Axel looked straight ahead, firmly telling himself that he would not interact with Ivan out here.
It was already more than enough that they share a room, and that alone felt dangerous. To be around him all the time even outside the room, only sharpened the risk.
Every moment near him increased the chance of being exposed, and Axel knew he would have to disguise himself carefully when they finally met face-to-face in truth. And exactly why he asked for more money from his parents, lying about missing something important that he needed to buy.
At least, he thought, that encounter would end one half of the lie. He would no longer have to keep up both masks. Only one would remain... the lie that he was an Alpha instead of what he truly was, an Omega.
But the more he repeated it to himself, the more another question nagged at him. How could he ever hope to meet his mate if he kept hiding like this? If he buried every sign of himself, how could fate find him?
Still, he forced the thought away. A mate was not important right now. There would be years ahead to meet them.
He told himself to let it go, yet his eyes betrayed him, drifting across the hall, searching among the gathered Alphas. He wondered constantly... who among them might be his mate?
For a moment his eyes and mind leapt to Adrian. He had been following him for no reason, hovering around in ways Axel could not understand.
But no… that could not be. If Adrian had been his mate, Axel would have felt it immediately. There would have been some kind of pull, some spark, but there had been nothing.
Another thought slipped through: What if I'm mated to a Beta? Who said it had to be an Alpha? His eyes roamed across the faces and builds of the Betas scattered in the room. Strong in their own right, confident, but the idea didn't settle in him.
He shook his head faintly. No. He couldn't imagine it being one of them. Something inside him refused the thought.
Inevitably, his gaze circled back to Ivan. And as always, his heart skipped sharply. Every time his eyes found him, the same rush hit, the same pull.
Once, Ivan's scent had hit him so hard it had stolen the air from his lungs, left him breathless. What if he really is my mate? The question haunted him.
But then another voice in his mind whispered doubt. What if this isn't the truth? What if the only reason you feel this way is because you already loved him before, long before seeing him here? What if it's the memory of that connection that tricks you into thinking it's fate?
Besides, Ivan hadn't once shown serious sign of feeling a pull toward him. It didn't matter if Axel blocked his scent; if Ivan were his true mate, he would have felt the inevitable pull. But nothing had come.
That silence left Axel clinging to the conclusion that his reactions toward Ivan were born not of destiny but of the online love they had shared.
And there was more. Ivan liked girls... it was obvious. Alphas who were mated to male Omegas were usually already open to it. Open that they were gay.
No one would ever imagine Ivan with a guy. Not even Ivan himself seemed to take such an idea lightly. The thought of it made Axel's chest tighten.
So Axel forced the truth into himself: Ivan was not his mate. He would cling to that certainty, because it was the only way forward.
With that fact, Axel decided he would not block his scent when they meet face to face, so that Ivan would see for himself that Chloe... the girl he thought was his mate... wasn't truly his fated one.
That illusion would end, and Ivan would have to let go. Axel knew Ivan clung to that false belief only because of the connection they had built online, a connection that had made sense at the time, especially when Ivan had been so desperate to find his mate.
When Axel stole a glance at him again, he froze. Ivan was staring at his phone, and not just casually.. his eyes were locked on the picture Axel had sent him back when he was pretending to be Chloe.
Axel's pulse spiked. Ivan kept zooming in and out, studying it closely, and panic rolled through Axel like a wave.
Ivan zoomed in on the eyes. Blue, bright, too bright... Axel's eyes, clear as day. If he keeps doing that, won't he recognize me? the thought screamed in his head. His heart raced, his palms damp.
He zoomed in on the lips next... making Axel's breath hitched when he saw it. Without warning, Ivan's own tongue slipped across his lips as he looked down at the photo.
The sight sent a shiver straight through Axel. Goosebumps chased along his arms. His body reacted wildly, heat rushing through him as he found himself staring at Ivan's mouth, unable to look away.
The way his lips moved, the faint gleam left behind, it was as if something invisible was pulling Axel forward, demanding he close the distance, taste Ivan's lips, feel the warmth that tempted him so recklessly.
"Tomorrow I'm going out."
Ivan's voice broke through the haze and snapped Axel back into the present.
For a split second, he had forgotten the hall, the hundreds of voices around them, the very fact of where he sat. All of it had disappeared into the chaos of his head until Ivan's words dragged him back. The noise of the hall returned like a rush in his ears.
"So I want you to cover for me," Ivan added.
"What do you mean cover for you?!" Axel asked, his throat dry. He swallowed hard, struggling to pull his composure back together.
"They don't allow us to leave once we're inside here," Ivan explained, his tone calm but insistent. "But I need".. his voice pressed on that word, need..."to go out tomorrow. So in case of anything, I need you to give an excuse for me. Sometimes the guy comes to mark the register late at night."
Axel froze.
They don't let us out at all?! That could only mean Ivan was planning to sneak out. And now, Axel realized with a twist in his gut that he would have no choice but to find his own way out, too.
"I'm not doing that," Axel said firmly, meeting Ivan's request with defiance. "I'm not your friend, definitely not your slave, and I'm not going to get into any trouble because of you." He added, "This is supposed to be a bully-free institution, and all you've done since I saw you is bully others. You just made my friend give up his chair so you could sit here! What do you see yourself as... a god or something?!"
"I politely asked," Ivan replied smoothly, his eyes fixed ahead. "If he didn't want to move, he could have refused. But instead, he chose to stand. How is that bullying? And… I wonder why you're the only one who talks to me however you feel like. Even strong Alphas watch their words carefully when speaking to me."
"So you're calling me a weak Alpha?" Axel shot back.
"You said it yourself," Ivan answered simply, still refusing to turn his head.
"I'm never talking to you again," Axel snapped, his voice low but hard. "And I'm definitely not doing what you just asked me. If you're so strong and powerful, stronger than all the others, then why don't you just walk into the office and ask for permission to go wherever you want, or just walk out of the gate without permissio..."
Before he could finish, a wave of silence swept through the crowd. Sudden silence. Heads turned toward the entrance in unison.
Whispers rippled, quick and reverent. "Alpha Norman…"
Axel stiffened.
He had never seen Alpha Norman before, but he had heard enough about him. His eyes slid instinctively toward Ivan as if to check how he reacts to his father's presence.
And... unlike everyone else craning their necks, Ivan didn't move. He only stared straight ahead, composed.. his posture still, but Axel caught the faintest tension on him, so subtle most would miss it. But Axel noticed.
Alpha Norman stepped forward, followed by other men and women, their presence commanding as they moved toward the front of the hall.