A few minutes later, the silence was broken by a soft beep. A tall and slim young man, in a suit, and with a dead gaze scanned the room as he walked in.
Behind him was another who looked a little younger.
The air that greeted them still carried a thick combination of pheromones, that would have made lesser species tremble. But the older simply adjusted his tie and continued to walk in.
It was as if he was used to a type B alpha's post rut scene.
Given his employer's track record, he really was used to it. He moved on with an unchanged expression.
He had brought Junior for the clean up. This was the first time Junior would be in Noah's post rut scene.
Junior's face had gone pale the moment they stepped it.
"Ethan, the…. Pheromones" Junior stammered, visibly struggling to remain upright. He steadied his body on the wall as he watched his elder go on without being affected.
"Focus" The elder's voice commanded deeply.
The younger was just so weak. He might get used to it if he keeps tagging along more.
He walked up to Junior, holding his left shoulder up.
"Breathe through your mouth, not your nose. It helps".
Junior's mouth twitched as he glanced up at his elder's face which looked like he was serious about it.
Soon, he steadied himself, then they moved further. But as they left the messy living room, the tension grew more as they got to the main room, which had the most concentration of pheromones.
Ethan pushed the door open. This was the crime scene.
Slick sheets, worth more than junior's monthly salary, were torn from the massive bed and pooled on the floor. A heavy glass lamp was knocked from its pedestal. It was a scene of pure, unrestrained violence, one Ethan had unfortunately witnessed before.
His eyes swept over and… It was empty.
Junior swallowed hard, as his voice came out shaky "Ethan… where is the … body".
Ethan didn't respond immediately. He adjusted his glasses on his nose bridge as his sharp gaze began noting the details.
There was no blood.
He held up a finger to his lips so he could listen.
The only sound was the distant hum of the traffic and then the steady running of water from the master bathroom.
"Has anyone left the suite?" He spoke into his comm unit, responding to a query from the building's security head.
Before he could investigate further. This time the door beeped to reveal a middle aged woman with a sharp gaze, her hair styled right, and her posture was straight.
Behind her, was also a middle aged man and a mini version of Noah, who stepped in with a concerned expression.
Ethan, Noah's assistant, was already there to greet them, his expression as unreadable and natural as ever.
"Mrs. Sterling" Ethan straightened automatically.
"Ethan" the middle-aged woman, Eleanor Sterling, began, her voice crisp. Her icy gaze swept over the destroyed room before settling on him.
"Where is he? Is the situation handled?"
The question hung in the air, loaded with implications.
The 'situation' they all knew referred to the careful disposal and erasure of another failed mating attempt.
"Mr. Sterling is in the shower, ma'am, " Ethan replied, his gaze steady.
"The cleanup crew was canceled"
All three of them had different expressions on their faces.
Adrian, Noah's younger brother, let out a low chuckle. "Canceled? Where's the omega?".
Uncle Damian started "Is he unharmed? I'm sure. But what about the omega?. Don't tell me it's the usual"
"Enough" Eleanor snapped, her icy gaze flashing with irritation. The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees.
But Adrian, as usual, smoothly inserted himself into the conversation. He stepped forward, placing a gentle hand on his mother's arm, as a dutiful son managing family tensions.
"Mother, Uncle Damian was just concerned about the state of the Quinn family's son, that's all."
Ethan noted with admiration. Adrian had a gift for making himself appear reasonable while subtly undermining everyone around him. With just a few words, he'd painted his uncle as the concerned family member, his mother as overly emotional, and his absent brother as the volatile problem they all had to manage.
"Uncle, I'm sure you had the family's best interest at heart" Adrian continued, his tone perfectly right.
"But perhaps we should have been more cautious. The Quinns are not yet below us to be trifled with."
"I wanted him mated, settled! Not embroiled in another scandal because you decided to play political games with his rut!" Eleanor raised her voice.
Uncle Damian had the grace to look somewhat abashed, but his arrogance wouldn't allow him to back down completely.
"It was a calculated risk" he said, straightening his shoulders.
"The Quinns asked for the pact to be honored, and when I looked into it, the youngest omega in their family was... suitable. Beautiful, talented and refined. He could have been Noah's perfect mate."
He paused, then added casually "There's always risk in everything worthwhile. And the Quinns made themselves very clear about their expectations. I told Noah exactly what was required of him."
"By the way…" Uncle Damian continued, turning to look directly at Ethan with,
"Noah hasn't tried a male omega before, has he?"
The question was loaded, and Ethan felt the weight of their collective attention. He kept his expression neutral, though he made a mental note of their casual admission of orchestrating what amounted to a death sentence.
The words hung heavy in the air as they all waited for his response. They wanted to know if the omega was there or not. Had he survived?
The door to the master bathroom clicked open. A cloud of steam billowed out and through it, Noah Sterling emerged, with nothing but a towel slung low on his hips, paused, running a hand through his damp, dark hair.
He looked up, his eyes, usually cold, widened in confusion at the sight of his family and his assistants who were in his room. The assistants were still with the body bags and hadn't begun working.
His gaze swept past their faces and landed onto the chaotic bed. The bed where he was certain he had left a body