Alaric

​I let out another long, heavy sigh as I sat on the edge of the mattress, running a towel over my damp hair. The guest room Annie had meticulously prepared for me was stunning, but I couldn’t bring myself to appreciate the luxury. My mind was completely trapped in a loop, replaying the exact moment Nico had collapsed in the entryway.

​It had been a few hours since he fainted, and he had been completely out of it ever since. Luckily, one of his cousins was a practicing physician and, after a quick examination, casually claimed it was just a sudden drop in blood pressure brought on by travel stress.

​But I didn’t buy it for a second.

​The last person on earth who suffered from "stress" was Nicholas. The man was an absolute menace—obnoxious, arrogant, and perfectly fine throughout the entire grueling drive here. There hadn’t been a single thing wrong with him until the exact millisecond he stepped into that living room. He had seen something, or perhaps heard a specific voice, that caused his entire system to violently reject reality.

​Why the hell had he reacted in that manner?

​There was only one logical explanation for a sudden, physical shutdown like that. It was a severe panic attack. I knew the signs all too well, having dealt with the suffocating pressure of it myself.

The way the color had instantly drained from his face, leaving him deathly pale before his eyes rolled back—it was an exact mirror of a psychological break.

​"Why the hell am I even losing sleep over why he fainted?" I muttered to myself, tossing the damp towel onto a nearby chair.

​I needed that shower just to wash off the physical exhaustion of the journey, but it hadn’t done a thing to ease the mental weight.

Staring up at the minimalist light fixture on the ceiling, I couldn’t help but question my own sanity. What the hell am I even doing here? When Nico had started treating me like a stranger on the road, I easily could have turned the car around and caught the first flight back to Osaka. I told myself I stayed because of our bet.

​But as I lay there in the quiet room, a small, irritating voice in the back of my mind whispered that it was because of something else entirely.

​A sharp, rhythmic knock on the door broke the silence, jarring me out of my thoughts. I frowned, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. I rubbed a hand over my face, letting out a lazy yawn as I dragged my feet across the polished wooden floor and pulled the door open.

​Standing in the frame was Anderson Park, Nico’s uncle.

​"Hello there," Anderson said smoothly, his eyes scanning me with a calm, analytical precision. "Didn’t you hear the announcement over the intercom? The family and guests are expected downstairs for dinner. It’s mandatory."

​The moment he spoke, a strange, instinctual chill settled deep in my gut. The weight of his presence, the absolute authority radiating from his calm tone—it didn’t feel like any Alpha or Beta I had ever encountered. It felt like something entirely different. Something immensely powerful, terrifyingly controlled, and completely outside the normal scope of the hierarchy.

​My mind instantly flashed to the term Enigma. But as far as the modern world was concerned, Enigmas were a myth—extinct genetic anomalies that the government had systematically ruled out and erased from the official dynamic hierarchy decades ago.

Yet, looking at the man in front of me, the theory didn’t feel so far-fetched.

​"Hello, Alaric? Did you catch a word of what I just said?" Anderson asked, a faint, amused smirk playing on his lips as he waved a hand slightly in front of my face to snap me out of my daze.

​My eyes widened slightly, realizing I had been staring. His presence was genuinely overwhelming, but I quickly forced my racetrack composure back into place, giving a polite nod.

"Yes, sorry. Everything is fine. I must have been in the bathroom when the announcement went off. That’s why I missed it."

​Anderson tilted his head, his dark eyes lingering on me for a fraction of a second too long, as if he were reading right through my lie. He didn’t comment on it, though.

​"I... should we head down now?" I cleared my throat, stepping out into the hallway.

​Anderson gave a single nod and turned, his long strides taking him down the corridor while I quickly fell into step beside him.

​"So, you—"

​"How is—"

​We both cut ourselves off instantly.

​I immediately reached up, awkwardly scratching the back of my neck. My chest tightened with a sudden, humiliating wave of frustration. Am I seriously stuttering right now? Me? The man who stared down 200-mile-per-hour corners without blinking was currently feeling physically intimidated by a man strolling down a hallway in a silk robe.

​"You go first, Alaric," Anderson murmured, his deep voice carrying a light, easygoing chuckle. "I’m sure you have something far more pressing to ask."

​I swallowed hard, making the critical mistake of looking directly into his eyes. They weren’t the warm, expressive brown of Nico’s; instead, they were a deep, fathomless obsidian. But as I stared closer, the terrifying resemblance became undeniable. They shared the exact same way of looking at a person—an intense, unblinking glare that felt like it was stripping away every single one of your defenses.

​"How is Nico?" I finally asked, keeping my voice level.

​"Oh!" Anderson exclaimed, his expression softening as he let out a quiet laugh. "That little troublemaker is doing just fine. He hasn’t woken up quite yet, but knowing how stubborn and resilient his bloodline is, I’m certain he’ll be up causing chaos before the night is over."

​"Great," I muttered under my breath, a genuine wave of relief washing through me. At least when he woke up, I wouldn’t have to deal with his family on my own.

​Suddenly, Anderson slowed his pace. He leaned in slightly, his shoulder brushing mine in a gesture that was far too intimate for comfort. I nearly jumped a step backward out of sheer reflex.

​"So," Anderson murmured, his eyes glittering with pure amusement. "Are you two boyfriends, then?"