"Permission Isn't Protection"
For the first time in months, Phuwin stood at the gates—not to stare through them longingly, but to *leave* them.
"You'll attend your classes and come straight home," Pond said without emotion, handing him a phone with tracking enabled and a leather bag.
Phuwin's fingers curled around the strap. "You trust me?"
Pond's gaze was unreadable. "No. But I'm letting you go anyway."
He watched Phuwin walk away, not realizing that his knuckles were already white from clenching his fists.
---
The university campus buzzed with life. It felt like a world untouched by control and cold expectations. Laughter, scent trails, noise—it overwhelmed Phuwin at first, but then something bloomed in his chest.
*Hope.*
And then—
"PHUWIN?!"
He turned just in time to be crushed in a three-person hug. Fourth, Dunk, and Gemini tackled him like a storm. Laughter bubbled out of him unguarded, for the first time in forever.
"I thought you vanished," Gemini said, eyes shimmering. "We were worried sick."
"I wasn't allowed out," Phuwin whispered, and something in Fourth's face hardened. Beside him, Fourth's mate—a gentle, confident beta—looped an arm around his waist protectively.
"Mate," he corrected softly. "You don't have to explain. You're here now."
They dragged him across the courtyard, caught up in their chaotic energy.
That's when *he* appeared—an unfamiliar alpha with a sly grin and sharp scent. Tall, cocky, dressed in black.
"Hey, beautiful," he said to Phuwin, stepping a little too close. "You new here? Because I would've remembered someone like you."
Phuwin froze. Gemini grabbed his hand, clearly about to interfere, but the alpha kept talking.
"You got a name, or should I just call you mine?"
Before Phuwin could step away—
A familiar scent crashed into the scene like a thunderstorm.
Pond.
He was *there*. How? How did he get here so fast?
"Step away," Pond growled low, his voice vibrating with a rage that chilled everyone in the courtyard.
The cocky alpha sneered. "Who the hell are—"
Pond didn't let him finish. His fist slammed into the alpha's jaw with a sickening crack. Screams erupted. The guy dropped like a stone.
And before Phuwin could react, Pond turned on *him*.
"You think you're clever?" Pond seethed, eyes feral. "Letting someone flirt with you like that?"
"I didn't—!" Phuwin started, backing up.
But Pond grabbed him by the wrist, yanked him forward, and *hit* him—open palm, across the cheek. Not hard enough to break skin, but hard enough to drop Phuwin to the ground.
Gasps echoed. Someone yelled for security.
Phuwin touched his face in stunned silence, eyes wide. Fourth rushed toward them, but Pond's scent flared in warning.
"I *own* you," Pond hissed through clenched teeth. "No one touches what's mine."
"You don't own *me*," Phuwin whispered, voice shaking. "You just keep breaking me and calling it love."
Pond froze, his chest heaving.
The silence was deafening. Then—Fourth shoved Pond back, fists ready, but Dunk held him back with difficulty.
"You ever touch him again," Fourth spat, "and mate bond or not, I'll end you."
Screams still echoed across the campus as Pond stormed toward the exit with Phuwin slung over his shoulder like he weighed nothing. Phuwin kicked, squirmed, and pounded his fists into Pond's back, but it was useless.
"Let me go! You're insane!"
Students stared in shock. Campus security didn't even dare step in—the weight of Pond's aura was suffocating. Animal. *Wrong.*
He didn't speak once. Just walked—eyes blazing, jaw locked—until they reached the black car waiting at the curb.
---
The ride home was silent. Phuwin's breathing was shallow, eyes wide with shock.
He didn't think it could get worse.
He was wrong.
The moment they reached the estate, Pond dragged him down the servant corridor, past the kitchen, past the wine cellar—into a hidden passage beneath the floorboards.
The basement.
Dark. Cold. Stone-lined and windowless.
Pond shoved Phuwin inside and slammed the door. The sound of the bolt sliding home echoed like a death sentence.
"You want freedom?" Pond spat. "Then earn it."
Phuwin lunged at the door and slammed his fists against it. "You're sick! Let me out! You can't do this—!"
"You *belong to me*," came Pond's voice through the wood, soft now, but soaked in something *wrong*. "And I'll make sure you never forget that again."
---
Half an hour later, the front gate burst open.
Fourth, Dunk, and Gemini stormed in, fury in their eyes.
"Where is he?!" Fourth barked. "You think you can hit him and lock him up like some animal? Let him out!"
But Pond was already waiting at the top of the stairs. Still. Silent.
"Touch me," he said, voice eerily calm, "and I won't hold back."
Fourth stepped forward, rage crackling around him. "I swear to God—!"
Then it happened.
Pond's eyes **snapped red**—glowing, inhuman, ancient. His scent turned metallic, cold, laced with something *predatory*. Not alpha. Not omega.
*Enigma.*
Fourth froze. Dunk took a step back. Even Gemini gasped, clutching Fourth's arm.
"Get out," Pond said—but his voice was *wrong*. It wasn't shouting. It *reverberated*, deep and ancient, like it echoed inside your skull instead of the air. The kind of voice that *compelled*.
And it did.
The moment Pond spoke, Fourth's muscles locked. His legs buckled. He fell to one knee, trembling.
"D-Don't... move," Gemini whispered. "He's using his *real voice*."
Pond stepped closer, gaze never blinking. "You came here to rescue him. But you'll only leave broken."
His words didn't need to be shouted. They carried weight. *Power.* Power that didn't belong to any alpha.
And Phuwin—curled up behind the locked basement door—*heard it.*
He heard his friends retreat. He heard their footsteps flee. Heard the front door slam shut.
And then he heard Pond descend the stairs again.
The bolt slid free.
The door opened.
Pond stepped inside slowly, red eyes dimmed now—but not gone.
Phuwin backed up against the wall.
"Please..." he whispered. "Don't."
Pond knelt in front of him, calm again. Too calm.
"I hate when people try to take what's mine," he murmured, brushing his thumb across Phuwin's bruised cheek. "I told you—you belong to me."
Phuwin was silent, shaking, breath shallow.
Pond smiled faintly.
"But if you behave... maybe I'll let you upstairs again."
There was no clock in the basement. Only the slow drip of a pipe in the corner and the sound of Pond's footsteps when he came.
In the beginning, Phuwin had counted them with dread. Every visit meant something unpredictable: silence, questions, food... or punishment.
But over time, something changed.
Pond no longer yelled. No longer hit.
Instead, he brought warm meals. He wiped the corner of Phuwin's lips when soup dribbled from exhaustion. He placed a blanket over his sleeping body without saying a word. He started brushing Phuwin's hair back when it became knotted, fingers rough but careful.
One night, he came down with a bowl of rice and grilled fish, sat beside Phuwin, and quietly fed him.
Phuwin was too weak to resist, too empty to pretend he didn't crave the warmth.
"I can do it," he whispered, reaching for the spoon.
Pond didn't let go. "I want to."
Their hands lingered in the space between them. Phuwin looked up — and for the first time, he saw the exhaustion in Pond's eyes. The cracks beneath the cold. The confusion. The war between hunger and control.
Pond looked... *lost*.
That was the first time Phuwin felt something shift in his chest.
But the fear never left.
Some nights, Pond would come down drenched in scent — violent, thick with rage. His eyes would flicker red. He wouldn't speak, just pace the room like a caged animal.
Phuwin would curl up in the corner, breath held, waiting for the storm to pass.
Sometimes, Pond would stop pacing and kneel in front of him. He'd grip Phuwin's chin just a little too tightly and whisper, "Why do you make me like this?"
And Phuwin didn't know the answer.
All he knew was that, even in his fear, his body leaned toward the only warmth he knew.
One morning, Pond returned with clean clothes and a cup of warm milk. He didn't say a word, just helped Phuwin out of his dirty shirt, hands lingering over his skin with an odd gentleness.
Phuwin's voice broke the silence. "Why are you being nice?"
Pond hesitated. "Because I don't want you to break."
Phuwin looked down. "But you're the one breaking me."
Pond touched his face, fingers trailing down his cheek.
"Then why haven't you run from me?"
Tears welled up in Phuwin's eyes. "Because... even when I'm scared of you, I don't want to be without you."
There it was.
Truth, ugly and beautiful.
Pond leaned closer, resting his forehead against Phuwin's.
"You make me lose control," he whispered.
"And you make me feel alive," Phuwin replied, voice trembling.
In that moment, love wasn't soft. It wasn't kind.
It was twisted, bruised, and burning. But it was *real*.
Phuwin didn't understand it, couldn't explain it.
But in the silence of that basement, beneath the suffocating walls, he knew it:
He loved Pond Naravit.
The night was thick with rain when Off and Gun arrived at the estate. Their footsteps echoed down the dark hallways, their faces tense with worry and determination.
Gun's voice trembled as she whispered, "Phuwin, we're here to take you home."
Behind the heavy basement door, Phuwin sat on the cold stone floor, knees drawn to his chest. His eyes were red-rimmed, not from tears but exhaustion — from the storm inside him that refused to settle.
When Off rattled the lock and pushed the door open, Phuwin blinked up at them, his expression unreadable.
"You don't have to stay here," Gun urged gently, reaching out a hand.
Phuwin shook his head slowly, surprising them both.
"I won't leave," he said softly. "Not yet."
Off frowned. "Phuwin, you're hurt. You don't belong in this place — Pond's walls are cages, not protection."
Phuwin's gaze sharpened. "I know."
Gun's hand faltered. "Then why?"
Phuwin took a shuddering breath, his voice breaking as he spoke. "Because I love him."
Off and Gun exchanged a shocked glance.
"I *fell* for Pond," Phuwin confessed, eyes glistening. "Not the man who locked me away, not the one who hurt me... but the one who keeps me safe when he's not pushing me away. The one who fights for me in his own broken way."
Gun stepped closer, tears slipping free. "Phuwin, love shouldn't hurt like this."
Phuwin's lips trembled into a bitter smile. "It does. But I can't leave until Pond decides it's time. Until he lets me go."
Off knelt beside him, voice heavy. "We only want you free."
Phuwin's hand found Off's, squeezing it with surprising strength.
"My heart is his cage now," he whispered. "I'm his... and maybe one day, when he's ready, he'll set me free."
Gun wiped his eyes, his voice barely a whisper. "We'll be here when you're ready."
Phuwin nodded, eyes distant but certain.
And in that cold basement, bound by love and pain, he chose to wait — not because he was trapped, but because his heart refused to leave.