[BL] Alpha, You've Got the Wrong Mate!

Chapter 383: 383 — A Monster’s Birth (7)

Seeing the young man obviously spacing out, Ilyan coughed lightly to clear his throat.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked with a warm smile.

Raniel didn’t answer. Instead, he rose from the chair abruptly.

"What do you want from me?" he demanded, fury evident in his tone.

Ilyan blinked, caught off guard by the sudden hostility.

"I just want to be friends with my mate—" He instinctively reached for Raniel’s hand.

The reaction was immediate. Raniel stepped back as though burned. Unfortunately, he forgot about the chair behind him. His leg struck it, throwing off his balance, and he fell onto his back with a painful thud.

The silver-haired young man looked up, gritting his teeth.

This man was infuriating.

"I-I apologize," Ilyan said hurriedly, panic flashing across his face. "I didn’t mean to scare you." He immediately extended a hand toward Raniel, lowering himself.

The omega glanced at it before planting his own palm against the floor and pushing himself up without assistance.

"Don’t talk to me as if we know each other," he said coldly, creating a clear line between them.

Ilyan’s lips parted slightly.

For a moment, it seemed as though he wanted to argue. Or perhaps explain himself. However, instead, he lowered his head.

The sight left Raniel strangely unsettled.

Why was he acting like that?

The other children in the Temple often cried, complained, or threw tantrums whenever things didn’t go their way.

Ilyan did none of those things. He wasn’t spoiled. He wasn’t loud. He wasn’t cruel. If anything, he seemed patient. Unusually patient.

The realization only irritated Raniel further. His fingers curled into fists at his sides.

And himself? He wasn’t the kind to be rude to someone—not even those mean alphas.

Was it because of this alpha’s scent?

The sweet fragrance lingering in the air was unlike anything he had encountered before.

It clouded his thoughts, made his heart race, and made him painfully aware of the young man standing only a few steps away.

And that frightened him. His heart had never beaten this fast during training. Not when he had been punished. Not when he had been beaten. And not even when those alphas had touched him against his will.

Yet somehow, standing before this stranger made his pulse thunder in his ears.

The feeling was unfamiliar, uncomfortable. And most of all, certainly dangerous.

And Raniel hated it.

It only made him hate the alpha standing before him even more.

Without wasting another second, the omega turned on his heels and stormed out of the library.

"R-Raniel?" Ilyan called after him, confusion evident in his voice.

However, the silver-haired young man paid him no attention.

The large doors slammed shut behind him, leaving the other man alone in the large hall.

The omega’s footsteps echoed through the white corridors of the Temple as he hurried forward, one hand pressed against his chest.

His heart still refused to calm down. Each beat struck against his chest harder than the last.

The sensation irritated him.

No matter how many deep breaths he took, it wouldn’t disappear.

Instead, the sweet scent lingering in his nose seemed to grow stronger every time he remembered the alpha’s face.

Raniel bit the inside of his cheek. He needed to speak with the High Priests immediately.

When he was younger, they had repeatedly warned him to keep his distance from anyone capable of making his heart race.

At the time, he hadn’t understood their reasoning.

Now, he was beginning to think they might have been right.

The feeling was unpleasant.

Unsettling.

It made it difficult to think, to focus. And most importantly, it made him want to lower his guard around someone he had met less than an hour ago.

That alone was enough to alarm him.

What if this was some kind of trick? A magic spell he was not aware of?

The High Priests often reminded him that people approached him for reasons he couldn’t always see.

Some wanted power while others wanted influence. And some simply wished to use him.

Raniel had learned long ago that trust only led to disappointment.

As he rounded a corner, his pace finally slowed. His fingers tightened around the edge of his blindfold.

"High Priest I will know what to do," he muttered to himself.

The elderly man always had answers. He could explain why this strange alpha had been brought into the Temple.

Why he had called himself Raniel’s mate. And most importantly: Why merely standing near him made Raniel’s heart feel as though it was trying to escape his chest.

The omega frowned deeply. Whatever this feeling was, he wanted it gone.

***

The omega returned to his room, his steps slower than before.

The space was almost as empty as his life.

There was nothing particularly interesting there. Nothing personal. Nothing that truly belonged to him.

Only the necessities.

A blanket on the ground to sleep on. A wardrobe containing the same white robes he wore every day.

Just like eating, sleeping, and training were necessary for him to remain alive, everything in this room existed for a purpose and nothing more.

Unfortunately, earlier, he had been unable to meet High Priest I.

The elderly man had apparently left the Temple earlier that day. At least, that was what one of the servants of the Temple had told him.

It was hard for him to trust any of them as they had often lied to him in the past. For example, they sent him to strange places only for him to get scolded by the High Priests.

But Raniel never understood the reason behind their hatred. He didn’t hurt any of them. Not the way they hurt him.

The omega slowly lowered himself onto the co-called bed and shut his eyes.

Perhaps if he slept, this strange feeling would disappear. Perhaps everything would return to normal.

However, the moment darkness greeted him, the voice of the young alpha echoed in his mind once more.

That warm voice.

The way he had apologized over and over despite doing nothing particularly wrong.

And then—

"I just want to be friends with my mate."

Raniel’s eyes flew open. His heart slammed violently against his chest. The sound was so loud he could almost hear it.

Heat rushed through his body without warning, spreading from his neck to the tips of his ears.

The omega immediately sat upright. His hand moved to his chest.

"What’s wrong with me?..." he whispered.

The sensation was unfamiliar. Terribly unfamiliar.

He had suffered injuries. Broken bones, exhaustion, starvation, countless forms of pain. Yet none of them felt like this.

This wasn’t painful. Nor was it pleasant. It simply made him restless. Unable to think clearly, or to focus on anything else.

Raniel frowned and buried his face into his hands. The more he tried to forget the alpha, the more vividly he remembered him.

His scent.

His voice.

His figure.

The realization only irritated him further.

"Annoying," he muttered under his breath.

Then he pulled the blanket over his head as though it could somehow block those thoughts from entering his mind.

Unfortunately, no matter how tightly he wrapped himself in the covers, the memory of Ilyan remained.

And for the first time in a very long while, Raniel found himself unable to fall asleep.

***

Their next meeting came without warning.

Raniel had just finished his training and was limping his way back to his room. Every step sent a dull ache through his body. He hadn’t slept properly the night before, yet his instructors had shown him no mercy because of it.

To them, exhaustion was merely another obstacle he was expected to overcome.

"Are you alright?" A worried voice suddenly reached his ears.

Raniel froze.

For a brief moment, he thought he had imagined it. He couldn’t see anyone standing in front of him. Nor behind him.

Yet the voice was unmistakable. It belonged to the same person from yesterday.

Ilyan, was it?

Raniel frowned.

"Look up here."

The omega immediately regretted obeying, but his head tilted upward anyway, almost as if his body had moved on its own.

Standing atop a thick tree branch was a familiar figure.

The cold breeze toyed with the young man’s dark hair, causing several strands to dance across his face.

Due to his poor eyesight, Raniel couldn’t make out many details. Still, he knew he wasn’t mistaken.

It was Ilyan.

The alpha balanced effortlessly on the branch, looking far too comfortable for someone standing several feet above the ground.

"Are you shameless?" Raniel asked.

The words escaped before he could stop them. His eyes widened slightly.

Why had he said that aloud?

To his surprise, Ilyan only laughed.

The sound was warm and light, carrying none of the offence Raniel had expected.

Then, without warning, the alpha jumped.

Raniel instinctively stumbled backward. His heart nearly stopped. For a split second, he was convinced the man would fall directly on top of him.

Instead, Ilyan landed gracefully on both feet. Not even a wobble. Not even a stumble. Like a cat dropping from a rooftop. He was used to this.

"Maybe I am," Ilyan admitted with a soft grin.