Chapter 8 CHAPTER 008
Soren knows nothing about social gatherings; he has never been to a party of the high elite of the city, and compared to them, he was just an ant underneath their feet that they could crush with their money.
Soren almost goes blind at the bright flashes of cameras from reporters the minute the black SUV rolls to a stop.
The door opens, and the cold night air kisses his skin, and before he can even think, Reign steps out first, and the noise explodes as the light becomes even more blinding. How do people put up with this without losing their sight?
“Mr. Montgomery!”
“Over here!”
“Sir, is it true you’re engaged?”
Soren’s heart slams against his ribs as the questions fly from different angles. He’s about to step out when a hand appears in front of him; it's Reign. Soren stares at it for half a second too long before placing his hand in his and getting out of the car, but the moment their skin touches, the crowd goes even wilder.
Reign’s grip tightens slightly. “Smile,” he murmurs without looking at him.
Soren forces a smile and keeps his chin high and shoulders back, just like he does in the ring before a fight, only this time, he isn’t fighting with fists; he’s fighting not to tremble and trying hard to figure out how to get through the rest of the evening without the whole world discovering his secret.
With lots of cameras like this, the pink suit Soren is wearing catches every flash of light, reminding him of the cut at his back that feels exposed. If Soren had known it was going to be like this, he would have never worn something so revealing.
“Who is he?” someone shouts.
Reign doesn’t answer; instead, he pulls Soren slightly closer in a claiming manner that seems to send a direct answer that has the cameras flashing even more. Soren feels sick to the stomach.
They walk down the long red carpet that runs toward the entrance of the grand hall. The building is enormous, made of glass and gold, shining like something out of a different world. This isn’t Soren's world, and inside, it’s worse, as chandeliers hang from the ceiling.
The moment they enter, the whole room is looking at them and everywhere. Soren looks; there are alphas. Powerful, rich, predatory ones. He can feel their gazes sliding over him. Compared to Reign’s pheromones, theirs are weaker and duller around him. He isn't an enigma for nothing.
Suddenly, Reign’s hand slides to Soren’s lower back and pulls him mashed to his side possessively. “You smell scared,” he whispers lowly.
Soren gulps. He doesn't know how the enigma can smell his emotions without smelling that he's an Omega. “I’m not afraid,” he lies. He is not intimidated by alphas. Soren is intimidated by the enigma, knowing he's lying.
Reign’s thumb presses lightly against his waist. “Good,” he replies.
The waiter escorts them to a long table already filled with five alphas and their partners; all of them are omegas. Soren is the only Beta on the table. Sucks to be him. Reign pulls a chair for him, and Soren tries to pretend he's used to it as he sits down, and Reign sits beside him.
Suddenly, two of the alphas rise from their seats, their scents changing into stronger pheromones as if trying to dominate the other, causing the Omegas on the table to whimper while Soren stares blankly. He would be whimpering too if not for the suppressant flowing through his body.
“Montgomery,” one of them says with a smirk. “You finally decided to join the rest of us, and this must be...” his eyes shift to Soren.
“My fiancé, Soren Fox,” Reign answers smoothly, and almost everyone seated at the table gasps while Soren’s stomach twists, but he doesn’t react.
“You really got engaged to a Beta. Unlike us, alphas, who prefer omegas, but then again, you are an enigma; your taste in a partner is unique compared to us,” the first alpha says.
Suddenly, the other alpha steps closer than necessary. His gaze drags over Soren’s body slowly on the chair. “Pretty thing,” the alpha comments. “Does he bite? Can he take a knot? I heard Beta bruises easily,” he laughs.
Soren’s jaw tightens, and his eyes drill a hole through the alpha’s face. If Soren wasn't trying to act like a well-trained Beta, he would have punched the bastards in the face. Fuck. He just recalls why he hates alphas. All of them are disgusting creatures that only care about getting their knots wet, and Omegas are on the receiving end of it.
Soren doesn't get to say anything because what he sees next makes his lips part in shock as blood rolls down the alpha’s nostrils before his knees buckle and he drops to the floor, gaining everyone's attention, especially reporters who have their cameras flashing again.
“M-ontgo-mery,” the alpha chokes on his own blood.
Soren whips his head to look at Reign to realize the enigma is releasing targeted pheromones on the alpha.
Reign doesn’t move, but the air changes, turning so thick, heavy and oddly violent that Soren feels it press against his own skin and he's one hundred percent sure everyone in the room can feel it while the alpha on the floor trembles, blood dripping from his nose onto the floor and his hands clutch at his own throat as if the air in his lungs is being sucked out of him.
The entire hall goes silent.
Finally, Reign swirls on his turn, crossing one leg over the other, looking dangerously cool while his eyes glint with a sinister intent. “Apologize,” Reign instructs calmly, and the targeted pheromones lift just enough for the alpha to breathe again, though he remains on his knees, humiliated, shaking.
The alpha’s pride fights it for half a second. “I—I’m sorry,” he gasps, not even looking at Soren.
Reign’s gaze hardens. “To him.”
The alpha swallows blood as he averts his gaze to Soren, his palms trying hard to fist the ground with force. “I apologize. Mr. Fox.” He says, bowing his head.
“You take orders well for an alpha,” Reigns mocks with a tilt of his head and a taunting yet barely visible smile as he looks at the humiliated alpha.
Soren sits frozen in shock, his heart hammering so violently he’s sure someone can hear it. He didn’t even know Enigmas could do that—control pheromones so precisely that they could target one person in a room full of alphas and cause the other alphas to lower their gazes slightly.
Soren gulps the lump in his throat and looks at Reign, who sits and looks like the devil himself, and just like that, all the warning bells in Soren's goes wild as he realizes what he has gotten himself into.
He signed his soul away to the devil in human form.