Soren entered the hotel room, throwing keys at the bed as he walked into the bathroom to change his clothes. He noticed little cuts on his shoulder in the mirror that were left by Caelen. He gently pressed his fingers on them.
"I don't care, I still want you."
Soren picked his phone to ask someone to look for Caelen, but he remembered that he didn't have his photo nor even his contact, nothing.
He dialed someone's contact.
"Yes, master," the voice came across.
"I want you to look for someone. Take the CCTV footage from my house, the boy who walked in with me yesterday. His name is Liam."
"Yes, master, understood."
"Wait," Soren continued, "he is extremely important, don't hurt him, just bring him back to me."
"Alright, master."
Soren bit his lips and looked at the bed. He fell on his back. He remembered the citrus scent of Caelen and curled up, turning to one side.
You have to come back to me, Liam.
Soren called again, "remember to send me CCTV footage of him leaving."
Caelen went back to his house and lay down, as he couldn't sleep properly last night and he woke up at dawn to escape the mansion.
Will they catch me? Am I in big trouble? Well, as long as his reputation is damaged to some extent, it's okay by me.
Those thoughts occupied his head before he drifted to sleep. His body was not feeling well either, he smelled of frost pine scent as Soren's pheromones were embedded deeply into him.
Soren was walking back and forth, thinking of every possible reason for Caelen's actions.
He needed money? But he would have just threatened me, I could offer him more money than any reporters would. Was he my antifan?
Soren remembered the gaze Caelen gave him after seeing him for the first time in the store.
"Yeah, he looked like he would burst out crying," Ronan mumbled, "and I thought he was happy to see me."
Did I do something to upset him? Or...
His phone dinged. He picked up his phone, it was CCTV footage.
Caelen left at dawn. It was still dark outside, but his uncomfortable gait was obvious under the big lights in the front yard.
"Stupid, he was clearly feeling uncomfortable," Soren rubbed his hands against his face, "I should have used soothing pheromones since it was his first time."
Strangely enough, he didn't look at his reputation damage, not even once, but his mind was only filled with the fear of not being able to see Caelen again.
Soren stayed up late and went to sleep at dawn. Someone knocked at the door early in the morning and he rubbed his eyes before opening the door.
It was Director Mira of the group, a female in her forties. "Please sign these papers. Our company has terminated all the contracts with you. You will have to pay for all the damages. Well, you are filthy rich, so that wouldn't be a problem for you." Her tone was sarcastic.
The damage was much worse than expected, people came out protesting for minors' rights, although nothing was proven yet. All the brands canceled Soren and demanded payment for damages. All his fans turned against him overnight.
Soren's eyes were still heavy as he stared at the papers in the director's hand, "I am looking for the man who posted it."
"It's no use," the director countered, "we have already looked into him. We traced the location of the anonymous post, it was posted from a gaming store's PC. We went through all the CCTV cameras to trace him down, but no use since he didn't appear in any cameras other than the shop itself."
"What about members?" Soren furrowed his eyebrows.
"They went down thanks to you," Director Mira dragged the chair and sat down, "can you hurry up and sign these, I don't have much time."
"I will send them to you after signing, I will have to talk to my lawyer."
She got up from the chair and glared at him, "then can you speed things up, we are already losing too much because of you." She walked to the door.
"You guys don't believe me, do you?" Soren asked, disappointed.
"You are a prime alpha, we all know prime alphas need to get rid of their pheromones," she turned to look at him, "I always thought why you were not interested in dating so far, who knew you never needed to date anyone."
She walked out, her heels making sounds that echoed through the hallway.
Caelen got up late, as he had no plans to walk out yet. He was sitting on the carpet watching the news of Soren's scandal while eating breakfast.
It's much more damage than what I thought, he smirked.
His cell phone rang and he glanced over, it was Liam.
"Hey buddy, is everything alright?" Liam asked.
"Why you say so?"
"Some thugs are looking for you with CCTV footage, although it's not very clear, I recognized you right away. But why are they calling you Liam?"
Caelen's eyes rounded and he turned off the TV, "it must be about Dad's debt." Caelen made an excuse.
"Wasn't that matter settled already?"
"Exactly," Caelen chuckled awkwardly, "I don't know why they are still looking for me."
"Okay, don't worry too much, take care of yourself," Liam advised, "should I send you notes so that you can keep studying? It's the second day you skipped classes, you will receive demerits if you keep this up."
"Don't worry, I will come to university tomorrow. Thanks for looking out for me."
Soren called his personal driver to pick him up. He came out and saw his driver waiting. The driver opened the door for him and he settled down. The driver drove off to Soren's parents house.
Soren gently touched the shoulder where he saw cuts by Caelen yesterday, it will disappear soon.
"Let's drop by a tattoo shop," he instructed.
"Yes, sir."
"What would you like to be tattooed, sir?" the tattooist asked shirtless Soren.
"Citrus flower, right there," he replied, pointing at the reddish tiny almost invisible cuts.
While he was getting a tattoo, his mind was wandering into the scene when Caelen was breathing heavily, gripping his shoulders, and digging his fingers into Soren's flesh during sex.
I should have just marked him so that he was left with no choice but to come to me.
Soren, whose hands were tucked into his pants, walked into the front yard of their house, greeted by a bunch of servants, but they dispersed right after greeting him. He saw his stepmother settled at the dining table. She had an affair with his father, due to which Soren's biological mother got divorced and remarried.
"I heard you hit the jackpot," Silla, his stepmother's voice was sharp, "congratulations."
"Isn't that bad for you," Soren walked closer to her, "I am first in the line of succession, you know."
"Stop joking," she chuckled, "you gave up on everything, even taking over the companies. You think you can get them back once you are trash to the world?"
She got up and approached Soren, "my son has been working hard to learn everything a CEO and future politician should, you have got no chance compared to his efforts."
"Just a politician? Isn't that president?" Soren sounded sarcastic, "well, congratulate him in my stead for becoming the future president of Monatia." He walked away nonchalantly.
"Thanks for the blessings." He heard her behind him.
Soren's phone started ringing as he entered his room.
"Did you find him?" he asked as soon as he picked up.
"We have found four Liam in the universities around here in the city, but none of them went to your residence. I just sent their pictures to you. We have cross checked their alibis."
Soren opened his messages and glanced at the pictures, "it's not him, maybe he lied about his name."
"The president asked us to stop looking for him, what should we do?"
"How did Father know about this matter?"
"Young master, you know all my men report to the president, we can't hide anything. He also asked me to tell him about your whereabouts."
"Alright, I will search for him myself."
Soren hung up and threw his phone on the floor that smashed into pieces.
Later at night, a maid knocked at his door, "Master Soren, Chairman asked you to join them at the dinner."
Soren rolled his eyes before getting up and walking out. He settled down across from Silla, beside his brother Moren. His father was sitting at the end of the table beside Moren.
"You must have finally lost your mind," his father started talking, "why did you send men searching for a university boy? By doing this, you are proving that you have been sleeping with students."
"What's wrong with sleeping with university students," Soren replied nonchalantly, "they are adults."
"Your company has revealed your real age, you are almost thirty. Everyone is demanding answers from me," his father flared, "I don't even care about you joining politics or anything anymore, just don't create such a mess for me."
"I am a prime alpha, how could you ask me to stop sleeping with others," Soren replied, taking a bite of his food, his face void of any expressions.
"Just look at your younger brother, he is an adult too, but he doesn't act like a beast as you do."
"Tsk," Soren smirked and got up from the table, "that's because he is a mere beta."
Silla clutched at her spoon but tried to hide her anger. Soren quickly walked upstairs to his room.