After being verified, Axel was asked to wait for a little bit, and he stood there, trying to hold himself steady, but he couldn't stop panicking no matter how much he tried.
His heart thundered in his chest, loud and irregular, and he feared anyone could hear it.
His breath came short and shallow, chest tightening as a wave of heat rose through his body.
He could not, for even a second, believe it. The person he'd been talking to all this while, almost a year.. the person he had fallen in love with without ever seeing him physically… the person he had lied to, made to believe he was a girl, was right here, standing next to him.
The thought made his stomach drop, a nauseating swirl of excitement, fear, and guilt. His mind raced in a tangle of disbelief.
Why didn't Ivan mention in the texts that he was coming to the Academy?! But I knew he didn't have a mate, which only meant he would come to the academy.
And why the hell did I just lie that I'm an Alpha?! Axel scolded himself silently.
He had panicked, hadn't even thought, and now he recognized how foolish it was to assume Ivan would recognize him simply for knowing he was an Omega. Stupid. Utterly stupid.
There was really no reason to lie.
Seconds later, a man in uniform walked in. The lady in the office chair spoke, motioning to him.
"He will guide you to your dorm and rooms." She turned to Ivan, voice polite but clipped.
"Alpha Ivan, we still allocated you to your previous room, as you requested," the lady added.
Previous room?! Axel's eyes widened. His stomach lurched. Was Ivan here last year? The thought made him almost blurt the words aloud, almost give himself away.
Ivan had told him that he was twenty years... So if he was really twenty, then... had he been coming since he was eighteen?
Axel's mind spiraled further. His hands itched to fidget, but he held them tightly pressed together, trying to calm himself.
"Thank you," Ivan said. His voice was deep, calm, almost controlled, slicing through Axel's spiraling thoughts.
A shiver ran down Axel's spine, goosebumps rising along his arms, making him shiver involuntarily.
Every fiber of him screamed both awe and terror.
The woman spoke again, now directing her words at Axel. "There are rules on the papers we gave you. Make sure to read them; they have everything you would need to know. Enjoy your stay, and good luck."
Axel nodded mutely, barely hearing the words. His mind was elsewhere, trapped in a loop of what-ifs and self-recrimination.
The two followed the man outside, stepping onto a polished path that gleamed in the sunlight.
The place was breathtaking, almost painfully perfect, but Axel could not concentrate.
"Sickly? What kind of Alpha gets sickly?" Ivan's voice cut through Axel's thoughts, sudden and precise. Axel's heart pounded even harder.
"I'm not planning to make any friends, but thanks," Axel forced the words out, trying desperately to keep his voice steady.
He didn't dare meet Ivan's gaze, though he could feel those eyes assessing him, sharp, unyielding.
"Did that sound like a friend request to you?!" Ivan asked, voice still calm, low, controlled.
"You want to know more about me, what does that mean?! Of course you are trying to talk to me, so I talk back, and the next thing I'll hear is… 'hey, do you wanna hang out?' I don't want that. As I said, I'm not making friends, I'm just here to find my mate, and get out of these suffocating walls,"
Axel said, words tumbling too fast, spilling past the careful mask he had tried to craft. His fake-cool voice cracked slightly.
"Don't flatter yourself," Ivan scoffed, then walked ahead for a moment, leaving Axel and the guide behind.
Relief washed over Axel. Maybe once he reached his room, he could breathe. Maybe then he could think clearly about everything.
The dorm came into view. Like the other buildings, it looked perfect in every way: white walls, long windows gleaming in the light.
Axel's started hearing voices drifting from within, probably Alphas. Panic tightened its grip again. Why had he lied? How could he survive among them? What if their pheromones overwhelmed him, alerting them to the suppressed Omega he truly was?
What if his heat broke through the pills and gave him away? What if they mocked him, bullied him for being weak Alpha? He could blame no one but himself.
Was it too late to confess the truth?
"I can't believe Ivan's been here for two years and can't find his mate. If I were him, I wouldn't come back, I swear," a voice sneered nearby, followed by laughter. "Like, it's so embarrassing, how is he so calm about it?"
Axel's chest tightened, and his wolf stirred protectively beneath his skin, low and taut.
"Considering he is so picky.. do you think he found his mate and looked at her with those arrogant eyes which he looks everyone with and said... You aren't my type?!"
More laughter.
Entering the dorm, Axel noticed the clean arrangement of chairs and tables in the space.
Young men... strong looking and elegant sat around them. Each face perfect, each movement precise.
Axel couldn't help but stare and wonder,.
Why were Alphas always so breathtaking? Was it to lure Omegas? But their pheromones alone should be enough, so why the faces and bodies too?
All eyes turned to him. He froze, pinned under their gaze, cold sweat prickling his neck and back.
"This is not an Omega dorm!" one said.
"I know that. He isn't an Omega, that's why he's here," the guide said firmly. Axel exhaled shakily, relief mixing with panic, murmurs brushing past him like static.
He forced himself forward, step by step, each one heavier than the last, every nerve taut.
The hallways stretched ahead, doors lining the sides. They left first floor and climbed stairs, leaving other rooms below.
At the room marked on Axel's paper, the guide paused. "This is it," he said, turning away.
Axel hesitated. Should he knock? There was clearly someone inside.
But thinking for a second.. he had already been judged as weak; maybe he could survive only by acting tough and arrogant. Fingers gripped the doorknob tightly and pushed it open...
Only to freeze.
There, in front of him, was a half-naked Ivan.
Axel's stomach dropped, heat rushing to his cheeks. His wolf bristled instinctively. Every nerve screamed, senses heightened. His throat went dry.
Why had he lied? Why had he done this to himself? He could barely breathe.