Chapter Text
Loud music was blasting through the speakers, bass-heavy and the beat was catchy. They were playing some kind of upbeat song the generations of today’s teens loved. And one Kinn couldn’t care less for.
His best friends had dragged him to a bar. A new one, they had claimed. It was a modest place, not too outrageously decorated but tastefully designed. The service was fairly adequate and the mafia heir could tell with his business acumen that with some time, Yok’s Bar will no doubt find its place on the map of traveling tourists.
The Alpha watched with lazy eyes as Tay and Time twirled around the dance floor and each other. He knew them his entire life; watched them meet, befriend, and fall in love with one another all in the same decade. He is happy to have friends like them and considers them like his brothers, but it hurts sometimes to look at them. To see a couple so clearly in love and devoted to each other, it was difficult to not feel envious and desire the same.
Once upon a time, he thought he found that, with an Omega of high-breed, impeccable manners, titles, and fair beauty. They were a match made in heaven—a proclamation made by all of the upper echelons of Bangkok. Everything was perfect and all his dreams had come true in those two years.
But like all dreams from the earlier years of youth, they quickly fade and with reality as harsh as theirs, were replaced with nightmares. His lover wasn’t the heaven-sent angel he had deluded himself to believe. Instead, the Omega had turned out to be a viper, poisonous and with the intent to kill.
His heart had hardened since then. No longer willing to open ever again, for anyone and under any circumstance.
Turning away, he directed his attention toward the bar. The Alpha can’t possibly survive this night sober when the only dance partners he has accompanying him are a still-broken heart and depressing memories of jilted love.
He distractedly flagged down one of the attending bartenders down while flitting his eyes over their menu. He notes that their selection of drinks was quite impressive for a starting business.
Head-deep in the listed items, the mafia heir hadn’t noticed when the bartender arrived. A polite cough had his focus switching back over the brim of his menu.
For the first time in a long time, Kinn feels his cold-dead heart thumping. It thuds against his ribcage, threatening to burst out at the sight in front of him. The bartender was gorgeous. Black soft hair framed a perfectly sculpted face. Cat-like eyes gazed deeply into his while plush lips pulled taut over a natural smirk, allowing him peeks of pearly-white teeth. He was the most beautiful person he’s ever seen.
The man tips his head to the side as the silence dragged on, hair flopping with the movement, and Kinn could feel his heart accelerate again. What was happening to him?
“Is there something I can get you, Khun…?” He obviously dragged out his question to inquire about his name. But the Alpha, mind still reeling from the sheer beauty of this stranger, could only continue to gape at him.
The bartender waves a hand in front of him and with a move fueled entirely by years of training and survival instincts, Kinn grabbed that hand and holds it. He feels it tense under his grasp and Kinn had to suppress the near animalistic urge to bring it up his nose and sniff at the scent gland hidden there.
He wondered what rank this beautiful stranger is. Based on his tall and broad build, he doesn’t think the man is an Omega. Possibly an Alpha then, or perhaps a Beta.
His musing was cut short when the other wrenched his hand out of his hold. That easy smirk was wiped completely off, only to be replaced with an impenetrable indifference that Kinn was all too familiar with. It was a mask he wears like a second skin at clan meetings or any dealing, really.
“I would like to warn you, Khun, that we have a very strict no-touch policy here.” The words were clipped and professional. Gone was the friendly and welcoming expression from earlier and Kinn felt himself missing it. He doesn’t even know this man, yet here he is, yearning for his attention and warmth.
“My apologies,” the mafia prince supplies readily, a sweet and inviting lilt to his voice. The man surprised him when he simply squints, his gaze critically assessing. Most people would be pacified and will fall back into a state of ease. Yet, this bartender who he’s never encountered seems to see right through the visage and mannerism he has cultivated over the last decades of his life.
Kinn clears his throat and flickers back toward the discarded menu. Scanning over his options again, he gets a brilliant idea. “Do you have any suggestions?”
“What are your preferences?”
“I like aged whiskeys and bourbon. But mostly, whiskeys.”
He snorts lightly, quietly and if Kinn wasn’t zeroing in on him, he wouldn’t have heard. “You have the taste of an old man.”
For some reason, he felt affronted. Normally, he wouldn’t care less if someone said something like that to him. He’s learned years ago to turn a blind ear and eye away from unfavorable words. But there was something about hearing it from this man that rubbed him the wrong way.
“What’s the problem with liking those things? Sure, older gentlemen like them more than people my age but that doesn’t make me old.”
“Don't get your panties in a twist, Khun. It was a mere observation. I apologize if it was offensive." That smile has returned, albeit more subdued than before. But he'll take it. "If that's your preference then do you just want Hibiki on the rocks, perhaps?"
"Are you not gonna try to sell me any of these other concoctions from the menu?"
The mysterious beauty drums his fingers on the polished wood and tells him, "I need some time to figure you out. Bourbon and whiskey aren't telling enough."
Kinn shrugs. Fair enough. He watches the bartender flit around his workstation, mesmerized by the practiced movements of locating the bottle of alcohol, cup, and whatever other materials he needed.
"I never got your name," the stranger speaks again. The mob boss considered it. "You don't know who I am?"
The other falters in his motion of pouring the whiskey and cocks a brow, looking entirely unimpressed. "Are you one of those Alphas who insists everyone knows them?"
"What? No-"
"Cause I'll be honest you look like the type."
Something in Kinn felt embittered at the accusation. He does not wish to be associated with the likes of those Alphas who like to flash their names and ranks around. Yes, he came from a prominent family with the last name that could make anyone turn heads. But he was raised to be humble. When he had asked this bartender that question, he had found it to be a genuine surprise.
Nothing more. It’s quite unfortunate that he didn’t see that. “What do you mean I look like the type?”
The man shrugs and huffs impassively. “The way you dress, how you carry yourself… it just screams what kind of person you are. Someone who’s probably out on daddy’s money and likes to enjoy all the luxury of the world without a care. Or repercussion. Alphas who look like you don’t give two shits about anyone else but themselves.”
Those words pierced like shards of ice through the Alpha. How could a total stranger label him as something so crass? Was that the impression he’s leaving on this beautiful man?
“You know nothing about me,” he glowers, eyes sharpening in his irritation.
“Oh, yeah?” The other fires back, disregarding the threatening crimson that is undoubtedly bleeding into his irises. “You don’t think I haven’t noticed the way you’ve been leaning toward me, trying to sniff out my scent? Or the dazed look on your face when you first saw me?” Kinn blinks at the bartender’s keen observations. He thought he had been discreet. “I know what I look like and I know who I can attract, Khun.”
“And what exactly does that prove?”
“The look on your face earlier meant you were interested. Flattered, really.” The mob boss bristled at the dismissal in his voice. “But the way you were too eager to sniff me out…”
An expression of repulse passed through that beautiful face, twisting up those features Kinn had spent precious seconds admiring before. “I have seen and met plenty of Alphas who pulled the exact same shit with so many other Omegas. Even when the opposite party is so obviously trying to conceal their sub-gender and let me tell you, they do not fucking end well.” There was a noticeable tinge of resentment and bitterness. He also thought he saw a glimpse of blue in those irises too, but Kinn figured it was a trick of the light. It was quite dim in this bar.
“That was not my intention. True, I wanted to find out what sub-gender you are but not to the point of compromising you. For that, I will apologize,” he paused. “But you owe me a word of apology as well for making those untrue assumptions.”
He peered at the other while the man took a staggering breath. “I am… sorry. For unrightfully lashing out in that manner, but I am not sorry for calling you out on trying to sniff me. And as a token of that statement, please allow me to mix your drink.”
The bartender completely ignored the already prepared whiskey and his halfhearted protests in favor of grabbing blue liqueur, four types of base liquors, lemonade, and a lime-flavored soda. He puts the drink together with ease and presented the ocean blue mixture with a flourish.
Kinn didn’t know what to make of it. On one hand, his ego felt bruised and humiliated for being in this situation. He didn’t think he’d ever find himself in a misunderstanding as troubling as this. Most mistakes he’s encountered were probably far riskier than this, with lives and billions of bahts on the line, but right now in this place, going toe to toe with this gorgeous bartender, he’s feeling real pressure like never before.
He doesn’t want to jeopardize any more chances with this man. So he gingerly picks up the drink and sips tentatively. According to all the alcohol that was added in, the mob boss knew this will be a strong drink but it was also refreshing. Such a delicious balance was found between the heaviness of the alcohol and the delightful tartness of the lemonade. He finds that he quite liked it.
“It’s good,” he compliments hesitantly.
The other offers a small smile, it was courteous and perfectly suitable for their roles as server and patron. “It’s an American drink. They call it AMF.”
“And what does that mean?”
“You sure you wanna know what it means?” The glint in his eyes was all he needed to know about the nature of this unspoken name. But he’s gotten this far, and his curiosity was getting the better of him.
“Say it.”
Leaning forward, that polished smile transformed into a smirk. It was taunting and meant to be a mockery, but the mafia heir was drawn helplessly toward it like a moth to an open flame. Curse this man for being so ridiculously attractive, even when he’s making a joke out of a customer such as him.
“Adios,” Huh, maybe it isn’t so bad, he thinks. “Motherfucker.” Never mind, there it is.
“I don’t think you should be saying that to customers.”
“And I hope you don’t make a habit of just grabbing people’s hands and sniffing them.”
It’s important to know when it is time to attack but also when to retreat—one of the first lessons his Papa ever taught him. And one he should implement right now. So he took it as the dismissal that it was, both the statement and the drink.
He stayed at the bar long enough to finish the delicious drink, pay, and bid his best friends farewell before leaving for home. The heir didn’t look back once.
—
When he returned to the compound, Kinn had planned to make his way back to his rooms to sleep for the night. This evening turned out to be far more eventful than he thought and the alcohol he consumed is pushing him toward the brink of sleepiness already.
To his surprise, when he arrived at the door of the building, his father’s bodyguard was waiting for him. Chan stood at the front, face stoic and figure unmoving. He’s always been like that, for as long as the younger Alpha had known him, which was his entire life actually.
“Chan,” he greets and mentally prepares for whatever orders the man will relay to him on behalf of his father.
“Your father would like to see you, Khun Kinn.” It must be very important if his Papa is sending his personal guard to tell him at near midnight. The young Alpha internally laments his dashed opportunity to sleep while gesturing for Chan to lead the way.
They made their way upstairs to the Theerapanyakun patriarch’s quarters. The middle son was further astounded to see his brothers were present too.
“Papa,” he bows before taking a seat near his older brother.
“Finally, you are here,” Tankhun grumbles as he fusses over his satin pajamas. They were an interesting pattern of koi and lotuses tonight.
“Alright, we are all here, Papa. Whatever it is you wish to tell all three of us, please do it now so we can all turn in for the night soon.” Korn chuckles lowly at his youngest’s antics. None of his other children would dare be so casual with him, but Kim was different. He was the smallest of the three and the most fearless. Of course, he’s the one with the nerves to be so outright like that.
“I asked you to come today because something has happened.”
“What is it, Papa? Is it our deal with the Russians? Don’t worry, I will take of it first thing tomorrow morning-”
The patriarch held up a hand, effectively silencing his son. His heir was quite a workaholic, one with good achievements and goals. He’s very proud of the successor who will inherit his throne one day. “No, Kinn, that is not what happened. Our transaction with the Russians is going smoothly, do not fret.”
Before any of them could make other wild guesses, he continues, “The eldest Kittisawat heir has returned.”
His children sucked in a sharp breath.
The Theerapanyakuns held unparalleled powers in Thailand and are considered untouchable in terms of riches, influence, and prestige. The stretch of their empire has grown extensively over the centuries. Many thought of them as unrivalrous; that no other clan could possibly measure up to their level. Yet, there exists one empire that is powerful enough to compete with theirs. One grown, not in the spotlight like them, but in the shadows instead.
The Kittisawat family had the same roots as them. Centuries upon centuries of nobility ran in their blood too. The two houses were once partners who shared the absolutely unreachable elite domain of Thailand, ruling over the nation like self-crowned royalties. That was until their first heir suddenly left. Everyone thought he deserted his family; had wanted to leave the life of high society behind.
Most declared this true until they started receiving news of the Kittisawat’s expansion beyond Thailand’s borders. Then the rumors converted into conspiracies about the clan’s Head Alpha sending his own son abroad to expand his empire. Nowadays, the family still remains in power, their kingdom far wider than the eye can tell, but they were elusive. The patriarch and his mate seldom attended any social occasion and even when they do, it was an extreme rarity to spot them.
But now their eldest son has returned to his homeland and the Theerapanyakuns do not doubt for one moment that the news of his reappearance will cause a shift of balance in the underworld and upper society.
His return could open and close so many doors for them. It could also mean the renewal of an alliance between their families.
Korn explains such advantages to his children. And they could see it. A connection between their families would be invaluable. Together, they could again hold ultimate power over Thailand and beyond.
“What do you plan to do, Papa?”
“Chayapat and I were once dear friends. When his son left, he and his wife withdrew back into their packs and has not fully resurfaced for many years. But before then, when his eldest was born—around the same time as Kinn—we had made a pact,” he recounts to them. “An agreement to unite our two families. Through marriage.”
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying, Papa?” Tankhun whispers, digging his nails into the palm of his flesh in apprehension.
“Yes. We have negotiated a marriage between our clans. Initially, it was going to be you, Tankhun. As my first heir, it had made sense that the alliance would fall on you to fulfill. But now that the position had shifted to…” The old Alpha glanced at his middle son, who has yet to speak on the matter.
“It will be me,” Kinn concludes.
He knew there would come a day when he was expected to marry and provide his pack with a Head Omega. It had to be someone who could stand by his side and rule with him. Who better than a child of the Kittisawat family? One of equal status and power to his. Logically speaking, they would be an unshakable match. A true power couple of their country.
It’s just that Kinn didn’t want his marriage to be a political show. In his eyes, the bond between two people was sacred. If he was to settle down with someone, he would wish for their union to be done out of love, not duty.
But he was his father’s heir before all else. As the next Head Alpha, his personal life and ideals could not overshadow the obligations that come with his titles.
“I will do it.”
Korn looks at his son with pride, but not without a small bit of sadness and regret. His middle child, while like his father with his sharpness and intuition, had his mother’s heart and her loving soul. His beloved mate left this world with little bits of her embedded in their children. If Kinn had all her capacity to love, then Khun inherited her vibrancy and Kim reflected her forthright nature and appreciation for freedom.
Sadly, Kinn’s fate had been sealed the day he accepted his new post as heir. Heavy is the head that wears the crown, he cannot escape what was already predestined for him—Korn knew the feeling all too well.
“Alright, then,” their father approved, gentle and understanding. “Tomorrow, we will set up a meeting between the families so you can meet your husband-to-be.”
The middle mafia prince departs along with his brothers after that. There was a numbness spreading inside of him, and Kinn worries he’ll feel it for a long time.
He knows Khun and Kim were looking at him with pity. They were their mother’s children too.
But they didn’t speak a word, knowing well enough by now that nothing they’ll say will make it better or change the outcome. The ball has already started rolling and it’s impossible to turn back now.
The news spread far and wide as Kinn descends to his rooms, past the grounds of their home, and throughout Bangkok.
Kinn Anakinn Theerapanyakun is now officially engaged to Porsche Pachara Kittisawat.