Dripping in sweat, Alex had sore muscles and couldn't stop touching his own body.
The pump always made everything bigger while it lasted.
It made him feel proud of himself.
But tonight he wasn't smiling as he walked sweatily down a hotel hallway, trying not to make noise on the grey carpeting while passing sets of doors.
"Control yourself, Alex. Everything will be fine," his mind was busy with something too important.
He tried to think of something else, new songs or dance moves, but his brain was only talking about a girl that wasn't Evie.
This girl... She was blonde, with an athletic but feminine body like Evie's, a very agile girl on the bar, almost a gymnast.
If it weren't for the intense attraction he felt for Evie, he would have approached her without hesitation.
Alex couldn't stop thinking about her, though.
Her blue eyes had mesmerized him, as well as her calm and collected voice when she spoke to him before leaving. When he said goodbye to her, their shoulders were close enough to brush together. That blonde girl was the embodiment of a Femme Fatale, and she was very seductive...
And she also looked a lot like Virginia Gardener.
Alex used to be the kind of guy who would jump into bed with whoever crossed his path, but he had changed, and if there was a reason why the blonde from the gym didn't leave his mind, it was for a very different reason.
"I'm sure she was that girl Evie said was a hunter at the club," Alex said to himself, dressed in a purple sleeveless compression shirt that squeezed his body so tightly he could barely breathe. "I'm furious. I don't like leaving the gym sweaty. I need to shower. I just hope I don't find anyone because my pheromones must be more powerful now and... And I don't know if I'm going to relapse. I can't be that Alex again, I must be true to the guys and Evie. I must resist."
Alex clenched his fists, growled and tried not to smell himself. But it was impossible.
"Damn, I stink!" He began to take wider steps. His sweat didn't smell bad, on the contrary, it was very attractive, an aroma that he couldn't stop inhaling, like the smell at gas stations or nail polish. Alex could be a victim of his own pheromones, not in vain he had, more than once, gotten so hot with himself that he had to release some passion in front of a mirror, kissing his reflection and telling himself how sensual he was.
But that was the nature of the Lycan, and the reason why Alex took a severe blow to his self-esteem when he found out why so many women, and men, became obsessed with him.
He used to think that it was because of his sensual way of being, his handsomeness or his well-worked body, but he was very wrong.
The night Zeth told him about the pheromones, Alex's life changed forever.
His family should have warned him.
Alex had already left his promiscuity behind when Zeth explained everything to him, and since then he began to wonder if he really was attractive, or if it was all just a lie.
He kept those feelings to himself for a long time, he continued to act sexy in public, and the Mashers seemed to adore him, but being in a boyband and being famous could be an influential factor in how they perceived him.
And then he made the worst mistake of his life and woke up in a hospital.
"Maybe Draco is just obsessed with my pheromones," he growled like a wolf, desperate to get back to the suite.
The smell of his own sweat was already taking effect.
And all because he could not shower in the gym for fear of being murdered under the public shower.
But he still had to go up the stairs, and he hoped his tactic to avoid being followed by the blonde worked.
It was a stupid strategy but he panicked.
He didn't step out of the lift on the suite floor, he actually did so one floor below out of paranoia of having been followed.
And then a girl walked out of the elevator.
"Jade?" Alex asked when he saw her red-faced and numb. "Are you alright?"
"Yes!" Jade exclaimed, "No..."
"What happened?" Alex dropped the towel he was carrying over his shoulder and his gym bag.
"Evie happened!" Jade looked overly furious, "I went to the restaurant, Frank kept talking about Evie even though I thought it was obvious she wasn't coming to the date, and then I left."
"Evie didn't go on the date? Oh shit. Come with me," Alex picked up his towel and gym bag, then put an arm around her shoulder, leading her down the hallway towards the stairs. She inhaled deeply the powerful smell of sweat that came from his body.
Then she smiled and bit her lip.
Oh no.
"You smell nice." She whispered, inhaling again, "What a manly perfume! It's delicious! Smells just like hot chocolate and marshmallows!"
"I stink, Jade," he took his arm off of her and cleared his throat, "And I don't wear perfume, I prefer body lotion. Anyway! Do you know why Evie didn't go to the restaurant?"
"It's obvious, isn't it? So as not to make things awkward." she whispered, walking slowly beside Alex, though she kept on inhaling deeply.
"Awkward? Is she still insisting that things will get awkward because of her past with Frank? I thought that was already in the past."
"I know, I know. But Frank is still clinging to a woman who only hurts him. He is the one who won't let go of the past," Jade said when they reached the bottom of the stairwell.
"Come to the suite, we can talk there in private. And in case of emergency, if you see me turn into a giant wolf, just run."
"Okay... What is going on?"
"Nothing," Alex replied.
"You can actually turn into a wolf?" she asked and began walking up the stairs.
"Yeah."
"Can Draco turn into a bat?"
"Don't even mention Draco," Alex rolled his eyes.
"Did Draco do something stupid again?"
"That idiot just told me he loves me!" Alex roared, quite literally, as he reached the next floor, pulling his key card out of his gym bag.
"And what's the problem? You're polyamorous."
"Yeah, and straight!" Alex said, opening the door, tossing away the key card. It landed on the counter of the small kitchen. Jade was already a little familiar with the place. "I have had more poly relationships than monogamous relationships. And now I'm in love and I don't want to break Draco's heart by loving a girl and not being able to love him because I just don't like men!"
"You are in love with a girl?" Jade asked, plopping down on the couch in front of the television in the large living room,
"Yes and I was never discreet with this girl. I think Draco knew before I knew, that's how well he knows me," Alex replied. "She's very special to me, you know?"
"Oooohhh," Jade blushed. It was obvious that Alex had feelings for her, after all, he was the one who took her to the suite and that was when this whole love story began, "But, Alex? Are you sure you are straight?"
"Obviously!" Alex roared again, "But now, I don't know, I think I accidentally did to Draco what my family did to Aullydo."
"Aullydo?"
"Lyctor's son. When Aullydo, came out, the house became a battlefield. I was the first to know, and I was very supportive and even received a beating for defending Aullydo, but Uncle Sigmundo was not too glad about it, nor was Uncle Clawdio and his son, Scarlos, who became bitter toward Aullydo."
"Wait, who is Lyctor?"
"He's the oldest of my half-brothers," Alex clarified, "Don't interrupt me! Anyway, Lyctor was not going to put up with the insults to his son and there was a huge fight at home that left the entire kitchen in pieces."
"Oh! That's awful!"
"It was! Clawstin and Howlard joined the side of their older brother, and they destroyed the living room while..."
"Wait, I'm already confused... Who is Clawstin and Howlard's older brother?"
"Lyctor! Pay attention!" Alex yelled.
"I am paying attention but I got confused!"
"Ok, quick family tree shit. Lyctor, Clawstin and Howlard are all brothers, my half-siblings, my dad and Moonica's sons, got it?"
"Got it," she nodded.
"Anyway, Uncle Lycardo, who is my mother's husband, my stepfather per say, was the one who managed to calm things down."
"He sounds like someone reasonable."
"Yes, and he's also the one who hates me the most," said Alex, "Let's say that I was born from an affair between my dad and Lycardo's wife, but that's another story. The point is..."
"No, wait. I got confused again... Are you the son of your uncle's wife and your dad?"
"Oh con una chingada! Lycardo is married to Betatriz. Alfanso and Moonica are married. My dad is Alfanso, my mum is Betatriz and I'm a bastard."
She gasped.
"Don't say it like that, it sounds awful!"
"Well, it's the truth," he said with a grunt. "But back to the story! When Ralphael, Delton and Gamaliel tried to tell their dad..." Alex noticed Jade's confused face and sighed, "They are Lycardo and Betatriz's sons."
"Oh! Got it!"
"You know what? Forget it. The point is that homosexuality was not very well regarded at the Alfaro residence. And being friends with a vampire? Oh no, baby! That was a cardinal sin, especially if it was a Von Stroker! It was brutal when they found out I was friends with Draco! They called me a renegade! They kicked me out of my house with only the clothes I was wearing! And they reminded me that they did me a favour by raising me because I was a... A... A bastard!"
"Wait a second," Jade said, whispering, "Does 'Bad Wolf' have anything to do with this?"
"What gave me away? The lyrics or the sadness in my voice when I recorded it?" Alex said with a maniac laugh, and Jade knew that even though he was faking strength, he was very broken inside.
"I'm sorry, I..."
"It's okay, it's not something that hurts me too much, not anymore at least," he replied, shrugging his shoulders, "Shit happens."
"And your family used to say you were a renegade?" Jade asked and he nodded, pursing his lips.
"I wrote 'renegade' because 'bastard son' didn't rhyme with anything," Alex said, and Jade knew that was a lie just by looking at him. "Sometimes I have a hard time singing that song live, I mean, I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote it. Maybe I should have left it as a cathartic exercise and not included it on 'Stitched Together' but noooo! I had to shoot myself on the foot."
Yes, Jade could understand what he was talking about in a way. The song soared when Alex sang its final passage, and Jade almost always cried when she heard it, especially on nights when she felt lonely.
"I think you did well by including the song," Jade said, "It shows a more human and less sexual side of you. But you're no longer at the Alfaro Residence. And thanks to that rejection you are now famous and have a family that truly loves you, Alex."
"Yes, and I just ruined everything. But I don't want Draco to think he loves me because of my stupid pheromones!"
"What's this pheromone thing?" Jade asked.
"If I sweat, there's pheromones. And if there's pheromones, everyone around me gets horny including myself. If you smell my pheromones, you instantly find me irresistible. There! That's a good summary."
"Okay, thanks. But what if it is not your pheromones?" Jade asked, "What if you don't want to be with him because..."
"Jade, don't talk nonsense," He laughed, "I don't like men, seriously. If I were bi or gay or whatever, believe me, I wouldn't be ashamed to say that openly. I'm straight, I was a womanizer for a long time, and I'm not very proud to say it, and also a hypocrite."
"Why do you say that?"
"Whenever Gamaliel and Delton brought girls home, I always scolded them," he chuckled, "Oh dear! I was the one usually left in charge of watching those two idiots."
"Were they womanizers?"
"As much as I was," Alex looked down, he didn't look very proud indeed, "But I changed when Delton's twin sister, Luna, started dating a jerk who was very similar to me. Omeghan told Luna that she was being too dramatic and that also led to an argument, but the two of them were too different to get along, so different that it was hard to believe they were sisters."
"I'm going to need a pen and paper if we're going to continue this conversation," Jade whispered, "I keep getting confused."
"Fuck!" Alycandro growled, "Luna, Omeghan, Ralphael, Delton, Gamaliel, they are all children of Lycardo and Betatriz. Anyway! Luna always said that Omeghan was too young and unfeminine to understand her, and that only I could because love was an adult thing, but please! Omeghan was just two years younger than Luna!"
"Luna sounds like Melody," Jade said, rolling her eyes, "But you still haven't answered my question. You don't want to be anywhere near Draco because you think it's your pheromones what attracts him to you? Or is it because..."
"The problem is that Draco is my best friend, and if my pheromones ruin it... I don't want to lose him. He's my best friend, Jade. He's like my little brother who's older than me and gives me headaches."
"Haven't you stopped to think that maybe he loves you for you and not because of the pheromones?"
"And would that be any better? Because I'll never be able to give him what he wants! I can't see him that way! I've never had a problem with him being bisexual! My problem is that I don't want to break his heart!"
She looked at him with a frown.
She cocked her head and crossed her arms.
"Yeah, and it isn't wrong to try to keep the man who loves you away," Jade mocked, "We have a lot to talk about, you and I."
"But it will have to wait because I didn't take my phone with me to the gym and there is something important going on. I have to call Evie," he said, taking his phone out of a drawer, "I think there's a hunter nearby, I guess she gave me a fake name but it's better to be safe."
"Evie told me about the hunters," Jade said.
"Yeah, and 'Vanessa Helsee' is here," Alex said and Jade gasped.
"Who?"
"The mother of all hunters. But! She's dead," Alex quickly typed, sending a text to Evie.
"Maybe this hunter is Vanessa's daughter or something?" Jade asked.
"Nah, I don't think so. Evie said something about Vanessa being the daughter of the last Helsee of some Hunter City, some Ivan Helsee, but she didn't say if she had any daughters. My grandfather actually met Ivan. Grandpa Loberto used to say Mother Alycia Alfaro killed 'that bastard' in the eighties, but I don't think this girl is Vanessa's daughter. She would be much older now. Evie told me that Vanessa was almost sixty years old when she killed her."
"Maybe this girl is a relative of Vanessa's? From that city of hunters?"
"I don't think so." Alex shook his head, "Finn told us some anecdotes his Grandpa used to tell him a couple of times, and one of them was about the cataclysm that sank all of Zagarrta into some boiling sea. The Hunter City was in Zagarta so... Oh! Evie just replied my message!" Alex said, checking his phone, "Evie says you stay here with me, she will go with Frank."
"And the boys? They are in the restaurant!" She gasped.
"They will be fine, don't worry," Alex said, "One of them is as former commander, knight-instructor and martial artist, so I better tell them."
"Everett?"
"You'd be surprised," Alex replied with a chuckle, "But it's not Everett."