There was something strange about the boy in the back of the lecture hall.
Kairo noticed him immediately—sharp jaw, ink-black hair tucked behind one ear, dressed all in grey like he wanted to disappear.
He didn't speak. Didn't flinch when the Alpha professor raised his voice.
And no one sat within three seats of him.
Beta, Kairo guessed. But even as he thought it, his instincts growled something different. Not Alpha. Not Beta. Just... off.
After class, Kairo moved toward him. "You always sit alone?"
The boy didn't look up. "I don't like noise."
"What's your name?"
"Why?"
"You smell wrong."
A beat of silence. Then the boy slowly raised his eyes — cold grey, unreadable.
"Must be your broken nose," he said flatly, and walked away.
Kairo stood there, unsettled. Not insulted. Not angry.
Intrigued.
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