Alpha waited until two in the morning—when the dorm had long fallen silent—before his body finally went still.
Asleep.
Ace stayed frozen, counting breaths. One minute passed. Then another. Only when Alpha didn't stir did Ace finally believe it.
Meanwhile, Alpha's consciousness fell.
It dropped into a raging world.
The sky burned red.
Below it stretched a vast sea—unnaturally calm—while above it, furious winds howled with enough force to tear thought from flesh. The moment Alpha appeared, the storm seized him.
He tried to fight it.
Tried to anchor himself.
But this was not his world.
The pressure crushed him, the wind flinging him like debris until, at last, he was hurled onto the only solid ground in sight—a small, jagged stretch of land rising from the sea.
The wind still screamed, but here, Alpha could stand.
In the distance loomed a cave, dark and massive against the crimson sky. Fighting against the gale, he forced his way toward it, boots scraping stone until he finally crossed the threshold.
Silence.
The wind could not reach him here.
Breathing hard, Alpha turned to watch the storm rage outside—until a faint glow caught his attention.
Behind him.
He turned slowly.
What filled the cavern stole the breath from his lungs.
A massive form lay within, veins of molten red light pulsing beneath dark scales. The shape was unmistakable.
A dragon.
And yet—
It wasn't roaring.
It wasn't restrained.
It wasn't attacking.
The dragon was curled tightly around itself, wings folded, body coiled inward as though trying to disappear.
Alpha's chest tightened.
This wasn't the dragon he expected to find.
Its gaze fixed on Alpha, unblinking.
Moments passed before a low, rumbling voice shook the cave itself.
"You must be Alpha," it said. "How did you get here?"
The force of its breath sent Alpha's hair whipping violently. When the dragon finished speaking, every strand stood on end, static buzzing beneath his skin.
"What are you doing here?" Alpha asked carefully. "Do you need help?"
The dragon stared at him for a long moment—then turned away, eyes closing.
"Go away," it said flatly. "I don't need your help."
Silence followed.
Alpha waited.
The dragon did not move.
"At least you're not bound in chains," Alpha muttered, more to himself than anyone else. "That's a relief."
The dragon's eyes snapped open.
"What do you mean—chains?"
Alpha stiffened.
"There was another dragon," he said slowly. "On a frozen lake. Bound from head to tail. I don't know why." He hesitated, then pressed on. "Do you know anything about the sealing?"
The dragon surged upright.
Its tail lashed out.
Instinct took over—Alpha leapt, barely clearing the sweeping force as stone cracked where he'd stood.
"What do you know about the sealing?" the dragon demanded.
Alpha landed in a crouch, heart pounding.
That tone—
Sharp. Defensive.
Like someone caught hiding something.
Meanwhile—
Everyone was awake.
Everyone except Alpha.
Ace had never known Alpha to sleep longer than him, not once. Yet no matter how much they shook him, called his name, or raised their voices, Alpha didn't stir. His breathing was steady. Too steady.
And somehow, Ace knew.
This had something to do with yesterday.
With that strange, calculating look Alpha had worn, with the book, with the silence.
Damien acted as usual—quiet, composed—but Ramien noticed the cracks. His brother kept glancing at Alpha, confusion etched faintly into his eyes, discomfort he clearly didn't understand.
Ace, on the other hand, was internally cursing every life experiment he had ever performed since stepping into this dorm.
At last, Damien snapped.
"This isn't normal," he said flatly.
Before anyone could stop him, he moved.
His fist connected with Alpha's body with terrifying force, sending him flying across the room and straight into the wall. Stone shattered. Dust filled the air. A human-shaped crater remained.
Alpha didn't wake.
Silence followed—thick, horrified.
Victor had just returned from class when Damien reached for something far worse.
A sword formed in his hand, forged from scales, steaming with heat that warped the air around it.
The room erupted.
"Damien—stop!" Ramien shouted, stepping in front of Alpha without thinking. "Calm down. Let's think of a harmless way to wake him."
For a moment, Damien seemed to listen. He nodded slowly, lowered the sword—
Then raised it again.
"You're going to kill him!" Victor yelled.
Damien's eyes snapped toward him. "Like you know anything about sword control."
"Wait."
Ace's voice cut through the chaos, sharp with desperation.
Everyone froze.
"I—I can try a spell," Ace said quickly. "I don't know if it'll work, but… it's something."
The sword wavered.
Damien exhaled through clenched teeth and finally let the weapon dissolve.
But no one missed it.
If the spell failed, nothing—and no one—would stop him.
Ace retrieved his wand with unsteady fingers and began his so-called spell—which, judging by his history, was likely another life experiment disguised as magic.
He reached for Alpha's soul first.
It was still there.
That alone should have been reassuring, yet the unease in the room only deepened.
Ramien watched closely, his expression grave. This wasn't the first time Alpha had fallen into this state. The first had been when Alpha placed a hand on Ramien's head. The second—just the day before—at the training grounds.
Ace tried again.
And again.
Spells layered over spells, each one ending the same way: Alpha groaning softly, but not waking.
Ace swallowed hard.
After a long, silent moment, he spoke, his voice trembling.
"I think… his consciousness is trapped somewhere else."
The words landed like a death sentence.
"The only way to pull him back," Ace continued reluctantly, "might be to inflict an overwhelming level of pain. Something terrifying enough to force his return."
Damien didn't say a word.
He didn't need to.
The look on his face was enough.
An unmistakable I told you so.
Without another word, his sword reappeared—scale-forged, radiating heat that warped the air around it.
He closed the distance between himself and Alpha.
Ace instinctively stepped back, throat tight as he swallowed, every nerve screaming that this was about to go wrong.
Ramien and Victor stood frozen, minds racing for a better solution—any solution—that didn't involve letting Damien take control.
But Damien looked at Alpha as though he'd been personally wronged.
"Wolves heal fast, right?" he said calmly, the edge of his blade tracing a slow line from Alpha's chest toward his throat.
"We—we can heal him if it's too much," Ace blurted out, instantly earning sharp looks from Ramien and Victor.
Damien didn't look away.
"That settles it."
The sword lifted—
—and came down faster than any of them could think, breathe, or stop him.
Silence!!!
Elsewhere, before a dragon burning with restrained fury, Alpha gasped. He looked down to see a fresh wound carved from his neck to his chest—close enough that a fraction deeper would have ended everything. Before he could even process it, another pain tore across him, crossing the first.
He dropped to his knees, breath ragged.
The dragon watched him in silence, something like pity flickering in its eyes.
"Go back," it rumbled at last. "If you remain, I will not spare you."
With that, it curled in on itself again, eyes closing as if Alpha no longer existed.
Pain flooded Alpha's senses, sharp and undeniable. This wasn't an illusion, nor a wound born of this world.
This pain came from outside—real, burning, forged of dragon fire.
His vision blurred. He collapsed onto his side.
Through the haze, he could still make out the dragon's massive form. Instead of fear, a faint smile tugged at his lips.
"You're scared," he murmured.
Then his eyes dimmed.
Back in the dorm, Victor and Ace stood frozen, mouths slightly open, stunned by what Damien had done.
Damien, however, remained calm—almost detached. He was already considering whether another strike was necessary when a sudden surge of memory slammed into him.
His inner dragon stirred.
Understanding flashed across his expression.
Alpha had spoken of the sealing.
Every word Alpha had exchanged with the dragon—every question, every suspicion—had reached Damien through that bond.
That was what had kept him on edge. What had made this feel personal.
With a sharp turn, Damien dismissed the blade and walked away, leaving Alpha where he lay.
Ramien and Ace watched the rarest sight of Victor speeding towards Alpha to heal him.
"What are you waiting for" he yelled towards them.
They instantly started healing Alpha while Damien sat at a corner, fuming at a fact unknown to others.
Alpha opened his eyes, things were blurry, pain was screaming in his brain, what agonized him more was the fact that three other sources of healing were healing his injury at an alarming rate, skin stitching back together.
He vaguely made out three relieved faces before collapsing into a coma.
When he woke again, his eyes met the window, outside was a moon about to be full.
"It a full moon tomorrow" he said out loud chuckling to himself.
Ramien and Ace rushed to Alpha's side, while Victor remained near the kitchen, watching with guarded caution.
"How are you feeling?" Ramien asked quietly.
For a brief moment, Alpha stared at them as if seeing strangers.
Ace exhaled sharply. "I think he's lost his memories."
"No way I did," Alpha replied, pushing himself upright.
The room stilled.
"What do you remember?" Damien's voice cut in from behind them.
Alpha paused, eyes unfocused for a second.
"Uh… I was injured," he said slowly. "And if it had gone an inch deeper, I would've died—without even knowing how."
His gaze lifted and met Damien's.
Threatening. Cold. Unyielding.
Alpha didn't flinch.
"We need to talk," Damien said at last, tilting his head toward the door.
"I won't let you take him," Victor spoke up from the kitchen, voice firm. "Who knows what you'll do to him alone."
"There's no need to worry, Victor," Alpha said calmly. "I'm conscious. And I can fight."
His eyes never left Damien's.
Outside—
"You had a million guts and decided to enter my soul sea, did you?" Damien asked, his back facing Alpha.
"And you decided to seal up your brother didn't you" Alpha retorted, ears sharp, muscles tense.
The memory of Damien's sword striking him, painfully fresh.