Lucien's POV
Most people misinterpret silence.
They think it means indifference.
Detachment.
Absence of feeling.
But silence, for me, is control.
Without it, my instincts would devour everything in their path — especially today, especially after meeting him.
Aiden Serin.
I walked through the glass corridor of Serin Tower's Sky Level, each step echoing faintly against the polished floor. My reflection followed beside me — sharp suit, steady gait, carefully blank expression. But my mind kept replaying the moment Aiden looked at me, the tremor in his fingers, the storm behind his silver eyes.
He didn't try to hide it.
He didn't speak with false confidence.
He simply stood there, fragile and fierce all at once.
And for the first time in years, something in me reacted.
My heart rate had risen by 6%.
My pheromone levels spiked despite the suppressor embedded beneath my wristbone.
The calm I prided myself on fractured — just slightly, but enough for me to notice.
Enough to unsettle me.
I entered the private elevator reserved for the Hart-Serin executives and leaned back against the cool chrome wall. My jaw flexed.
I should keep my distance.
Aiden was the Serin heir.
Vulnerable.
Protected.
Bound to a future that had nothing to do with me beyond corporate necessity.
But then I remembered his voice — soft, but steady.
"Yes. I can handle it."
He spoke like someone used to fear, used to drowning in it, yet choosing to rise anyway.
I closed my eyes.
He smelled like quiet frost.
Like something pure trying desperately not to shatter.
I exhaled slowly.
I would have to be careful.
Very careful.
My instincts wanted to reach for him — protect, steady, claim — but that wasn't who I allowed myself to be.
Not anymore.
Still… when I said I'd understand him, I wasn't lying.
For reasons I refused to name, I needed to.
---
Aiden's POV
I shouldn't be reacting this way.
Not to him.
Not to an alpha whose reputation alone could freeze an entire boardroom.
But as soon as Lucien Hart stepped into the elevator after the meeting, I could still feel him — even several floors below, even separated by walls and distance.
My heart was too loud.
My skin was too aware.
And the voices inside me were restless.
Ari was pacing in mental silence.
Ren was lounging, smirking.
Ash watched with hollow patience, like the dark between stars.
I pressed a hand to my chest, breathing slowly as the service lift carried me toward the residential wing of Serin Tower. The soft lights glimmered across the titanium interior, and my reflection stared back with too many eyes I couldn't see.
"You're reacting too much," Ari warned sharply.
"I know," I whispered.
"He's an alpha. Your body responds to that. It doesn't mean anything."
"Then why… why did he look at me like that?"
Ari hesitated — and Ari never hesitated.
Before he could answer, Ren slid in with silky amusement.
"Because he sees us, love."
"Stop," I breathed.
"He does," Ren purred. "He looks like he wants to unwrap every layer you hide behind."
My face flushed. "Ren—"
"Let him," Ren hummed. "We could use someone who isn't afraid."
"He should be afraid," Ari snapped.
"He doesn't understand what we are."
"No," a quiet voice murmured from deep within.
Ash.
"Not yet."
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Imagine, four versions of you arguing about one man.
One man I shouldn't even think about.
But I did.
I couldn't stop.
The elevator chimed, and the doors opened to the private residential deck — polished stone, soft lights embedded beneath the walkway, and the distant hum of drones sweeping the outer glass for security.
Just before stepping out, I paused.
My scent inhibitor was still active, but the faintest trace of Lucien's scent lingered on my skin.
Smoke.
Rain.
Restraint.
I wasn't imagining it.
My pulse quickened again.
"Get it together," I whispered.
But the tremor in my fingers betrayed me.
---
Lucien's POV
When I returned to my own tower, the night was already deep, the sky lit by neon arteries running through Erevos City. I pulled off my jacket, hung it with mechanical precision, and walked into my darkened office.
My AI assistant flicked the lights to a pale glow.
"Mr. Hart, you have four urgent messages from the board—"
"Silence."
The room shut itself up obediently.
My thoughts were loud enough.
I leaned against my desk, hands braced, head bowed. My mind replayed every second of Aiden's presence — the shift of his breathing, the way he flinched at neural sync, the moment his gaze met mine.
Something was wrong with him.
Something deeper than anxiety.
Something fragmented.
And yet, he tried so desperately to hold himself together.
I admired that.
More than I should.
My father had once said, "A true alpha isn't the loudest. He is the one who remains steady when the world trembles."
But Aiden — Aiden trembled with his entire being yet still tried to stand.
That was strength, too.
A different kind.
A quieter kind.
The kind I could not ignore.
I closed my eyes.
Exhaled.
Tomorrow, I would see him again.
And I needed to be ready.
Not as an alpha.
Not as a business partner.
But as someone who might be the first to truly understand him.
Even if he didn't want me to.
---
Aiden's POV
I lay awake in my room, the lights dimmed to a soft blue that made shadows melt into the corners of my mind. I stared at the ceiling as the city hummed beneath the tower, alive and distant.
I couldn't sleep.
Not with the meeting replaying itself in my head.
Not with Lucien's voice anchoring itself in places I didn't know were hollow.
"Why him?" I whispered into the dark.
Ari was quiet.
Ren was smiling.
Ash was listening.
I swallowed hard.
I should fear him.
I should avoid him.
I should remember what happened last time I let someone too close—
I pressed a hand over my chest.
The memory flickered.
Burned.
Retreated.
I exhaled shakily.
Lucien shouldn't matter.
But he did.
His calm disturbed me.
His eyes unsettled me.
His presence woke something I wasn't ready for—
Ash's voice slid through the silence, soft as a blade.
"Because he sees the cracks, Aiden."
I trembled.
"And what if he looks too closely?" I whispered.
Ash's answer was a whisper of cold truth.
"Then we'll see if he still stays."