The rooftop smelled of rain and ozone, but there was something else in the air—something that made Jaxson's instincts snap to attention. He prowled the edge like a predator, an Alpha used to being on top. Yet this scent, warm and sharp at once, rattled him. It was unfamiliar, magnetic, impossible to ignore.
He saw him then, a lone figure silhouetted against the city lights. Tall, lean, impossibly poised—an Enigma. Jaxson knew the hierarchy: Alphas ruled, Betas obeyed, Omegas followed. But this man… this man didn't fit any of it. He radiated power in a way that made Jaxson's blood hum with both anger and something else. Something dangerously like awe.
"This is my spot," Jaxson said, low and steady, trying to mask the flutter in his chest. His voice carried the weight of command, scented with leather and sandalwood. He expected compliance. He expected fear.
The man turned slowly. Mercury eyes caught the moonlight. Calm. Untouchable. He smiled faintly, as if reading Jaxson's thoughts.
"Is it?" The voice was smooth, teasing, but it landed in Jaxson like a strike. "I didn't see your name on it, Alpha."
Heat rose in Jaxson's chest. No one spoke to him like that. Fury and something else—something sharper—pulsed through him. "I'm making it mine now. Leave."
The smirk was fleeting, but it stung. "Or what? You'll make me?"
Jaxson's instincts flared. His hand twitched, a half-step forward, drawn to the man in a way that scared him. He could feel the tension crackling, heavy, electric. And then there was the scent. Not just the storm-charged honey that had drawn him here, but something richer, deeper… enticing.
"Playing with fire," he growled. His pheromones flared, a wave of dominance meant to bend the newcomer to his will.
"Is that so?" the Enigma purred, stepping closer, close enough that Jaxson could feel the warmth radiating from him. "I like to think I am the fire, Alpha."
Every nerve in Jaxson's body reacted. This man—this impossible being—had his Alpha instincts twisting, confounding him. He should resist. He should dominate. Yet he couldn't. Not fully.
"Does my scent… bother you?" The whisper brushed against him, teasing, intimate.
It wasn't just a scent anymore. It was a symphony, rich and intoxicating. And for the first time, Jaxson realized he was standing on a knife's edge between control and surrender.
Then, impossibly, the Enigma pulled a vial from his pocket. The aroma it released wrapped around Jaxson like a vice, addictive and overwhelming. His knees threatened to buckle. Gender, hierarchy—none of it mattered. He was caught, unguarded, exposed to the sheer audacity of this untouchable being.
The Enigma's eyes gleamed with secret amusement. He drank from the vial, letting the scent thicken, teasing, driving Jaxson wild. Then, casually, he tossed it over the edge. Shattered. Gone.
"Don't look so surprised, Alpha," he said, voice low, taunting, intimate. "After all… I did say I was the fire."
And just like that, he was gone. Jaxson stood alone, chest heaving, senses aflame, mind spinning with questions he didn't yet know how to answer: Who… or what… was he?