Yellow.

Oddly enough, that's the color that Cyrus notices the most while studying the rest of the flowers here. Since Jax is still engaged in a discussion with a few other employees, he's been trying to shift his attention elsewhere.

Yellow.

Smiling sunflowers, dandy daisies, and cute carnations sprawl out from beds of dirt and clay pots. Marigolds with thick ruffles, lilies with trumpet-shaped petals, and tulips with cup-like heads—all of them blossoming with a variety of yellows. Dark golds, pale pastels, and bright blondes.

The only reason Cyrus knows them all by name is because they're all bunched together in their respective groups, slanted signs with shaky cursive planted in front of each and every one. Otherwise, it would've just been flower this, flower that–

"Yellow is my favorite color," a soft male timbre chimes in. "I guess that's pretty obvious. Do you think it might be too much though?"

When Cyrus suddenly spins on his heels, facing the source of the unknown voice head on, he freezes. It's a Grave Shadow stranger. The black apron strapped across his torso indicates that he works here.

Other Grave Shadow betas within the greenhouse have avoided him like the plague so far, all except for this one. Lean and slender, this middle-aged man sports streaks of gray running down his long, raven black hair. Crow's feet are prominent in his pale complexion, especially around his red eyes. Despite his impressive height for a beta, he has a slouch to him as he wobbles forward with a wooden walking cane.

Vaguely, Cyrus recognizes him. He's the head of this greenhouse and someone that Jax spoke with earlier.

"Uh..." he lamely trails off, surprised gibberish stuck in his throat. "Well, um–"

"Sorry, sir." The beta offers a shaky smile. "I know I'm not supposed to talk to you, but I couldn't help being nosy. You're Alpha Cyrus Pierce of Blood Moon. I was curious to know you since you've been hanging around Jax lately, due to Luna's curse and all. This is certainly quite a turn of events, huh?"

"Right..." Is this real right now? Is someone from Grave Shadow actually being friendly? "Uh, yeah. That's me. Cyrus Pierce."

"I'm Evan." Evan extends his hand out, the clumsy wobble in his smile still intact. "It's nice to meet you, sir."

Cyrus can't help but beam at the gesture. A rush of giddy energy surges forward. Evan really is being friendly. Like, genuinely. It's questionable, sure, but he also won't turn down a handshake when given to him.

"Nice to meet you too!" he chirps out, more enthusiasm slipping past. He grabs a hold of one of his gloved hands and shakes up and down, all while trying to not grip Evan too hard since he seems more on the frail side. "You're really good at growing flowers. Yellow is a nice color."

"Thank you, Alpha Cyrus. I appreciate–"

"I told you not to talk to anyone here."

Murderous intent flashes in Jax's crimson eyes after he storms in and firmly grips onto Cyrus's shoulder. Claws creep in, threatening to dig into his flesh. His teeth are bared, a venomous snarl ripping through.

The smile from Evan's face wilts away. "Jax, it's fine–"

"No." He turns back to Cyrus, seething with fury. "Why are you talking to him?"

"Jax," Evan calls out, this time louder. His name booms in volume as he dares to raise his voice against the top alpha of Grave Shadow. "I said it's fine. Drop it. I'm the one who started talking first."

It dawns on Cyrus that this is not just any normal everyday beta.

Everything inside of Jax seems to unravel all at once. The tick in his jaw loosens, the pressure in his arm slackening, as he releases Cyrus's shoulder. He finally unwinds.

Jax sighs. "Dad, I told you not to speak with him."

Dad?

Evan—no, Mr. Sterling, rubs the back of his neck with the free hand that's not holding onto his walking cane. "Sorry, Jax, but you can't possibly think that you could keep hiding me away for a year. You're ridiculous. Isn't this supposed to be a truce too?"

"I just didn't–" Clearly exasperated, Jax cuts himself short and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Never mind." He glares at Cyrus, who's still stunned speechless. "You know now, so just get it over with already."

"Get what over with?"

"The mockery, the teasing– just whatever the fuck you have to say against an alpha born from betas parents."

The interesting thing about romance and the mating system is that it's always supposed to follow a particular pattern. More often than not, whenever there's an outlier to Luna's way, it's never a good outcome.

Fated mates are determined by Luna, as everyone already knows. Betas end up with betas and alphas end up with omegas; such are the cycles of love and life, regardless of gender, but the same cannot be said for their offspring. For the most part, betas conceive other betas and alpha-omega pairings conceive other alphas and/or omegas.

That's the system, that's how it must be. However, every now and again, a beta couple surprises the world with an alpha or omega, a huge leap away from their ranking. It is said that an alpha born from beta parents ends up being far less capable than their other alpha peers. Typically, alphas born from betas end up helping out with manual labor in their futures, as they're too unfit to ever be guards and soldiers.

But clearly, Jax is a groundbreaking exception.

"What do you want me to say?" Scoffing, Cyrus crosses his arms. "That you're an asshole? Is that it? 'Cause that's nothing new. What's new is that all this time, you've had Mr. Sterling as your daddy–"

"Mr. Sterling?" Jax exclaims, reeling his head back.

"Thank you," Mr. Sterling says at the same time, clearly flattered.

"–and you still turned out the way that you are." A bout of laughter bursts from him. "Talk about unreal! I may have only just met Mr. Sterling today, but he's gotta be the nicest guy here. How did you become so fucked up when you have him as your father figure?"

"Are you kidding?" Jax deadpans. "Is that seriously all you have to say? This is what you're starting off with?"

"Well, yeah!" Like the drama king that he is, Cyrus throws his hands up. "I don't have anything else to say 'cause nothing's changed. You're still as stubborn as ever, you're still my number one enemy, and you're still the strongest man I know. If anything, I feel bad that Mr. Sterling has had to put up with you for your entire life."

Jax blinks. "I'm the strongest man you know?"

"Duh." With a huff, Cyrus rolls his eyes. "We may be on a temporary truce right now, but you're still my number one enemy for a reason. You think I call just about anyone that?" He tosses a thumb at himself, grinning. "Nah, it's gotta be someone who comes close to what I can do. 'Cause obviously I'm the strongest there is."

"...You're such a fucking idiot."

The small smile that peeks through Jax's face, as well as the absence of fire behind the supposed insult, says otherwise, but Cyrus just lets it be.

For someone who doesn't smile, Jax actually looks good doing it. There's a special sort of spark to him when he quirks up his lips. He should do it more often.

"I know this may be hard to believe, Alpha Cyrus, but Jax was actually a good pup growing up." Mr. Sterling stretches a hand out to ruffle his son's hair, another soft smile adorning his face. So that's where Jax gets his good smiles from, the familial resemblance almost uncanny. "He was always such a hard-working kid. Never complained about anything and always helped me whenever I needed it. He even made this cane for me–"

"Dad," Jax hisses, hints of a blush filling in his cheeks. Gently, he tugs Mr. Sterling's hand away from his head. "Stop talking."

Mr. Sterling simply chuckles in response.

As Cyrus watches them interact, his grin slowly crumbles when he thinks about his own dead dad.

He remembered all the times Dad would scream in his face, demanding that he be the best of the best—without fail—lest he dishonor the Pierce bloodline.

"You will be the next top alpha of Blood Moon if it's the last thing I do," Dad used to tell him up close, yanking him by the hair. "It's either that or I'll get rid of you myself. You were born for success. There is no room for mistakes."

Cyrus pushes back that grin again, expanding it. Maintaining it. He grits his teeth to smile when Mr. Sterling approaches him and asks if he can help relocate a few potted plants. All optional, of course, and he agrees, false cheer pushing forward.

He remembered being beaten into submission, within an inch of his life, and shoved into dark closets for hours on end as a form of punishment, for that was the consequence of losing.

As Cyrus tails after Mr. Sterling and Jax, maneuvering past rows of angelic yellow flowers, his nails curl into clenched hands, breaking skin and scraping into his palms.

He remembered his eating privileges being stripped away, his stomach growling in protest and his heart aching for those golden, buttery pancakes.

He thinks about his own dad and the bruises that he left behind while Jax brightens up and glows around his.

Cyrus continues to bear the weight of that reality and smile on. Because life may not be fair, but the only way forward is up. 

And with that, this concludes the first beginning arc, Act 1, of Bad Boy Alphas! I hope this first stage within the story has given you a brief outlook on what most of the characters are like so far. Yup, that's right—brief! There's more to know about them from here on out. The last few chapters have been from Cyrus's POV and have calmed things down a bit, since being hexed by Luna, but we will be diving into some things through Jax's POV soon.

Lastly, here is a shout out to Layla for being an amazing reader! She's the only reader from one of my book clubs to accurately predict and understand most of the characters' motives and actions so far. Very impressive intuition you've got!