Leo laughed , quietly, and tired.

"That's not going to happen, Clara. I don't go to those parties."

She looked at him differently then. Something calculating behind it.

"Why not? Instead of cleaning up after the fact, you could be there in real time."

A chill moved down his spine. He kept his expression neutral.

"I don't know what you're referring to."

Clara studied him for a moment, then signaled an apology. But those sharp eyes didn't leave him. Leo understood, she was a dominant omega. They picked up on things. Some pheromones had probably stayed on his skin longer than the neutralizer could handle.

He had his own question.

"What did they give Jared that night?"

She held his gaze before answering. Something was off, like she was trying to solve something she hadn't expected to find.

"So you really were beta," she said slowly. "You could pass for alpha easily."

"I don't follow," he said quietly. "My subgender isn't defined yet, but I don't see how that's relevant."

Clara stepped closer and lowered her voice.

"Jared didn't take anything. I gave him a pheromone bath."

She stepped back. Winked.

Leo stared at her.

Clara dropped the lightness immediately.

"I'm not going to do it again, no need to look at me like that. But let me tell you something." Her voice went dry and direct. "Ultra-dominant alphas don't love. They don't have the capacity for it. They live at the mercy of the need to dominate. I'm not lecturing you but ask yourself: who did he spend that rut with? Does he even remember? Does he know who you are, or did he just follow the sweetest pheromones in the room?"

Leo looked down. He couldn't say anything. She was being honest and doing it, he had to admit, with more care than he'd expected.

He looked up after a moment. His eyes burned. When he spoke, his voice was flat and cutting.

"You have a month to get your alpha. Because I'm not going to the party. And I'm not spending a rut with him." A pause. "Maybe it's a good time for me to leave the city."

He smiled at her. Turned on his heel. And walked to the library with light, even steps.

At that hour it was always empty. The only place he could actually breathe.

#

Wednesday. Jared was back.

When Leo walked into the classroom, the blonde was already in his seat at the back. It hit him harder than he'd expected, the simple fact of seeing him there. He'd seriously begun to wonder if spending that night with him had been a mistake. The question now was how to act like himself. On any other day, he wouldn't ask about the party. He'd ignore it. Pull out his books. Find what he needed. His hands trembled slightly as he did it.

They had Ethics. He turned to ask if Jared had the material when a classmate came over with a question about Friday's presentation. Their eyes crossed for a second. Jared gave him the same greeting as always. North still hadn't shown up. Leo answered the question and silently prayed the classmate would keep talking,he didn't. He thanked him and left.

Show time.

Leo grabbed a notebook with some assignments and walked to the back.

He dropped the material on Jared's desk. Jared smiled, thanked him.

"Only two weeks left anyway."

Leo looked at him.

"I don't see what that has to do with assignments. Classes haven't ended."

Jared shrugged.

"How were your vacations?" Leo asked, with the same dry edge he would have used any other time.

The moment he saw Jared's face, he regretted it.

"If by vacations you mean the days I spent in a hospital getting poked with needles and pumped full of God knows what — honestly, I would have rather stayed with you summarizing that thousand-page disaster of a book."

Leo looked at him, genuinely surprised.

"Next time you're invited to do exactly that."

Jared laughed.

"Leo, the next one's in a month and we'll already be on break. Like I'm going to spend summer in a library."

"Wouldn't kill you."

Jared settled back in his seat, was about to say something else when the teacher walked in. Leo returned to his place.

For the next four hours they barely crossed paths. Leo had been pulled in different directions all morning, including through break. Jared hadn't caused a single problem, which made Leo wonder if the hospital stay had done something.

During the second break he went to the back garden, found a quiet corner away from the crowd, and took out a sandwich. He wondered if Jared was in the cafeteria.

He took one bite. Put it away. He wasn't hungry. This was the second time this year he'd brought his own food, he usually ate in the cafeteria, always the same spot. He was avoiding it. Jared wasn't quick, but even he'd notice eventually if Leo kept this up.

When he got back to the classroom, Jared was nowhere. Two hours left. He checked the schedule, History. He snorted. He didn't have the head for historical analysis today.

Someone appeared at the door.

"Leo, they need you in the office."

When he arrived, he found one of Clara's classmates, her class representative. He recognized him immediately.

So, Jared had gone to find her.

His stomach turned.

Then he looked toward the corner and saw Jared. A bad cut on his right arm. The secretary asked if he could take him to the infirmary. The wound had stopped bleeding but needed to be cleaned. Leo let out a quiet breath and got moving.

They walked to the infirmary in silence. Closed. Leo took the key from his pocket, opened it, waved Jared inside, and shut the door behind them. Jared sat near the window.

While Leo searched for disinfectant and gauze, Jared's voice came from across the room.

"Someone told me Clara came looking for you on Monday. What did she want?"

Leo's mouth went dry. Of course. There were no safe corners in this building.

He steadied himself. Best to stay close to the truth.

"She wants me to babysit at the next pheromone party."

He soaked the cotton in disinfectant and pressed it firmly onto the wound. Jared tried to yank his arm back with a sharp groan, Leo held his wrist with an iron grip. The anger that came up surprised even him. When he spoke his voice had an edge he hadn't planned.

"Had to tell her I don't do overtime." He lifted the cotton, and without thinking blew on the wound, he knew it stung. When he caught himself doing it, he reached for the gauze and pressed it down hard enough to make Jared jump.

"Ow Leo, that hurt less when the compass went in. Are you angry?"

Leo fixed his gaze on those bright honey-colored eyes. The words came out before he could stop them.

"Can't you control yourself? Clara has to come ask me for extra supervision, and some omega has to stab a compass into your arm, for you to understand she wants nothing to do with you? How many signs do you need, Jared?"

Jared pulled his arm back.

"I got the message. I just went to demand an apology." His eyes went cold and sharp. "That girl doesn't know her place. She attacks an alpha of my rank." A beat. "She doesn't even seem to realize she only exists to procreate."

Leo looked at him. He already knew how Jared thought, had always known. But hearing it now, after a rut triggered by dominant pheromones, felt almost darkly comic.

What was there to say to that?

"And yet, as an ultra-dominant alpha, you absolutely need an omega to balance your pheromone levels. Without one, you risk internal intoxication. The omegas you look down on are essential for alphas like you."

"That girl tried to kill me with a pheromone bath. And on top of that—" He stopped.

Leo waited.

Jared looked up, uncertain.

"What actually happened that night? What did I say when I called you? What happened when we saw each other?"

Leo felt his pulse jump but he was ready. He'd run through at least ten versions of this conversation.

He looked down, letting just enough discomfort show.

"I didn't see you, Jared. You called at 3 AM, I was asleep, I'd been drinking, I barely remember what you said. You mentioned Clara. You sent me your location, I think I opened it. I called you back to tell you to go home but you didn't pick up. Then I fell asleep." He looked up. "Where even were you? And where was North?"

Jared frowned, piecing it together.

"North stayed at the party. They threw me out because of the thing with Clara."

Leo watched him, he looked genuinely confused working through the timeline.

"Then I went home. Apparently not alone. I spent the night with someone but I have no idea who. I don't even know how I got back. No memories at all. It's …it's awful. There were traces of pheromones. And other things I´d rather not think about."

Leo nodded slowly.

"At least you spent it with an omega."

Jared flushed. Looked up.

"No, Leo. It was a man." He covered his face like he was confessing to something criminal. "Disgusting."

Leo felt something twist in his chest. He kept his voice even.

"What difference does it make? Male omegas exist the same way female alphas do."

"I don't care if he's omega. I don't like men." His jaw tightened. "And whoever he was, I'm going to find him. He tore the skin on my shoulder, left a deep wound. Probably someone from the party. North was too busy getting laid to see anything. Some idiot must have followed me out." He shook his head. "Omegas in heat are disgusting."

Leo smiled to himself. The least he deserved was a bite.

"Did he mark you?" he asked, already knowing.

"It's not funny, Leo. It's humiliating. But no, the doctors ran tests to rule it out." He twisted his mouth. "If I ever find out who it was, I'm going to put him in the ground."

"You were lucky, Jared." Leo gave him a firm pat exactly on the injured shoulder. A curse followed him out the door.

He left the infirmary smiling.

His secret was safe.

His heart was another matter.