Broken Bond: Between Vices and Virtues (BL)
Chapter 199: History might repeat itself

Chapter 199: History might repeat itself

Athan noticed something was off with his younger brother, Knox. The usually cheerful and lively Knox seemed distracted and distant after Azrael dropped him and their kids to the estates. It was fortunate that his mother, Geraldine, already left.

If not, Knox will be bombarded with questions about the other kid, Aresh, and she will jump to conclusions even before hearing the answer.

After dinner that evening, Athan decided to approach him.

"Hey, Knox, can we talk for a minute?" Athan asked, his tone gentle but concerned.

Knox looked up, surprised by the sudden question. "Sure...but about what?"

Athan hesitated for a moment before speaking. "I’ve noticed that you and Azrael have been... distant lately...or is it just me? Ugh, well, I have this feeling that something’s wrong with you. You walked with this anxious and distraught look on your face and you think people can’t tell? Dad rarely leaves his office so he must have not noticed but...Althea and I, even Steve, can tell something has been bothering you. What is it? Did something happen between you and Azrael?"

Knox sighed, his shoulders slumping. "Am I that transparent?" Athan nodded. Knox put down the book he was pretending to read before answering his brother. "It’s nothing. It’s just...sometimes he gets so wrapped up in his work, and I feel like I’m not even there. It’s frustrating."

Knox looked away. Athan frowned. He sat on the chair opposite Knox. "Relationships aren’t easy, especially when both people are passionate about what they do. But have you tried talking to him about how you feel?"

"I rarely even see him, how am I going to? On top of that, he’s been busy with something that I don’t even know about. I trust him, but being left in the dark is frustrating. Someone told me it’s because he’s trying to protect us from danger, but it made me feel unreliable at all. We’re in this together, aren’t we? So, I was hoping he would at least rely on me, even in the smallest thing, but he...he doesn’t even tell me what’s going on."

Knox narrowed his eyes at Athan. "Do you know?"

Athan averted his eyes. Knox raised his eyebrows and leaned forward, pinching the back of his brother’s hand. "You know something."

Athan scratched his chin, contemplating whether to tell Knox or not. In the end, he decided to share a bit about it. "He’s planning to overthrow his father soon. He’s been busy taking care of that. I’m sure he didn’t want to tell you because he knows you’ll insist on helping. It’s dangerous. That’s probably why he let you and the kids stay here."

Knox’s expression softened. He stood and put the book back on the shelf, unconsciously mumbling to himself. "Then, the more reason to find the ledger."

Athan’s body stiffened. How did his brother know about the ledger? He was about to ask him when he realized that Azrael might have told him. However, Athan did not seem to recall what Knox told him earlier—that Azrael wasn’t telling him anything.

It was already dusk, a few hours after he talked with Knox, that he realized. But when he knocked on the latter’s room, no one was there, and only a note was left on his bedside table.

At the same time, Knox was already on the bus, meeting Lyssana at the location they agreed to meet. He made sure to take suppressants, in case of meeting an alpha. After he arrived, Lyssana gave him a servant’s uniform and briefed him on the ingress and egress of the house.

Then, once everything was fixed, Knox set out. His disguise is a newly hired servant. Along with the other two female betas, they entered the gate of the safe house.

Knox tightened the servant’s uniform around his waist, his heart pounding in his chest. His hands clenched on the mini suitcase he brought with him. The servants were staying in, so the suitcase was necessary. However, Knox wasn’t planning to wait for the sunrise in that place, so he decided to search for the ledger once everyone was asleep.

The security was lax, much to Knox’s relief and wonder. Everything seemed to be going according to plan, but he couldn’t shake the unease crawling up his spine.

An older woman greeted them, orienting them on what to do or where to work. The two female betas were assigned to the kitchen and left already, while the old woman pointed at Knox. "You’re in charge of cleaning the rooms. There are only four servants here. Two female betas and two male betas. You’re a beta, right?"

"Yes, ma’am," Knox answered.

The old woman nodded. "Then, your only job is to clean the rooms. You can start tomorrow since it was dark already. The servants’ rooms are in that way. You can choose which room you want."

The safe house was eerily quiet as Knox moved through the dimly lit hallways. Lyssana informed him that the ledger was hidden in the master’s study, a room next to the master’s bedroom. The guards stationed outside didn’t seem to be monitoring the interior of the house, so Knox could freely move inside.

He reached the master’s study according to the blueprint Lyssana provided him on the second floor. He turned the knob and was relieved that it wasn’t locked. Without making any noise, he entered the room. He couldn’t open the lights as if might attract attention, so the only light source he had, was the moonlight coming through huge windows.

He scanned the spacious room and beamed when he saw the safe Lyssana mentioned. He carefully inserted the code given by Lyssana as well. A small clicking noise sounded and the safe opened.

Knox’s sighed in relief and excitement after he saw a black ledger inside. He grabbed it and was about to leave the room when he heard the sound of a door creaking on his left side. He turned to his left and found a door slowly opening, while another clacking sound was heard in the door he came from.

Knox’s eyes widened. He dashed to the door and twisted the knob, it did, however, he couldn’t pull the door back. Something was locking it outside. Knox panicked. He banged the door and called outside, but no one seemed to be hearing him.

He ran to the huge glass windows and learned that they were fixed. He then noticed the guards stationed outside were no longer in their position, and the car he and the two female betas used was no longer in the parking.

"Wha...what is..."

Something was wrong. He stepped backward, away from the windows. His knees trembling and his body began to shake. The sound of the door creaking caught his attention again. Knox approached it, only to find the doorknob was destroyed and the room behind was a bedroom—the master’s bedroom.

Knox froze in his spot.

The air was thick with an unfamiliar scent, something that sent a shiver down Knox’s spine. He tried to walk away, but his steps faltered as he realized what he was smelling—pheromones, strong and overpowering. But they weren’t just any pheromones; they were from an alpha, and not just any alpha, but one with an aura of danger and power.

Knox’s breath hitched as the scent grew stronger, and he suddenly felt a wave of heat flood his body. The two pills of suppressants he took were nothing compared to the intensity of the scent. Knox shuddered. It was the pheromones of an alpha in a rut.

His knees nearly buckled under the intensity of it. He was an omega who had just lost his protective mark, and now the alpha’s pheromones were triggering his heat. Panic gripped him as he realized he wasn’t alone in that room.

Struggling to maintain control, Knox walked in the direction of the glass windows. His instincts screamed at him to turn back and submit to that alpha’s scent, but he’d rather jump the windows than let another man touch him.

However, before he could smash the window with the lamp he grabbed the desk, approaching footsteps and the harsh and metallic sound of metal links being dragged across the floor, drowned his thoughts as the familiar scent of pine trees permeated his nose.

Knox’s eyes widened. He only smelled it once, but he remembered it since it was somehow similar to Azrael’s scent. He looked back, and there he saw Ragel standing by the door, looking at him with eyes as wide as him.

Ragel’s eyes darkened as he took in Knox’s appearance again, his nostrils flaring as he caught the omega’s scent. Knox could see the struggle in Ragel’s expression, the primal instincts battling against the man’s better judgment.

Ragel checked the doorknob and cursed loudly when it was beyond repair. He spun his head to Knox and spoke through gritted teeth. "You’re...you’re not supposed to be here!"

He was growling, his voice rough with barely controlled desire.

Knox backed away, but there was nowhere to go. His initial plan to break the windows and jump below was set aside, considering that he might convince Ragel to let him go. The words Lyssana said to him about the alpha floated in his head, but along with it were the memories of him playing with Knoa and the kids in the orphanage.

That moment he realized he had been fooled. Lyssana was the evil one, and Ragel was a victim like him.

"I didn’t know...I didn’t know it was a trap. I’m so stupid to believe that woman," Knox stammered, his mind clouding as his body responded to the alpha’s proximity.

Ragel noticed his inner turmoil and he quickly backed away. He asked with difficulty, "What did you come here for?"

Knox, crouching to the floor, hugging himself, and subduing his heat to fully take hold of himself, replied with a panted breath, "The ledger. Lyssana said you...were working for the chairman...you...you’re Azrael’s...hah...ngh...Ragel...get out. Your pheromones—

"I can’t. The next door is locked. The windows in the room are barred. And I’m...I’m f*cking chained to the bed!" Ragel shouted angrily, frustration, desperation, and hatred lurked in his voice, and his eyes were blazing with contempt and murderous intent toward the people who captured him.

If he had known that his other parent was a monster, he wouldn’t have tried looking for him. With the last sanity he had in himself, he walked to the door of the study and did his best to open it. When his efforts weren’t yielding results, he grabbed a drawer, lifted it, and threw it on the glass windows.

It broke. Ragel then turned to Knox. "Go and tie the sheets on the bed, then leave this place..." but his words could no longer registered to Knox who was curled up on the edge. His heat had already taken over. Rage’s eyes flared with desperation, the thin line of control frayed with each passing second, and slowly, he found himself approaching the vulnerable omega with his eyes changed and his mind muddled.