Eve jerked back violently at the words, his eyes welling up with tears at once. He was so worn out from everything-his new school, his parents, himself, even his life-that even a minor jolt could have caused him to collapse. He sniffled as he pondered why everyone was being so cruel to him.

"H-Hey, are you crying?" The naked boy frowned in panic as he noticed

Eve's trembling body and soft sniffling sounds. He rushed out of his bed and stridden towards Eve with his long legs.

Seeing him getting near, Eve backed off. Because this student stood out from the rest. He is more bigger, stronger, and had a dark red rose tattooed on his right shoulder who's black petals end on his neck and collarbone. He is also taller, broader, and more muscular.

"I'm so sorry, kid; I was in a bad mood. I didn't mean to scare you," He shrieks and continues to rant while towering over Eve. He grabbed Eve's wrist and helped him get to his new bed in front of the other bed without stopping to think or giving the poor boy time to calm down because his frightening form wasn't helping it. Eve sat there and let out a tired sigh, he wanted to sleep so badly. "Are you feeling better now and I'm sorry again. Now can you tell me what's the matter?"

Eve looked at him with wet eyelashes and a red nose, and examined his face. And sure he appeared to be unaware that Eve would be staying in this room. The muscled boy appeared to believe that this could never be the case. Eve still didn't feel comfortable speaking, so he turned his head and looked at his bags on the floor, and the boy followed his gaze.

"Are those yours?" He asked puzzledly. Eve didn't feel right about his question, it made his chest tight for some reason, so he sheepishly nodded.

The naked boy ponders for some time, lost in his own thoughts, his broad shoulders and hard muscles on display. After some time, he smiled widely.

"This is the new semester, right? Are you a newbie? Where's your batch, show me?"

His smile was confident, like a beam of sunlight flickered across his face. A warm and pleasantly bright dimple forms on his cheeks which calms down Eve a little, not feeling much scared near this boy now, he lets his guards

down a little.

"Yes," Eve let out softly, innocently looking up at him. "B-Batch?"

"Oh, how could you possibly have any? You've just arrived," River clarified. "My name is River, by the way."

River shuffled his shirt which he picked up from the floor. He extended it in the air and showed Eve a simple red batch that was attached just above the pocket and resembled more like a sparkling red stone. "Everyone is required to wear them; the batches represent the kind of crime committed by each student or who are the big dogs you should never go near." Eve nods in understanding. "Your rank and position in this school will be determined by your batch, much like a ranking system. The higher your rank, the more power you possess."

River mischievously smiled and leaned into Eve, causing him to panic and pull his head back.

"You already know why your roommate was chosen in advance and why you were given this dorm, right?" River narrows his eyes across the room and Eve shakes his head apprehensively. "I knew it!"

River leaped enthusiastically, frightening the poor boy with his sudden outburst. Eve squinted his eyes and whimpered in pain as River jumped and sat by his side and squeezed both of his arms.

River observed the terrifying face in front of him with narrowed eyes.

"I can't believe a small squirming vulnerable thing is going to stay here," River rambled, Eve didn't understand anything and looked confused even more. "You look like you could be a perfect Luna though."

"Lu-what?" Eve asked, jerking unstoppable to break from his grip but the latter was totally oblivious to his pain.

"Luna," River said but Eve still frowned his brows and scrunched his nose in confusion. He ruffled Eve's hair because he finds this new boy adorable.

"Have you ever read one of those cliché werewolf stories featuring the Alpha, the baddest and most powerful of them all? who was destined to find his mate. After they mate, she becomes Luna, and the two of them go on to rule the entire pack. Although, this isn't some supernatural shit and you are a 'he' instead of a she, but I suppose that's not the issue," He continued babbling nonsense, misinterpreting Eve's wincing in pain as mere confusion, and rolled his eyes. "You must have read them, come on. You appear to be a nerd who spends his entire time reading grimm fairy tales in his cocoon. Nerds are destined to do that shit."

"Have y-you read t-them?" Eve asked, a little offended.

"I have, my sister used to make me read them for her before going to bed," River sighed and let out strongly. "However, I'm not a nerd."

'Hypocrite' Eve muttered under his breath. Putting his full force he freed himself.

"What did you say?" River asked in suspicion.

Eve stumbled on his words, "When will I be able to get my batch?"

River evilly smiled and plopped back on the bed and started at the ceiling. "Already desperate to get into power, aren't we luna? But it's not your fault, a little taste of power and you would be deep in the venom of tasting it again and again until you become too addicted."

Eve ignored his psychology class and corrected him. "My name is Eve."

With his honey-brown eyes, River returned his gaze to Eve. "Nice name, however, I've already chosen you as my luna, so I'm going to call you that,"

He stands up abruptly and looks seriously at Eve. His constant mood swings and bouncing around reminded him of monkeys, but he didn't say anything.

"I'll keep an eye out for you; just let me know if anything happens to you. I will beat the shit out of anyone for you, except for those you know who are out of my reach. But that's only one there and he's my friend so no big deal," He promised Eve his reliability.

Eve subtly let out a soft smile at his generosity. He reasoned that perhaps his new roommate wasn't all that bad and he was just overly afraid. River returned the smile and fluffed his hair, which made the newbie's cheeks warm up.

A bell's sound interrupted them. River laughed as Eve flinched in response to the sudden loud noise.

"It's for dinner. This is not the bell you should be afraid of but the devil's hour bell," River told him seriously, not looking like he was joking or messing around with him.

"W-What?"

"The nine o'clock bell. We call it the devil's hour," River stood up before Eve could ask what he meant. "It's time to eat. Come on, I'll have to explain the rules and share more information about the batches and ranks after

dinner." River grabs his wrist and lifts him up. "But first and foremost, I need to tell you about your Alpha."

Eve gulped perplexedly.

"A-Alpha?