[Chapter Three: The Scent That Should Not Exist]

Luca did not turn around immediately.

He stood in the hallway long after the Omega had disappeared, the echo of hurried footsteps fading into noise and distance. His guards shifted uncomfortably behind him, uncertain whether they were allowed to speak. No one did.

Because something was wrong.

The scent lingered.

Soft. Golden. Warm.

It clung to the air like sunlight caught between walls that had never known it. Luca inhaled once—slow, controlled—and his spine stiffened. His wolf stirred beneath his skin, alert in a way it hadn’t been in years.

Omega.

Not just any Omega.

His jaw tightened.

This was inconvenient. Unacceptable. Impossible.

Luca straightened his cuffs, posture flawless once more, and continued toward the comfort room as if nothing had occurred. Cold water splashed against his hands moments later, grounding him, sharpening his thoughts. He met his reflection in the mirror—silver eyes calm, expression empty.

Yet his pulse was wrong.

The conference passed without incident. Luca spoke with effortless authority, his voice smooth, composed, commanding. The crowd listened as they always did—awed, obedient, reverent. Applause followed him like a trained response.

But his attention fractured.

Against instinct, against reason, his gaze kept drifting—searching.

Back rows. Side aisles. Exit doors.

There.

The Omega sat slouched slightly, pen tapping idly against his notebook, eyes half-focused, like he belonged everywhere and nowhere at once. Bailey Copper. The name surfaced on Luca’s private display without him asking for it—school records pulling themselves into place.

Poor. Two jobs. No notable lineage. Golden Retriever Omega.

Ordinary.

Dangerously so.

When Bailey laughed quietly at something on his page, the sound barely audible, Luca felt the pull again—sharp, insistent, unwelcome. His wolf bristled, possessive instincts stirring like a beast waking from long starvation.

Luca looked away.

He did not chase impulses. He controlled them.

After the event, Luca left immediately, security closing ranks around him. The campus noise dimmed as he stepped into the vehicle, the door sealing with a soft click.

Only then did he allow himself to exhale.

“Find out everything about Bailey Copper,” Luca said calmly.

His assistant paused. “Sir… the student?”

“Yes.”

The car pulled away, glass darkening, the city stretching ahead—vast, obedient, already owned.

Yet for the first time in his life, Luca Ulric Skholl felt unsettled.

Because somewhere on his campus walked a golden, oblivious Omega who smelled like warmth—

—and the Alpha Wolf did not know how to let him go.