The Lion’s Bond: Revenge of the Ex – An Alpha’s Trial of Love

He was truly happy for Kaito who had achieved his dreams and was working on new dreams now. He thought back to his best friends wedding night and what he had decided to do. He must have been crazy to agree to do anything before the year was up on his and Ashers trial dating period. He had made it nearly a year before Asher screwed up and got his first strike. He was upset, but now he thought that maybe he was being too harsh on him. It had been months now and he refused to see Asher during this time. He wanted the space to deal with his hurt at what had happened that brought a painful memory back.

Darrol thought back to his high school days to the year when he started to think about Rex in a manner other than thinking he was just a jerk…

—————-

Flashback

It was his first day as a sophomore in high school and he didn want to be late. He rummaged in his dresser for some clean clothes and then headed to the bathroom to take a shower. A quick lukewarm shower was all he got since Kaito had already hogged all the hot water. He got dressed and styled his short hair with some gel, spiking it until he was satisfied. He grabbed his shell necklace that he had just bought because the cool kids were wearing them, and they were all the rage.

After he was satisfied with his look, he left the bathroom and grabbed his bookbag and made sure all his textbooks were inside. His mom had bought him the coolest pair of skater shoes for his birthday, and they completed his look of skinny jeans and skater tee. He left his room and hurried out the front door and down the steps to catch up to Kaito.

”You were almost late! Here comes the bus! ” Kaito said as he leaned out to get a look at where the bus was.

”Yeah, but you would have waited anyway! ” Darrol threw right back with a grin as he adjusted his bag on his shoulder so he could reach for his bus pass.

”Yeah, yeah. What are you gonna do next year when I go to college and leave at a different time than you? Im a senior this year and Im planning on applying to my top ten schools, but Ill probably end up just going to the local university. ” Kaito said as they boarded the city bus.

”I dunno. Probably bug Mom with my alarm until she threatens to take my phone away if Im late too many times. Darrol replied as they found seats on the near empty bus.

”Ugh, if you get your phone taken away then we will have to listen to that awful analog clock she gave you when you entered middle school. That thing can even be used to play music from your phone like the one she gave me when I first moved in! ” Kaito complained.

”I don think Ive used that since 8th grade! Mom finally agreed to let me have a real phone when I entered high school. Im not about to lose my phone privileges. That ancient phone was total BS! All it could do was dial Mom or if I wanted to text, I had to hit the same button so many times! Seriously! How did people use those things?! ” Darrol complained as the bus slowly filled up with other students on the way to the school.

It was a good thing that the bus that stopped in front of the store went right by the school and they didn have to transfer to get there. When they reached the school, they headed straight for the cafeteria to grab breakfast. When they grabbed their food and had barely sat down, Rex came over to harass them.

”Look if it isn the two omegays! ” What are you two doing together so early? Looking for a good time with the fresh meat?! ” Rex cackled at his awful joke.

”You
e so not funny Rex! Get lost! ” Kaito yelled at him.

”Or what? What are you gonna do if I don ? Seduce me with those feminine wiles of yours? Gonna go cry to your mommies? Oh wait, one of you is a poor little orphan! He can cry to his mommy cause shes dead! ” Rex taunted.

”Get lost Rex or Ill make you cry like a little baby again, only this time itll be in front of the whole football team! ” Ra-Ra threatened as she came up to the table with her own breakfast.

”I did not! ” Rex huffed with his face burning red in anger or embarrassment, it was a toss up between the two.

Darrol had thought that calling the freshmen, fresh meat, at least was funny. The rest, not so much. He suppressed a guffaw and glared at him right along with Kaito and Ra-Ra, who was a junior this year.

”We all saw you cry, why don you just admit it? Or are you too ashamed to show that you have a sensitive side? You know that its ok to cry, right? ” Darrol said.

”An alpha doesn cry, so I don know what you are talking about, pretty boy! ” Rex called out like it was an insult.

”Why thank you! ” Both he and Kaito said in unison, before breaking out in giggles.

Rex just sputtered and stomped off to go sit with his buddies. Darrol tracked him with his gaze but realized what he was doing and quickly looked back to his breakfast.

——————-

Darrol broke out of his reverie and went to his bedroom and was going to go back to sleep, however his phone went off and it was his mom summoning him downstairs. He groaned in frustration. Someone most likely called out and he was probably needed to work this morning instead of this afternoon. So much for a day off. He thought.

Heading down the back stairs, Darrol figured hed see if he was truly needed or if his mom needed him to run an errand. Opening the back door, he stepped into the back portion of the store where the employee lockers were, the restroom, the stockroom, and his moms office. Making his way to her office, he passed Jessica who was technically the day manager at the store. Greeting her as he walked by, she just flashed him a smile before going about putting her things in her locker.

Surprisingly his moms office door was closed. That was unusual this time of day. She usually only had the door closed when she was on the phone with their suppliers when there was a mistake.

He knocked on the door and waited for his mom to answer before entering. It wasn more than a second later when his mom bid him to enter.

He headed into her office and closed the door behind him when she motioned for him to close it. She wasn on the phone, but she was reviewing the security footage from over the registers. Honestly it was the only working security camera they had. The others were on the fritz more often than not.

”Whats up, Mom? What did you need that you couldn have told me when Vivi came to give you a hug goodbye? ”

”Darrol, have you noticed anything odd about the night-shift employees? Any odd behavior, or any of them saying something off? ” His mom asked.

”No, why? ”

”This is the second time the till has come up short this month. Once is a mistake, twice is either incompetence or someone is stealing from us, ” Victoria said.

”You think someone on the night shift is stealing from the till? I only work afternoons usually, so I don normally talk to the night-shift employees very often. ” Darrol said with concern.

”Well, I can be sure, but twice in less than 30 days is suspicious enough so I want you on night shift starting tomorrow so that you can get a feel for the employees and chat them up a bit. In exchange for your sacrifice, Ill take Vivian to her school bus stop for the time being so that you can rest properly for your new shift. ”

”How long am I going to be on night duty instead of afternoons? Its not like I mind, but Vivi expects me to walk her to the bus and pick her up from her bus stop during my break. ” Darrol asked.

”Well, I can be sure, but twice in less than 30 days is suspicious enough so I want you on night shift starting tomorrow so that you can get a feel for the employees and chat them up a bit. In exchange for your sacrifice, Ill take Vivian to her school bus stop for the time being so that you can rest properly for your new shift. ”

”How long am I going to be on night duty instead of afternoons? Its not like I mind, but Vivi expects me to walk her to the bus and pick her up from her bus stop during my break. ” Darrol asked.