CH2; Luca's POV

There’s something about the way he smells that I can’t quite place. It’s not like an Alpha—definitely not that. His scent is far removed from his father’s. He smells… different. Like temptation. Like something forbidden. Something that clings to my mind no matter how hard I try to shake it off.

I didn’t hear about his engagement until this evening, and only through the news. Despite being adopted into the family, neither he nor my father thought it necessary to inform me. Not a word. I found out like everyone else—through the damn media.

The invite to the wedding eve came with the announcement. Apparently, they’ve been secretly engaged for two months now after dating for two years. Lies. All of it.

The board has been pressuring the Alpha to have his son provide an heir before being allowed to sit on the throne. That’s what this is all about—this alliance, this marriage. A means to an end.

And of all people, my father chose Rebecca—the daughter of the Alpha of a long-standing business rival. It’s genius in a way. Kill two birds with one stone. Edward gets a mate, the Alpha gets an heir, and the ongoing feud with the Patel's dissolves into a lucrative merger.

But me? I can't. I can't stomach it. Which is strange, because I’ve always been the kind of man who’s in control—always composed, always exuding confidence. But not when it comes to him.

I can't stand seeing her with him… or him with anyone else. I can’t even explain it. I just hate it. Hate seeing him with people who aren't me.

I noticed when he turned his head to glance at me after those strangers whispered about him. Gods, I wanted to rip their mouths apart. But I held back. I’ve said worse things to him myself. If I reacted, he’d only see me as a hypocrite.

How do I explain to him that it’s okay when I’m the one pushing him around—but not them? There’s this twisted feeling inside me, like a selfish, wounded animal.

"Let me go, Luca!" His voice came again, firmer this time. No longer the whiny, unsure version I used to mock. There was strength in it now.

I snapped out of my haze, staring at him like a lost dog stares at its master. His hazelnut brown eyes bored into mine, and they were driving me insane.

My grip on the wall faltered for a moment. I almost let him go. But then a thought struck me—and I tightened my hold again.

Was he going to slip from my grasp and straight into Rebecca’s? Was this how it would begin—the transfer of power, control, affection?

It felt that way. As if letting him go in this hallway meant I was letting him go forever.

A few minutes of silence passed before I finally dropped my arm from the wall, letting him go.

I don't even know what prompted my decision. Maybe it was the tears he was trying so hard to blink away at the corners of his eyes… or the defeated slump of his shoulders as if my presence alone was enough to crush him.

But I had to remind myself—this wasn’t why I came here. I didn’t come for him. And I certainly didn’t come to feel sorry or stand here like I’ve forgotten how much I hate him.

I hate weak people. Always have. Always will. And Edward? He is the very definition of that word. Weak. Pathetic. A complete disgrace. And yet… here I was.

I watched him walk away, heading down the hallway with that same broken gait, like a boy lost in a world that kept demanding he become a man.

A part of me wanted to follow him. But I didn’t. I couldn’t. My pride wouldn’t let me.

I know where he’s going. Some hidden corner of this building where he thinks no one sees him. He always does that—hides when it’s too much. Hides to cry. Like he did at home. Like he still does when his father scolds us both, even if I never shed a tear.

He’s twenty-one. But I’m only twenty-three, and yet… I’m the Beta. He has Alpha blood in him. That alone should make him stronger than me. But Edward?

Edward has always been something else entirely.

He hadn’t even reached the end of the hallway when I saw another figure approaching him.

I squinted through the flickering corridor lights. From the silhouette—broad shoulders, covered arms and legs—I could tell immediately it was a man.

Black trousers. Black long-sleeved shirt. Hair pinned, parted sharply to the side.

Just like him.

A man I knew too well. A man I was painfully familiar with.

And yet… I felt nothing. Or so I thought. But the moment I saw him hug Edward, something inside me snapped.

Rage? Anger? Jealousy?

I couldn’t even tell which it was. Only that it burned.

How dare he hug him?

Why him of all people?

He was comforting Edward—when that should’ve been me.

And worse, Edward let him.

Didn’t push him away.

Didn’t even flinch.

He let himself be pulled into that embrace—tight, close, vulnerable—until he was buried in his shoulder. Crying.

On his shoulder.

I blinked, realizing I had unknowingly walked several meters toward them.

What the hell was I doing?

This wasn’t me.

“Luca, get a grip,” I whispered harshly to myself.

I spun around just as a bartender passed by. Snatched a glass of vodka off the tray without a word.

I downed it in one go. Then another.

Only then did I continue walking, feet dragging, my mind spiraling as I tried to put as much distance as I could between me and that scene.

That unbearable, traitorous scene.

Was Edward feeling this way too? Or was it just me?

This sting in my chest, did it ache in his, too?

We were rivals. Enemies, to perfect the word.

We’d hated each other since childhood.

Since I was ten, adopted into his family by his father. But while Edward hated me for flimsy, childish reasons…

I hated him with every fiber of my being for something necessary.

No, I was obligated to. Fated to. And born to.

To hate him. To despise every damn thing about him.

Because if I didn't’r, then I had no reason to exist.

No reason to endure the rejections, the dismissals, the subtle humiliations I swallowed daily.

This hatred? It was my lifeline.

It couldn’t change.

Couldn’t shift. Not now and definitely not ever.

I finally reached the door and paused for a brief second.

My hand hovered over the knob, hesitation clinging to my fingers. Then, without a sound, I turned it and slipped in.

Just as I expected, Rebecca was inside—alone now.

She was sprawled across the bed, legs wide, moaning into the air like a woman lost in sin. The soundproof walls did their job well.

A rose-shaped clit sucker purred beside her. A nine-inch dildo glistened with lube.

I scanned the bed once. Twice. By the third time, I stopped looking—I knew where the third toy was. Plugged deep in her ass as she worked herself open for the pleasure only silicone could give her.

I smiled inwardly.

Poor, poor Rebecca.

Had Edward been so weak that she didn’t even bother calling on him to sate her lust the night before their wedding?

Maybe.

Not that it mattered now. I have exactly what it is that she needed at the moment, and that is the reason I came here in the first place.