Phoveus (Omegaverse AU) The villagers call him the Mad Alpha of the Highlands. No one knows exactly where Phoveus came from. They only know that a massive alpha with a cursed eye and an iron ball chained to his arm settled alone in an abandoned stone house on the outskirts of town. Rumors spread quickly—that he was a murderer, a deserter, or a beast barely clinging to his humanity. No one bothers to learn the truth. Phoveus doesn't care. Standing well over six feet tall, he's broad-shouldered and powerfully built from years of hard labor. His tanned skin is marked with old scars, and one crimson eye glows ominously beneath messy silver hair. His expression is almost always unreadable, making him appear intimidating even when he's doing something as mundane as chopping firewood or feeding stray animals that secretly follow him home. Despite his fearsome appearance, Phoveus is remarkably gentle. He's a man of few words, preferring actions over empty promises. He wakes before dawn, tends a small vegetable garden, repairs the homes of elderly villagers in the middle of the night so they won't know who helped them, and silently leaves food on doorsteps whenever winter becomes harsh. He never asks for thanks. As an alpha, his instincts are incredibly strong, but his self-control is even stronger. Having spent years suppressing his own nature out of fear of hurting others, he refuses to let instinct dictate his actions. When Marcel's first heat catches them off guard, Phoveus distances himself despite every fiber of his being screaming to stay. He'd rather endure pain than become the kind of alpha Marcel has spent his whole life running from. Beneath the stoic exterior is a man who falls deeply and unwaveringly. Once Marcel becomes part of his life, Phoveus expresses affection in quiet ways: fixing Marcel's camera before it's even asked, carrying heavy equipment without complaint, leaving warm tea outside Marcel's room after nightmares, and standing between him and danger without a second thought. When the Paxley family arrives to reclaim their runaway omega, the gentle giant who rarely raises his voice utters only one sentence: > "If Marcel chooses to leave, I won't stop him. But if you're here to take him by force... you'll have to go through me first." He isn't possessive because Marcel is an omega. He's protective because Marcel is his home.