Chapter 4 – The Hunt Begins

The academy halls were quieter after the Trials, but the tension hadn’t faded. Rumors buzzed through every corner of Ironclad — who had won, who had fallen, who had bled the most. My name was on every tongue.

So was his.

Zade Varyn, first place. Xander Vale, second.

The perfect rivalry.

But beneath the noise, beneath the pride, a single truth kept gnawing at me. Xander knew.

He’d cornered me, stripped away my armor with one whispered word — Omega. And now, every time our eyes met, I felt the threat of that word hanging between us like a blade.

I avoided him for two days. No training matches, no meals in the same hall. Every time I sensed his presence, I slipped away before he could speak. It didn’t matter how fast I moved; somehow, he always found me.

By the third day, I realized he wasn’t just watching. He was hunting.

It started with subtle things — a locker door left ajar, my schedule “accidentally” switched, a training weapon replaced with one just slightly heavier than usual. Little reminders that he was there, circling, waiting.

That evening, I found him waiting by the combat field.

The sun was setting, blood-red across the sky, painting the arena in shades of fire. Xander stood at the edge of the ring, still in his training uniform, sleeves rolled up, the faintest smirk tugging at his mouth.

“Took you long enough,” he said.

I stopped a few paces away. “What do you want, Vale?”

He tilted his head. “You’ve been avoiding me.”

“I’ve been busy.”

“Doing what? Running?”

My jaw tightened. “You have a strange obsession with me.”

He smiled, slow and deliberate. “Maybe I just like seeing how far I can push you before that perfect mask cracks.”

He moved closer, circling me like a predator testing its prey. I refused to back away, even as my pulse kicked hard in my throat.

“I don’t know what game you’re playing,” I said. “But it ends now.”

“Game?” His voice dropped low. “You think I’m playing?”

“You always are.”

He stopped in front of me, so close our shadows merged. The air between us thickened, charged with something that felt like challenge—and danger.

“I’m not the one pretending,” he said softly.

My breath caught.

His gaze slid down, lingering too long, too knowingly. He wasn’t supposed to look at me like that. Not when he knew what I really was. Not when my control was already slipping.

I stepped forward, shoving him back a fraction. “You think you scare me?”

He laughed, low and dark. “No. I think I confuse you.”

“Get over yourself.”

I turned to leave, but his hand shot out, catching my wrist. I spun, ready to strike, but he was already there, inches from my face, eyes burning.

“Let go,” I snapped.

He didn’t. His grip tightened, not enough to hurt, just enough to make it impossible to ignore.

“Say it,” he murmured.

“Say what?”

“That you don’t feel it.”

“I don’t.”

“Liar.”

His other hand came up, fingers brushing my jaw—not rough, not gentle either, just enough to make my breath stutter. The faint tremor in my chest betrayed me.

I wanted to shove him off, to end this dangerous game before it spun out of control. But he leaned in at the same moment I turned my head—and suddenly his mouth was on mine.

It wasn’t soft. It wasn’t meant to be.

It was heat and confusion, instinct and denial, all crashing together in one impossible second.

For a heartbeat, I froze. His lips were warm, firm, and the scent of him—sharp, wild Alpha—hit me like a drug. My body reacted before my mind caught up. My pulse surged, and I leaned into it, into him, into everything I shouldn’t want.

Then reality slammed back.

I broke the kiss, stumbling a step away, breathing hard. “What the hell was that?”

He looked just as stunned for a moment, his chest rising and falling fast. Then that infuriating smirk returned, softer this time. “You tell me, Varyn. You were the one who didn’t pull away.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” I hissed. “It was a mistake.”

“Sure,” he said, voice edged with amusement. “If that helps you sleep.”

Anger flared hot in my chest. I wanted to hit him. I wanted to erase the way my lips still tingled where his had been. But more than that, I wanted to understand why it had felt so… real.

I forced my voice steady. “If you ever do that again—”

He stepped closer, cutting me off. “You’ll what? Pretend harder?”

I glared at him, every nerve on fire. “You don’t know what you’re playing with, Xander.”

“Oh, I do,” he said quietly. “And that’s why I can’t stop.”

The air between us pulsed, alive and dangerous.

For a long moment, neither of us moved. Then I turned on my heel and walked away, leaving him in the fading light.

But his words followed me long after I was gone.

Because he was right about one thing.

Whatever had started between us wasn’t over.

And if I didn’t stop it soon, it would destroy us both.