Thread by thread.
And I was running out of thread.
The next morning hit like a brick wall.
I’d barely slept. A couple hours, maybe. Just enough to drift into a haze and dream about flames licking at my heels and eyes watching me from the trees. Familiar eyes. And whispers I couldn’t understand.
When I woke, Derrick was gone.
Dalton too.
The room was empty. Morning light filtered softly through the canopy curtains. The scent of their cologne still clung to the air-one sharp and citrusy, the other warm and musky. And I hated that I knew the difference.
I sat up slowly, brushing hair from my face. The black lace was still under my pillow like a ghost. I grabbed it, crumpled it into a ball, and shoved it deep into my backpack where it belonged.
Far away from perverted hands.
Far away from temptation.
Breakfast was over by the time I made it downstairs, but I didn’t care. The idea of sitting at a table with them made my stomach turn. I grabbed an apple from the counter and ducked out before anyone could ask questions. The halls were already buzzing with students heading to morning drills, but I needed air. Real air. Not testosterone-infested, pheromone-heavy air.
I stepped outside, the cool wind slapping me in the face like a wake-up call. Birds chirped in the trees. The sky was soft blue with hints of morning mist rising over the fields.
Peace. For two seconds.
Then I heard a familiar voice call my name.
I turned around.
Reyes, my savior. Maybe he was right. We were going to be best friends after all.
DERRICK POV
The scent still haunted me.
Even after a freezing shower, two hours of restless tossing, and one brutal sparring match with Dalton, I could still smell it. Lingering on my clothes. Burrowed under my skin. Kai’s scent.
Fu.cking hell.
It wasn’t even just the smell anymore-it was the memory of how it felt. The way it had wrapped around me like heat, like static before a storm. The way my entire body had gone rigid the second it hit me, primal instinct roaring awake like a beast I barely kept caged.
I wasn’t supposed to care that much. Wasn’t supposed to notice things like that. But ever since I’d cornered him in the library-ever since that explosion of panic behind golden eyes and that goddamn sweet scent hit me like a landmine-I hadn’t been able to think about anything else.
Kai.
The name tasted dangerous in my mind. Too soft for someone who made me feel like *this*.
It was his name that echoed every time I closed my eyes. His scent that wrapped around my thoughts like a noose. Him I wanted to pin again. Not even to scare him-no, not just that. I wanted to feel him tremble, to hear that tiny breath catch, to lean in and press my face into the curve of his neck. Just once. Just long enough to memorize it. Long enough to feel real.
And the worst part?
I wasn’t even sure he was a girl.
But I felt it.
Somewhere deep down, instinct didn’t give a damn about clothes or pronouns or what anyone said. Instinct said mine. And I trusted my instincts more than anything. They’d never lied before.
Yesterday, when I got back to our room after dinner, my jaw nearly cracked with how tight I clenched it. Dalton was there, messing with Kai’s bed. Changing the sheets. Casual as hell.
Said it was a prank. Said Kai got mad. Said this was his way of apologizing.
Bullshit.
I saw the way he looked at him. The way he touched the blankets. Too careful. Too calculated.
He was thinking the same thing I was.
And that was a fuc.king problem.
Because if Kai was something more-if that body was hiding something soft, something secret-then it wasn’t going to be for Dalton to find out.
It was going to be *me*.
If Kai was available, he was going to be mine.
And only mine.
I don’t share. Not with anyone. Especially not with someone like Dalton. Golden-boy. Ironed shirts and perfect posture. Smiles that fooled professors and alphas alike.
No. He could go fu.ck himself.
I hadn’t even been able to sleep properly until I knew Kai was back. I’d laid there for hours, pretending to read a book, eyes fixed on the ceiling while my ears strained for the sound of the door creaking. When it finally opened-when I heard the soft patter of bare feet-I let my eyes
close for real. Let the tension bleed from my shoulders. Just enough to drift off.
He was in.
He was safe.
That was all I needed.
…almost.
The next morning, I caught Dalton peeking through the curtains around Kai’s bed like some pathetic lovesick voyeur.
I almost growled. Caught it in my throat just in time. My jaw ached from how tight I bit down.
He had no fu.cking right.
So I did the next best thing.
“Let’s spar,” I said.
He raised an eyebrow, like he didn’t know exactly what this was about. But he agreed. Of course he did. He wanted to hit me as much as I wanted to break his perfect fucking nose.
So we went to the gym. Empty. Cold. Quiet. Just the two of us and the weight of everything we didn’t say.
We didn’t hold back.
Punches landed. Skin bruised. Blood spilled. The kind of fight that left your soul aching more than your body.
We both knew exactly what we were fighting for.
And who.
Afterwards, I hit the showers. Water cold enough to burn. I stood under it, hands braced against the tiles, and told myself I was cleansing. Washing him away.
Didn’t work.
That scent was still there. Still in my lungs. Still under my fingernails. Still carved into my
memory.
So yeah. I gave in.
Twice.
Not proud of it. But it was that or lose my goddamn mind. I wasn’t built to bottle things up.
First time was quick. Controlled. Breathing heavy and jaw clenched, Kai’s face burning behind my eyes like a fever dream.
Second time was rougher. Sloppier. Shame curled in my chest the second I was done.
Didn’t matter.
Because none of it satisfied me.
Not really.
All it did was remind me what I didn’t have. Not yet.
When I was done, I dried off, pulled on a clean shirt, nodded at Dalton like we hadn’t just used each other as punching bags and jerked off to the same ghost, and left.
Only one thought in my head:
Find Kai.
Remind him.
Remind him what it felt like to have my hands on him. My body pressed into his. My breath brushing the shell of his ear.
My fingers still remembered the way his waist fit into my grip. That slight twitch under my thumb when I’d touched his pulse point. The way his whole body had tensed, like he didn’t know whether to run, scream, or lean in.
I needed that again.
So when I saw him in the hallway-head down, hoodie pulled up, walking too fast-I nearly smiled.
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