Bound to the Alpha I must kill; A Dravenmoor Academy Romance

Droplets of water ran down Lucien’s face as he stared at his reflection. His eyes were red from staying awake all night, but the exhaustion was nothing compared to the worry twisting in his gut.

His mother’s last message—I’m fine, don’t worry—had arrived three hours ago. He hadn’t believed it then, and he still didn’t.

“She’ll be fine.” He mumbled to himself, though he didn’t believe the words himself.

The academy outside was chaotic and the noise was only adding to his growing headache. He just wanted the day to be over with already.

With one final wash, he intended to leave the restroom when footsteps came from outside and for some reason, he headed into the nearest stall like someone who had committed a crime and mustn’t be caught at it. His heart almost lurched into his mouth when he heard the not so familiar voice of the academy’s most popular student.

“Father, I already told you I’m handling it.”

Xavier Lockwood was Dravenmoor’s golden boy and son to the richest sponsor the academy ever had.

“You don’t need to send anyone, I’ll do it all alone.” He said, talking as though he was gritting his teeth. Lucien held his breath in the stall as Xavier mustn’t know that he was listening in on the conversation.

He paused for some seconds then continued, “You’ve spent years preparing me for the Choosing. I’m not going to let anything ruin it now—” He seemed to have been cut short by his father with how he stopped talking abruptly.

Lucien’s brows twisted in confusion. He wanted nothing more than to just step out already, but Xavier was an alpha. If he caught even the slightest hint of Lucien’s scent, he’d know someone was hiding in here.

The call ended because he heard Xavier drawing in a sharp breath. Lucien expected him to leave already, but nothing happened… yet.

“I know you’re in there. Come out.” Xavier commanded.

Lucien froze and stopped breathing completely, hoping deep down that Xavier wasn’t talking to him. But luck clearly wasn’t on his side because the door got yanked open within seconds and Xavier’s red and angry face appeared before him.

Dragging him out by the collar, Xavier held him up against the wall. “How much did you hear?”

The distance between them was barely visible but Xavier didn’t seem to care that he was so physically close to a mere omega.

“I— I just came in. I wasn’t—”

Xavier drew him even closer, the little space between them disappearing fast. A low sound rumbled in his chest — too deep to be human.

“I can smell the lie on you.”

He was clearly pissed that something private was overheard. But Lucien didn’t know that the eavesdropping wasn’t Xavier’s biggest problem at the point. It was instead the fact that Lucien’s scent was hitting him harder than it should, leaving him irritated and unsettled.

“What exactly did you hear?” He asked Lucien again.

“Nothing, just… you saying you were going to take care of something.” That wasn’t entirely a lie though.

“That’s all?” Xavier asked quietly, his voice a bit dangerous.

Lucien tried to step back, but there was nowhere to go. His back met the sink instead.

“You have a bad habit of being in places you shouldn’t be, Thorne.”

Thorne? Xavier Lockwood knew his surname?

“I didn’t mean to overhear, I swear.” He forced out the words and Xavier stared at him for a long moment.

He was still very mad, but something else was starting to cut through the anger and it was the pull he had been trying to ignore for weeks. It just didn’t make sense that he’d feel such an insane level of attraction towards a mere omega.

His eyes dropped to Lucien’s mouth for half a second before he forced them back up. Lucien couldn’t decide what terrified him more—the anger in Xavier’s eyes or the strange warmth spreading through his body despite it.

Xavier reached out and gripped the lapel of his shirt, forcing Lucien to look straight into his eyes.

“Why the hell do you smell like that?” Xavier growled.

Lucien’s breath caught, his throat too clogged to produce a response.

They stayed like that for seconds — staring into each other’s eyes with their breaths mingling to become one. Xavier’s thumb came up and slowly brushed Lucien’s lower lip without him meaning to, while Lucien’s hand trembled against his chest.

Their lips were just an inch away from each other at the moment, and one single movement by either of them would make their lips land on each other—

The loud sound of the bell ringing broke through the air and Xavier stepped back first, like he had been burned. His expression shut down hard, morphing into the cold one he was used to displaying.

“Repeat a word of this, and I’ll make sure you regret it.” he said gruffly, his hardened gaze locked into Lucien’s flustered face.

With fists balled by his side, he stepped back then turned around and walked out, leaving Lucien shaken and still pressed against the wall.

Lucien stayed in the restroom for a minute longer, trying to calm his breathing and steady his hands. He eventually left and headed to class, still unsettled. The scent of Xavier and the almost-kiss wouldn’t leave his head.

He arrived just in time and sat down, trying and failing to focus that he didn’t know when the professor, Mr Finrar, entered the classroom or when he finished his lesson.

“Hey, loser!” Lucien jolted awake at the loud yell.

The classroom was already emptying. He blinked at the clock, realizing he’d completely zoned out through the rest of history.

The moment Mr. Finrar disappeared through the door, Adowolf’s voice came again.

“Loser.” It was then he realized that he was the one being called. And of fucking course, it just had to be Adowolf.

Adowolf had hated him since the day he arrived at Dravenmoor. To him, Lucien’s only crime was being an omega who had earned a scholarship into a school built for the children of powerful families.

“How can I help you?” Lucien questioned, his eyes darting around in search of an escape route because he already knew that something crazy would happen very soon.

Adowolf threw his history book onto his desk. “Do this.”

Lucien’s eyes skimmed through the assignment. The Dravenmoor Choosing. Thankfully, he’d studied the topic before.

“The Choosing?” He asked, glancing at the page.

“One male gets selected by the Moon Goddess every generation. He becomes the highest authority in Dravenmoor. That’s it.” Lucien explained, closing the book.

“No, no,” Adowolf shook his head. “ I didn’t ask you to explain the assignment, you’re doing it.”

Lucien held his stare, “No.” He glanced around the classroom and cussed internally when he sighted adowolf’s friends approaching. “With due respect, Adowolf, I won’t do your assignment.”

Adowolf reached across from where he was bent over the table, held the collar of Lucien's shirt and pulled him to his face. “What did you say, mutt?”

“I-said-I-wont—” The slap came from Adowolf himself. Lucien's vision tilted, his ears ringing.

“Now, nerd, you’ll do just as I’m about to say–” Lucien cut him off and head-butted him hard enough to make him let out a loud scream. Adrenaline rushed through him as Adowolf’s friends rushed over to him. They lifted him from his chair, two of them wrenching his arms back, holding him up.

“How dare you?!” Adowolf screamed. The first punch he gave to Lucien drove the air clean out of his lungs. Lucien recoiled, whimpering in pain. A few more punches landed on his stomach while loud mocking laughs filled his ears, drowning him in his own pain.

Lucien screamed, just at the same time that a deep growl reverberated in the distance. Adowolf froze, his fists seized midair. The class went silent, breaking off when strong hands suddenly grabbed Adowolf and hauled him to the floor.

Adowolf's friends trembled at the figure before them. One by one, they were yanked off and thrown in different directions. The figure reached for Adowolf again, punching him till blood was drawn from his body.

Lucien looked up to meet Xavier's bloody face and glowing eyes. His feet trembled, burying deep into the marble floor. Xavier? Xavier Lockwood just defended him?

He stood over Adowolf, looking at the blood on his knuckles with something close to boredom, then dragged his tongue across his lips like he was proud of the blood smear on his hand.

He turned, then found Lucien.

Whatever crossed his face lasted less than a second before it hardened into something else entirely. He walked over, grabbed Lucien by the collar and hauled him up, grip rough, eyes worse.

"Screaming like a child?" His voice was low, disgusted. "Pathetic."

Lucien's hands pressed against Xavier's chest. His pulse was everywhere. "Get off me—"

"Xavier Lockwood." A voice came with the swinging of the class door. The room went dead.

"Lucien Thorne."

Mr. Finrar stood in the doorway. Briefcase in hand. Eyes moving slowly between them both.

"Detention!"