The dining hall smelled of roasted meat, sweet pastries, and something else… intoxicatingly sharp. My stomach growled despite my nerves, and I cursed under my breath. Focus. Survival. Don't make a fool of yourself.
Alpha Kairo didn't wait for me to sit. He simply pulled out the chair across from him and gestured. "Sit," he commanded.
I obeyed immediately, my body betraying me even before my mind caught up. Something about him—his height, the dominance in his posture, the way his dark eyes bored into mine—made my pulse race.
"You eat quickly," he observed, tilting his head slightly, as if reading the tiniest detail about me. "Do you always try to get away with everything?"
I froze. Oh no, he can hear me. "I… I just—" My thoughts tumbled out before I could stop them: I need to survive. I need to escape. Don't let him know I'm pretending.
His smirk was slow, deliberate, and utterly infuriating. "Interesting," he said. "So you think you can escape me."
My face burned. I couldn't tell if it was embarrassment or something else, something deeper that twisted inside me when he leaned forward, the faintest heat radiating off his body. I hated that it made me flinch—and want to lean closer at the same time.
We ate in tense silence, though I knew he was watching me. Everything I do, he notices. Every forkful, every glance, every tiny shift in posture. My stomach churned, and not just from fear.
After a few minutes, he spoke again. "Do you understand what it means to be an omega here?"
I hesitated. "I… think so. Omegas can't resist an alpha's… influence?"
His dark gaze sharpened. "You're not thinking clearly. It's not just influence. It's instinct. It's control. And if I choose… you will respond to me whether you like it or not."
My chest tightened. Whether I like it or not… The words made something flutter inside me that I wasn't ready to name. Desire? Fear? Both?
He leaned closer, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous whisper. "And I can hear every thought you have. Every fear, every hesitation, every forbidden little attraction you try to hide."
I swallowed, my throat dry. "Y-You… you can hear that?"
His smirk turned into something darker, more possessive. "Everything. And you're already tempting me, stand-in omega. I can feel it."
The way he said it—calm, cold, yet… intimate—made my knees feel weak. I forced myself to look away, but the pull of him, magnetic and dangerous, made it impossible.
"You think you can trick me," he said, voice softer now, almost… gentle, but laced with threat. "But I can tell when your heart races for me. You can't lie, even with your body."
I wanted to protest, to scream that this was wrong, that this wasn't me, that I needed to escape—but my body didn't respond. My heart pounded, my face flushed, my breathing hitched. I was… melting under his gaze.
And that was when I realized something terrifying: I'm already falling for him.
The alpha in front of me, cold and dominating, wasn't just reading my mind—he was unraveling me, piece by piece, until all I could think about was him.
Dinner ended, but I didn't want to move. I wanted to stay, trapped in this dangerous tension, my body betraying me even more with every heartbeat.
And Alpha Kairo? He noticed.
He stood, towering above me, and leaned down slightly. "Remember this," he whispered, close enough that I could feel his breath against my ear. "The moment you think about leaving… I will know. And I will make you want to stay."
My stomach lurched. Desire, fear, and panic twisted inside me, leaving me dizzy.
This was no longer just survival. This was war. And the battlefield was my heart