"Joshua Dhurudatta, 29, 6'2″ and 190 lbs, Alpha Dominant, correct?" A lady in all white was reading pretty loudly in front of Joshua, who was seated in a room. Joshua nodded.
The lady nurse gave him the paper she'd been holding.
"The results are in, so you can come back for a follow-up checkup next month. Thank you.
Joshua was holding the paper in his hand, reading every word. He let out a long sigh. He put on his black leather jacket, which he had left in the room during the examination, and grabbed his black backpack as he walked out of the hospital to the parking lot.
Joshua grabbed his helmet and hopped on his bike, heading off to his destination. The whole trip took almost two hours. He even stopped by a sweet shop to buy chocolates and snacks.
After parking his bike, he took off his black helmet and walked towards the door, stepping into a familiar place. Before he could open it, the door opened wide, and two kids—aged eleven and eight—ran up and hugged his long, big legs.
"UNCLE!" They both let out a squeal, followed by laughter and giggles.
"Ah! You've finally arrived." Ian's voice, his omega father, came from inside the house. After a quick look, the older man came back with a tray of food that was still puffing smoke.
"Hey, Josh." Shiloh, his brother-in-law, gave him a big smile as he greeted him. With his long gray hair, he looked a lot more cheerful.
"Uncle! Uncle! Did you bring any more candy and chocolate? " A girl about 13 years old's voice echoed through the room. She had her hair braided, and she was pretty tall and slim. She stared with curiosity.
"Leona! I'm telling you, don't go overboard with the sweets! Josh, you know you shouldn't be feeding your nieces and nephews sweet stuff like that!" Cross' voice, a bit louder than usual, came from inside the house, and Joshua let out a sigh. Seth and Ivan were still holding his legs when Joshua shut the door.
Today's Ivan's birthday, turning eight. They decided to have a small family birthday party for him this year. So, today the whole family got together. Ian and Sage arrived just two days ago, and Cross and his wife Sarah are coming too, along with their daughter Leona.
Seth, who's staying with his foster mom on the island, has been here since last week. He still doesn't want to leave his foster mom on the island by herself, so he only comes during school breaks or special occasions, like today.
"Stop bugging your uncle. He just got here." Gruvv came downstairs and immediately picked up Ivan. Seth ran over to give him a hug. Now, the two kids were like koalas hanging from a tree.
The Dhurudatta family was bursting at the seams, with more kids than you could shake a stick at, and Leona was one of them. Joshua had a lot of headaches when he saw all of them and listened to their screaming and laughing, but he's used to it now.
"How's the medical check-up going?" Sage asked, and now that he was sitting down, Joshua noticed that the big dining table was already full of all kinds of food. Ave, Gruvv's maid, was setting up plates and cups on the table with another maid's help.
"Did you have a checkup today?" Cross asked, while keeping his hands busy laying a napkin over his wife's thighs and his daughter's.
"Has two months already passed? Why the hurry? What's the result?" Gruvv asked, while also putting food on Seth's plate.
Ian gave a little laugh, putting his arm around Joshua's shoulder, and said, "You guys ask a lot of questions. I think Josh is confused about which one to answer first."
That's correct. Joshua's feeling a bit overwhelmed right now, not sure who to answer first. His family's pretty large and pretty interested in his life, always wondering what he's up to. In the past, it was just Gruvv and Cross who were obsessed with him. Now, he's got a brother and sister-in-law who are worried about him too.
"I had the best doctor there take a look at him. I hope they can find out the results sooner." Sarah started talking, cutting up the roasted meat on her plate and looking at Joshua.
"The vitamins I bought yesterday, you should take them home and don't forget to take them after meals." Shiloh was also speaking. He was trying to persuade Ivan to eat some broccoli. He was no longer scared around Joshua after his memory was lost.
"Uncle, are you all right?"
"Uncle, did you make it to the hospital by yourself? You're so cool!"
"Uncle, you are so cool!"
And his nieces and nephews are pretty noisy, too.
He was just about to grab his fork and knife when Sage snatched his plate, swapping it out for one piled high with roast beef that had already been sliced up. He's 29, but his family still treats him like he's a child. In fact, they treat him the same way they treated Ivan.
"The results are out." Joshua said that he got everyone's attention with one sentence.
They waited, kind of curiously, while the clueless kids were busy with their own food.
"They call it Singular Alpha." Joshua said as he munched on the meat.
The whole family went quiet.
"Singular Alpha?" Shiloh asked, then turned to Gruvv, who was still staring at Joshua.
"Singular Alpha is an extremely rare breed. It's an Alpha that can only smell the omega pheromones of his own family members or the closest person in his family who has tied the knot, bonded or marked by his family." Gruvv explained to Shiloh, who was nodding along. Shiloh still couldn't understand some things after he lost his memory eight years ago.
Joshua nodded. He'd just read that in the paper showing his exam results.
"Are there any other problems?" Then Cross asked, looking at Joshua straight on.
The guy shook his head slowly.
Ian and Sage looked at each other.
"Singular Alpha is nothing to worry about," Sage said, continuing to cut the meat on his plate. "It's just that Joshua can't be affected by those other omega pheromones, and he won't be affected by the smell of omega pheromones in his own family. "Singular Alpha is an alpha who's known for being loyal."
"Loyal?" Cross raised an eyebrow.
"Singular Alpha can only smell the pheromones of their destined mate."
Joshua's head hurt like crazy, but he could still hear shouting coming from inside the room. He couldn't hear the gunshots anymore. He turned his head back quickly, trying to figure out where the shots were coming from. There were a lot of skyscrapers around the building, which made it hard to see. The approaching sound of the shoes was clearly heard.
"Young master, is everything okay?" George came over, and Shin immediately contacted the guards outside the building to be on standby. Things were a mess inside the building.
Joshua was still hugging Amari with his body shaking like a leaf.
"I'm fine. It's not me they're after." Joshua said his gaze dropped to Amari, who was still with his eyes closed. He grabbed Amari's arm, making the guy sit between his legs. The man covered his ears with both hands.
"They're after Amari." Joshua looked over at George, who was pretty surprised to hear that.
"Amari! Amari!" A loud voice came down the hallway, followed by a bunch of guards. She rushed over to embrace Amari, who was still freaked out.
"Amari, my son, oh my!" She gave him a tight hug, letting Amari calm down.
"Thanks! Thanks for saving Amari..." The woman in her middle years whimpered with tears. After a quick nod, Joshua stood up, but he stayed there, still looking at Amari, who wasn't trembling anymore. He was crying.
"We found a bullet on the ground. We'll take a look at it." One of the Amari guards told Mrs. Ashleen, who was nodding and crying.
"That shot..." Joshua was about to say something when George cut him off. The man shook his head, telling Joshua to stop what he was about to say.
Joshua didn't say a thing. He just closed his mouth. Then he helped Mrs. Ashleen get Amari up on his own two feet.
The mother and son were a mess. The party that was supposed to end in about three hours was now over. Everyone returned to their cars with the guards. Amari was waiting on a bench for Mrs. Ashleen with her car. He wasn't shaking anymore, but he still looked really shocked by what had happened.
Joshua gave Amari the bottle, and the guy glanced up, their eyes meeting.
"Drink it, it'll help you calm down a lot." Joshua said, Amari grabbed the bottle and took a big gulp.
"Thank you..." He let out a quiet mumble.
"You okay? Any injuries?" Joshua asked Amari, who shook his head. He didn't feel any pain, though it was clear he was scared.
"Amari...you...what's going on?"
Amari looked over at Joshua, and they both seemed to have no idea what was going on. He wanted to tell Joshua about what happened, but he just couldn't speak. His throat felt tight and he had this heavy feeling in his chest. Amari didn't say anything until one of the guards came over and helped him leave.
Joshua glanced at Amari's back, his forehead wrinkling, as he was about to leave. He noticed a sweet scent. It's a super sweet peach scent. He turned around, and Amari was running towards him.
"Josh, mind if I have your phone number?" He asked, handing his phone to Joshua.
He took a moment, breathed in deep, and that peach scent hit him again, Amari's peach scent.
"Singular Alpha, can smell their destined mate's pheromones."