Thick smoke filled the small private room, curling beneath the ceiling and clinging to the air. The club's music was loud enough to vibrate through the walls, each heavy beat thrumming beneath the leather couches and rattling the glasses scattered across low tables. Coloured lights flashed through the haze. For only a second at a time, they illuminated the room before plunging it back into darkness.
Laughter rose above the music, followed by shouted conversations and the occasional clink of glass. Hadeon barely noticed any of it; he was sprawled comfortably in the middle of a large leather couch, surrounded by Omegas. His attention moved slowly from one to another; they had been chosen carefully.
Each possessed something that reminded him of Acheron. One had a similar delicate build; another had the same soft features and pale complexion. This one had hair that fell in a similar way around his face, and that one had the same slender hands.
None of them was identical, but none of them needed to be. Hadeon had learned that sometimes even the smallest resemblance was enough to satisfy him temporarily.
The young man seated beside him laughed at something someone else had said, leaning closer until his shoulder pressed against Hadeon's, but he barely reacted. His bright red hair caught the flashing lights, appearing almost crimson beneath the red bulbs before shifting to an unnatural purple beneath the next.
Hands occasionally brushed against him. Someone whispered into his ear. Another Omega rested against his shoulder. Yet every time Hadeon looked at them, disappointment followed.
They weren't him. None of them were Acheron, who was somewhere beyond his reach, an absence that no amount of alcohol or company could completely fill.
But they were enough... for now.
Hadeon relaxed further into the couch; a hand appeared in front of him, offering a glass filled with bright green liquid. He accepted it without looking at who had handed it to him. The drink smelled strongly of alcohol and something sweet beneath it.
He lifted the glass to his lips and swallowed the entire thing in one long gulp. The burn travelled down his throat.
He welcomed it.
The empty glass was quickly taken from his hand and replaced with another.
Hadeon settled back.
Around him, conversations drifted between the pounding beats of music. Most of them were meaningless. Complaints about professors, someone arguing about an assignment, a drunken story that made no sense.
Hadeon ignored all of it.
Until he heard a familiar word.
He frowned, his head turned slightly. He barely caught the word beneath the music.
Someone was talking about Velmira.
Hadeon sat upright, the sudden movement nearly sent one of the Omegas leaning against his side tumbling onto the floor.
"Careful!"
The Omega laughed as he caught himself against the couch, but Hadeon didn't apologise. His attention had already shifted toward the small group on the other side of the room.
He leaned forward, trying to hear them more clearly.
They were students; that at least was obvious. His impatience grew as he tried to piece together their conversation. He could wait. He could continue to listen.
But why bother?
There was a much easier way.
Hadeon turned toward them.
"Do you guys attend Velmira University?"
The group of young students fell silent for a moment. It wasn't the question itself that had stunned them but rather Hadeon himself. They had noticed him several weeks ago when he had first started appearing at the club. He was difficult to miss. Good-looking, confident, and apparently wealthy enough to spend entire evenings in one of the club's private rooms without giving a second thought to the cost.
He regularly paid for the room and everyone's drinks.
That alone had made him interesting.
Getting an invitation into his private room, however, had taken considerably longer. For weeks, they had watched him from a distance, wondering who he was and why he always seemed to have an endless supply of Omegas surrounding him.
Before tonight, Hadeon had barely spoken to any of them. His attention was almost always elsewhere, fixed on whichever Omega happened to be closest to him, and his bodyguards had made sure nobody approached him without permission. Large men who rarely spoke and had a habit of appearing whenever someone lingered too close.
Tonight, however, the students had finally been allowed inside.
And now Hadeon was speaking directly to them.
"Yes," one of them quickly answered. The student straightened slightly, clearly hoping the answer would earn him some favour.
Hadeon nodded, a subtle grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Do any of you know Acheron Desrosiers?"
The room fell silent again; this time, the students exchanged confused glances. The name sounded familiar. Very familiar. Two of them slowly raised their hands.
Hadeon's smile widened. He leaned back into the couch, looking far more pleased than the simple question warranted. Then he glanced toward the Omega who had nearly fallen from the couch earlier.
"Get us a few more drinks."
The Omega nodded quickly and disappeared toward the small service area. Hadeon returned his attention to the students.
"Are you in one of his classes?" he asked.
"Um... yes." The student who answered had slightly curly blond hair and looked nervous beneath Hadeon's attention. "We share an art history class."
Hadeon's grin returned.
"Let me guess."
He tilted his head.
"He sits somewhere near the back. Close to a window."
The blond student's eyes widened. "Yes."
Excitement replaced some of his nervousness.
"Do you know him?"
Hadeon threw his head back and laughed. The sound was loud and sharp enough to make several of the students flinch. For a few seconds, his laughter echoed through the room, carefree and almost genuine. Then, just as abruptly as it had begun, it stopped. The playfulness vanished from his face, leaving behind something colder. His eyes moved slowly from one student to the next, lingering on each of them as the last traces of his laughter faded into silence.
"He's my Omega."
His gaze lingered on them.
"And soon."
The students looked at each other. A young man wearing large golden-framed glasses shifted uncomfortably. He reached over and lightly hit his friend's thigh, seemingly preparing to whisper something.
Hadeon noticed. "Don't believe everything you see in the news."
Hadeon leaned back in his chair and accepted the glass of strong liquor that was placed into his hand. He took a slow sip, letting the burn linger on his tongue as his gaze remained fixed on the students. No one spoke. The room had become painfully quiet, and the tension was almost tangible. Some of the students managed to hide their discomfort, keeping their faces carefully blank, while others weren't nearly as successful. Nervous glances darted between them, fingers fidgeted, shoulders stiffened. Then the blond student looked toward the door, his eyes lingering there.
Hadeon noticed that too.
"What exactly is the lie?" another student finally asked. He had a buzz cut and considerably more courage than the others.
The blond student immediately bumped his shoulder. "Hey."
Then he quickly turned toward Hadeon.
"We know the news exaggerates things," he said with an awkward laugh. "We're just not sure which parts."
The buzz-cut student looked at his friend with open contempt.
Hadeon didn't seem offended. If anything, his grin remained firmly in place, though there was nothing warm about it. He leaned forward, resting his elbows against his knees as he studied the students from beneath lowered brows. The movement brought him closer, narrowing the distance between them and making the room feel suddenly smaller. His fingers loosely curled around the glass, the liquor inside catching the dim light.
"He wants to be with me." His voice had changed, the casual amusement completely gone.
"He wants me."
The words came with such certainty that several students instinctively exchanged another glance.
Hadeon had seen those emotions in Acheron's eyes countless times.
Fear. Confusion. Longing.
They were all emotions, after all. To Hadeon, there was little difference between them. Each could be observed, studied, and interpreted, provided one knew what to look for. It was simply a matter of understanding what they truly meant, and Hadeon had always believed himself very good at reading Acheron.
"But his parents are control freaks," Hadeon continued. "They can't stand that their precious son has finally started making his own decisions."
He downed another drink. "They've spent his entire life telling him what to do. Who to associate with. Where to go. What to believe."
His fingers tightened slightly around the glass.
"And now he only listens to me."
Silence settled over the room. No one made a sound, no comments, not even a snicker. They all stared at him, trying to understand exactly what he meant.
The buzz-cut student's expression had changed. "What exactly do you mean by that?"
Hadeon smiled. It wasn't pleasant.
"You'll understand soon enough." He lifted his glass again. "Once Acheron stops pretending he doesn't belong with me."
The words lingered in the room.
"Acheron is special..." Hadeon spoke the words almost reverently, his gaze drifting somewhere beyond the students as though he could see Acheron standing there in front of him.
"You'll know it the moment you meet him." He paused, rolling the glass between his fingers. "Someone that unique needs guidance. Protection."
His eyes returned to the group.
"Someone to hold them close." A quiet laugh escaped him before he reached for another drink.
"I'll admit, I rushed things." He shrugged, as though confessing to nothing more serious than an impulsive decision. "But any one of you would have done the same if you'd been surrounded by his pheromones day in and day out."
Several of the students shifted in their seats.
"You'd want to take your claim too."
A faint sneer slipped into his voice. "Of course, I wouldn't give anyone else the chance."
A few nervous laughs moved through the room; Hadeon seemed pleased by their reactions and continued.
"I'm serious. Acheron is bright, but he's also incredibly needy." He settled deeper into the couch. "Have any of you ever experienced what it's like to have someone completely depend on you?"
His voice lowered slightly. "To know that you're the person they look for when they're frightened? The person they trust when they don't know what to do?"
For a moment, his expression softened, and yet something darker remained in his gaze.
"He isn't stupid. He knows exactly what he's doing. He knows how to make you feel needed. How to keep you hooked and somehow, I still fall for it every time." Hadeon laughed quietly.
One of the students frowned. "You don't get tired of being with someone like that?"
"No." The answer came immediately. Without a moment of hesitation.
"But taking a break every now and then isn't a bad thing." He leaned back, completely at ease. "It refreshes me, and it reminds \textit{him} that I'm the only one willing to put up with him."
The words were delivered casually, almost as though they were common sense. The Omega sitting beside him shifted closer; Hadeon glanced down before reaching over and giving the Omega's thigh a playful pinch, causing the Omega to immediately burst into a fit of giggles.
"Why don't you forget about that Omega and stay with me?" He threw an arm around Hadeon's neck, grinning.
Hadeon looked at him for a moment before smiling.
"You're cute."
The Omega's grin widened.
"But you're not special."
The smile disappeared. The Omega's lips formed a small pout, clearly offended, but he didn't move away. There was something about Hadeon that made him difficult to resist. Beneath the expensive clothes, easy smile, and endless flow of drinks, there was something darker lurking beneath the surface. Something dangerous. And somehow, that danger only made him more intriguing. It drew the Omega closer even as some instinct warned him to keep his distance, leaving him caught between curiosity and the uneasy awareness that he was standing far too close to something he didn't truly understand.
Across the room, the blond student laughed. "Now I kind of want to meet him."
Hadeon's expression changed but only slightly. The smile disappeared from his lips, leaving them pressed into a thin line.
"If you do..." His eyes settled on the blond student. "Let him know I said hi."
The blond student didn't seem to notice the change.
"Sure will." He laughed loudly and reached for the nearest bottle, pouring another round of drinks for everyone.
The tension that had settled over the room quickly dissolved, and the conversation shifted back to university, parties, and plans for the weekend. Laughter soon joined the music again, their voices blending into the thumping beat before being swallowed by it entirely. Hadeon said nothing. He simply leaned back, glass resting loosely between his fingers, and watched them. He listened to their careless chatter, their drunken laughter. His expression remained relaxed, almost bored, but his eyes missed nothing.
Hadeon leaned his head back against the couch, letting it sink into the cool leather backrest. He closed his eyes and allowed the music to wash over him. The heavy beat pounded through the room, loud enough that he could feel each pulse vibrating through his body. The steady rhythm loosened something inside him, slowly easing the restless tension that had been coiled beneath his skin all evening. For a few moments, he let himself disappear into the noise, surrounded by the music, the alcohol, and the warmth of bodies nearby. It was easier this way. Easier not to think. Easier to let the pounding rhythm drown out everything else.
For a few moments, he allowed himself to simply enjoy it. The music, the warmth, the alcohol. He let the noise carry him somewhere far from his thoughts. But there was only one thing missing.
The faint scent of burnt coconut and a small body pressed tightly against his chest. Hadeon's lips curved into a slow smile.
'Soon'.
The word had become a quiet promise, one he repeated to himself whenever the longing became too difficult to ignore. Soon, he would have Acheron close again. Soon, he wouldn't have to settle for just memories.
Soon.
He had been saying it for nearly a year, through every sleepless night, every photograph and every time he caught himself imagining what Acheron would be doing.
All of this is just one annoying obstacle. Just a temporary separation, nothing more.
They will be together again. This time, Hadeon wouldn't allow anyone or anything to come between them.
His phone vibrated in his pocket.
Hadeon's eyes opened immediately. The faint smile that had been resting on his lips widened into a grin as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.
A notification glowed across the screen.
A message.
He opened it.
Several dozen photographs were attached, filling the screen in a neat grid. Hadeon's thumb hovered over them for a moment before he selected the first image. His grin slowly deepened.
The first photograph showed a young omega with silver shoulder-length hair, walking down a street, a small bag hanging from one hand. It looked as though Acheron had gone shopping that day. The next photo showed him browsing through an art supply store; another captured him examining a collection of paints. Further on the day showed Acheron holding up a piece of clothing before eventually deciding to buy it.
And finally...
Acheron sitting in a café with a cup of coffee in front of him; the sun was beginning to set behind him, casting a warm glow across his hair.
Hadeon stared at the photograph for several seconds. Acheron's expression was relatively neutral, but Hadeon knew him.
He had always been good at reading him.
Acheron had truly enjoyed himself.
He could tell.
Perhaps nobody else would notice the tiny differences in his expression, the relaxed set of his shoulders, the way he held his coffee and the faint softness around his eyes. But Hadeon noticed everything.
He always had.
His thumb moved across the screen, slowly swiping through the photographs again and saving every single one. He not only saved them but also moved them to a secure folder hidden behind several layers of passwords.
Hundreds of photographs were already stored there. Perhaps even more. The collection had grown steadily over the past year.
Acheron was doing nothing particularly interesting at all, just ordinary moments from ordinary days. Him walking to university, leaving a café, carrying groceries. Many of him laughing and talking with people.
Hadeon treasured every one.
His eyes lingered on his collection. Slightly disappointed that he wasn't able to get photographs of Acheron's parents' home. He even tried to learn more about the apartment where Acheron now lived. But the security surrounding both locations was frustratingly tight. Way too many cameras and guards, who are excellent at paying attention.
Getting close will be difficult.
Regardless, that didn't matter; he'd still received several photographs every day. He didn't know exactly how his photographs were obtained anymore. There were people who owed favours, people who could be paid, people who were willing to look the other way. It didn't matter.
What mattered was that they kept coming.
Enough to know where Acheron had been and enough for him to feel as though he was still part of Eron's life.
Hadeon enlarged the final photograph. Acheron's emerald eyes were turned slightly away from the camera, his face illuminated by the fading sunlight.
"Still so beautiful." He touched the screen with his thumb, lingering over Acheron's face.
Soon.
Then they would no longer need photographs; he would be able to see Acheron whenever he wanted and would be able to hold him again.
This time, Hadeon would do things differently.
He would protect what was theirs.
He wouldn't allow anyone to confuse Acheron again.