Claimed by the Alpha and the Vampire Prince: Masquerading as a Man-Chapter 164: Anger Before The Fall

LUCAS POV

I was running on empty.

The whole morning was a blur—me, darting around like some kind of trapped animal, searching for a way out, for any crack in this nightmare. Every time I turned a corner, the walls got higher, the doors slammed harder. But now, here I was again, with no choice but to return. No other option but to face the terror I was running from.

The lady’s words echoed in my head. She’d survived—barely. But I knew what she meant now. She said life outside Memoville was worse than inside the walls of that nightmare university. That outside, it wasn’t just the monsters you had to worry about—it was everything. It was the very air, thick with danger, with things far worse than the vampires and werewolves we had to live with here. The thought of it made my skin crawl, but in the end, she had been right. The university, with all its terror, was still the safest place in this twisted hellhole.

So I’d go back, if only to survive a little longer.

I didn’t know if I could last, but I had to. I had to live. At least long enough to find my way out.

But I wouldn’t let them break me. I wasn’t going to become one of those lifeless husks, wandering the campus in a daze, feeding the monsters like cattle. No, I would find a way out. I had to survive long enough to do it. Escape.

That was my only goal now.

I couldn’t let myself become like them. Not like the others—students. Sheep led to slaughter. They all walked around, oblivious to what was really happening here. The freshers. The faculty. It was all a lie. All a game. And I had to keep my wits about me if I wanted to escape it.

I couldn’t let them break me, no matter how many times they tried.

I hailed another cab, and the driver was a quiet man, his face impassive. I didn’t try to engage in any conversation this time. The cab ride back to the university felt like a funeral procession. The driver didn’t speak also, as if he could sense the defeat in my posture. My hands were clenched, the knuckles white, and I stared out the window, lost in my thoughts.

I stared out the window as the familiar landscape of Memoville unfolded before me, like a dark dream I couldn’t wake from. Each turn, each building, reminded me of my failure. Every street I passed, every corner I rounded, felt like it was closing in on me, wrapping its cold, merciless fingers around my chest.

When we got to the university gates, I had to fight the urge to vomit. I had already accepted that this was my prison now. The soldiers at the entrance didn’t even bat an eye. They knew. They always know. The gates opened without a word, as though they were expecting me.

They barely even glanced at me as I walked through. They didn’t need to ask where I’d been. They knew. They knew I would come back. They had all the time in the world. I didn’t. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

There were students milling about, as if the place was just another college campus. Laughter echoed in the distance, and I heard snippets of conversations, the sounds of people lost in their own mundane worries. They don’t know. They’ll never know. Laughter, chatter, footsteps, and the buzz of life surrounded me, but it felt... hollow. Like I was in a world full of living, breathing puppets, and I was the only one who could see the strings. I could smell the lies in the air, thick as the perfume they all wore.

I hated it. I hated this place. But I couldn’t leave.

I went back to my room, head hung low, feeling the weight of failure pressing down on me. But there was no point in pretending anymore. I couldn’t escape. Not now. Maybe not ever. I threw my things down, mindlessly stuffing my bag with the few things I’d taken when I thought I was leaving for good.

Clark wasn’t there. Maybe he was in class, maybe somewhere else, but his absence felt like the calm before the storm. I tried to think of how to explain it to him—how to tell him what I’d found out—but words wouldn’t come. How could I explain the feeling of being hunted, of knowing you were a meal, just another piece of fresh meat in a world where monsters ran everything?

I couldn’t. He wouldn’t understand. No one would.

The sound of the door opening broke me out of my spiraling thoughts. A few students were being herded toward the orientation hall. Newbies, eager-eyed and naïve, just like I had been the day before. The staff, dressed in their perfect uniforms, smiled like everything was fine. Like everything was normal.

As first-year students started going for the orientation, against my better judgment, I decided to go. Maybe they’d finally give us some answers. Maybe they’d stop pretending.

I made my way to the hall, my heart pounding in my chest, but the moment I entered, I realized how foolish I had been. It was all a performance—a polished show of smiles and scripted words. They spoke about how perfect Memoville was, how lucky we were to be here. Everything was carefully crafted to keep us in the dark. Their smiles were too wide, their eyes too cold, their voices too rehearsed. Lies. All of it.

I couldn’t take it. The lies, the manipulation, the pretending. I couldn’t sit there and listen to them talk about how lucky we were to be here. How special we were.

I felt bile rise in my throat, the taste of terror and frustration mixing together.

I got up before I could stop myself.

I didn’t care if they were going to introduce us to "the university’s traditions" or whatever bullshit they were selling. I didn’t need to hear it. I had already heard enough of the game.

I made my way toward the exit, my heartbeat loud in my ears.

"Where are you going?" one of the staff members called after me, his face smooth, friendly—but there was something behind it. I could see the flicker in his eyes, the recognition, the calculation.

I barely looked back.

"Not feeling well," I muttered, forcing the words out through gritted teeth. "Just need some air."

He nodded, though I could tell he didn’t buy it. But it didn’t matter. He let me go, and I walked out of the room, my legs almost giving out beneath me.

When I reached the door, I looked up. And there he was.

Clark.

He was sitting across the hall, his arms crossed, his gaze fixed on me. The look in his eyes was... suspicion. He was surprised to see me. Surprised to see me walking out when I’d been so adamant last night that I wasn’t staying a second longer.

I wasn’t sure what he was thinking, but it didn’t matter.

I couldn’t stay here, pretending things were fine. I couldn’t pretend I was just a regular student anymore. Not after everything I’d seen. Not after everything I’d felt.

I didn’t look at him again as I walked out of the building.

Let him think I was crazy. Let him wonder what happened. I don’t care anymore.

The rest of the first years were too busy listening to the speech. Too busy buying the lie. Let them.

I was done.

I forgot one important rule of survival: stay with the fucking crowd.

I thought I could lock myself away in my room, maybe scream into my pillow for a few hours, swear to myself that I’d never come out, never face this nightmare again. Maybe I’d survive here in the shadows, stay unnoticed, and wait for the chance to escape.

But no. I was a fool. I couldn’t stay hidden forever.

I’d walked out thinking I was safe, thinking I had some semblance of control, that I could just slip through the cracks without anyone noticing. But I had no idea what I was up against. I forgot that the monsters didn’t just come out at night.

They never followed the rules. Not here.

Here, they weren’t creatures of the dark. They didn’t care about sunlight. They didn’t need to hide from it. They had no reason to.

And I walked right into their path.

I was too angry, too desperate to process what had happened. I hadn’t just been lied to—I’d been used. Manipulated into believing this place could be some kind of safe haven, a dream school where everything was perfect. Perfect. Like a fairytale. Only now I knew the truth: I wasn’t meant to be a student here. I was just another fucking plaything.

I couldn’t contain my rage, but that was my downfall.

There they were. The two monsters. The same two who had taken me, torn me apart, made me their prey. The ones that had shown me exactly what we were here for. I saw them from a distance, talking amongst themselves, laughing in that low, predatory way, their eyes scanning the area. They were dangerous, beautiful, and they made my blood run cold.

Fuck.

What the hell was I doing?

I froze. My heart pounded in my chest as I tried to look casual, to act like I wasn’t a terrified animal caught in their gaze. I needed to turn around. Walk away. But my legs wouldn’t move. My body wouldn’t listen.

They noticed me almost immediately. Their eyes locked onto mine, and it was like the air shifted one of them turned—eyes catching mine. A glint of recognition flickered in their gaze. Like they could smell the fear radiating off me.

My stomach twisted into a knot. I wanted to run. I should’ve run. But my feet were glued to the ground, my body screaming at me to move, to hide, to disappear. Instead, I just stood there, too paralyzed to react.

The laughter of students around me felt so far away, like it belonged in another world entirely. They were all oblivious. Clueless. I was the only one who saw them for what they truly were.

And they knew it.

The man with the golden hair—he smirked. A small, knowing smile that made the hair on my neck stand on end.

Shit.

I had no plan. No idea what to do. I thought I was being smart, staying out of sight, keeping my distance—but that was a rookie mistake. I should’ve stayed with the others. Should’ve hidden in plain sight.

Instead, here I was, standing in the middle of their web, and they knew it.

They always know.

The other one, the darker-haired one, looked at me with the same unsettling calm, his eyes flashing for a moment as if savoring some private joke. His lips twitched, just barely, as if he was recalling some pleasant memory.

I could feel their gaze on me like a physical thing, pressing down on me, suffocating me. I wanted to scream. I wanted to run. But I couldn’t—my legs wouldn’t move. The air around me grew thick with their presence, oppressive.

The sun wasn’t enough to protect me. The day wasn’t enough to keep them at bay. They didn’t need the night to hunt. I was their hunt.