In alphas and omegas, the ability to sync was more prominent in comparison to betas.
And for one to fully sync with their partners, it involved a lot of things that Neo considered shameful.
How could he—the strongest hunter in the world—hand over control of his body to someone else? Allow their teeth in his skin. A permanent mark on his neck. Ownership.
It was impossible to complete the sync bond without submitting to one's alpha. Neo would rather die first than submit to any alpha.
Armin reached to touch Neo in an attempt to pull him close. He was stopped by Neo who grabbed his hand.
His eyes darkened as they both struggled to overpower the other. Neo refused to let Armin go.
"Don't you dare…" Neo gave an incomplete warning.
Don't you dare try to mark me, he should have said. But those words were too embarrassing for him to say.
Armin's struggle slightly lessened and Neo thought that the man finally understood.
He miscalculated.
"Why doesn't Senior want us to mark him?"
Heat engulfed Neo from behind. The warm breath on his neck made him freeze. Bryce didn't touch him, yet Neo felt bound.
In his brief moment of transfixation, Armin had freed himself and closed the distance between them.
Neo was stuck in the middle of the devil and the deep blue sea.
He felt a discomforting pressure in the pit of his stomach that he couldn't tell the source of.
"Don't you want your powers back?" Armin asked.
It was a trick question.
"I never lost them."
The doctor had only said they were dormant. He didn't say they were gone forever.
"But you can't summon your needle." Bryce whispered against his neck.
The hairs on the spot stood up. Neo was now certain that Bryce was baiting him. He used his elbow to shove Bryce away but the guy didn't even budge an inch.
In fact, Neo felt a painful recoil like he had just struck a hard metal. He bit down on his lower lip to prevent himself from groaning.
He couldn't push either of them away. He realized this with a sliver of dread.
"I will not be marked." Neo was relentless.
He turned his neck to look at Bryce. "Step back."
The command in his tone was clear. "Or I'll make you step back."
Neo was a leader for many years and was very familiar with handling subordinates.
He met Bryce's metallic blue eyes, and though he could not read them, he sure as hell could send a message across.
'Do not test me.' Neo's sharp onyx eyes said.
After a beat, Bryce stepped back and shifted his gaze to the floor.
Neo turned to Armin. What he said to Bryce also applied to Armin. The president was better at recognizing cues, so he backed away without Neo needing to tell him.
Without both alphas all up in his personal space, Neo could finally breathe better.
The two of them stood in front of him, the intent to swallow him up clouded their eyes. But they remained waiting for an explanation.
Neo inhaled deeply before he began to speak.
"I have no plans to be anyone's omega. I won't hide this from you guys because you deserve to know. If you have any plans to sync with me and unlock your full potential or anything like that, it's not going to work."
"Why?" Armin asked even before Neo finished.
"Because it's my decision. I don't want sync partners." He answered harshly and the room fell into silence.
"... Is that why Senior went into the Great Dungeon?" Bryce's soft voice cut through the silence.
Neo couldn't refute the question. He had entered that place knowing there was a chance he wouldn't make it back home. His family was not even aware he would be a part of the mission until that very day.
They couldn't stop him.
Much less the thought of having a sync partner who would be left stranded should he have died on Earth.
Neo didn't care.
"So, it is." Bryce answered his own question with a bitter laugh.
"You think you can survive without a sync bond?" Armin asked Neo with narrowed eyes.
"I can." The words slipped out of his mouth before he could rephrase them.
Armin's features became menacing. It was only for a brief moment before it reverted to its usual stiffness.
"But when you weren't awake, it was the bond that—" Armin raised his hand to stop Bryce from completing his sentence.
Even with that, Neo could understand the unsaid words. Doctor Kenzie had told him that his body had been living off energy from his sync partners.
That was then, though. Not anymore.
"You can't." Armin said. "Mars isn't the same as you left it. You can't even be a proper hunter without abilities or a license. And you can't achieve either of those things without us."
"A license?"
"It requires a two-year course of study now. Intense training, field and group work. You can't go around it without me." Armin stated, so full of himself.
"Watch me," Neo straightened his back. "I don't need the power of a sync bond to achieve anything. I'll get my license and my powers without your help."
"Senior…" Bryce tried to step in, but there was no space for him between the two lions.
"If you're able to get your license or your powers back or even both in two years, I vow not to mark you or even call myself your sync partner." Armin said, dead serious.
Neo scoffed. "I can't wait to have one less sync partner."
"Shake on it." Armin proposed.
Neo stretched his hand and put it in a firm clasp with Armin's big, calloused hand. The sensation of their palms pressed together stirred something sharp and unwelcome in Neo's veins.
Neo's expression was bold.
"Deal."