SCENTLESS OBSESSION: THE HOCKEY ALPHA'S FORBIDDEN OMEGA

Visenya's POV At Caelmont College, people introduced themselves by scent first and name second, and I was the girl who smelled like nothing. I was a scentless omega with no rank and no place in the pack order. Most people forgot I was in the room, and Ace was the only one who ever seemed to notice me, so I held on to him longer than I should have. That was why his silence bothered me so much. We were supposed to meet after my lectures, but he left eleven calls unanswered and read six messages without replying. My stomach twisted all afternoon, and my wolf paced under my ribs like she wanted me to hurry up. By evening I stopped waiting and walked to his apartment. I let myself in with the spare key he gave me months ago. The living room was dark, and a pair of heels sat next to his sneakers by the couch. They weren't mine, because I only owned one pair and they were buried in my closet for emergencies. "Ace?" I called out, stepping into the dark living room. Nothing came back. I took another step inside and called again, a little louder. "Ace, are you here?" Still no answer, and then the mattress creaked from inside his bedroom. I pushed the door open before my brain could talk me out of it. Ace was in bed with a girl I didn't know, both of them tangled in the sheets I picked out for him. He didn't jump or grab a blanket. He just looked at me like I was a delivery he forgot he ordered. The girl moved faster. She pulled her clothes on with her eyes glued to the floor and walked out without a word, and the front door clicking shut hurt more than a slam would have. "What exactly did I just walk in on, Ace?" My voice came out steadier than I felt. "Because I would love to hear you explain it." "What's there to explain?" Ace leaned back against the headboard and scratched his jaw like we were discussing the weather. "What the f**k do you mean, what's there to explain?" My voice cracked through the room. "You're in bed with another girl, Ace. Are you serious right now?" "Don't start shouting." He rolled his eyes. "You want the truth, so fine. I needed someone better, Visenya. Someone I could actually be seen with." "Better." "You're a scentless omega. No scent, no rank, nothing. People walk past you like you're furniture." He shrugged. "I was just managing you." Managing me, like I was a schedule he planned around. My wolf let out a low, broken whimper, and I kept my spine straight because I refused to give him tears. I dropped the spare key on his dresser. "Give that to your upgrade. She'll need it." He watched me leave with the face people use for a mild inconvenience. I made it all the way home before my knees gave out. I slid down my bedroom door and cried until my head pounded, and my wolf cried right along with me. We both knew what I was, a girl nobody could smell and nobody wanted to find. Eventually I wiped my face and promised myself that Ace just got the last tear I would ever waste on him. *** I spent the next day being furious in the most productive way possible, and my match preview came out so sharp that my editor sent a thumbs up. That evening Sage and Zella showed up at my door looking like two girls who came prepared to kidnap me. "Get dressed," Sage said. "We're going to the game." "I'm not going anywhere. I'm grieving." "Then you'll grieve at a hockey game." Zella was already pulling a Wolves jersey out of my closet. "Loud noise, sweaty men, overpriced nachos. It's basically therapy." "You also have a match report due," Sage added. "I'm not watching you fail journalism over a guy who can't keep his d**k where it belongs." I groaned into my pillow, but I put on the jersey and hung my press pass around my neck. *** The arena was already roaring when we got there. The Wolves were undefeated, so every seat held someone determined to keep the streak alive through sheer volume. I took my spot along the glass with my notepad, and Sage and Zella squeezed in beside me because friendship apparently overrides press rules. "There he is," Zella whispered, grabbing my arm. "Number nine." "Caevor Huxley," Sage sighed. "Captain, Grayfang alpha on campus, and legally not allowed to be that tall." "He's not that tall." "He is exactly that tall." "And that's Mikayla," Zella went on, nodding at a girl draped over the boards and screaming his name like she was paying rent. "She tells everyone he's hers." "Does he agree?" "Nobody has ever seen that man agree to anything." I opened my notepad and focused on the game like my life depended on it. Then I looked up for one stupid second just as number nine skated past, and my wolf lifted her head, sharp and curious in a way she never was for anyone else. It felt like someone tugged a string behind my ribs. I stared at my notepad until the words blurred. Down, I told her silently. You're heartbroken, not interested. This is basic. She settled, but she didn't fall asleep, and I wrote "Wolves 1, Ridgemont 0" three times without noticing. By the final buzzer the Wolves won four to one and the whole arena shook. My phone lit up with Finn's name before I could even stand. "You left your recorder in my bag," he said. "I'm by the locker room corridor. Can you grab it before I leave?" "On my way." "We'll wait at the exit," Sage called, waving me off. The corridor behind the locker rooms was quiet after all that noise. I turned the corner with my head down, typing a message, and walked straight into a wall. A warm wall that breathed, and two hands caught my arms to keep me from falling. I looked up. His dark hair was still damp from the ice, and his dark eyes locked on mine. The captain of the Wolves stared at me like he was trying to place something he couldn't name. My chest tightened and my wolf went still, and neither of us moved for far longer than a collision should take. Then his expression hardened. "Watch where you're going." He let go and walked off with his jersey slung over his shoulder. Mikayla appeared out of nowhere and threw herself against his arm like she was claiming land, and he didn't even look at her. I forced myself to turn around and found Finn by the water cooler holding my recorder. I took it with a smile he didn't believe. "You look like you saw a ghost," he said. "Just bumped into someone." I walked away with my recorder and my pride, and the only thing I knew for certain was that my wolf was still facing that corridor. Twenty years with her and she never reacted to anyone like that, so what exactly did that stranger just do to me?