Chapter 9 – The Enemy's Lesson
Monday, 10:00 a.m.
Advanced Pheromone Manipulation & Combat Application
Professor: Cassian Valerius
The lecture hall was a circular coliseum sunk three stories underground, walls lined with scent-dampening obsidian, floor reinforced to survive Apex-level combat.
Only thirty students were allowed in.
All Prime or Apex.
All hand-picked.
All lethal.
I walked in wearing the smallest, softest version of myself: white sweater two sizes too big, rose-gold choker glowing like a target, hair tied with a pale pink ribbon.
Kael had tried to forbid me from taking this class.
I had cried for exactly seven minutes until he carried me to registration himself.
Cassian Valerius was already waiting at the center of the ring.
He had healed perfectly since Kael broke his nose two weeks ago (too perfectly). The kind of healing that came with private gene therapy and spite.
Tall, blond, cruel mouth. Crimson choker blazing.
He had hated Kael since they were twelve and Cassian lost the national junior tournament because Kael made him kneel with a single look.
Now Cassian's eyes fixed on me the second I stepped through the door.
"Prince Rui," he said, voice honey over broken glass. "What a delightful surprise."
Every head turned.
Kael wasn't in this class (he had tested out years ago), but his presence still haunted the room like smoke.
I gave Cassian the shyest smile I could manage.
"I heard this was the hardest elective," I said quietly. "I wanted to learn properly."
Cassian's smile widened, predatory.
"Of course. Omegas are exempt from practical combat, but theory is encouraged. Sit wherever you like."
There was only one empty seat: front row, dead center, directly in front of him.
I took it.
The lights dimmed. Holographic displays ignited.
**Subject: Pheromone Overload & Forced Submission Techniques**
Cassian paced like a lion.
"Today," he began, "we study the difference between domination and annihilation. Alphas command. Primes overwhelm. Apexes break. But there is a theoretical rank above Apex."
He let the silence hang.
"Enigma," he said finally. "Extinct. Allegedly capable of rewriting another person's instincts permanently with a single targeted pheromone pulse. No resistance. No recovery. Total ownership."
He looked straight at me.
"Some people," he said, "like to pretend they're fragile just to get close enough to try it."
My pulse didn't even flicker.
I raised my hand.
Cassian's eyebrow arched. "Yes, little prince?"
"Wouldn't that make Enigmas the perfect predators?" I asked, voice soft. "If no one believes they exist, no one guards against them."
The room went very still.
Cassian smiled with too many teeth.
"Exactly," he said. "Which is why, for today's demonstration, we're going to practice detecting masked pheromones."
He tapped a remote.
The floor opened. A steel chair rose from below, fitted with restraints and a collar that looked suspiciously like a choker (black, matte, no glow).
"Volunteer?" he asked the room.
No one moved.
His gaze slid to me.
"Prince Rui," he said pleasantly. "Since you're so curious about hidden predators, why don't you help me demonstrate how we test for them?"
Twenty-nine Alphas turned to watch.
I stood slowly.
"Of course, Professor," I said.
I walked to the chair like I was walking to my own coronation.
Cassian fastened the restraints himself (wrists, ankles, waist). His fingers lingered on the rose-gold choker.
"Beautiful craftsmanship," he murmured. "Almost looks real."
I smiled up at him, eyes wide.
"It is real," I whispered. "Would you like to test it?"
Something dark flickered in his eyes (recognition, hunger, rage).
He snapped the black collar around my neck over the rose-gold one. It locked with a soft click.
Immediately the room's scent-dampeners reversed. Every pheromone in the hall flooded in, amplified.
Cassian stepped back and released his own.
Prime Alpha, pure aggression, the scent of crushed steel and burning cedar (designed to force submission).
Most students dropped their eyes. A few whimpered.
I sat perfectly still, breathing slow and even.
Cassian frowned.
He increased the output.
Still nothing.
The collar around my neck began to glow red (warning: overload detected).
Cassian's smile faltered.
"Interesting," he said. "Let's try something stronger."
He hit a second button.
The collar injected a synthetic Apex-grade suppressant directly into my carotid.
Normal Omegas would have passed out screaming.
I tilted my head and smiled.
"Professor," I said gently, "you're leaking."
Because Cassian was sweating now. His own pheromones were rebounding, turning against him.
I let the tiniest thread escape (0.8 seconds).
Dark. Metallic. Gunpowder and winter void.
Cassian staggered.
Every Alpha in the front three rows dropped to their knees at once, gasping.
The collar around my neck sparked, cracked, and fell off in two pieces.
I stood up from the chair (restraints still locked, but the metal had melted where my wrists touched).
Cassian stared at me like he was seeing a ghost.
I walked forward until I was nose-to-nose with him.
"You wanted to know what an Enigma feels like," I whispered, soft enough that only he could hear.
I let the full weight of it out (just for him).
Cassian's knees hit the floor so hard the sound echoed.
His crimson choker flickered, dimmed, then went dark (dead).
I leaned down, patted his cheek gently.
"Class dismissed," I said.
Then I turned and walked out.
The hallway monitors caught the rest.
Twenty-nine Alphas on their knees.
Cassian Valerius trembling on the floor, eyes rolled back, whispering one word over and over:
"Rui… Rui… Rui…"
I took the elevator up to the surface, fixed my ribbon, and went to find Kael.
He was waiting outside the library, leaning against the wall, arms crossed.
He took one look at my face and straightened.
"What happened?"
I smiled (sweet, shy, perfect).
"Nothing," I said. "Professor Valerius just taught me a very important lesson."
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"Which is?"
I rose on tiptoes and kissed the corner of his mouth.
"That some people," I whispered, "should never try to put a collar on something that was born to own the world."
His arms came around me instantly, crushing me close.
"Rui," he said, low and dangerous. "Tell me."
I buried my face in his chest and let him feel the tiny tremor I allowed just for him.
"Later," I said. "Take me home first."
He didn't ask again.
He carried me all the way back to the Eclipse Penthouse, past whispering students and shattered rumors.
Behind us, in the underground coliseum, Cassian Valerius was still on his knees, staring at the melted restraints, whispering my name like a prayer and a curse.
Phase four had begun.
The enemy had a face now.
And he had just learned what happens when prey realizes it was never prey at all.