The monotonous ticking that filled the silent room was becoming unbearable.

Leo looked away from his notes, dropped his pen with a groan, and glanced sideways at the old wooden clock.

It was 10 PM.

He patted his cheeks hard, trying to stay awake—he was falling asleep on a Friday night. He turned his gaze back to the historical novel resting on his desk, it had more than 1000 pages and he was only on page 653.

What a Friday night—summarizing a historical novel for a presentation.

He looked at his phone. There were two new messages in the group chat he had with Jared and North. He wondered if they were talking about the pheromone party they were attending that same Friday. He opened it—the messages were two photos that Leo found uninteresting. North had written a perverted comment trying to provoke the dark-haired boy. If he only knew what really excited him, he'd be speechless.

A bit disappointed, he noticed there were no photos of Jared.

Should he write in the group and ask what they were doing?

"God, you're such an idiot," his inner voice whispered to him. In the first photo, you could see a young woman's bare breasts, covered with red marks that clearly came from hickeys. He felt the bitter taste of envy. Had it been Jared? Whoever it was, that amply answered the question of what they were doing.

They were at a pheromone party. North had come of age a few weeks ago and had been the first to ask Jared to get him tickets. It was an elite party that only a few had the privilege of attending. Leo was almost sure North had taken some kind of rut inducer to go to the pheromone party. He just hoped Jared hadn't taken anything. It could be dangerous. His ruts were usually extremely strong, according to what he'd told him.

He was about to write in the group to ask about Jared when he received a private message from North that automatically killed his desire:

Leo you're not going to believe it. Clara is at the party

Clara was the most popular omega at the institute, an authentic dominant beauty who had all the alphas going crazy. However, except for Jared, none had dared approach her since her family was in the high political sphere. And she was a dominant omega—nobody wanted to test the pheromones of dominant omegas.

Leo looked at the message again. What should he respond? That he wished her dead? It didn't seem appropriate even though they were friends and had trust.

He let out a few curses under his breath.

With trembling hands he proceeded to write a message as pathetic as himself.

I didn't know Clara went to those parties. If she's in heat, Jared hit the jackpot

I'm going to keep studying, tell me about it later

He turned off his phone.

His mind, ready to torture him, sent him fictional images of possible scenarios. He remembered the hickeys on the breasts in the photo and wondered how it would feel if Jared did the same to him.

Automatically he looked at his pectorals—they were firm and broad. He trained obsessively and it showed in his physique. He lifted his shirt and lightly touched his nipples. His areolas weren't as large as the young woman's in the photo, but his nipples were pink. A familiar tingling ran through his groin, and without thinking he brought his right hand to his member, feeling it harden under his touch. He pulled his hand away, angry with himself. He hadn't even dared to see him naked in the showers. They trained together at the gym, everyone showered after finishing their respective routines, except him who always found a way to shower before or after Jared, prisoner to the fear of how his body would react to seeing him naked.

He had observed him a thousand times, in every possible way, but had never allowed situations where he himself could lose control. It had been years since he'd slept over at Jared's house and he didn't let him stay at his house either.

"I should go to a pheromone party once classes end." At a pheromone party he could propose a threesome—with an omega in between he could feel him. The mere thought accelerated his breathing and made him hard. He shook his head, he couldn't continue like this. The image of the two of them penetrating an omega left him with an uncomfortable throbbing in his member, product of excitement. It was time for a cold shower. He stood up and went to the bathroom. The cold water served little purpose—that part of his body was reddened and with tight skin. The cold water simply served as temporary relief while he jerked off between gasps. He came with a moan loaded with pleasure. He felt his heart racing. He turned off the water, his entire body trembling from the freezing water. Suddenly he was very thirsty.

It had taken him a good while to calm down. The truth was that he'd gone a long time without masturbating, and lately he felt the tension had become too much, at least on his part.

He returned to his room to get dressed and turn on his phone. There were no new messages, and it was already 11 PM. He didn't want to think about Clara, but he felt excessive anger at that moment. He went for a beer, returned to his room to throw himself on the bed, ready to end the study session with a good series.

Brrrr Brrrr Brrrr

The annoying buzzing on the wooden table woke him up—apparently he'd fallen asleep. Leo tried to locate the device without opening his eyes, which proved impossible.

"Shit," he whispered quietly. "I'm going to kill that bastard North."

He answered the phone. The voice on the other side was raspy and dark. He could barely recognize it.

"Leo... I'm in trouble."

The dark-haired boy sat up quickly upon hearing Jared's voice.

"Did you kill someone?"

The rocky, deep voice broke into a laugh—deep, rough, and sensual that made his body hair stand on end. A part of his body seemed especially animated.

"No, but I really wanted to," Jared responded in a soft, low, and provocative tone.

Leo had to acknowledge that he sounded very different, as if he were drunk. It could only mean one thing. With his heart pounding in his chest and his voice agitated, he asked:

"Jad, did you take something?"

He heard that deep laugh again and his voice sounded incredibly honeyed on the other side. He felt something inside him melt.

"You only call me Jad when you think I'm... 'delicate.' Sometimes I'm surprised by how much you know me..." he paused, his breathing was heavy, "that bitch Clara was at the pheromone party..." he laughed quietly, "...she doesn't like dominant alphas..."

"Jad, where are you?"

Jared didn't respond, but five seconds later the location arrived. The connection cut off.

Leo thought about calling North, but discarded it instantly—he'd surely be partying with some omega at the event. The dark-haired boy quickly went to the bathroom, rinsed his face, put on his jacket and sneakers, and rushed out. The place wasn't very far. He tried to call him again but there was no connection. Jared loose with a rut enhancer was dangerous, not only because of the pheromones but also because of the degree of aggressiveness he could reach. 

Leo called a taxi and in less than 10 minutes he'd arrived. He looked for him—it was a corner somewhat hidden from the main traffic, and finally found him crouched to one side, near a tree. Impossible to think he was an ultra-dominant alpha. He approached. Jared immediately stood up, a bit unsteady. His gaze was clouded, you could tell he had trouble focusing, however he smiled and hugged him, burying his head in his neck. He murmured something Leo didn't understand. What he did understand was that he had to get him away immediately—the hot breath on his neck caused a delicious tingling in his stomach and brought back certain memories.

"Come on, I'll take you home..." he began to say, pushing him gently, however suddenly he felt an arm that pulled him back against his body...

"And to my bed... too?" his voice sounded playful. 

He felt the hot tongue on his neck, and for an instant wanted to surrender to the purely sexual impulse, and realized that if he hadn't had his rut until now, Jared could be the trigger that very night. Maybe he wasn't beta, but alpha.

He tried to empty his mind of unnecessary thoughts, looked around—luckily they weren't far away. He called a taxi and with great difficulty got him into the back seat and managed to keep him still. Leo could feel Jared's penetrating gaze on his neck, felt nerves taking over his body, and despite having a calm appearance, he was sweating and his heart seemed to be jumping out of his chest. He didn't want to ask himself questions and definitely didn't want to think about anything.

They arrived at the building where the alpha lived, got out, and Leo quickened his pace, though it served little purpose—the heat emanating from Jared's body reached him anyway, similar to a breeze from a burning afternoon in the desert. They entered the luxurious building. When they reached the floor where he resided, Leo was grateful he lived alone—he didn't know what would happen. Remembering what had happened earlier at his house in the shower, he had the absurd thought that he should be happy—THIS was exactly what he'd desired so many times. However, he was somewhat scared and fascinated in equal parts. Jared seemed like another person, and he wondered if he really knew who he was with. He was like an animal in heat that followed its prey closely. Leo stopped in front of the door, which had a numerical keypad security system. He lifted the cover to enter the code when he felt hot breath on his nape, a hand had settled on his hip, invading him with its heat. Jared's hips pressed against his rear, and the light touch made him shudder, causing him to press the wrong number, and the door refused to open.

He tried to push Jared back but all he accomplished was for the young man to surround him with his arms and bury his nose in his neck, persistently. His breath, the brush of lips, and the weight of his body. It was too much.

"Jared, I nee... need..." he whispered almost breathlessly.

"Uhmm..."

The hot tongue began to travel over the delicate skin of his neck. Leo couldn't help leaning forward a bit, felt his own member throbbing anxiously in his underwear. He straightened up, ignoring the hand that now traveled over his abdomen toward his pelvis. Trying to regulate his own agitated breathing, he entered the numbers between gasps. When the lock emitted the satisfactory sound of being successfully unlocked, he sighed with relief.

The door opened. The apartment was almost dark, dimly illuminated by moonlight coming from one of the living room windows.

He found himself violently pushed inside, the door closed behind him with a dry slam, and soon found himself cornered against the cold material of it. Jared kissed him urgently, he felt those large hands on his buttocks pulling them closer to the alpha's, and his hot breath mixed with gasps. The tongue traveled through his mouth roughly, almost desperately.

A dry, penetrating aroma flooded his nostrils, drowning him. He tried to catch his breath but Jared kissed him without pause. He felt like he would faint. A new gust of the dry aroma that resembled a pine forest penetrated his nostrils and chest, causing a coughing fit. He managed to get Jared to stop kissing him, but he seemed to ignore the fact that Leo could barely breathe and was feeling sick.

The only thing he could think at that moment was that he was indeed alpha—only such a subgender reacted that way to pheromone exchange with such rejection.

He tried to remove Jared but he was sucking his neck, collarbone, shoulders, while pulling down his pants. He tried to remove his shirt but seeing that he was trying to talk to him, he tore it effortlessly and threw it away.

"JARED!"

Leo yelled furiously. He couldn't make him react. He tried grabbing him hard by the hair, but he was like a beast in full trance. Only one trick remained—he sank his teeth desperately into the alpha's shoulder skin. He growled and looked up, the honey eyes were completely covered with dark brown and shiny lines that revealed his rut.

"Jared, listen to me."

The young man looked at him while his shoulder dripped blood. Leo spat something disgusting from his mouth while the metallic taste mixed with that strong forest aroma, increasing his urge to vomit. He took a gulp of air hoping to feel better.

He pushed him toward the living room sofa. Jared simply followed him, sat on the furniture. He'd taken off his pants and had a considerable-sized erection that threatened to break the delicate fabric of his briefs.

Leo undressed completely and approached Jared, sitting on top of him, passing his arms behind his head. He enjoyed having him like this, at his mercy. He lowered his hand to his member, freeing it from the annoying fabric of the briefs. He heard Jared's moan—he looked at him with his feline eyes and his gaze full of desire, moving his hips quickly.

Leo decided that this was the moment to get rid of that stupid, unrequited love he'd had for years, and for that he had to break his own heart. Internally he said goodbye to that feeling. This would be his first and last night with his first great love.

It was time to bury this feeling.

-cont. part two-