Dangerous Situation

"I can't," Adrian said. "I have to work."

"Tsk! Adrian, this is mandatory," Irene Lim said. "All freshmen have to come and pour drinks for the seniors."

Adrian sighed. "Okay, I'll come, just for a bit. I can't skip work or Coach Joe will go berserk."

"Good," Irene said. "Just come. Besides, the bar isn't far from here."

When Adrian asked Coach Joe for permission to arrive late to the stadium, the man waved his hand boredly.

"Go ahead. I'm giving the new team members the night off, too. The drinking party is a tradition, and there's nothing I can do about it," said Coach Joe.

Adrian nodded. Deep down, he was actually hoping Coach Joe would tell him not to go and just keep scrubbing the field.

"I won't be long, Coach," Adrian said. "I still have to patch up some torn practice uniforms before you bring out the new ones."

Coach Joe snorted. "I won't do it. If necessary, just let them practice without anything.  Those barbarians always think I can grant their every wish!"

Coach Joe left after grumbling. Adrian followed behind him.

They passed Ethan at the stadium entrance.

"Ethan, you can take the night off," Coach Joe said. "The students will be gathering at the Kappa Bar tonight."

Adrian took the opportunity to slip behind Coach Joe and walk straight ahead without looking back.

Ethan pointed at Adrian's back with his chin. "Is he going too?"

Coach Joe looked at Adrian's retreating figure. "Of course he is. He's the star among this year's freshmen. Although I can see his reluctance, he must have been forced to go."

Ethan nodded. "I'm going to practice some techniques for a bit, then I'll go home."

While Ethan warmed up on the sidelines, Adrian walked to the Kappa bar. He pulled his jacket up around his neck, feeling the breeze was too cold against his skin.

He met Irene at the entrance, and she  leading him to a corner of the bar, where several tables had been pushed together and several of his classmates were already seated.

They greeted Adrian and Irene, cracking a few jokes, which Adrian took as appropriate, before taking a seat at the end.

The seniors arrived, and the atmosphere grew lively. Rex and Leland also arrived with some of their classmates.

"Adrian, my sweet little boy, come pour us some drinks," said Rex, who seemed drunk before he finished his first drink.

Adrian did so obediently, and then he did the same for several other seniors who requested it.

"Hey, you're wearing perfume tonight," said a female senior. "Are you trying to attract someone?"

Adrian looked at the senior.  He glanced at her, then shook his head. His senior's words confused him, because he wasn't wearing any perfume at all.

Meanwhile, on the hockey field, Ethan finished his first half hour of practice. His shirt was soaked and he felt uncomfortable.

As he was taking a clean shirt from his bag, he heard a strange sound. Like something vibrating.

Ethan looked around, and the sound came again. He looked under the chair and saw a cell phone, vibrating continuously, its screen lit up.

Ethan picked up the phone and saw Doctor Victor's name on the screen. He frowned. He didn't know whose phone was in his hand, but he knew Doctor Victor.

After a few seconds the call ended, and the screen went dark. Then, a message appeared in the notification window.

"Adrian, answer my phone. We need to talk. It's important, about those vitamins."

Ethan's brows furrowed.

Vitamins?

He had met Adrian yesterday afternoon, walking from the direction of the university clinic, staring at something in his hand. When it fell when they collided, he picked it up; it was a bottle of medicine.

Could those be the vitamins Doctor Victor was referring to?

And that Omega, did he even notice his phone was dropped here?

Ethan picked up his own phone and tapped Doctor Victor's name from his contact list.

"Ethan?" Doctor Victor greeted.

"Doctor, you called Adrian," Ethan said matter-of-factly. "That idiot left his phone under the bench on the field."

"Ah, did he go somewhere?" Doctor Victor asked.

Ethan's eyebrows furrowed. He could hear the anxiety in the doctor's voice. "Kappa Bar. Meeting with the seniors."

"Oh my," Doctor Victor said. "Did you get to see him? How is he? Is he okay?"

Besides the dark circles under Adrian's eyes, he couldn't tell if anything was wrong with the Omega.

"What's wrong? Did he take the wrong vitamins?" Ethan asked.

"Do you know about the vitamins?" Doctor Victor asked. "Adrian said anything to you?"

"Not much," Ethan said. His curiosity was growing.  "What's wrong, Doctor? I can catch him at the bar and bring him to you if it's urgent."

Silence.

Just as Ethan thought Doctor Victor had hung up, his voice came again.

"Ethan, can I trust you?" Doctor Victor asked cautiously. "Adrian is your teammate, right?"

"Sure," Ethan said, crossing two fingers behind his back. "We're pretty close."

"Then you should catch up with him and take him home. Those vitamins are actually hormone suppressants—"

Ethan didn't wait for Doctor Viktor to finish his sentence; he ran out of the stadium.

He was almost out of breath when he reached the Kappa bar and saw something in the parking lot.

Adrian was huddled against one of the rear doors of a car. The dim streetlights illuminated his pale face.

Three senior alphas had surrounded him, and their faces clearly showed they had no good intentions.

"Move," Adrian hissed. "I just want to go home."

"The night's still long, sweetie," said Wade Seymour, a third-year senior. "Why the rush?"

Derek Kline, a fourth-year senior, leaned toward Adrian.  "Hey, they said you were scentless. But this scent... It's not perfume... It's... Your scent."

The other two seniors, sniffed along, their eyes widening, staring at Adrian with enthusiasm.

"I can smell it now. Sweet," said Wade.

Adrian frowned, confused.

"Scent?" he repeated softly. "What are you talking about?"

He didn't understand what they were talking about. He'd been declared scentless his whole life, and he didn't even know what his own scent was.

Daniel Gustav, a third-year senior, Wade's classmates, stepped closer. "Don't be afraid," he said, his voice starting to crack. "We just want to make sure."

Adrian slapped away the Alpha's hand, which reached out to touch his cheek. "Don't touch me!"

Adrian began to panic. His body felt hot. His head throbbed, and his heart beat so hard it made his knees weak.

"I don't understand," Adrian muttered unconsciously.

One of the alphas grinned at his two friends. "He doesn't seem to notice."

Daniel alpha moved closer. "Handsome, you shouldn't be alone at a time like this. Come with us, you'll be safe."

Adrian took a stance.  Years of taekwondo training had made his body move reflexively, even as his legs began to weaken.

"Wow, you look even more attractive now, with your handsome face, your increasingly sweet scent, and your courage," Wade teased.

The three Alphas gestured to each other and stepped forward together.

At that moment, a tall, bulky figure suddenly slipped between them and stepped directly in front of Adrian, positioning himself as a barrier.

Adrian returned to his normal stance. Startled, his eyes met the broad back in front of him. A soft, musky scent filled his senses.

"Ethan," Adrian whispered.

Unconsciously, Adrian's hand reached out and he held the back of Ethan's damp shirt and he closed his eyes, feeling a sense of calm wash over him.

Ethan's gray eyes shone like silver in the dim light. The three alphas in front of him felt a chill spread around them.

Daniel tried to advance, but Ethan hissed, and he immediately retreated.

"Ethan, he's in heat and hasn't been marked by anyone," Wade trying to negotiate. "We can help him—"

"No!" Ethan snapped.

His gaze sharpened and he grinned, revealing silver fangs that glinted like swords.

The invisible pressure of the cold air made the three alphas' knees begin to buckle.

Ethan took one step, but it was enough to make them retreat in an orderly fashion. They knew who Ethan was and would rather not mess with him.

"I won't say it again," Ethan said. "Go away!"

One of the alphas was particularly stubborn and clenched his fists. "Ethan, that Omega—"

"Mine," Ethan hissed, before he could even process the words that had escaped his mouth.

Ethan's word was final. The three alphas finally turned and left the parking lot without daring to look back.

Adrian was still standing behind Ethan, his breath ragged. "What's going on... really?" he whispered softly. "Why are they acting like this to me?"

Adrian's cheeks were flushed, his breath was getting shallow, and the scent emanating from his body made Ethan have to clench his fists and clench his jaw tightly to restrain his inner wolf, which was beginning to stir.

Ethan turned and grabbed Adrian's hand. "Come with me!"

Adrian gasped. "W-Where?"

Ethan didn't answer, just led Adrian running away from the Kappa bar parking lot.

Meanwhile, in his office, Doctor Victor paced back and forth anxiously. In his hands were Adrian's lab results.

At the bottom of the column was a single sentence that made Victor's face pale.

"Drug content: maximum dose of hormone suppressant."

After a moment, he reached for his phone and dialed a few numbers he knew by heart.

On the third ring, someone answered. "Hello?"

"We need to talk!"