[EDITING] ALPHA UNIVERSE #5: DESIROUS

CHAPTER 9

As Harin reached her apartment and slammed the door shut behind her, a wave of tension flooded through her body. She stood there, frozen, her chest rising and falling with labored breaths, her pulse racing as if she had just run a marathon. Her mind was tangled in panic, and she could feel the unmistakable flush of pheromones seeping from her skin, betraying her inner turmoil.

What was that all about?

She'd only been at the agency for two weeks—a newbie, barely past the orientation phase. Yet, it felt like she'd lived through two years' worth of emotions, each one sharper and more chaotic than the last.

The pureblood is insane.

The memory was sharp: the taxi driver, an alpha himself, had caught a whiff of a scent far stronger than her own—distinct, overpowering. Though they hadn't exchanged words, Harin could only imagine what he must have thought. Judging by the way he kept glancing in the mirror, he'd probably been wondering why a female alpha carried the unmistakable scent of a pureblood.

There were logical, innocent explanations, sure. But this pureblood's scent was anything but ordinary. It was intense, suggestive, and it clung to her skin like a brand. It was as if she'd been... involved with a pureblood.

That was why, as soon as she arrived home, Harin had shredded the clothes she'd been wearing, tied them up in a plastic bag, and tossed them out. She wasn't going to let herself get tangled up in those lingering pheromones again. Never again.

The next day, Harin arrived at work earlier than usual, around 6:45 a.m. She'd calculated that a safe time to avoid the pureblood was anytime before seven; she'd noticed him heading up to the fourth floor at that hour before. But fate seemed to have its own ideas.

The moment she reached the third floor, there he was—Jeno, leaning against the wall by the stairs that led up.

Harin immediately pushed away the thought that he might be waiting for her. Why would he? Yet, that fleeting comfort was crushed the instant he called her name.

"Listen first," he said firmly when she tried to brush past him.

"We have nothing to discuss," she replied flatly.

"We do," he said, gripping her wrist and pulling her around to face him. "You know it too."

Harin wrenched her hand free, her expression a mixture of anger and irritation.

"Not here."

She raised a brow. "Not here, what?"

"We can't talk here; someone might overhear."

"Then I'll leave."

"No."

Before she could protest, he took her by the wrist again and led her up the stairs, past rows of single workrooms. Each door bore the name of a different BJ, but her focus was elsewhere.