The first thing he did was check the windows.

It couldn't still be night. The apartment had an automated system that kept the curtains closed until 2 PM, he confirmed it was 11 AM and exhaled. Good. He moved through the apartment quietly, ignoring every stab of pain that shot through his body, and went looking for his clothes. What he found of his shirt wasn't worth keeping. The jacket had survived. Great, he had nothing to wear home. He went to the bathroom, cleaned up with one of the towels and dropped it in the laundry basket. His eyes landed on what was already inside it. Jared's clothes.

He grabbed a white t-shirt and pulled it on.

He found both phones. Jared's was dead out of battery. He would have preferred to erase the record of that call, but he'd have to figure out how to handle that conversation when it came. He did a final sweep of the apartment, nodded to himself, no visible trace of him anywhere.

He moved toward the front door.

A sound stopped him cold. He spun around, heart in his throat, Jared had simply turned over in bed and groaned. He was naked. And from the state of him, the rut inducer hadn't worn off yet.

Leo held his breath, opened the door, and pulled it shut behind him.

The metallic click and the keypad beep sent him straight to the stairs at a near sprint. He pressed himself against the wall and descended floor by floor — ten of them. On the third floor he caught what sounded like Jared's voice from somewhere above. Then a door opened on another floor and a group of people came clattering down the stairs, loud and oblivious, giving him exactly the cover he needed. He took the last three floors fast and shot out through the back exit. No way he was going through the main entrance.

He ran the back street like he was being chased. A hundred meters away was a metro entrance, he knew this area well. He could still feel his heart slamming against his ribs, his stomach tight with nerves. The platform. A line that didn't even go his way, he got on anyway. When the doors closed, he finally felt something close to safe.

From the looks a few passengers gave him, he still had pheromones on his skin. He got off at the next stop, switched cars. Did it three times. Then took a taxi for the last stretch home.

His mother wasn't there, at this hour she'd be at the community center. Still, he moved quietly. He went straight to the shower and scrubbed his skin with the rough sponge until it stung. When he got out he applied body lotion, the kind with pheromone neutralizer. The hardest part was cleaning himself properly. The area was inflamed and tender, and he had to use an anesthetic cream to be thorough. The pain in his lower abdomen faded quickly once he was done.

No tearing. He let out a slow breath. Apparently that was a real risk for alpha and beta men who received without experience. Nothing bad had happened.

He put his clothes directly into the washing machine. Jared's t-shirt he kept, folded carefully and placed in a box at the back of his closet, the one he'd reserved for things that mattered. He felt like an idiot doing it. He did it anyway. It was his room. Nobody would find it here. He wasn't going to wear it, it was just a memory. His first love. His first time.

He plugged in his phone but didn't turn it on. He was afraid of what he'd find. His whole body hurt and exhaustion had settled into his bones. He lay down.

When he opened his eyes, it was seven in the evening.

Someone was shaking him. He woke up with a shout. His mother took a step back.

"Are you having dinner?"

The study materials were spread across his desk, she'd probably assumed he'd been there all day. She didn't usually spend weekends home either, often going to the farm on the outskirts with colleagues. She likely hadn't even noticed he'd been out. No questions coming.

He nodded and told her he'd be right out.

When she left, he turned on his phone. The group chat had exploded. Several missed calls from North. Leo cleared his throat, steadied himself, and called him back.

"Where were you? Don't tell me you were actually studying this whole time." A snort. Leo was about to say something when North added, clearly annoyed, "You need to get that obsession looked at. You leave your friends hanging."

Leo blinked.

"I was wrecked yesterday, I fell asleep." He bit his lip and decided to go all in. "Jared called me at some point but I barely remember it. Did something happen?"

North clicked his tongue.

"I don't know — looks like someone gave him something to trigger a rut, or he took it himself. His mother called me at noon. You need to notify the school, not me, you. He'll be back in a few days. Whatever they gave him was strong."

"Ah." Leo had nothing better than that. "Wasn't he with Clara?"

North groaned.

"No, she's a nightmare. I saw them arguing at the party. Don't know what happened after, but Jared nearly put his fist through a window. They threw him out."

Leo let a beat pass.

"Is he home now?"

"No, his mother took him to the hospital. The suppressant didn't work."

Leo didn't know what to say. It was getting harder to separate what had actually happened from the version he was constructing in real time.

He took the exit he always took.

"North, by the way, did you finish the summary for the historical novel? I have a question about—"

North hung up.

Leo smiled. Never failed.

#

Monday.

Leo arrived early, as always. At least he knew he wouldn't run into Jared. He stopped by the office first to report the temporary absence, then went to his classroom.

He'd been in his seat for five minutes, barely had his materials out, when the door opened.

Clara.

Her expression was serious, it always was. Leo couldn't remember ever seeing her smile, which had always struck him as odd. It was chemistry period. The teacher, a woman with a silver bob straight out of the fifties, looked at her sharply.

Clara's gaze moved directly to Leo.

"Leo Candem is needed in the office."

The teacher glanced at him. A barely visible nod, permission granted. Small mercies. There were murmurs behind him as he stood. First time Clara had ever appeared in their classroom.

He grabbed his things, closed the door behind him, and followed her. They walked the long hallway in complete silence. At the glass doors to the administration wing, she didn't turn left. She kept going, straight to the back of the building, to the area they called the Green Zone, where the waste compartments were. No classroom windows faced it. No office windows either.

She was smart.

She stopped in a spot that kept them out of sight. Turned to face him.

Leo had to admit it, she was genuinely beautiful. And that bitter feeling he despised showed up right on cue. She was tall, with thick straight hair the color of dark wood and gray eyes that didn't miss much. Bangs that framed delicate features perfectly. She carried the kind of presence that filled a room without trying, the kind that showed up in fantasy paintings on goddesses.

Her voice was sweet. Like her pheromones. Which, unfortunately, he now knew exactly how they smelled.

"Leo, regarding the incident on—"

He had to give her credit. No explanation for why she'd pulled him out of class. No apology even attempted. It seemed Jared and Clara were perfect representatives of their respective social worlds.

"I prefer to discuss personal matters outside the school. I can give you my number if you'd like."

Clara blinked and for a fraction of a second was almost about to smile. She caught herself, straightened, and adopted the tone of someone complying with an unavoidable protocol.

"I apologize for pulling you out of class for something personal. But I need to ask you about the pheromone party. And no, I'm not interested in your number."

"At least we agree on something," Leo said, flat.

Clara clicked her tongue, amused despite herself.

"I'm sure you heard about what happened at the party—"

"Honestly, I didn't know you went to those kinds of events," Leo said, with the full weight of the judgment he wasn't bothering to hide.

Clara's eyes narrowed. For a few seconds she became someone else entirely.

"My alpha was going. So I went."

Leo straightened slightly.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you were in a relationship."

Clara smiled. Wide and unhurried. Leo immediately wished he'd never seen it, she was twice as beautiful when she did.

"Not yet," she said. A pause. Her eyes took on a sharp, certain shine. "But it's only a matter of time. They always fall." The smile held. "The next party is in a month. I need you to go with Jared."

-cont. part two-