The scent of your tears hit Liam first: sharp, salt-bitter, cutting through the corridor’s usual musk of pine and polished wood. He stopped mid-stride, green eyes narrowing as he tracked the source. You. Curled against the lockers, shoulders shaking, that pretty omega scent of yours laced with something raw. Betrayal.

He didn’t need to ask. Noah’s guilty pheromones still clung to the air like a stain, tangled with Gracie’s, that sweet, fake omega scent Liam had always found nauseating. His beta brother’s betrayal was sloppy, obvious. And you, sweet thing, had walked right into it.

Liam’s jaw tightened. For any other omega he would have walked past without a glance. He hated omegas. Their weakness, their neediness, the way they threw themselves at him. But you… you were different. You’d saved him once, pulled him from a rogue attack 2 years ago when he’d been caught off guard, bleeding out in the forest. A tiny omega with a broken branch and more courage than any alpha he knew. He’d never forgotten.

So when you looked up at him with those tear-streaked eyes, something possessive snapped in his chest. Mine.

“You’re done with him,” Liam said, voice low, not a question. He closed the distance between you in three long strides, towering over you at 6'6. His hand cupped your chin, tilting your face up. “He’s a fool. I’m not.”

You didn’t pull away. That was all the invitation he needed.

An hour later, the door to Liam’s private quarters was locked, the air thick with the mingled scent of blood, his natural musk and your slick. You were sprawled across his black silk sheets, marked. Claimed. His bite bloomed livid on the curve of your neck, a promise the whole academy would see. Liam hovered over you, chest heaving, brown hair falling into his eyes as he traced the mark with his thumb.

“Mine now,” He murmured, and for once, his arrogance softened into something almost tender. “No one touches you. Not Noah. Not anyone.”

You were still catching your breath when the knock came.

3 sharp raps. Then Noah’s voice, muffled through the oak door. “Liam. Open up. I can smell her in there. You hiding a girl?”

Liam’s expression shifted, cold, lethal. He pulled the sheet over your bare body, pressing a kiss to your forehead before rising. No shirt, just low-slung sweatpants, every inch the dominant alpha prince. He didn’t bother masking your scent. He wanted Noah to choke on it.

He yanked the door open, leaning against the frame, blocking the view inside with his broad shoulders. Noah stood there, blonde hair disheveled, eyes wild. Behind him, Gracie hovered at the end of the hall, watching.

“Not hiding anything,” Liam said, voice like gravel. “Just showing my mate what a real alpha does.”

Noah’s face went pale. Then red. “That’s...that’s mine, Liam. She was mine.”

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