The practice room was pure hell.
Blinding lights, sweat-soaked mirrors, and an instructor who looked like she hadn't smiled since the invention of electricity.
"Again!" she barked, clapping her hands. "From the top!"
Groans echoed from the trainees, but no one dared slow down. Cameras were rolling, and idols didn't whine, at least, not out loud.
Rika's lungs burned, her legs screamed, but the real problem wasn't stamina.
It was Daika.
The Alpha hadn't stopped staring at her since the music started.
Every move, every sway of Rika's hips, every spin, those sharp eyes followed like a predator tracking prey.
And worse… every time Rika's scent threatened to slip through her blockers under the heat of practice, Daika's lips curled into that smug little smirk.
It was torture. Pure, erotic torture.
Rika tripped on her own feet mid-turn, nearly crashing into the trainee beside her.
"Hanazawa!" the instructor snapped.
"Focus, or you're out!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Rika squeaked, bowing furiously. Her cheeks burned as the other girls giggled behind their hands.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Daika biting back laughter.
The music started again.
Rika forced herself into the routine, sweat dripping down her temple, muscles screaming. Her vision blurred from exhaustion, until she felt it.
A hand on her lower back.
Daika.
"Straighten up, kitten," she whispered, voice low enough that the mic wouldn't catch. "Or do you need me to hold you in place again?"
Rika nearly combusted. "D-Don't touch me! We're being filmed!"
"Mm, let them watch," Daika purred, fingertips grazing the hem of Rika's shirt before pulling away. "You look sexier when you're flustered anyway."
Rika stumbled again, almost missing her cue.
The instructor sighed so hard it could've blown the mirrors off the wall.
"Hanazawa, last warning."
Rika bowed again, mortified.
Meanwhile, Daika didn't miss a single beat of the choreography, her body sharp, powerful, commanding. She nailed every step while still finding time to smirk at Rika like she'd already won.
When the music finally ended, trainees collapsed in piles across the floor, panting like dogs.
Rika dropped onto her knees, grabbing her water bottle like it was oxygen.
Daika strolled over, barely sweating, and crouched down in front of her.
"Careful, kitten. If you keep shaking like that, they'll start wondering what's really making your legs weak."
Rika nearly spit her water across the room. "S-shut up!"
Daika leaned in close, eyes glinting with wicked amusement. "Make me."
By the time the cameras shut off, Rika's body felt like it had been chewed up and spit out by the choreography from hell. Her legs wobbled like wet noodles, and her lungs were still screaming.
Most of the trainees limped back to the dorms like zombies, mumbling about sore thighs and foot blisters.
But not Daika.
Oh, no.
She strutted out of the studio like she'd just stepped off a magazine shoot, towel draped around her neck, hair pulled back, that dangerous smile carved on her lips.
And, of course, she had to slow her pace just enough for Rika to catch up.
"You lasted longer than I thought you would," Daika said casually, sipping from her water bottle. "Didn't think those skinny little legs could handle all that grinding."
Rika choked on her spit. "I-It's called dancing!"
"Mhm," Daika hummed, leaning in. "Sure didn't look like just dancing when you were staring at me the whole routine."
"I wasn't!" Rika yelped, face burning.
Daika grinned, clearly delighted. "Relax, kitten. If you were staring, I don't mind. Everyone does."
Rika groaned and marched ahead, desperate to escape, but Daika's footsteps trailed right behind her like a shadow.
Later, back at the dorms, Rika collapsed onto her bed, every muscle screaming. She barely had time to tug her blanket over her head before—....
Click.
Her blanket ripped away.
Daika. Again.
The Alpha stood there in her pajamas, loose shorts, oversized tee, but even casual clothes clung to her in ways that made Rika's brain short-circuit.
"You keep hiding," Daika teased, tossing the blanket aside. "Almost like you're afraid of me."
Rika sat up, glaring. "I'm not afraid of you! I'm just tired!"
Daika's smirk deepened. She leaned down, close enough that her shadow swallowed Rika whole.
"Mm. Tired, but your scent doesn't lie."
Rika froze.
Her blockers had worn off during practice.
She hadn't had time to reapply.
And Daika was inhaling deep, eyes darkening by the second.
"You're leaking again," she murmured, voice low and dangerous. "And it's driving me insane."
Rika's heart skipped into chaos. "D-Daika, don't—"
But Daika crawled onto the bed, slow and deliberate, cornering her against the wall.
"Tell me to stop," Daika whispered, her breath hot against Rika's lips. "Say it. Right now."
Rika's whole body trembled. She opened her mouth to say the words...
And instead, a soft whimper escaped.
Daika's smile turned feral.
"Just what I thought."
Daika's body pressed closer, her arms caging Rika in. The Alpha's scent was thick, dark, intoxicating, wrapping around Rika until she could hardly breathe.
"Such a sweet little thing," Daika murmured, her lips brushing dangerously close to Rika's ear. "Always trembling, always running. But when I corner you…" she let her hand skim down Rika's waist, stopping at her thigh, "you melt."
Rika squeezed her eyes shut. "Y-you're imagining things—"
"Am I?" Daika's fingers dug into her thigh, firm enough to leave marks. "Then why is your scent screaming for me? Why do you smell like heat every time I get close?"
Rika's chest heaved. She wanted to deny it, to shove Daika off, to protect the secret she'd guarded for years. But her body betrayed her again, the subtle, damning rise of slick she could already feel between her thighs.
Daika noticed instantly.
Of course she did.
The Alpha groaned low, a sound that rumbled like thunder. "Fuck, kitten… you don't even know what you're doing to me."
Her knee slid forward, nudging between Rika's thighs, not touching, not yet, but hovering with enough heat to make Rika's stomach clench.
Rika's breath hitched. Her hands gripped the sheets so tight her knuckles went white. "D-Daika… we can't—"
"There you go again," Daika cut her off smoothly, her lips ghosting along Rika's jaw. "Saying one thing while your body begs for another."
Her mouth finally pressed against Rika's neck, sucking hard enough to make her gasp. The sensation shot lightning down her spine, her thighs trembling around Daika's hovering knee.
"Stop—ahhhhnn!" Rika's protest melted into a moan when Daika bit down gently, teeth scraping her skin.
"Say it again," Daika purred, her voice husky against Rika's throat. "Tell me to stop."
Rika's body shook violently. The words tangled in her mouth, but instead of a refusal, another whimper spilled out, soft and shameful.
Daika pulled back just enough to look her in the eye, her pupils blown wide, hunger dripping from every inch of her expression.
"That's what I thought," she whispered.
She claimed Rika's mouth in a deep, hungry kiss, swallowing her muffled cry as the bed creaked beneath them.
And in that instant, Rika knew: her secret wasn't just cracked open.
It was shattered.
And Daika wasn't going to let her run anymore.