It happened on a Monday.
Rain fell softly against the glass, tapping like fingers, and the hallways were unusually empty. Rayan liked it that way. Silence didn't bother him—not real silence.
What unsettled him was the kind that buzzed beneath the surface. Like now.
Something felt wrong.
He paused outside the genetics lab. The lights inside were still dimmed for the midday presentation. He was supposed to meet Kael here, but the text he sent hours ago remained unread. That wasn't like him.
Rayan stepped inside.
Empty.
That's when he heard it—a faint click of a door behind him.
Then: the scent.
Sweet. Powdery. Almost floral. Faintly masked with synthetic dampeners.
Arin.
"I warned you," the voice murmured.
Rayan turned sharply, heart lurching.
Arin leaned against the inside of the door, arms crossed, an ugly smile playing at the corners of their lips.
"I told you to be careful," they said. "But you think you're untouchable, don't you? Just because Kael follows you around like some guard dog."
Rayan didn't speak.
Arin stepped forward, slow and controlled. "Do you know what it's like to watch someone like you take up space that was never meant for you? An unregistered, unbonded, invisible Omega clinging to someone like him."
Their tone was poisonous now. "You don't even smell like one of us. You're not even real."
Rayan's nails dug into his palms. "Get away from me."
Arin's hand moved too fast.
Something sharp glinted—small, silver, a pocket cutter flashing out in their fist.
Rayan barely stepped back in time as the blade sliced through air, missing him by inches.
The door slammed open behind them.
Kael.
He didn't shout.
He didn't speak.
He moved.
One second he was behind Arin. The next, Arin was pinned to the ground, their wrist bent at a sickening angle, the knife skidding across the tiles.
Kael's hand was on their throat.
His expression didn't change.
But his grip was absolute.
Rayan stared, frozen. This wasn't a reaction. This was premeditated instinct.
"Stop!" he choked. "Kael—stop, you're going to—!"
Kael didn't even look at him.
Arin was gasping now, face red, eyes wide with fear. Not because of the pain—but because, in that moment, they realized they had been prey all along.
Only when Rayan yanked at Kael's arm—physically pulled him back—did he finally let go.
Arin collapsed, coughing, whimpering.
Kael stood, breathing slow and controlled.
Like nothing had happened.
Rayan stared at him.
And Kael finally looked back.
They didn't speak until hours later.
The rain had stopped. Kael sat near the window, watching the sky. His knuckles were bruised.
Rayan sat on the bed, silent.
"You should've let me finish it," Kael said at last.
Rayan flinched. "You were going to kill them."
Kael's eyes didn't waver. "They tried to touch what's mine."
"I'm not yours."
"Not yet."
Rayan stood abruptly, pacing. "Do you even hear yourself? Do you realize what you sound like? You're acting like I belong to you—like I'm some possession to protect or destroy!"
Kael turned, voice eerily calm. "You've never been protected before."
The words hit like a slap.
Rayan froze.
Kael stood slowly, walking toward him. "Your mother hurt you. Your father paid people to test you. You were thirteen the first time they caged you for scent suppression trials, weren't you?"
Rayan's blood went cold.
"How do you know that?" he whispered.
"I know everything, Rayan. I've always known."
He couldn't breathe.
The room was too small.
Kael's voice was soft again—too soft.
"They hurt you because they could. I would never let that happen."
Rayan backed away, heart pounding in his throat.
"You don't get to use my past to justify what you just did."
Kael blinked. "I'm not justifying it."
"Then what are you doing?"
Kael smiled faintly.
"I'm showing you that I'm the only one who's ever chosen you."
.
.
The university launched an investigation.
But not into Arin.
Into Rayan.
By morning, rumors had already spread: Rayan provoked Arin. Rayan brought an unregistered weapon to class. Rayan initiated the fight.
None of it was true.
But the truth didn't matter.
Not when Kael controlled the story.
Rayan sat outside the Dean's office, arms crossed, throat dry. Across from him, a female Omega with clipped words and a notepad asked pointed questions with soft eyes.
"Have you ever displayed unstable behavior, Mr. Lee?"
"No."
"Have you had a prior conflict with Arin Vell?"
"No."
"Were you present when Kael Riven restrained them?"
"Yes."
Her pen paused. "Did he threaten to kill them?"
Rayan hesitated.
He could still see the look on Kael's face—calm, composed, murderous.
"…No," Rayan said.
The lie tasted like iron.
That evening, he waited until Kael had stepped into the shower.
Then he grabbed his phone and headed outside the dorm, dialing a contact number that hadn't been used in years.
It rang.
And rang.
And then, finally—
"Rayan?"
The voice on the other end was tired. Wary.
His older brother.
"I need help," Rayan said quietly. "I… I think someone's watching me. Controlling me. I need a place to stay for a few days."
There was a pause.
Then, coldly: "You're still on suppressants, right?"
Rayan closed his eyes.
"This isn't about that."
His brother sighed. "You know the conditions. You want protection? Follow the rules. You disappear, stay hidden, keep your blood clean. If someone's found you, that's your problem."
The line went dead.
Rayan stood there in the dark, staring at the phone screen.
He wasn't surprised.
He was just… tired.
When he returned to the room, Kael was already sitting on the bed, towel draped around his neck. He watched Rayan with those too-sharp eyes.
"Where did you go?"
"Outside."
"Who did you call?"
"My brother."
Kael's gaze shifted.
"What did he say?"
Rayan sat on his bed, voice hollow. "He said it's my problem."
A beat of silence.
Then Kael said softly, "He's right."
The university issued its final decision two days later.
No formal charges.
Arin Vell had voluntarily taken a temporary leave from classes due to "emotional exhaustion." Rayan's request for reassignment was denied once again.
The official reason?
"Dorm placements are fixed for the academic year. For safety, all Omegas must remain in their assigned Alpha-supervised housing."
Kael's name was printed in bold on the reassignment forms.
His title: Certified Alpha Guardian.
Signed, approved, sealed.
Rayan stared at the document long after the staff left the room.
He wasn't even angry anymore.
He just felt… numb.
He looked up at Kael, who stood beside the desk like this was all a normal part of life.
"You planned this."
Kael didn't deny it.
"You told them what to say. Who to blame."
Still no denial.
Rayan whispered, "You've made sure there's nowhere for me to go."
Kael finally met his gaze.
"I made sure you'd never have to be afraid again."
That night, Rayan dreamed of white walls.
Not the safe kind—but the kind soaked in fluorescent lights and sterile silence.
He was younger. Smaller.
A metal collar burned around his neck as masked researchers watched him tremble during a simulated heat cycle. One made notes. Another drew blood.
He wasn't speaking in the dream, but he could hear himself scream.
He woke up breathless, heart racing, sweat-drenched sheets tangled around his legs.
Kael sat beside his bed.
He didn't say anything.
Just placed a cool glass of water on the table and pulled the blanket higher around Rayan's shoulders.
Then he whispered:
"You don't have to remember it alone anymore."