Chapter 5 - The Man on My Bed

Azura's POV

The icy sensation lingered long after his fingers left mine.

It moved through my body like a cool breeze on a scorching day, making every nerve tingle in the strangest way. Instead of freezing me, it calmed me, my racing heartbeat slowed, and for one brief moment I forgot where I was entirely.

I opened my eyes slowly.

The white haired Alpha was already watching me.

Unlike Zayn's amusement or Kael's playful arrogance, this man was impossible to read. His face stayed blank, almost emotionless, but I caught the faintest flicker of surprise in his pale eyes. It vanished so fast I wondered if I'd imagined it.

Without a word, he walked past me, deeper into the office, as if nothing unusual had happened at all.

I stood there, speechless.

What was wrong with these Alphas? Nothing about this place made sense anymore. One had set things on fire. Another had tried to choke me. And now this one, the one who was supposed to freeze anyone he touched, had done the exact opposite.

Before I could think it through, Piper grabbed my wrist and hurried me out of the office. The moment the door shut behind us, she spun to face me, eyes wide enough to pop out of her head.

"Azura, did you just touch him?"

"I didn't touch him," I corrected, laughing despite myself. "He touched me."

She stared at me like I'd just announced I could fly.

"That was Alpha Alaric." She dropped her voice, though the excitement in it was impossible to hide. "Do you have any idea how unbelievable that is?"

I shook my head.

"You said anyone who touches him freezes to death."

"I did," she said quickly. "His element is ice. People avoid getting near him because even a simple touch can freeze them solid. He's one of the hardest Alphas to approach. The only other one people are that afraid to touch is Zayn, because of his fire."

I frowned. "What about the others?"

Piper brightened instantly. "Kael, the one with the green eyes, his element is manipulation. He's unpredictable, so people stay cautious around him." She hesitated before adding, "And then there's the last one."

"The last one?"

"Alpha Asher."

A few girls walking past sighed dreamily just hearing the name. Piper rolled her eyes.

"He's famous for being a complete flirt. Almost every girl in the academy has a crush on him. His element is invisibility, he can vanish completely, and choose exactly who sees him and who doesn't. He could be standing right next to you and you'd never know, unless he wanted you to."

She leaned in, lowering her voice like she was sharing a secret. "I've heard that once he gets interested in a girl, he likes showing up in her room at night. Unannounced."

My eyes went wide. "What?"

She laughed at my expression. "Half the girls here secretly wish he would. I've heard he's so good in bed that some girls sleep without panties, secretly hoping he'll pay them a visit.”

I shook my head slowly. "They're really that desperate?"

She burst out laughing. "You'll get used to this place."

"I'm starting to think I won't."

"Come on," Piper said, tugging my sleeve. "Let's get your neck looked at first. That cut's not something to ignore."

The infirmary smelled faintly of herbs and clean linen. A nurse cleaned the mark Kael had left, dabbed something cool over it that stung for only a second, and wrapped it lightly before sending me on my way with a small jar of ointment and strict instructions to keep it dry. It didn't take long. Within minutes we were back in the hallway, and my neck already felt a hundred times better.

Still grinning, Piper led me down another hallway and stopped in front of a wooden door marked with a silver 55.

"This is your dorm."

She knocked gently and pushed it open.

The room was bigger than I'd expected, four neatly made beds lined the walls, each with its own desk and wardrobe, sunlight pouring through wide windows that made the whole space feel warm instead of institutional. Compared to the cramped room I'd slept in at my stepmother's house, this felt like luxury.

Piper crossed to one of the desks and lifted a neatly folded stack of belongings.

"These are yours." She handed them over with a smile. "Uniform, textbooks, phone, everything you'll need."

Everything really had been prepared in advance. As I looked up from the pile, I noticed the other two girls watching us. One had soft brown waves and a bright, easy smile. The other had long, straight purple hair and looked distinctly unimpressed to see me.

The brown haired girl bounced off her bed. "Hi! I'm Clara." Before I could get a word out, she added, "I'm your fan, Azura!"

I blinked. "My fan?"

How did she already know my name?

The purple haired girl said nothing. She just looked at me with open irritation before turning away.

I frowned. What had I done to her?

Piper caught my confusion and murmured, "She's probably jealous."

"Oh." That explained it.

Clara, unbothered, pointed at her roommate. "That's Vivian." Vivian answered with nothing more than a grunt.

Clara turned back to me, practically glowing. "Seriously, how did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Jump into the Top Five."

I frowned. "Top Five? I thought I was in the Top Ten."

She grabbed her phone and turned the screen toward me. "There."

I looked down and froze.

Azura, Rank 5.

"What?" I blinked. "How." Only minutes ago I'd been ranked tenth. Had my encounter with Alaric pushed me up again?

Piper swallowed hard. "This has never happened before. No student's ever climbed ten places in a single day." She looked at me, then back at the board. "Fifteen. Ten. Now five." Her voice wavered between excitement and disbelief. "If this keeps happening, what happens when you meet the last Alpha?"

"No way," I said immediately, shaking my head.

Clara laughed. "Guess we'll find out."

Piper pointed toward the empty bed by the window. "Anyway, that one's yours."

I nodded and turned toward it, then stopped mid step.

A man was lying across it.

He looked completely at ease, one arm tucked behind his head, shirtless, a black mask covering the left side of his face. Dark hair fell loosely over his forehead, just messy enough to look like he'd rolled straight out of bed and somehow still made it work. The corner of his mouth curved into a lazy smile as he lifted one hand and waved at me, unhurried, like he'd been waiting all along.

My breath caught. He was, without question, the kind of handsome that should have come with a warning label.

I glanced at Clara, she was busy arranging her books. Vivian was scrolling through her phone. Neither of them so much as looked up. It was as if he wasn't there at all.

My heart began to pound. Slowly, I turned back to the man still stretched across my bed, his smile widening as if he'd known exactly how long it would take me to notice him.

That was when I saw it.

Just above his heart, inked dark against his skin, sat a small star, its edges sharp and deliberate, unmistakable.

My whole body went still.

Star.

The word rang through my mind like a struck bell, dragging me straight back to that night, the smell of blood, my foster father's hand gripping mine so tightly it hurt, his voice barely a whisper as the life drained out of his eyes.

Star, he had said. Find the star.

I had spent five years believing it was nothing more than the delirious mumbling of a dying man. And now here it was, inked into the chest of an Alpha lying across my bed like he owned it.

Could this be Alpha Asher?

Could he be the one who killed my foster father?