In the lion's den

ARTHUR(JAXON’S BODY)

I was sitting on the edge of the mattress in an apartment that looked less like a student dorm and more like a luxury penthouse. The room smelled heavily of leather and expensive cologne.My new muscles ached with a strange, foreign density.

Right beside the bed, a man in a crisp navy suit was packing a sleek medical kit. This was a private, high-end family physician—someone the wealthy Hilton family undoubtedly kept on a hefty retainer.

On the mattress lay my body.Still out cold, tucked under a dark gray duvet, looking painfully small and pale against the expensive sheets.

"His vitals are stable, Jaxon," the doctor said, snapping his briefcase shut. "The sedative they used on him was crude, but it didn't do any permanent damage. As for the... condition you mentioned, the fetus is perfectly intact. He just needs rest and proper nutrition."

"And the injection?" I asked, my voice a deep rumble that still sent a jolt of shock down my own spine. "The abortion drug?"

"It never entered his system," the doctor assured me, stepping towards the door. "I’ll write a prescription for prenatal vitamins. Keep him calm. An Omega in early pregnancy shouldn't be exposed to violent spikes in Alpha pheromones, so try to keep your temper in check."

"Right. Thanks, Doc," I muttered.

The doctor let himself out, the door clicking shut behind him. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, rubbing my hands over my face. I looked over at my old body. Jaxon’s soul was in there somewhere, buried deep under the heavy layers of the sedative. I had no idea how we were going to fix this, or what would happen when he finally woke up.

A few hours later, the quiet was violently shattered.

"Yo, Jax! Man, you completely vanished after the clinic run last night!"

Xavier, Jaxon’s absolute best friend and the star forward of the university basketball team, barged straight into the bedroom.

Xavier stopped dead in his tracks. A slow, mocking grin spread across his face as he recognized the frayed beige sweater peeking out from under the duvet.

"Holy shit," Xavier gasped, throwing his head back in a loud chuckle. "No fucking way. Is that... is that the low-life Omega from the party? The curve-killer?"

I froze, my new Alpha instincts instantly flared up. I narrowed my eyes at him. "Xavier. Shut up."

"Man, I knew you were full of it!" Xavier laughed, completely ignoring my warning as he walked closer to the bed, looking down at my fainted body with pure amusement. "Two weeks ago you were acting all high and mighty, telling the whole frat you’d never touch a nerd like him. And now look at you. You actually kidnapped the little freak just to keep him in your bed? Damn, Jax, I didn't know you liked them baggy and boring."

He reached out, his hand moving as if to casually shove my old body's shoulder to wake him up.

A primal, violent surge of raw Alpha territoriality exploded in my chest. Before I could even logically process what I was doing, I lunged forward,grabbing Xavier’s wrist mid-air.

Xavier’s laughter died instantly. He blinked, gasping in shock as he tried to pull his arm back.

"Don't. Touch. Him," I growled.

Xavier wrenched his arm back the second I let go, a mix of shock and irritation flashing across his face.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Jax?" Xavier gasped, taking a step back and shaking his head. "Since when do you snap at me over some low-life Omega? You’re acting like he’s your prize possession or something. Two weeks ago, you wanted nothing to do with him."

My heart hammered against the wall of Jaxon’s massive chest. I had to think fast.I forced a cold, dismissive smirk onto Jaxon’s face, shrugging my shoulders as I leaned back against the wall.

"Relax, man," I grumbled. "I'm just playing the long game here."

Xavier raised an eyebrow, his tension easing slightly, though he still looked confused. "The long game? By keeping the campus nerd tucked into your thread-count sheets?"

"Think about it," I lied smoothly, channelling the kind of arrogant logic Jaxon would use. "If I keep using force, the kid is just going to run straight to the dean or the board. He's smart, Xavier. He knows how to make a paper trail, and a public scandal is the last thing my family needs right now. If I change the strategy and get him to cooperate willingly, it's a clean fix. No legal drama, no campus security, no mess."

Xavier blinked, a slow, understanding grin breaking across his face as he swallowed the bait. He chuckled, nodding his head. "Ah. So you're going to play the nice guy until he signs some NDA or drops the whole thing? Damn, Jax. Crafty. I thought you’d finally gone soft on us."

"Never," I muttered, glancing back at my own fainted body on the bed, praying Jaxon's soul wouldn't wake up right at this exact moment and ruin the entire facade.

Xavier chuckled, clapping a heavy hand against my shoulder."Alright, man. I'll leave you to your little mind games. Just don't let the nerd keep you from practice tomorrow. Coach is already breathing down our necks."

A weak, pathetic grunt cut cleanly through the quiet room. On the mattress, the dark grey duvet shifted. My old body—wrapped in that frayed beige sweater—began to twist, a pale hand clutching tightly at the soft fabric over the stomach. Jaxon’s soul was finally clawing its way back to consciousness.

"F-fuck..." Jaxon gasped, his voice small, high, and completely stripped of any Alpha authority. He shuddered violently, his fingers digging into his abdomen as the brutal, unaccustomed rush of early hormones and lingering sedatives hit his new system all at once. "Why the hell do I... feel so goddamn shitty...?"