Claims and Realizations

Kim's pov

As soon as I sighted Jules, I knew we'd hit the jackpot.

He looked perfect and he smelled like sin. I had instantly asked the assistants to start looking into his file, so I'd know if we could benefit from him or not.

If he's from a prestigious and fully loaded family, we won't be able to make a dime from him because he'd be unexploitable that way… but if he's from a low family who's in need of money, or if he's from a family with a scandal big enough to ruin their lives, then we'd be able to benefit from him immensely.

He exudes an aura of innocence, which is undoubtedly cute, and that's already a guarantee that he's gonna benefit us a whole lot.

Later tonight, I was gonna tell the leader everything that I think of Jules so far.

Yes, the leader.

Everyone believes that I was the leader of this fraternity, but that's nothing but a lie. The actual leader of the fraternity, the one who actually calls the shot, is someone else entirely.

I was standing at the side of the stage, eyes on Jules, who looked like he seriously had no idea of what to do right there on the couch, even with his hand shoved into his pants.

That was when his scent hit me.

It usually comes like rain, without any warning. Panic swirled in my insides at once and I hurriedly glanced around, searching for him.

That was when I suddenly found myself in front of Blaze, right in the large room where Jules and I had previously been in, about thirty minutes ago.

My knees buckled underneath his hard gaze and I silently prayed he wouldn't lose control right now.

I knew why he was here.

In a way, I was already expecting his presence.

The leader had informed me that Blaze was gonna be here in order to come claim the new omega, because he had apparently done this a handful of times in the past, way before I got promoted to the position of the stand-in-leader due to my awesome charisma.

Blaze apparently loved to claim them like this, so he could ruin them till nothing remained.

But he couldn't take this one, because we needed him for our own benefits!

"Where is he?" Blaze growled and I flinched, swallowing emptily. It sounded like he was speaking in three voices at once and that unnerved me to the core.

I've heard a lot of things about him, and I've always made sure to stay away from his line of sight.

He had somehow teleported me from the arena where the initiation was supposed to be happening. How he had been able to do that was completely beyond me.

It made me realize that there was really more to him than a lot of people realize.

"Uh, you c- can't have h- him because w- we… we n- need him–" I was still speaking, stumbling over my words in a way only a loser would, when he suddenly grabbed my throat and lifted me off the ground at once.

I grasped his wrist with my hands as I wheezed and gasped for breath, heart racing erratically.

Blaze's face was impassive, completely blank, it didn't seem like me was even straining right now. Although his eyes, which were usually black, are currently glowing red.

He leaned his face closer to mine and growled out in a voice that rattled my bones with fright.

"I claimed him already, so you all had better get lost. He's mine!"

I nodded frantically, wheezing and gasping for breath. Kicking my feet out and tugging on his wrist wasn't helping my case in any way and I kept apologizing over and over again so he'd let go of me.

When he finally loosened his grip around my throat, I collapsed on the ground in a heap of limbs, gasping and heaving desperately

As he stared down at me, I silently wished I could disappear from his sight at once. It felt like he was contemplating doing something else to me and the thought frightened me tremendously.

"Take care of this at once. Get him off that couch and out of that room filled with freaks." His voice was low this time, but tinged with something cloyingly dangerous, which caused my spine to stiffen even more.

Before I could even respond, he was gone. Like he whooshed away with the wind the way he had appeared.

I remained frozen in place, panting like a dog.

It was almost like that scary incident hadn't happened, and I'd have doubted myself if it wasn't for the soreness and reddened fingerprints around my throat, staring back at me right now as I peered into the nearest mirror.

I scrambled out of the room the next moment, at the speed of light.

Jules' pov

Blaze's scent was in the air one moment, and next, it was gone. It was almost like I had imagined it, but I was sure I hadn't because from the sounds of the murmurs going through the crowd, it was obvious that they caught the scent as well.

The realization that he could have been here for a fleeting moment, in a space where predators weren't supposed to be at, made me so nervous that I sat up straight and refused to try getting myself off again.

No one asked me to get back to my initiation ritual because they were busy getting the crowd under control. The brief disruption made them turn the rest of the lights on, and finally, the entire room's attention wasn't on me.

I was wondering what I was supposed to do next when I noticed Kim frantically walking towards me, a worried look plastered over his face. He stopped beside me and tugged me off the couch at once while I blinked at him in confusion.

"I- I'm sorry I couldn't do the ritual–" I began to speak as he hurriedly tugged me off the stage. It felt like I had done something super wrong and had undoubtedly disappointed him, and the thought made me feel incompetent.

But before I could say anything else, Kim was gripping my shoulders with a very serious expression on, almost it almost looked like he was panicking. All traces of his coolness and confident aura were nowhere to be found.

"You didn't do anything wrong, and the initiation is over. You're now a member of our fraternity, even without performing the ritual."

I blinked in surprise. "But, you said –"

He shook his head frantically and that was when I noticed that his once flawless throat had reddish marks that resembled fingerprints.

"Forget what I said before. We're making an exception for you, okay? We're gonna accept you into the fraternity without it. You're free to go now."