Chapter: CHAPTER 6: The Alpha Who Never SleepsRonan’s POVSleep didn’t come easily anymore.Not since that night.Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Arden standing in that training cell, calm, sharp, composed to the point of madness. Most people fold when pressed. He didn’t. He didn’t break eye contact, didn’t flinch, didn’t give me the satisfaction of knowing whether I’d actually cornered him.And that, somehow, was worse than being lied to.The academy was quiet after midnight. The combat rings are silent, lights dimmed, surveillance reduced to minimal cycles. The air smells of old sweat, ozone, and faint traces of dominance burned into the walls. Most Alphas sleep heavy, satisfied after a day of breaking bones and earning ranks.I never learned how.My dorm sat in the top east quadrant of the Alpha tower, where the high ranks were kept separate; for focus, or for containment, depending on who you asked. I sat at the edge of the bed, elbows on my knees, staring at the biometric feed flickering across my wall screen.Arden’s nam
Last Updated: 2025-10-22
Chapter: CHAPTER 5: The Scent Beneath the SilenceRonan’s POVThe corridor was empty when I passed it, but the air wasn’t.Most people think scent disappears as soon as the body does. They don’t understand how dominance sharpens perception. How silence amplifies the things no one else notices. Arden wasn’t there, but a trace of him was; the faintest undertone, almost erased.I slowed my steps halfway down the hall, listening. No footsteps behind me. No movement ahead. Just artificial lighting humming above and the sterility of recycled air. But the scent still lingered; diluted, controlled, and barely there in a way that felt intentional.I didn’t turn around immediately. That would’ve looked like hesitation. Instead, I walked to the next junction, paused by one of the reinforced columns, and leaned a shoulder against it like I was just checking the channel embedded in my wristband.I wasn’t.My pulse stayed slow, but something in my chest shifted. interest, irritation, calculation. Hard to name which. Arden hadn’t looked back in the
Last Updated: 2025-10-20
Chapter: CHAPTER 4: Pressure in the VeinsElias’s POVI didn’t go straight to my dorm.That would’ve made it too traceable. Predictability got you killed faster than weakness in a place like this. Instead, I cut through the east mezzanine, passing a glass overlook where lower ranks ran obstacle drills two floors down.None of them looked up. Good. Attention was a weakness.My boots made no sound as I moved into the elite housing wing private quarters for the top fifteen, isolated from the general dormitories. Fewer eyes. Fewer questions. But the scrutiny here was sharper, quieter, better dressed.The hallway lights shifted with motion sensors, casting long shadows across the polished concrete. A maid-bot rolled past with a basket of pressed uniforms. Two third-rank trainees exited a room ahead, speaking in low tones. Their conversation halted the moment they saw me.Not out of respect. Out of wariness.My door unlocked at my wrist scan. I stepped inside and sealed it behind me.Silence.No roommate, no cameras in the private
Last Updated: 2025-10-20
Chapter: CHAPTER 3: After the SlipElias’s POVFor a breath, no one moved.Ronan didn’t lunge, didn’t speak, didn’t call attention to what he’d sensed. He just looked at me, sharp, measuring, patient. And that was worse than anything he could have said out loud.Instructor Vale blew the signal to end the match.I stepped back first.Not in retreat, just enough to break the tension before anyone started asking why two top-ranked Alphas had stopped fighting before blood was drawn. The room’s chatter slowly resumed, but it was shaky in places, uneven. They’d all noticed something, even if they didn’t understand what it was.Ronan didn’t chase me. He didn’t have to.I walked off the mat with practiced calm, even though my pulse was a drumline under my skin. The suppressant was slipping faster than usual. The fight spiked my adrenaline, and adrenaline always burned through the formula twice as fast.I had maybe an hour before the next injection was mandatory.Two, if I was willing to gamble with my life.The combat wing’s a
Last Updated: 2025-10-20
Chapter: CHAPTER 2: Cracks in the MaskElias's Pov The moment I stepped past Ronan, the hairs on my neck wouldn’t settle. His gaze still felt like a weight between my shoulder blades, but I didn’t look back. Looking back meant acknowledging him. And acknowledging him meant risk.I pushed deeper into the combat wing, where rows of lockers lined the wall and the scent of metal and sweat mixed with detergent. Voices echoed from the training arena beyond the glass partition; shouts, thuds, the impact of bodies hitting mats. Instinctively, my breathing adjusted to match the room: calm, measured, Alpha.“Arden!” someone called.I didn’t bother hiding my annoyance as I turned. Kade Rowan jogged toward me, tall and lean with dark eyes and an easy swagger that made people forget he could dislocate their jaw in two moves. Rank 7. Too observant for comfort.“You missed morning circuits,” he said, grabbing a towel from a nearby rack. “What happened? Oversleep? Or did you decide the rest of us weren’t worth warming up with?”“I was bu
Last Updated: 2025-10-20
Chapter: CHAPTER 1: The Perfect LieElias’s Pov “You’re late for morning drills, Arden.”The voice came from behind me, low and edged with arrogance. I didn’t bother turning around as I tightened the strap on my combat boots.“I’m never late,” I said flatly.A pause. Then a scoff. “Are you planning to stare at your laces till breakfast?”My jaw ticked once, but my expression stayed calm, bored; Alpha standard. I straightened and met the eyes of the boy blocking the doorway. Broad shoulders, messy blond hair, cocky stance. A second-year Alpha, ranked in the top thirty. I didn’t bother remembering his name.He smirked like he thought I’d rise to the bait. “What, no threat today? No broken bones to hand out?”I stepped forward without answering. He hesitated just long enough for me to brush past him. His scent flared in irritation as he caught the underlying warning in my silence. I didn’t need to speak to make them move. They always did.The corridor outside was cold, metallic, and quiet except for the rhythmic thud of b
Last Updated: 2025-10-20
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