The rain wouldn't stop. It poured hard over Velmira's lower city, crashing against rooftops and narrow alleys until the entire district sounded like a shaking drum. With every step Lioren took, the city felt colder, the noise louder, and the world heavier.

Raindrops fell on Lioren's skin like tiny icy slaps, each one making him flinch. His muscles ached in a deep, burning way that no amount of rest could fix. 

The weather around him was freezing, but his lungs burned with every breath, and the heat swelling inside him, raw and feverish, only grew worse.

Lioren could barely walk straight now. His legs trembled violently, barely carrying him. He had run out of his last suppressant box two days ago.

And now, with each step he took, Lioren started to lose control of his body. His vision wavered at the edges, darkening little by little. It was a warning that he would lose consciousness any minute now.

But Lioren remained stubborn, holding himself together with sheer force of will. He turned into a narrow alley off the main street, dark, wet, and quiet, a place where no one would come looking right away.

The walls were damp and the ground was slick with rainwater, but Lioren was past the point of noticing. The loud downpour above him dimmed into a low, thundering hum. He pressed his back against the wall, trying to steady himself.

Rain hit his face hard, but it didn't cool the boiling heat crawling under his skin. His clothes clung to him, soaked, and water dripped from strands of his wet hair.

Lioren was burning from the inside out. Neither the cold air nor the rain helped calm the burning sensation.

"Keep moving," Lioren whispered to himself, his breath shaky. "Don't stop. Just a little more."

But where could he even go? There were no good options left for him. If the Alphas tracking his scent caught up, he didn't know what they would do to him in this state.

And even if he managed to get away from them, what if he passed out here? Someone would drag him to a clinic and lock him up like a stray animal. Or worse, he might not wake up at all.

Lioren let out a short but bitter laugh. Even smiling hurt. His knees finally gave way; his body slid down the wall until he sat on the cold ground, trembling. His head was getting heavy; everything looked blurry to him.

"Damn, I didn't run away just to die here," Lioren muttered the words under his breath. He blinked his eyes hard, trying to fight the darkness creeping in.

Then he felt a shift in the air; footsteps entered the alley, slow and controlled. Lioren raised his head with effort.

A man walked toward him, dressed in black, a hood shadowing most of his face. His steps made almost no sound. They were unnaturally quiet, like he wasn't walking but gliding.

Lioren's eyes tried to focus, but the rain and his fever made everything harder. "You're not bleeding," the man said in a calm, detached voice. "But you smell like pain."

Lioren's breath faltered. "...What...?" he said, confused.

"You're an Omega," the man continued. His tone didn't change. It remained calm, cold, without hesitation.

But it wasn't the voice that frightened Lioren. It was what he didn't feel.

There was no Alpha sharpness, no Omega warmth, no Beta neutrality. Not even the faintest emotional trail in the air. And for a moment, Lioren wondered if his senses were collapsing from the fever.

Because this... this was wrong. Something about him was not right.

Every person in this world is born with two scents— a soft basic human scent that proved life, and a stronger natural designated scent that revealed their gender.

But this man was like he wasn't even there. Like he wasn't real.

Lioren's lips trembled; his voice barely came out. "You.. who.. no.. what.. what are you?" he asked slightly terrified.

The man stepped closer. Rain slid off the edge of his hood, revealing the faint outline of his sharp, dark-grey eyes. He crouched in front of Lioren and studied him with the same expression one might use to observe something strange, not a collapsing Omega.

Lioren's already-fragile instincts couldn't grasp this man; he couldn't categorize him, couldn't sense him. At this moment, silence  of this man was more terrifying to him than any Alpha's roar.

The man tilted his head slightly, close enough for Lioren to see the shape of his mouth. And then, with a calmness that didn't match the moment, he whispered something Lioren wouldn't understand until much, much later.