Airn had been leaning against the wall near the cafeteria exit, watching. Waiting. He hadn’t moved from his spot for longer than he cared to admit, letting the crowd flow around him like water. Every second, his gaze tracked Nevan.

Then he saw it.

Nevan laughing.

Not at a joke Airn had made. Not at some fear, not at a tease. Nevan was smiling — genuine, soft, something so disarming that Airn’s chest tightened. And he wasn’t alone.

The boy beside him — Theo.

Dark brown hair falling into his eyes, easy laugh, careless movements. Airn’s jaw clenched without him realizing.

Who the hell is he?

Airn’s fist tightened. It wasn’t just irritation. It wasn’t just the twins’ usual pride being bruised. It was a deeper, sharper sting. Nevan wasn’t reacting the way he should. Not to Airn. Not to him. Not to anyone who had power, or who wanted it.

And now, Nevan was laughing with someone else.

Alastor’s voice broke through his thoughts, smooth and slow. “So that’s the one?”

Airn’s eyes snapped to his brother. Alastor leaned back in his chair like he hadn’t been paying attention at all, but his gaze was fixed. “The blond, right? Theo?”

“Yeah,” Airn spat the word, as if it were bitter. “He’s… he’s nothing.”

Alastor chuckled softly. “Nothing?”

Airn turned sharply, hands gripping the edge of the table they had taken over in the corner. “You don’t get it. He’s… he’s… distracting him. And Nevan —” Airn’s voice caught in his throat. “He’s supposed to be reacting. He’s supposed to…”

“Breaking,” Alastor finished for him, leaning forward. His smile was small, controlled, almost chilling. “I see.”

Airn’s pulse quickened. He hated that his brother could read him so easily. He hated that Alastor seemed… amused. “I can’t let that blond… get in the way.”

Alastor tilted his head, studying him. “You can’t control who talks to him. You can control him.”

Airn’s stomach twisted. He didn’t want to admit it, but that was exactly it. That was the core of the obsession that had been creeping through him since the first hallway encounter. He didn’t care about anyone else. He didn’t care about their whispers, their rumors. He cared about Nevan.

And seeing him smile, relaxed, with someone else — it ignited a tension he hadn’t felt in years. A cold, dark thrill of possession.

“Why… why does it feel like he belongs somewhere else?” Airn muttered, voice low.

Alastor leaned back, smirk widening. “Because he’s not like anyone we’ve ever touched. He’s calm. He’s… clever. He doesn’t fear us. And he’s soft. That’s what makes him dangerous.”

Airn pressed his hands to his face for a second, trying to hide the flush creeping up his neck. Dangerous? That boy wasn’t dangerous — he was a puzzle, and Airn was determined to solve it.

“He’s mine,” Airn whispered before he realized he had said it aloud. His voice was low, almost a growl.

Alastor’s eyes sparkled, sharp and amused. “Yours? Careful. He might end up being mine too.”

Airn snapped his head up, hazel eyes narrowing. “Not if I make sure of it first.”

There was a pause, a quiet understanding passing between the twins. They had different methods — Airn’s fire, his blunt, aggressive approach, and Alastor’s cold, teasing manipulation. But both had the same target.

Both wanted Nevan.

Airn’s mind replayed the scene in the hallway again — Nevan’s calm gaze, his steady breathing, that subtle pull of control he didn’t give away. That tiny spark of defiance against Airn’s grip that made his blood boil.

And now he was laughing with someone else.

Airn felt his chest tighten, fists clenching again. He wanted to approach. He wanted to corner him, to press that tension into Nevan’s skin, to see that small crack, that tiny reaction.

But he couldn’t. Not yet.

Alastor’s hand on his shoulder made him flinch. “Patience,” Alastor murmured. “We’ve got time. Let him get comfortable first. Let him think he’s safe… and then we’ll remind him whose world this is.”

Airn exhaled slowly, nodding, but he couldn’t keep his eyes off Nevan. The boy’s smile with Theo had left a mark — soft, bright, unsettling.

And Airn realized, with a mixture of fear and exhilaration, that he didn’t want Nevan to break the way others did. He wanted him to stay calm.

Just… calm enough to be broken only by them.

And the thought made a shiver run through him.

Mine.

He didn’t say it again. Not aloud. But the word echoed in his chest, fierce, dark, and impossible to ignore.

And somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew this was only the beginning.

Airn couldn’t tear his gaze away. Nevan laughed again — the sound light, fleeting, completely unaware of the weight of the twins’ eyes on him.

Airn’s jaw tightened. He wanted to move forward, to remind Nevan of his presence, to make him flinch, to break that calm façade just a little. But Alastor’s earlier warning echoed in his mind: Patience.

Still, the hunger to reach out, to stake his claim, gnawed at him.

He remembered the first time he had ever seen Nevan — that strange mixture of softness and steel. Most prey broke under his gaze, under the pressing heat of his attention. But Nevan hadn’t. Not flinching, not trembling, not begging.

Airn had pressed. Hard. And Nevan had stood there, cold, calm, unshaken.

That had ignited something inside him he couldn’t name — a pull, a need, a fire. A dangerous fire.

Now, seeing Nevan so relaxed with Theo, so… ordinary, so human, it set his teeth on edge. Airn felt a swell of possessiveness, hot and sharp. The thought of another boy reaching Nevan first, of someone else carving space in his quiet world, made his blood burn.

Alastor leaned back, observing him quietly, one eyebrow raised. “You’re too obvious,” he murmured. “You want him. Admit it.”

Airn’s fingers curled into a fist at his side. “I don’t want anything,” he snapped.

Alastor’s smirk widened. “Bullshit. You’re already thinking about what you’ll do to get his attention again. About how you’ll make him respond. How you’ll bend him… not break him — just enough. You’re thinking about control, about the hunt. Don’t lie to yourself.”

Airn’s chest tightened. He was thinking about it. Every second Nevan spent smiling at Theo, every little laugh, every tilt of his head… it lit a fire in him. A fire that twisted somewhere dark in his stomach, curling into something possessive, obsessive.

He hated Theo, not for who he was, but for existing. For making Nevan laugh. For touching a part of him Airn hadn’t earned yet.

Airn could feel it, the pull in his chest — the almost painful awareness that he was not merely intrigued anymore. He wanted to dominate this calm, steady boy. He wanted to watch him, tease him, and force just enough reaction to prove that he mattered most.

Alastor leaned closer, voice lower. “Look at him. So calm. So… perfect in the wrong way. You like that about him, don’t you?”

Airn didn’t answer at first. He clenched his jaw, pressed his palms against his thighs. The truth was uncomfortable. Yes. He liked it. He needed it.

The calm, the composure, the quiet defiance — it wasn’t supposed to exist. Not for someone under his attention. Not for someone in his presence. And yet, there it was, challenging him, tempting him, taunting him in a way that made him ache.

“I…” Airn whispered, voice low, almost a growl. “He makes me… want to control everything. Every little reaction. Every little thought.”

Alastor nodded slowly, eyes glinting with quiet amusement. “Good. That’s the start. That’s what makes him dangerous, too. And fun.”

Airn’s fingers dug into his thighs. Dangerous. Fun. The words echoed, cold and sharp. He didn’t just want Nevan to respond — he wanted him to belong to him. Not anyone else. Not Theo. Not the rumors. Not the world.

He watched Nevan stand up, smiling and waving at Theo before walking toward the next class. Airn’s pulse throbbed. The boy didn’t even glance at him. But that didn’t matter.

It had begun. The pull, the obsession, the game.

Airn wanted the challenge. He wanted Nevan.

And he would have him.

No matter what it took.

Because he couldn’t allow anyone else to reach him first.

Not Theo. Not the rest of the school. Not anyone.

Nevan was his. In ways even he didn’t fully understand yet.

And that thought made a dangerous kind of thrill coil deep in his chest.