CHAPTER 88: MR. ANONYMOUS?

Stales was the one who had texted Evan, telling him to come out so they could have a proper talk. Evan didn’t argue. He replied that he’d be there in thirty seconds. They waited, watching the path, keeping calm and alert until they saw him approaching. As soon as Evan came into view, Stales quickly sent a message to Renn, letting him know that the boy was out of the room and they could move into action.

"I hate the fact that we have to apologize to him when we didn’t even fucking do anything wrong," Alex hissed, folding his arms across his chest. His jaw was tight, and the irritation in his voice was clear.

"We have to—" Stales stopped talking the moment Evan got closer. He forced a smile onto his face, trying to look welcoming as he stepped forward. Then, raising his voice a little, he said, "Hello, Evan Thatcher."

"I didn’t get your name the other day," the slim, clumsy-looking boy replied. He turned to Alex. "Hello, Alex. And you are?"

"Stales. It’s not so difficult to grab," Stales answered dryly. Something about the boy’s calm tone got under his skin, even though Evan hadn’t done anything wrong.

"I will," Evan said, standing there with his hands together in front of him. He looked at both of them, his eyes clear and questioning. "Why did you guys call me out here? I didn’t do anything. Your friend wrongly accused me, and if this is going to be another—"

"Can you calm the fuck down?" Alex cut in, his brows furrowed in frustration. "We didn’t call you out here to beat you up or blame you for anything. We know you’re not the one behind all this bullshit."

"Yes, Evan. We messed up," Stales added, lowering his voice as he looked at the boy. "We wrongly accused you, and Mr. Slade made sure we heard it. Our Alphas too. We were wrong, and for that, we’re here to apologize."

Evan looked at them both. He didn’t seem angry. Just tired. "I don’t have a problem with either of you," he said, his voice soft, almost too calm. The guilt started to hit Stales even harder. He remembered how badly he’d wanted to hurt this boy just a few days ago. "But I had to report you when Mr. Slade asked me about that video going around the Academy Buzz. Your friend almost disfigured my face."

"Thank you for mentioning that video," Alex said, stepping forward slightly. But the moment he noticed Evan stepping back a little, he stopped and took a few steps away to ease the tension. "Relax, for fuck’s sake. You’re safe. We’re not going to hurt you."

"Well, at least that friend of yours who punched me isn’t here, so yeah... I guess I’m in safe hands," Evan said with a small smile, his eyes falling to the ground.

Alex rolled his eyes and said, "Angel is upset about everything that happened between you two. The principal even called him in for a meeting about it. He’s frustrated, and that’s why he couldn’t come to apologize to you himself."

"No problem. I don’t hold grudges," Evan nodded calmly. "If you’re done with the apology, can I go?"

Just when they were about to ask him the real question—about the new video of Angel that somehow got recorded in his room—the power supply suddenly went out. It was strange. That sort of thing rarely ever happened at the Academy. The school had systems in place to make sure nothing interrupted the basics—especially not electricity.

"That’s strange," Evan said, glancing toward the dormitory with narrowed eyes.

Alex knew exactly what was happening. This was Kaito’s doing. He needed to buy him more time, so he stayed calm, ready to stall Evan a little longer.

But before he could say anything, the clouds above began to tremble, and a loud thunder rolled through the sky, sharp and deep. Then came the lightning, bright and violent. Without thinking, they ran together toward a large tree nearby, crouching underneath it to avoid the blast.

After a few seconds, they started hearing things break. Glass. Shards cracking and falling in the distance. Stales couldn’t help but smile. That was the signal. Kaito had done it. Everything was going according to plan.

"What the fuck is going on?" Evan asked, fear clear in his eyes. It was the first time he showed any real panic. The boys saw it, saw how fragile and unprotected he looked. He was an Omega. No matter how strong he tried to act, they knew he needed to be shielded from this shit. But he shrugged them off when they tried to keep him behind. "Why is this happening?"

"The god of thunder is having a meeting with his disciples," Alex replied with a straight face.

Stales nearly burst out laughing. What the hell was that? Why would Alex say something that stupid? And did he really think Evan would fall for it?

"There’s no such thing," Evan snapped, clearly not buying any of that crap. He made a move to head back toward the dorm, but both boys blocked his way.

"So what do you think it is, then? Tell us," Stales asked, trying hard to hold in his laughter. This had to be the most ridiculous conversation he’d had in weeks.

The argument dragged on longer than it should have. Evan and Alex kept going back and forth about thunder gods and logic, both of them too stubborn to back down. It would’ve been funny if the tension wasn’t so damn high.

But everything shifted when Evan’s wristwatch started beeping.

He looked at the watch and noticed something strange. The warning light that had been red just seconds ago suddenly turned white, and then it went completely quiet before switching off. Evan stared at it in shock. Then he slowly raised his head to look at the two mischievous boys in front of him.

His hands curled into tight fists.

Then his eyes began to glow.

Stales gripped his phone tighter. He and Alex both noticed the sudden shift in Evan’s body language. That calm, innocent, almost fragile boy they thought they knew... he was gone. What stood before them now didn’t look weak or scared. He looked powerful.

His eyes were glowing. Not just glowing—but completely blue. The iris, the cornea... every part of his eyes turned into that strange glowing shade of blue. It lit up his entire expression like something out of a nightmare.

The boys stared, frozen.

"He’s not an Omega," Alex said, stepping back slowly as the truth hit him. "He’s something else."

"I don’t know what the fuck he is," Stales whispered, still trying to catch his breath, "but we shouldn’t fight it."

But Alex wasn’t ready to let Evan get away. Not with Kaito and Renn still inside the building. They needed to hold him back, even if it meant risking it.

He lunged forward, but Evan was faster. He landed a clean punch straight to Alex’s face. Then he turned and did the same to Stales without hesitation.

He tried to run.

Alex, eyes blurry from the hit, regained balance fast enough to kick Evan in the back. The blow nearly threw him off balance, but he caught himself. Just as Evan tried to push forward again, Alex grabbed his wrist.

But then Evan bared his teeth—sharp, animal-like—and snapped toward Alex like he was about to bite. Alex let go instantly.

"Fuck," he muttered, wiping his wrist. If that bite had landed, he didn’t know what the hell might’ve happened....maybe an infection.

Evan didn’t waste a second. He dashed off toward the back of the dormitory, disappearing into the shadows. But something slipped from his hand as he ran.

His wristwatch.

Alex picked it up, confused. It was still warm, still beeping faintly under his palm.

Stales was still catching his breath. He hadn’t moved. He couldn’t believe it. That boy they thought was innocent—that soft-spoken, awkward boy—they had been dead wrong about him.

He had been the one.

He was the guy they had been searching for all along.

Angel had been right.

Without wasting a second, Stales pulled out his phone and sent a message to Kaito:

Something went wrong, Alpha.