Alpha's Little Secret

Chapter 20| All Out In The Open (1)

After pleasant goodbyes and promises of all of Drake's siblings visiting at some point, we were well on our way back to my apartment. The entire car ride home Drake hauntingly silent. I didn't expect him to be all cheery and happy, but he was so lost in thought that it made me worried.

When we arrived home, Drake attempted to walk straight to our temporarily shared bedroom only to freeze when he felt me staring at him. Without turning around to face me, he began speaking. "Why don't you hate me?" He asked begrudgingly. Had he mentally checked out after turning down my proposal? I thought I had reassured him that it was okay and that I understood.

"I could never hate you. Why are would you ask such a silly thing? Is it because of the proposal?," I implored. Drake's shoulders fell as he spun around to face me. His ocean blue eyes were glossed over with remorse and guilt. I never wanted him to feel pressured into marrying me. It was his decision and his alone. If he never wanted to get married I was okay with that.

"Max..." Drake struggled to formulate what he truly wanted to say. He probably feared my reaction to all of this. "-you've done so much for me. I just feel shitty because I can't give this one thing to you...At least not right now," he explained. I smiled warmly at the omega and walked up to him so that we were face to face. His beautiful face was drenched in uncertainty and fear. Fear of what I'd do. Fear of me leaving because I wanted more.

"You stupid beautiful boy..." I gawked with an amused expression. "-All I want is for you to be with me. That's it. We don't have to be married. I only proposed because I love you. I love you so much that I can't fathom not being without you." I was so unsure of what Drake truly wanted out of this. Did he want marriage? Did he even want a life with me? I could only guess and take a chance with these things.

"But...but...I'm supposed to say yes. You marked me and here I am acting like I have other options when your the only one I'll ever want." His unfiltered thoughts were finally pouring through, letting me hear what he was thinking. He was scared. Terrified of his past becoming his future. Terrified of me turning into the inescapable version of Nikolai.

"Just because you're an omega doesn't mean you have to do anything. I marked you because I knew what my feelings were for you. I knew that I wanted to be the one to protect you. It wasn't because I wanted to force you into marriage. It wasn't because I wanted control over your life. I marked you because I simply knew you wanted that too," I explained. Tears fell from the corners of Drake's eyes, only to be wiped away by my index finger as I leaned forward and kissed him. The smaller boy broke away and let his face fall into my chest. It felt like forever since I held him like this. I could feel him inhaling my scent with every thought in his head probably telling himself how stupid he was.

"Thunderstorms," Drake mumbled, letting arms wrapped around me as I picked him up. I couldn't help myself. I had become aroused the moment he started touching me. I carefully walked us into my room and set Drake down on the bed with every intention of ravishing him.

The red faced boy couldn't even look me in the eyes. The amount of heavy lust floating the room embarrassed him. "I..."

"Ahem!"

Me and Drake both jumped away from each other like what we were doing was completely illegal.

"I've been calling your names for the past minute, but you both were to busy about to fuck to even notice me!" Jacob exclaimed. I had completely forgotten that I had given him a key to my apartment and that he was coming over so we could all go out to eat.

"We're so sorry!" Drake apologized. His face was even redder as he avoided eye contact with everybody.

"No, it's my fault. I was the one that...look never mind..can we just leave?"

...

All it took was a photo of me and Drake on instagram and the flood gates were opened. I was in fact courting Drake Baldwin. The omega son of a billionaire who was rumored to be engaged to another alpha. Judgement was impossible to control and people began choosing sides as if they knew every detail of my relationship with Drake. Some speculated that I stole him away from his family and forced him to be my mate. Others felt that I was some sort of home wrecker who made Drake fall madly in love with me . I couldn't move without a snap of my face being plastered on ever tv, social media platform, or magazine. I honestly didn't care because I was used to this, but Drake wasn't. The limelight really wasn't his bread and butter. The lies, rumors and half truths. They way your words could be twisted into something controversial. I didn't want Drake to fall into the chaos of it all.

"Drake over here! Is it true that Maxwell marked you without your consent!" I couldn't even see who asked the question behind all the flashing lights as I tried to rush Drake into the back of our vehicle. We hadn't even stepped out of the car yet, only to be bombarded by the media.

"N-no that's not..."

"Drake, what happened between you and your ex-fiancé?" Another one asked.

"He was..."

"I heard there were allegations of abuse? Will you be pressing charges?"

So much at once was overwhelming for him. He had gone from private citizen to Maxwell's Jenkin's boyfriend overnight all because I wanted to go public with it. I never wanted to place this amount of pressure on him.

"Are the rumors of true about Drake and Jacob sharing you, Maxwell?" The question alone made me freeze. Who would think such a thing? Jacob and I were just friends and nothing more.

"No, Max is just a really good friend. I've known about his relationship with Drake for a while now and their completely inseparable," Jacob replied professionally as he led us both into the 5-star restaurant. I thanked him with my eyes as Drake clutched onto my arm, refusing to look at anyone.