[BL]Hunted by the God of Destruction Chapter 25: Impatient people

The hallway was still.

No sound filtered through the thin dorm walls. No breath. No shift. Not even the scrape of a bag being dragged across the floor. Whoever had been inside was either standing perfectly still, or they were already gone.

The alpha stood at the door, unmoving, one hand resting lightly against the fra, the other hanging at his side like he hadn’t yet decided whether to knock again or break it open. He didn’t need to knock. He’d done enough already.

There should have been noise. The sound of panic. A reaction. Sothing. But there was nothing. No breath. No heartbeat close enough to catch. No fear clinging to the air the way it always did when the body realized too late it was trapped.

Which ant Elias Clarke had moved faster than expected.

With a slow, practiced motion, the alpha pulled his phone from the inside of his coat, tapped the one number at the top of his screen, and brought it to his ear.

It rang. Once. Twice. Three tis.

"Matteo," he said when the call connected, tone perfectly level, calm in the way cold water is calm right before it pulls you under. "What the fuck are you doing?"

A pause on the other end. Not surprised; Matteo never was, but it took longer than it should’ve.

"I’m where I said I’d be," Matteo replied, tone guarded. "Why?"

"I’m standing outside your oga’s door, and he’s not reacting to a thing," the alpha said, voice tightening, the edge sharp and deliberate. "You said he was sensitive. Said he’d be overwheld. He should be unraveling by now. Instead, I’ve got dead air."

"He is sensitive," Matteo said after a beat, his tone clipped, just shy of defensive.

"Then why isn’t he folding?" The alpha didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t need to. "He didn’t even flinch."

A breath passed. Static on the line.

"So that’s why he closed the call with ," Matteo muttered, almost to himself.

The alpha’s lips curled, half-smile, half-threat.

"Oh, he closed the call," he repeated, slow, like tasting it. "That’s cute."

Matteo didn’t answer.

"You said he trusted you," the alpha went on, stepping back from the door with deliberate ease, as if Elias might still be listening from behind the drywall. "You said you had him."

"I did," Matteo said. "Until soone decided to start knocking and sending ssages from my fucking phone number. Why are you all so impatient?"

"You said he trusted you," the alpha went on, stepping back from the door with deliberate ease, like he knew Elias might still be listening from behind the drywall, like he wanted him to. "You said you had him."

"I did," Matteo said tightly. "Until soone decided to start knocking and sending ssages from my fucking phone number." A pause. Just enough to let the words hang. "Why are you all so impatient?"

The alpha didn’t answer at first. The silence on the line wasn’t dead—it was alive in the worst way, the kind of pause that said you’ve just crossed a line, and now I’m choosing how to respond.

"I sent the ssage," the alpha said eventually, tone quieter now, darker. "Because you were stalling. He was slipping."

"He was processing." Matteo’s voice sharpened. "He trusts slowly. You don’t speed that up by pounding on his door like a cop and filling the hallway with pheromones. He’s not so stray you corner and drag into a leash."

A low sound, almost a laugh, ca through the speaker. Dry. Not amused.

"You’re adorable when you pretend you’re not part of this."

"I wasn’t supposed to be part of this," Matteo snapped. "He was ant to be watched. Guided. That’s what you said. And then you start playing alpha gas with a guy who barely lets people see him exhale."

"He ran, didn’t he?" the alpha replied, unbothered. "So maybe I gave him the right push."

"You pushed him into Victor Nun’s arms," Matteo bit back, the words laced with venom he no longer bothered to dilute. "We had a contract. We had an understanding. I get him where you want, and you wait. That was the deal."

The alpha said nothing.

"He didn’t trust the Nuns," Matteo went on, voice low but rising—controlled, but not polite. "He didn’t trust his family who serves them. And now, thanks to you, he’s probably running straight back into their hands."

He paused.

The silence on the other end of the call was taut. Not surprised. Not regret. Just cold calculation.

Matteo exhaled sharply and forced his voice back into sothing resembling focus. "The dorms have bathrooms with windows on the alley side. Check if he ran. If he did, that’s where he went. It’s the only way out without being seen."

Still, no response.

"Look," Matteo added after a beat. "You wanted him compliant. I was working on that. But you can’t ask soone like Elias to follow you if the first thing you do is remind him what it feels like to be hunted."

The alpha made a low sound, not quite a sigh. Not quite a warning.

"I’m not interested in your lectures," he said, clipped. "Find out if he went through the alley. If he did, he’s probably on foot, maybe three minutes ahead. I’ll redirect our spotters."

Then, with the kind of cruel amusent only n like him could wear so easily, he added, "And if he is running back to the Nuns? Let’s see how long that safety lasts."

The line clicked. Ended.

Matteo didn’t move. Not for a mont. His fingers remained curled loosely around the phone, like part of him still expected it to ring again, this ti with sothing worse.

He should’ve seen this coming. He had seen it coming.

He just hadn’t thought Elias would run from him too.