Passing through the hallway after exploring the tuition area, Axel tried to ignore the people around him.
He had no desire to get close to anyone, so he focus ahead and moved, hoping to remain unnoticed.
His plan worked well enough until a sound slipped through the quiet of the hallway. A voice. Familiar. Too familiar. It froze him where he stood.
There were no people around there.
He almost kept walking, but that voice held him in place. Ivan. And another, deeper, older voice that followed. Alpha Norman.
The voices came from behind a closed door. Axel's heart raced as he realized he was eavesdropping, but his feet would not carry him away.
"This is not about you! This is me, my reputation!" Alpha Norman's voice snapped like a whip. "You're not the one suffering from your failures. I am! Three years, Ivan. Three years past the age when you were supposed to find your mate. Is she dead or something?! The maximum age you can go without a mate is twenty years! You are now twenty one, and still nothing! And you still want to come out here, showing your failures to everyone?!"
The words hit Axel like cold water. Ivan wasn't twenty as he had believed... he was twenty-one. The revelation startled him, sending his mind racing. He pressed closer to the door without realizing it.
"You want to keep saying maybe she is younger? That maybe she isn't of age yet? You know no one would believe that especially now that you're past twenty!" Alpha Norman's voice grew sharper with every word.
"If there is an age gap, it is never more than two years. You are past that! Everyone knows that a wolf who doesn't find their mate by twenty must be wrong in some way. Either they are not recognized by the moon goddess, or they did something terrible. You are coming back home with me right now, and you are going to claim Aria from Bluemoon pack. This conversation is over. I will not discuss it again. Let's go."
"No." Ivan's voice came firm, low, steady, defiant. "I'm not claiming anyone who isn't my mate. I would rather die lonely."
The silence that followed was heavy, broken only by Alpha Norman's low growl of warning. "For the last time..."
"I found my mate," Ivan cut in suddenly.
The world spun for Axel. His heart slammed painfully inside his chest, and his breath hitched.
Ivan found his mate?
He had spent time trying to keep his distance from Ivan, but hearing that he had found someone else caused him sudden pain his heart.
"But she's not of age yet," Ivan continued, steady in his claim. "She's seventeen. Her name is Chloe Wolfe."
Axel's vision blurred for a second. From sudden heartbreak of thinking he just lost Ivan, to panic that Ivan just spoke of Chloe... Him. and just introduced that version to his father as his true mate.
Axel's stomach twisted violently. What had he done? He had never imagined the lie could reach this far.
"It's only a matter of months before she turns eighteen," Ivan pressed on. "I'm certain she really is my mate. I can feel it with everything in me. And if you think I'm lying that maybe she doesn't exist, then, here is her picture."
Axel's knees weakened, his body trembling. He wanted to shout that Chloe wasn't real, that this was a mistake, but his throat closed tight.
Every instinct told him to run, but his body wouldn't move. He stood frozen in the narrow space, listening to the lie spiral further out of his control.
"If you know she's not here right now, then what are you doing here?" Alpha Norman's voice struck again, harsh and filled with disbelief. "Just so people can once more watch you leave here without a mate?"
"I like it here," Ivan answered. His voice was firm, not breaking under his father's anger. "I can't stand everyone at the pack house and the suffocating walls there."
Alpha Norman's tone sharpened further. "Which rank is she from? Your brother has a beta-ranked mate, so it only makes sense if your mate is from an Alpha family. Not some weak, filthy omega with no power. If this person you're talking about isn't an Alpha heir, then you are wrong. You cannot be mated to an omega."
"She's an omega." Ivan's reply came flat and unwavering. "And yes, she is my mate. And I'm done talking about this."
Axel's breath caught in his throat. His body trembled harder. Footsteps sounded inside the room, quick, like someone moving toward the door. Before Axel could force himself to run, the sound of a scuffle broke out inside. Angry voices clashed.
"Who do you think you're walking away from?!" Alpha Norman roared. "You don't get it, do you? You, marrying an omega, is worth nothing! But marrying an Alpha heir like Aria gives you everything... strengthens our pack, gives us access to more packs! If you keep being stubborn about that worthless omega you don't even know well.. you know what I'll do to her, don't you? I've worked too hard to let you throw this away. Becoming an alliance president wasn't easy! I built this Academy for a reason, for something bigger, and it's only a step away from success. You will not ruin that for me!"
"What does your greed for power have to do with this academy?" Ivan's voice fired back, fearless.
"You will not speak to me like that!" Norman snapped.
Without warning, the door burst open. Ivan stormed out, his steps hard and fast. Axel bolted away, his heart hammering wildly, found off guard, his fear burning through his body. If Ivan had looked back, even once, he would have seen him there.
"Ivan!" His father's voice thundered after him, but Ivan didn't stop. He disappeared down the hallway, ignoring the call.
Axel ducked into the nearest corner, trembling, his back pressed against the wall. His breath came uneven, his body shaking at the thought of being caught listening.
When Alpha Norman's door slammed shut again, Axel forced his legs to move. He rushed away, mind spinning out of control.
He pushed himself toward the dining hall, drawn by the noise of the gathered students. Maybe the voices, the laughter, the clattering of trays would drown out his thoughts, even if only for a moment.
He stepped inside and moved toward the serving line, but his head was still far away, clouded by what he had heard.
'Ivan truly believes Chloe was his mate. His father is pressuring him to claim someone else, but Ivan clearly isn't going to ,he wants Chloe.'
Alpha Norman's disgust for omegas burned clearly in his words .. he wanted his son tied only to strength, to an Alpha heir, not to someone weaker.
And... If he despised the idea of a female omega, what would he do if he ever learned the truth, that Chloe wasn't real, and Axel... a male omega stood in her place?
The thought made Axel's chest ache. He sat down at an empty table, eyes staring into nothing. His thoughts tangled and knotted. He murmured quietly to himself, a whisper barely leaving his lips. "Too much for day one."
He sighed heavily, trying to ease the pressure inside him. "All of this is not my business, Chloe isn't my business," he told himself. "I want to stay out of it. I lied about being an Alpha. That's already too much."
The words felt hollow, but he clung to them as the table suddenly filled, finding him off guard. Adrian slid in beside him, followed by four others... Alphas, judging by their presence, their easy confidence, the wicked smirks...
Axel stiffened, confusion and unease creeping through him as he assessed them...
One with sleek black hair that framed his bold face, grey piercing eyes, another's dark locks carried streaks of striking green that gave him a rebellious edge, while the third wore natural brown strands falling on his forehead , and then lastly... Adrian, his hair black and a vivid red from dye. He didn't have that the last Axel saw him, so when and where had he done that?! Regardless of his questions, he couldn't deny that it had made him more striking.
But.. why were they surrounding him anyway? Many tables were still empty.