the dominant omega before he bolted off and even cursed them both.

Azrael was now panicking. It was the first time he saw Knox blatantly express his jealousy, so he was fascinated and delighted, watching his face distorted with that ugly feeling mixed with the hint of possessiveness. When Knox began to walk away without sparing him another glance, he called out demandingly, "Knox Arden."

He followed obediently, regretting that he played with the omega’s feelings. He tried to reach out again, but then both of their attention was stolen when a thrilled shout reached them.

Knoa shouted enthusiastically, "Wow! A starfish! Brother Aresh, look!"

In an instant, Azrael and Knox arrived at the two kids. The former quickly snatched the starfish on the sand before Knoa could grab it and threw it away to the sea, while Knox dashed to Aresh whose body was frozen in the spot, paled and trembling.

Knox quickly blocked Aresh’s sight with his body and hugged the child. His body turned cold and the shaking won’t stop. Knox began to panic. He carried the six-year-old kid, only to be alarmed when yellowish water trickled down his arms coming from the kid’s shorts.

Aresh then began to cry. His face filled with fear and his eyes were terrified.

"Hush, Aresh, baby, it’s okay. I’m here. Calm down. It’s okay. I’m here," Knox blabbered, unaware of what to do.

Knoa saw what was happening, and because of the shaky and fearful voice of his omega father, he started to be afraid of something he didn’t even realize yet. Soon, he cried as well. Azrael scooped him up, rubbing his back to calm him down.

Between broken sobs, Knoa asked, "Da...hic...daddy, wa...why...hic...brother crying?"

Azrael couldn’t answer since he was watching Knox and Aresh carefully. Between the two of them, he couldn’t tell who was about to faint. Knox’s pale complexion was concerning him. He went to him and spoke, "Give him to me, I’ll take care of him. Take Knoa, instead."

Knox followed without complaint. Aresh was still crying and choking on his own tears and snot, while Knoa seemed to calm down a bit after seeing both of his father’s anxious faces. He came to realize that they were like that because Aresh wasn’t acting normal.

The brave kid who befriended him suddenly burst into tears and looked so afraid, so even though Knoa didn’t know what was the reason, he knew how not to add worry to his parents with his crying. He sniffled and rubbed his eyes, before hugging his omega father.

Azrael hugged Aresh on his chest and constantly rubbed his back, whispering comfort words to the terrified kid. They quickly abandoned the beach and went back to the cottage. Climbing the five steps of the boardwalk, Azrael turned to the person wearing a floral shirt and khaki shorts, standing by the upper landing, and ordered, "Just bring our lunch to the house. No seafood."

Knox was momentarily astounded, but after recognizing the old man’s face who bowed at him and Knoa, he soon understood what was happening. However, it wasn’t the right time to bring up that topic, so he just quietly followed Azrael.

It was an arduous task, calming Aresh down. Only tiredness wore him down to sleep, and he finally stopped crying. Even then, Knox couldn’t leave the child alone, afraid that he’d cry or have a nightmare. He told Azrael to show Knoa around to take his mind away from what happened, while Knox remained.

As he sat next to the bed watching Aresh, he couldn’t help but blame himself. It wouldn’t have happened if he was only focusing on them, instead of building fences around a loyal dog. Azrael might have felt his remorse and tried to console him, but he pushed him away and even used Knoa as an excuse.

Aresh’s forehead creased and he grunted in his sleep. He patted the child’s chest and hummed a melody. Until the two came back, he was lulling the child to sleep, making sure that his sleep won’t be visited by unwanted and traumatic memories.

Meanwhile, the door to the office of the Chairman Del Valle opened cautiously. A woman peeked her head out and informed the alpha in a lowered and careful voice, "Chairman, one of your men came. He said he had something to give you."

From reading a ledger on his desk, Rage looked up and answered, "Let him in."

The woman, who had been staying in that mansion ever since Azrael was even born, gestured for the man to come inside and opened the door a bit wider. The man entered, and bowed to the chairman, before walking closer to the desk.

He presented a transparent zip lock pouch containing some items. He then stated, "Sir, these are the things Philip’s men took when they kidnapped that omega. It was found in one of the cylindrical containers near the site. Also, we still haven’t found his body. Forgive us. Please give us more time."

Rage pursed his lips. His devious eyes darted on the plastic, and he wondered, ’What significance do they have for that kid to keep them safe like this? They’re just trivial things.’

He waved his hand dismissively, "Throw them out. No. Incinerate them. I don’t want any traces of evidence to be found."

The servant agreed and turned away. But as he did so, the contents of the plastic rustled, the phone obstructing a photo inside moved away and Rage caught a glimpse of that bright picture. He commanded, hurried and interested, "Halt. Give it to me."

The man, confused, still obeyed. Rage ripped the lock and fished out that photo. It was a capture of the omega his son was so crazy about......and a spitting image of his unfilial son.