Chapter 345

Elliot

I don’t know where to start.

I take a deep breath. The air in the small office is thick, close. I can smell her—clean and dark and electric. It makes my head spin.

"I like you." The words come out before I can stop them. "I really like you. I’m in love with you."

She looks at me. Expressionless. The way you’d look at a stranger asking for directions.

"I’m sure you’re not short of Alphas," she says.

"But I love you."

She doesn’t move. Doesn’t blink. "I’ve said this before. I don’t like you."

The words should hurt. They do hurt. But I’ve been rejected before. I know how to push through it.

"That’s okay." I lean forward, let my voice go soft, hopeful. "I’m sure you can come to like me. I don’t mind waiting."

She watches me in silence.

"I can make you very happy." I’m talking faster now, the words tumbling out. "I can cook, and clean, and I’m—"

"Elliot." Her voice cuts through mine, sharp and final. "Stop. I will never feel that way about you."

I clench my fists. The fabric of my hoodie twists between my fingers.

"Is it because of her?" The question escapes before I can stop it. "Damien’s fiancée? I know about her. I’ve seen the way you look at her."

She doesn’t deny it.

"Unlike her, I would break things off immediately." My voice is rising.

"I wouldn’t drag this out. I wouldn’t do this to you. I would choose you."

She looks at me for a long, terrible moment. Then:

"It’s true that I’m in love with Vivienne." Her voice is calm. Quiet. "But even if Vivienne didn’t exist—even if she had never been born—I would never be interested in you."

The words land like stones in still water.

I stare at her. "You don’t mean that."

"I do."

"I could be good for you. I could be—"

"Elliot." She says my name like she’s ending a conversation.

"This isn’t about what you can do for me. It’s about what I don’t feel. And I don’t feel anything for you."

"I mean sure you don’t like me now." I lean forward, desperate, grasping. "But with time, I’m sure we can—"

"Stop." Her voice is sharp now. "I’m not even attracted to men."

I blink. "I’m an Omega. You’re an Alpha."

"It’s not that."

"We’re biologically meant to be together." The words sound desperate even to my own ears. I don’t care. "The pheromones, the compatibility—"

She sighs.

"Listen to me, Elliot." Her voice is quiet now. Controlled. "I’m only going to say this one final time, in a cordial tone."

She meets my eyes.

"I’m not interested in you at all."

The words hang in the air between us. Final. Irreversible.

"I—"

"Times up."

***

Dr. Wang

Is that Elliot?

I stop mid-sentence, the file in my hand forgotten. Through the rain-streaked window of the shelter’s clinic wing, I see him—those familiar golden curls, the slight frame, the way he moves like he’s trying to disappear.

He’s crying. Running. Leaving.

My hands tighten on the file. I watch him disappear around the corner, his figure swallowed by the gray afternoon. Something cold settles in my chest.

Then I see her.

She’s looking down at her phone, calm, composed, like she hasn’t just broken something that belongs to me.

I set the file down. Walk out of the clinic. Across the courtyard. The rain hits my face, cold and sharp, but I don’t feel it.

She looks up when I’m a few feet away.

"Oh, have you finished with your rounds?" She adjusts her coat, brushing rain from her sleeve. "I was about to come talk to you about the clinical trials for the new suppressants."

Something in me snaps.

My hand closes around her collar before I can think. The fabric bunches under my fingers, expensive and fine, and I pull her forward, close enough to see the fine lines at the corners of her eyes, the way her pupils contract in the gray light.

She raises an eyebrow.

"Well." Her voice is silk over steel. "What is this about?" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"What did you do to him?" The words come out low, rough. I can feel my pulse in my temples, in my throat, in the hand gripping her collar.

She rolls her eyes. The dismissal is so complete, so casual, that I almost shake her.

"Is that what this is about?" Her hand comes up, wraps around mine. Her grip is like iron. She squeezes, once, and my fingers go numb. I let go before I can stop myself.

She steps back, smoothing her collar, examining the fabric with a frown.

"This is expensive, you know." She touches her collar, where my grip left wrinkles. "You just messed up the stitching."

"What did you do?" My voice is shaking now. I can’t stop it.

"Nothing." She meets my eyes. "If anything, I would like to live my life without him in it."

The words hit like ice water. I stare at her. This woman who has everything—money, power, her—and she can’t even pretend to care about what she’s done.

"He was crying." My voice is low. Rough.

She tilts her head. "And?"

My hand moves before I can stop it. She catches it mid-air, her grip iron, her expression unchanged.

"You might not care about your reputation, Dr. Wang." Her voice is calm. Quiet. "But I do."

I force myself to breathe. To lower my hand. To be the controlled, composed man I’ve spent years becoming.

"In fact." She smooths her coat, examining the wrinkled collar with distaste. "It’s good you’ve reacted this way. Please keep some reins on your Omega."

"He was crying because I’m not interested in whatever he’s offering."

She looks up at me.

"Well. Is he even your Omega? I could have sworn he looks too similar to the one my brother keeps."

The implication is clear.

"Elliot is mine." The words come out before I can stop them. "He’s always been mine."

"Then put some reigns on him, the next alpha might not reject his advances."