Psychopathic (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 16

When the news reached him the next day, Alec was at Eli's door embracing him with a mixture of worry and relief.

"I am so glad you're okay." He said kissing the top of Eli's head.

Eli himself was relieved to be back as he returned Alec's embrace. "I was so scared." He told Alec resting his forehead on the nook of his neck. "I don't know what would have happened if Rowan wasn't there." Despite everything that had happened, Eli felt safe now in Alec's arms.

The incident between them in the woods was completely forgotten.

"You're okay now." Alec told him soothingly before he tensed in anger. "You shouldn't have been alone with Ari."

This made Eli break off the embrace as he stared at Alec in shock. "No, it wasn't his fault. That feral was attracted to my smell. Even I didn't think it would happen."

"He shouldn't have taken you there to begin with." Alec glowered looking unconvinced by Eli's words. It seems like the blame was falling completely on Ari who, in Eli's opinion, didn't do anything wrong. It was just an unlucky occurrence that was out of his control. "Eli, listen. I think you should stop seeing Ari."

"What!? No!"

"He's an unmated beta, El. He took you to a secluded spot where anything could have happened, and something did!"

"It wasn't him-"

Alec stubbornly shook his head. "Not this time. What reason did he have to take you there anyway?"

This time Eli looked away guiltily with everything rushing back to his memory. It was him who sought after Ari and wanted to be with him, and it was because of Eli himself that they went out to the woods. Like the good friend he is, Ari had sensed Eli's distress and was only aiming to give him the privacy Eli needed to be able to express what's making him that way freely.

And now Ari was being punished for it.

"He was worried about me. We were just going to talk."

"Right, talk." Alec snorted not sounding very happy about it. Jealousy was rearing its ugly head again, but his concerns weren't exactly unjustified. It really did seem suspicious for Ari to do all that, but Eli didn't believe he had any other intentions. "Stay away from him, and he better do the same."

"Alec, no! He is my frien-"

"None of that! Would a friend endanger you like this?"

"He didn't mean to." Eli argued staring at Alec in disbelief. "He's your friend, too, you know."

Alec's lips thinned before he exhaled and he looked down at Eli and cupped his cheek. "He didn't do anything to you, right?"

The thought alone was absurd as Eli quickly shook his head. There was nothing that Ari had done to suggest anything other than friendship, and everything that he did do was because he cared for Eli. At some point Eli had realized Ari was just an affectionate person, and often forgot the lines drawn between betas and omegas.

Hell, even Eli started to forget those lines when he spent time with Ari.

Having his first real friend taken away like that was something he didn't like, so he reassuringly held Alec's hand that was cupping his cheek and tried his best to give him a convincing smile.

"If he did do anything, anything at all, I would have told you. He never did, Alec." He gave Alec a comforting squeeze, and that seemed to do the trick because he was getting a bit more relaxed. "Trust him a little bit more, okay?"

"It's just hard when he's-"

"An unmated beta? Yes, I am aware." Eli huffed already tired of hearing it. That's all everyone kept telling him. How was he supposed to have friends if he avoided them?

Alec gave a huff of his own wanting to continue arguing about it, but knew he wouldn't get anywhere if he did so. Every time he thought about the closeness between the two, he couldn't help but feel wary and jealous. It wasn't like him to let his sentiments cloud his judgments, but right now he was having trouble with that.

It made him contemplate what Eli had said, and maybe he is right. He had known Ari for a long time, and he never seemed like the type to do anything hurtful like steal away his mate from him.

Actually, Ari had always been kind and caring to a fault.

"You're right. I should trust him more." He finally conceded and was glad he did because that made Eli smile at him and pull him down for an appreciative kiss. "I'm sorry, El. I was worried."

"I understand, it's okay."

"What were you worried about anyway?"

The smile on Eli's face disappeared as his eyes shifted elsewhere. Suddenly he didn't know what to say, and that avoidant response only made Alec even more worried. That meant that he would be more persistent to know what was troubling him, but how can Eli tell him that he's the source of his troubles to begin with?

Something about the whole situation became funny to him all of the sudden.

Everyone kept telling him to stay away from Ari, but Eli is actually thinking of ways to stay away from situations where he and Alec are alone. It wasn't like he hated him or doesn't want to be with him anymore, it was just the fear of him losing control of the situation again.

That day in the woods had taught him just how easily that could happen.

"It... It is embarrassing." Eli knew that communication was key in every relationship, but his concerns weren't that easy to communicate so he decided to lie for now. "On the night of my birthday, Ari had noticed the signs of my, um, heat."

Alec's face lit up in realization and Eli felt like he wanted to dig himself a hole from the embarrassment he was feeling, but that was much easier than telling Alec that he didn't want to be alone with him.

"I never had it before, and he informed someone here who helped me through it." He explained to Alec before he looked away mostly out of guilt from his incoming lies. "I was having some troubles, and Ari seemed to know a few things..."

The last part was purely out of speculation. According to Eli's mother, someone did notice him showing the signs, Eli guessed it was Ari himself, but he still didn't know the extent of his knowledge. Surely he knew a few things.

He half expected the lie to fall short, but it didn't. Alec seemed to believe him.

"That actually makes a lot of sense."

Surprised by the success of his own lie, Eli tilted his head at Alec who looked like he was having an incoming headache. Apparently, this was a very good lie.

"Yeah, I was surprised he knew so much." He continued completely clueless to everything. It actually did confirm his suspicion that Ari was the one to report his heat, but it also made him wonder how exactly Ari became knowledgeable.

He didn't have to wonder for long because Alec had answered his unasked question.

"He probably asked the healers all about it or something just to make sure you're okay. Ari's like that." Alec explained clearly speaking from experience. It seemed to Eli that this wasn't the first time Ari had done something similar.

"See? He took me to the woods because I was embarrassed about it. That's all there is to it."

This time Alec seemed to be somewhat convinced. "Okay, I guess."

Eli smiled and pulled him into another kiss. All he cared about was that he could still could see his friend.