Axel had slept late into the night, cursing Ivan in his head until exhaustion finally dragged him under.
After everything that had unfolded, after all the drama clinging to him like smoke, waking the next morning was the last thing he wanted.
It wasn't only stubbornness keeping him buried under the covers, his body simply refused. His muscles still felt weighed down, his mind still bruised and raw from the storm of the night before.
"Hey. Aren't you going to attend the lecture? Or did you not even bother to look at your Saturday schedule?" His new roommate's voice cut through his restless sleep, followed by a firm shake against his shoulder.
Axel groaned, turning his back and pulling the blanket tighter over himself.
In this room, he shared space with three others.
The room itself mirrored Ivan's in size, the same white-tiled floors and clean white walls gleaming under the morning light. But unlike Ivan's, which had only two beds, this one was crowded with four narrow frames, two on each side. Still fancy, still comfortable, but undeniably different.
Last night, he had half believed Isaac... the matron would march him straight into an omega hostel, but instead, the man had led him to this room down the same hall, still on Ivan's floor.
The relief had crashed over him so hard he nearly collapsed under it. Isaac had trusted his word about being alpha. That narrow escape had saved him.
If Ivan had insisted on a blood test, Axel would have been finished. No excuses, no lies could have saved him from being exposed.
He told himself he was glad, that having a new room was exactly what he needed. Away from Ivan, away from the tension that had already almost ruined him. Yet deep down, something felt unsettled. A part of him wanted to remain close Ivan, to keep the constant tug alive. Another part whispered the opposite, that distance was safety, that survival demanded he put space between them.
Maybe this was the universe giving him a chance. After all, hadn't Ivan humiliated him enough? Throwing him out, calling for Isaac to dump him in an omega hostel, it was a slap he wasn't about to forgive. Now that fate had delivered separation, Axel would embrace it.
He told himself last night had been reckless. Seduction had been his choice, but not that directly, not so soon. He had intended to be patient, to weave his way in carefully. But Ivan had refused to hand him the towel. He had mocked him instead, saying it was childish to act so shy when they were both men.
And when Ivan's gaze landed on his bare body, Axel had seen the truth. That reaction had startled Ivan himself as much as it had startled Axel.
Axel hadn't expected it to affect Ivan so deeply. And yet it had. Somewhere beneath his frustration, a smirk lingered... because it proved Ivan wasn't untouched by him.
It wasn't one-sided. Whatever had been between them online, the fire they had shared through words, wasn't just imagination. It lived in the flesh too.
But Ivan was Ivan. A man who clearly refused to let the thought of desire toward another man exist, let alone burn, so he threw him out.
Axel decided, the night before that it was time to put distance between himself and Ivan, especially now that Ivan had made it easier.
They both needed to kill whatever feelings lingered between them.
But after last night when Ivan had humiliated him by throwing him out and calling the matron to drag him to an Omega hostel, Axel swore his revenge would be silence. He would disappear both as himself and as Chloe.
He wouldn't reply to him. He wouldn't meet him. And he sure as hell wouldn't try to seduce him again just to erase Chloe. Let Ivan deal with this on his own.
They would both deal with their obsessions in their own ways. Let Ivan choke on the absence for what he did to him!
Axel turned again in his bed as the room stirred with morning noise. His sleep slipped further away with every sound, especially with his roommate shaking him nonstop.
"Dallas. Dude, why don't you leave him alone? If he doesn't want to wake up, it's none of your business," one of the other roommates muttered, his voice flat, unreadable.
Dallas ignored him. With a swift tug, he yanked the covers off Axel, leaving him exposed to the morning chill. "You know what happens if you skip lectures. They check attendance. You want them coming down on you? Get up, sleepyhead! There are consequences.."
The word consequences snapped Axel awake. His eyes shot open and bolted upright.
"Why the hell do we have lectures on a weekend?!" he groaned, dragging himself toward the bathroom, every movement heavy with frustration.
"Because they don't want us with too much free time," Dallas answered easily, leaning back on his bed. "You know what happens if we're left with hours to kill.. newly fated mates lose their heads. So they keep us busy. Now hurry, you've got five minutes before you're late."
Axel twisted the knob, letting warm water crash over his body. His shower lasted less than two minutes, just enough to shock him awake.
Only after then did he remember... Again, no towel. No clothes either.
No way was he stepping out naked in front of three alphas. Not again.
"Dallas! Toss me my towel and clothes," he called, voice rushed, he described the clothes he wanted.
Unlike Ivan's arrogance, Dallas didn't hesitate. He handed them over without question, though not without teasing. "Really? Dressing in the bathroom? What are you, a child? What are you shy about?"
"People make fun of my body, so no," Axel muttered through the door as he struggled into his shirt. "I'm not letting anyone see me. Is it my fault I got sick and ended up like this?!"
When he finally stepped out, tugging at his sleeves, the other two roommates had already left. Dallas was still there, changing into another clothes.
Axel's gaze flicked to him... broad shoulders, lean muscle, a body sculpted like all the other Alphas in this academy, because it seemed so. Dallas stood bare for a moment, completely unbothered.
Axel felt nothing.
Not a spark, not a tremor.
It was almost laughable. Dallas was attractive in every sense, but Axel's body stayed quiet, untouched. The contrast struck him harder than expected.. because with Ivan, even a glimpse of his bare chest alone had lit a fire under his skin so fierce he thought it might consume him alive.