Axel's POV

VAN! I yelled through the mind link, connecting to my Beta.

I could feel his startled wince. What?! he demanded back. Why are you making a racket in my head?!

Come here, I begged. I could hear him sigh, and then the quiet thumps of him leaving his room a couple doors down to enter mine.

"What has you urgently calling me in the middle of the day? Not everybody is free all the time like you," he grumbled. 

I looked him over. He was wearing baggy shorts and a loose t-shirt, and his hair was in a loose and messy ponytail. 

Van looked tired, but relieved. Knowing him, I'm guessing he was looking for an excuse not to study.

I flashed my phone at him. "I'm texting Oliver. I think I pissed him off?" I questioned, waving him over. He joined me on my bed and read through the messages from the top.

I could see his lips twitching the entire time. I frowned. What was so funny? At the end, he gave in and burst out laughing.

"Jesus Christ, Axel, are you being dense on purpose? This is hilarious." He eventually snickered. My frowned deepened.

"What do you mean? Everything was going fine. He even complimented me, didn't he?"

Van laughed again. "Axel, he literally called you a piece of shit in French." Van shook his head. "You take French, for goodness sake."

I blinked as Van pointed it out.

"Wh—"

"Guess I'll have to schedule tutoring you in French somewhere," Van said to himself, scrolling through the messages. "That aside, Axel, even I can't tutor you in common sense. This is pathetically try-hard, especially for you."

I sat there, baffled and disbelieving. Sure, I'd noticed he was a bit busy, but it was me so—

"Hah!" he snickered. " 'You don't want me to die, do you?' That's so sly. I'm definitely using that on whatever dumbass bothers me next."

I had a vague feeling that Van and Oliver would get along well, as well as an instinctual fear of the two of them teaming up. But that was submerged with the anger that surged through me.

Fuck him! Who the fuck did Oliver think he was?! I was taking time out of my day to talk to him, and I was even being nice by texting first and he was—what? Making a fool out of me?! Who the hell did Oliver think he was?!

I turned inward to my wolf, seething. Looking for support, I made my anger clear, only to be shocked by the amusement radiating out from Alex.

A clever mate is a good mate, he seemed to be saying. He belongs to us.

I ignored him.

"Who the hell does he think he is?!" I ranted in irritation. "Seriously, I'm going to get him back. Does he think he can get away with treating me like that? I'm gonna fucking get that tricky little bitch," I grumbled.

"Oh I'm totally sure you will, you fancy morceau de merde," Van quipped, amused. I growled in warning, but he ignored me. His brows tightened. "I wonder if you can. I wonder if you can..."

I vaguely noted that Van was taking screenshots and sending them to himself, but I paid it no mind. "Of course I fucking can! Who do you think I am?! I'm gonna get back a hundred million times. He's gonna be sorry."

I paced up and down my room, fuming. Van played on my phone, ignoring my totally-not-a-tantrum, but I didn't look at him.

I knew what I had to do.

The best revenge was having him as soon as possible—mating him, taking my alpha position, my legacy. And that was exactly what I planned on doing.

He could try and be rude and sarcastic, or play nice—it didn't matter. I'd let him have his fun making fun of me going out of my way and trying really hard to be nice. I wouldn't let myself be distracted by that.

No, I was going to focus solely on making Oliver submit to me as soon as fucking possible.