SOREN

I quickly copied the long chunk of code Liam had sent me. I could see his little face in the Messenger video call window, and he was giving me this weird look.

"Come on, spit it out. I can tell something's bugging you—you've been frowning all day."

I glanced at him, not really in the mood to talk. I just sighed, but eventually muttered, "It's that new dude. Alvin brought another alpha patron into our group."

Liam's face scrunched up even more. I knew what he thought about all this. He's always said it was a mistake, but I really didn't feel like going over it again. We've already discussed it a million times, and we're both out of arguments. I haven't changed my mind, although I'll admit there were moments when I almost let him talk me out of it.

"So, what's the deal with this new alpha? I mean, you don't even do alphas as clients."

"He doesn't seem to get that I'm not interested; he's super fixated on me."

"He's got plenty of other options, and he's hung up on you? Maybe it's just out of spite; some alphas get off on chasing something hard to get."

"That's probably it, but he was eyeing me even before he joined our group at the start of the year. He tried introducing himself and making small talk a few times, but I shut that down real quick." I gave an unpleasant grin.

Liam laughed. "Oh man, that's almost romantic. Maybe he's in love with you?"

His words just pissed me off more. "Stop. The guy's just annoying; wherever I go, I see him, and he's staring at me with those turquoise eyes like he wants to drill a hole through me."

Liam burst out laughing. "Well, he probably hopes to drill you, just not all the way through. Wait, turquoise eyes? Is he hot?"

"Yeah, and that's what's so annoying. He's too damn hot. The ones who look like that are always the worst—they think they can have anyone, like any omega or even any beta would just spread their legs for them."

"Oh, so you must be a challenge for him, like a conquest. I bet your resistance just makes him want you more. But seriously, he's that good-looking?"

"Yeah, he's really handsome, and to make matters worse, he's in most of my classes. Practically, the only alpha there. All the omegas are drooling over him. And this idiot has to single me out."

"Damn, really? I wish someone would eye me like that," Liam sighed, giving me this strange, longing look.

"Well, you'd have to transfer to our college, but it's probably not worth it since we're graduating in a few months anyway."

"And he probably wouldn't be into me, since he's into your type," Liam said with a smirk.

He had a point; we were totally different. He was short for a beta; people sometimes mistook him for an omega, while I was almost six feet tall. He was the classic small nerd type, which was common in my major, and I, well… I was just different.

"Anyway, just kidding," Liam smiled, but there was a hint of sadness there. "I'm not into alphas anyway; they're too intense for my taste. I never got what you saw in Anton."

I clenched my eyes shut, feeling anger well up. I couldn't talk about my ex, especially not with Liam, who spent all of high school trying to convince me to dump Anton. He might've been a little right in the end, but still.

"Sexual attraction's hard to explain. It just is, or it isn't," I muttered, trying to dismiss the topic. "Alright, Liam, I gotta wrap this up. Thanks for the code, hope it works now. I have to run, class starts in 10."

Liam waved goodbye and hung up, and I grabbed my backpack, heading out the door toward the lecture hall. But my thoughts drifted back to that damn alpha.

I felt this weird mix of irritation and excitement. Whether I liked it or not, he'd been on my mind a lot lately. I was always aware of where he was in the lecture hall, always catching glimpses of him out of the corner of my eye, almost feeling his presence like some kind of sixth sense. Sometimes it straight-up confused me; I wasn't sure what to make of it. Maybe it was just my annoyance and anger toward him? He was definitely on my… hate radar.

As I thought about it, I couldn't really pin down why I was pushing him away. Probably just my intuition telling me to stay out of trouble. Since I decided not to deal with alphas, I'd stuck to it stubbornly, and honestly, I'd patted myself on the back more than once for avoiding all that drama.

As I walked toward the building, I thought about what Liam had said, about the intensity he didn't like. Well, it was different for me—I found it fascinating, the passion and energy that alphas had. It was like I could almost physically feel it—something I lacked. Biologically, I was a beta, and my hormones weren't as crazy as theirs. I was not an ‘animal', as I sometimes called them in my head—they (and omegas too) were all ruled by their hormones, moods, instincts. It was different with us, the betas. We were more stable, calm, and neutral. We could choose—they didn't have that luxury.

When they went into heat or rut, they were just in for the ride. I got a taste of what they were feeling, though. Every few months, my body would go into what the doctor called a mini-heat. It was the worst. For a few hours, I was completely out of control, and it felt terrible. The aftermath was even worse.

But I couldn't think about that now.

Almost like on cue, I saw Don at the entrance to the main building. I cursed under my breath—not him! Not that asshole! I couldn't stand Don, so much more than that new dude. But the other alpha didn't know that, and I wanted to keep it that way.

"Hey, Soren!" Don grinned at me, giving me this annoying puppy-dog look.

I regretted dancing with him at that last event, and I did it… only because of that new alpha. Yep. Before that, I was finally getting Don off my back; he was slowly losing hope, I could feel it. But now? That new guy screwed everything up! Or was it me?

I just wanted to push that jerk away, make it clear I'd pick anyone but him! I got this weird, sadistic pleasure from it—I didn't know why. Maybe simply because he was an alpha, and I hated them? I wanted to show him who's boss, to get back at… Anton. For what Anton did to me.

I'd already scared off all the other alpha patrons; now it was time to scare off the new guy too. During the last mixer, wanting him to think I was gonna hook up with Don, I told Don to come smoke with me using the side exit from the dorm. I mentioned that there was a drunk crowd at the front. I smoked in silence while Don wouldn't shut up, batting his eyelashes, throwing compliments, and acting all thrilled that I picked him as my smoking buddy for the night. Fucking idiot.

So, just because we danced and hung out, Don thought he had a chance again. I had to shut that down before this scum got any ideas.

My plan for the day was set: crushing down the new alpha's hope… and Don's hope all along. Yeah. It sounded like a lot of work.

So, when he approached me, I put on the scowliest face I could muster—and I could muster a lot—saying, "Jeez, Don, can you finally leave me alone? There are plenty of other betas and omegas around. Why are you so fucking hung up on me?"

His hurt puppy-dog face didn't faze me. I still couldn't stand him for what he did to me over a month ago—I couldn't forget that. I tolerated him being around because of this weird belief that I had to pretend nothing had happened. If I didn't, it would all come out to our friends, and I'd be the poor beta victim—lame, pathetic… and I didn't want to look weak. So, I put up with Don's presence, trying to slowly discourage him by being consistently rude, hoping he'd redirect his attention elsewhere. But I was getting tired of this, and especially after that stupid dance, I had to nip it in the bud. No way was I letting a full month of pushing him away go to waste.

"Soren, why are you mad? We've had such fun lately; it was great. I'd like to do it again. There's another party coming up—"

"I don't," I snapped, irritation rising in my voice. And… that's exactly when I saw that new alpha.

Skye.

Yup, I remembered his name all right.

He was heading toward the building.

The alpha had that effortless charm, looking like a total heartthrob. His hair always had that ‘just ran my fingers through it' look, but it was actually part of a perfectly crafted style. A few strands would fall casually over his forehead like it was no big deal. And then there was his physique. I'm not gonna lie, I caught a couple of moments when his T-shirt rode up as he threw on his leather jacket, showing off his perfect abs.

And his attitude toward omegas! I've seen a few of them try to hit on him, but he'd just respond without even looking, his bright turquoise eyes always a little distant. I could imagine how frustrating that must've been for the other students. The only alpha in our year, and not just some nerd, but seriously hot, like a model straight off a runway. Yet, he just ignored them all.

And I ignored him. Yep, I did. That's just how it had to be.

But today something was off. His gaze was different, colder, more indifferent. I think I finally convinced him that it wasn't going to work with me.

I felt a mixture of relief and disappointment as he walked up the stairs without looking my way.

Great. So, I won. I guess.

I took in his tall figure as he passed me and Don, yeah, he was definitely well-built. I'd seen him a couple of times going to the gym with Archer and Gabe, he was obviously keeping his body in shape.

Jeez, what was going on with me?

I haven't been this all over the place in ages. Damn alpha—he threw me off balance. I even turned down May and Ed's invites since the semester started, too distracted to focus. No, this couldn't go on. So, I stepped away from a confused Don and followed the other students into the lecture hall, walking a few feet behind the alpha.

He had a lovely silhouette. Narrow hips, broad shoulders, and that hair—dark auburn, when the sun hit it, you could see those deep, intense red highlights in his seemingly effortlessly styled hair.

And his eyes—they were the color of the southern seas. I could drown in them.

Fuck, why couldn't I stop? I quickly scolded myself for such nonsense.

He sat in the corner of the room, not looking at me, and that was good, I trained him well.

Consciously, I moved to a seat where I could watch if he even glanced at me. I just had to know.

But no, he was focused on his notes. Intently.

The first half of the lecture I spent staring at him, making sure he wasn't watching me. The way he was running his fingers through his hair was seriously throwing me off balance. I wish I could draw—I would then draw his perfect jawline; it was made to be immortalized on paper.

Until almost the end of the lecture, I couldn't control myself, and kept glancing in his direction, though I was careful not to get caught because he might start imagining things. But my alertness was unnecessary—he was way too engrossed in his notebook.

So unhindered, I continued to observe how ridiculously handsome he was, and hate it so much—because it was just too annoying. Why would anyone have such perfect features? Who needed such beautiful lips and cheekbones? He could be an actor, probably, what a waste he wanted to be a programmer.

I noticed some other omegas were checking him out discreetly, and even some betas were sneaking glances. Idiots. They probably jerked off to his mental image on a regular basis. I made sure to kill them with my glares whenever any of them skimmed their gazes over me.

Bang, bang, bang, you're dead! And you're dead too!

Sean told me what he heard from Alvin—that Skye's father was some musician from an old boy band. Of course, I looked him up online—Aiden Nolan, quite a hunk. This kid inherited everything from his father; you rarely see such regular and symmetrical facial features.

What was also very disturbing was his vague resemblance to Anton. Yeah, Anton was a looker, always catching glances from omegas wherever he went. Super annoying. Skye had the same aura about him, and their faces were kind of similar—striking and manly.

For God's sake, I'd gone completely stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

I couldn't let this idiocy continue. I lowered my head, and every time I felt the urge to look at him, I painfully pinched my forearm. However, since I only started doing it five minutes before the lecture ended, it didn't matter anyway. But still—my forearm hurt so much after this.