Chapter 2 CHAPTER 002
When Soren arrives at the boss’s office, where the so-called special guest waits, he turns to look at Theo, but the tall alpha beats him to it.
“You want to go in alone?” he asks, and Soren nods. Theo continues. “If he tries anything—”
“I’ll break his neck,” Soren cuts in quietly. “And call you to come pick up his dead body.”
Theo barks a laugh that doesn’t reach his eyes. He leans his back against the opposite wall and crosses his arms over his chest. “Don’t. I don’t want to explain to Iris why her brother is in cuffs because he got cocky.”
“Believe me, that won’t be needed,” the boss says with a chuckle. “We’ll wait here for you.”
Soren gives a knock on the door before he pushes it open and enters with his hands shoved into his pockets. Inside, the air is nothing like the rest of the smelly underground basement. It smells clean but with expensive darkness, but a single lamp glows on the desk, throwing light over a man sitting with one leg crossed over the other, wrist resting lazily on his knee, but what causes Soren to abruptly stop in his tracks is the pheromones that fill the space. Alpha.
Soren has met a lot of alphas: loud ones, drunk ones, and men with too much money to spend. Their scents were strong, most of the time, sharp with arrogance, musky with desire, and always carrying that faint undertone of power that made the air feel heavier. It's in every alpha’s nature to dominate and try to control the space around them, and this one isn't any different, yet different in an odd way.
He doesn’t smell like the usual alpha; his scent is dense, grounding, and impossible to ignore. He smells like burning smoke, heavy and suffocating. It makes Soren’s knees buckle, and immediately, he stops himself from breathing.
Even with the suppressant, he is still an omega, and being surrounded by an aura that’s as strong as this isn’t good for his body. However, this is the first time he’s reacted to an alpha’s scent so strongly since he started taking the suppressant. What makes his alpha different from other alphas?
“Are you going to keep standing there, or are you going to sit?” The alpha speaks in the deepest voice Soren has ever heard, yet it drips like honey. He continues to tap lazily at his knees, his hands covered with black gloves. He stares at Soren with a bored look, with dark brown eyes as dark as a starless night.
“I think I'd rather stand,” Soren retorts, keeping his hands in his pockets not to show how affected he is at the alpha's presence and his gawking eyes.
The alpha tilts his head, scanning Soren from head to toe. “I've never seen a beta so small.”
Soren's mouth opens in shock, yet no word comes out. He's anything but small! He has taken out even the strongest alpha in the ring! “What do you want from me?” He asks instead, keeping his chin high because he is getting annoyed.
“I have an offer as long as you're willing and you can have as much money as you want.”
Soren presses his lips in a thin line to stop himself from lashing out at his ego-headed alpha. Of course. What was he expecting? “I am not a prostitute.”
The alpha’s lips curl into a barely visible smirk as if amused, but his eyes remain cold; it's like they are made of concrete. “Good. I don't need one. What I need is a Beta who can pretend to be my fiancé for a year, and I'll give him all the money he needs.”
Like a fish out of water, Soren's mouth opens and closes, believing he heard wrong. “What?”
“I believe you can hear perfectly well, Mr. Fox.” The boredom in the alpha's eyes does not change, and he continues to tap his knee.
Soren lets out a dry laugh, thinking this has to be some kind of joke. “You’re kidding, right?”
The man stares blankly. “I don’t make jokes.”
Soren studies him again, trying to figure out what kind of person sits in the dark and throws money around like this. His voice, his posture, and the quiet confidence—he has the kind of control that makes people obey without even realizing it.
“I don’t even know who you are,” Soren says after a moment. “And you’re asking me to be your… fake fiancé?”
The man shifts in his seat, that calm expression never leaving his face. “My identity doesn't matter; you need money, and I need a Beta.”
“Well, no,” Soren says firmly, and then he turns to leave. These sick alphas. Even the handsome ones are crazy. Fuck his life.
“I’ll advise you to rethink your answer, considering your sister.”
Soren immediately pauses and turns sharply back to the alpha, his hand clenching into fists at his side. “How did you know about that?”
The alpha's lips twitch into an eerie smile. “I make it my business to know the things that motivate people,” he says, and then he rises to his feet, and Soren has never seen anyone so tall and broad at the same time, with features so sharp and sculpted like he's staring at some god with heavenly beauty.
He gently places a black card on the table. "Come find me when you change your mind. Don't keep me waiting for too long, Beta.”
And that's all he says before he leaves, brushing past Soren, and their shoulders brush, and instantly, his dominant scent fills his nostrils. Soren once again holds his breath, and he doesn't try to breathe till the man is out of the room.
He picks up the card from the table, realizing it's a personal business card with only the initials of ‘RM’ written on it and an address.
Soren walks out with a frown, finding Theo waiting for him. The boss is gone, probably left with his special guest.
Theo is by his side in an instant, a look of shock in his grey eyes. “Ren, do you know who that is?”
Soren looks from the card to Theo’s face, then he shakes his head. “No. Am I supposed to?”
“That's Reign Montgomery, CEO of AX Capital; it's the biggest and wealthiest company in the whole of Ravenscourt city,” Theo says in awe, and then he snatches the card from Soren's grasp. “He even gave you his card. What did he want?”
Soren blinks, caught off guard and unable to find his voice. Of course, he has heard of Reign Montgomery; everyone in the damn city knows about the richest and most dangerous Alpha alive. Suddenly, there's a shiver running down his spine, knowing what the alpha came for.
“What did he want, Ren?” Theo repeats.
Soren swallows the gulp that forms in his throat. “He wants me to be his pretend fiancée for a year,” he blinks at Theo.
Theo frowns deeply. “Doesn't he hate Omegas?”
