Tyler POV

I didn't feel the pain until the second I looked down and saw the blood.

Not mine.

It was smeared across her hoodie like a warning label, deep red and wet against soft yellow cotton. My hands were shaking. I didn't know if it was from the adrenaline or the scent.

Sweet peach. Omega. Injured.

Gods, I'd never moved so fast. One second, I was slamming into the barrier after Haskin cheap-shotted me, and the next, I was tangled in broken plexiglass, sprawled half across the front row and half across a girl who smelled like my worst temptation.

Erica.

That's what they'd said her name was.

I wasn't supposed to get involved. Not here. Not now. I was under strict orders to lie low, keep my head down, stay out of fights, and not make headlines. Coach Aster practically tattooed it onto my gear.

But the second I hit her, the second I saw those wide green eyes cloud over, everything in me snapped. Alpha instinct. Raw. Violent. Protective.

"Get off her!" a blonde girl had yelled her friend, I guessed. She looked ready to throw a punch herself.

I scrambled off Erica, hands hovering like I could fix it just by being close. The scent of her blood tangled with the sweet trail of her omega pheromones, making it nearly impossible to think straight.

A medic reached her before I could, checking her arm. "Cut from the barrier," he said quickly, latex gloves already stained. "Deep, but not arterial. We'll need stitches."

"I'll take care of her," the doctor called Connor, our team's medical guy.

I didn't even realize I was following them until I was halfway down the hallway behind the locker rooms. One of my teammates, Jenkins, maybe tried to grab me, but I shoved him off. I needed to see her. Make sure she was okay.

This was my fault.

I shouldn't have lost my edge out there. I shouldn't have let Haskin bait me.

Now this girl this delicate, wide-eyed omega was bleeding because I couldn't keep my damn temper in check.

When I found the medical room, Coach Aster was already there. He was talking to the girl, clipboard in hand, muttering something about liability forms. I pushed the door open just as Connor shot him a look.

"Frank," Connor said sharply, "you're not helping."

Coach looked like he wanted to argue but finally threw his hands up and stepped back.

And then I saw her again. Erica. Sitting on the exam table, her hoodie half shredded, blood crusted on her arm and lip trembling like she wasn't sure whether to cry or throw something. Probably at me.

I stepped forward, unsure what to say. "Is she... okay?"

Connor glanced over his shoulder. "She'll live. Barely missed needing a transfusion with how much blood she's lost. She's going to need monitoring for a mild concussion and a few stitches."

Erica looked up at me just then, her eyes still glazed, cheeks pale. "You... you're the one who... hit me?"

I winced. "Yeah. I'm sorry. That wasn't supposed to happen."

Her friend snorted from the corner. "You think?"

Connor grabbed my arm and nudged me toward the hallway. "Let me finish patching her up. Come back in ten."

I wanted to argue, but I could feel Erica's gaze boring into my back, and I didn't want to make it worse.

So I nodded and left.

I paced the hallway for exactly seven minutes and twenty-four seconds before Connor stepped out and motioned me back in.

"She's stitched and bandaged. Bit loopy from the pain meds, so don't expect full sentences," he said, holding the door open.

Inside, Erica was propped up against the wall, hair disheveled, her bangs falling into her eyes. Her good hand clutched a water bottle, her bad arm now wrapped in gauze. She blinked at me, her lips parting slightly like she wanted to say something but didn't know what.

I cleared my throat. "I'm Tyler. Tyler Wood."

"I know who you are," her friend piped up. "Everyone does."

I nodded. "Right. Listen, I feel terrible about what happened. Let me drive you home my car's out back. My driver can get you both there safely."

"No" Erica started, but the blonde cut her off.

"We'll take it. Thank you."

Erica looked like she wanted to protest again, but the meds were clearly kicking her butt. She slumped slightly, nodding in exhausted agreement.

I lingered, uncertain. I wasn't used to feeling guilt most of my life had been skated through with a bruised jaw and a shrug. But something about seeing her hurt... seeing her bleeding because of me... it didn't sit right.

Before I left the room, I turned back to her. "Can I... get your number? Just so I can check in. Make sure you're okay."

Her lips parted, but the friend answered again. "We'll text you."

She grabbed my phone, typed something quickly, and handed it back.

I looked at the number, then at the omega still watching me like I was a tornado in skates.

"Thanks," I said softly. "For not screaming at me."

Erica gave me a tired smile. "I'll scream tomorrow."

By the time I got home, my brain was fried. I dumped my bag by the door and collapsed onto the couch, still in my warm-up pants. I closed my eyes, but her scent wouldn't leave my nose. That peach-sweet omega softness had sunk into my lungs like a drug.

I'd never reacted like that before not to anyone. Sure, I'd been around omegas. I'd dated some, slept with a few, but none had ever smelled like... that.

She was a problem. A complication. A soft, bleeding, wide-eyed complication that I couldn't stop thinking about.

When I finally dragged myself off the couch to check my gear bag, something small and pink fell out onto the floor.

A wallet.

Her wallet.

Erica.

I picked it up and thumbed through it. Driver's license. Student ID. A bunny sticker. Cash. And a faint trace of her scent that clung to the seams like it was stitched in.

I sat down on the edge of the bed, gripping the wallet like it might vanish.

I should've just sent it back through my driver. Texted and asked for an address. But the alpha in me the part of me that hadn't stopped buzzing since she looked at me with that dazed expression said no.

You bring it to her. You make it right.

So the next morning, after a cold shower and a long internal argument, I did.

I found her walking outside her dorm building, bundled in a flannel shirt that looked two sizes too big and flinching slightly every time the wind hit her.

"Erica?" I called.

She turned, hair wind-tossed and eyes widening in surprise. "Tyler?"

Her friend Alexis, I now knew stood beside her, already grinning like she'd just won a bet.

"You left this," I said, holding up the pink wallet.

Erica blinked. "Oh my god. I didn't even know"

"I figured I'd return it in person. Wasn't sure if you remembered last night clearly."

She took it from me carefully, fingers brushing mine. The contact was electric.

"I remember," she murmured.

I took a breath. "How's the arm?"

"Sore. But functioning. Doctor Connor stitched me up like a pro." She gave me a half-smile, then hesitated. "Thank you... for coming."

Before I could answer, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I checked it Coach Aster. No doubt wanting to scream about more bad press.

"I've gotta get to practice," I said, backing away. "But... I meant what I said. Let me know if you need anything. Anything at all."

Erica looked like she wanted to say something more, but Alexis nudged her forward.

"Text him later," she whispered, loud enough for me to hear. "Don't make it obvious you're into him."

I chuckled under my breath and turned.

But just as I rounded the corner, I realized I hadn't asked the question burning at the back of my mind since last night.

The one I'd have to ask soon because if I didn't, I was afraid I'd go insane.

What the hell do I do if she's my fated match?

That night, I sat in the locker room long after the others had gone, the locker's metal cold against my back. I stared at her number on my phone for the hundredth time, thumb hovering over the screen. My instincts roared, demanding I call her. But instincts had ruined me before. What if reaching out... ruined her too?

Erica POV

I didn't sleep that night. Not because of the stitches-though those throbbed like tiny knives were digging into my arm-but because of him.

Tyler Wood.

The alpha who'd fallen into my life with enough force to leave bruises on both my body and my mind.

I kept replaying the moment over and over. The sound of the plexiglass shattering. His wide green eyes when he realized I was beneath him. That voice-low, rough, stunned.

"I'm so sorry."

He looked at me like he'd just broken the only thing in the world that mattered. And the wild part was... that mattered to me.

I wasn't used to people caring that much, especially not alphas. Most alphas at uni either ignored me or treated me like a prize to be won. Tyler? He looked like he wanted to glue the shards of me back together himself.

My phone buzzed on the nightstand, making me flinch. Alexis rolled over on her air mattress and groaned.

"Who the hell is texting you at two in the morning?"

I reached for the phone. One new message.

Unknown Number: Let me know if you're okay. I didn't sleep. I keep thinking about you bleeding. I'm sorry again. -Tyler

I stared at the screen, thumb hovering over the reply button.

Should I respond? Should I ignore it? Did he expect something from me?

Alexis sat up, hair like a bird's nest. "Is that him?"

I nodded, unable to say anything.

She snatched the phone out of my hand, read the message, then looked at me like I'd just declared I wanted to date a serial killer. "You're not gonna reply?"

"I don't know what to say."

"Start with, 'Thanks for not letting me bleed out on the floor,' and end with, 'Sure, you can kiss me sometime.'" She grinned, tossing the phone back.

I rolled my eyes but typed out a reply.

Me: I'm okay. Arm hurts, but it's manageable. Thanks for checking in. Try to sleep. You've got practice tomorrow, right?

His response came within seconds.

Tyler: I'll sleep better knowing you're alright. Text me tomorrow?

I didn't reply. I couldn't. My heart was hammering too hard, and my brain was already imagining things I shouldn't let it.

The next morning, Alexis dragged me to the corner café for the "best chai in the city" and insisted I not wear my oversized flannel.

"Something cute," she said. "Like that cream sweater I bought you that you never wear because you're afraid of standing out."

"I don't want to stand out," I grumbled. "I want to blend in and disappear."

"Too late. You're the omega Tyler lWood crashed into in front of five thousand people. You're already a legend." She winked. "Might as well look hot while you're at it."

Against my better judgment, I wore the sweater.

We grabbed our drinks and found a seat near the back. I was nursing my chai when Alexis leaned in with a smirk.

"Are you going to tell me what you actually think of him?"

"Who?"

"Don't play dumb."

I sighed. "He's... different. Intense. But also soft? I don't know. It's confusing. Every time he looks at me, it's like he sees something I don't even see in myself."

"That," Alexis said, pointing her spoon at me, "is either the start of a romance novel or the beginning of a life-altering disaster."

I laughed. "Probably both."

By early afternoon, I was curled up on my bed with Potato sniffing the bandage on my arm like she was considering chewing through it.

"I'm fine," I muttered, gently nudging her with a cushion. "I didn't die. Chill."

She flopped dramatically beside me, thumping her feet once before settling in.

My phone buzzed again.

Tyler: Still want that ride to the clinic for your follow-up? I'm free in thirty.

I stared at the message. I hadn't asked for a ride. He remembered.

Alexis, who was folding laundry in the corner, spotted the expression on my face and smirked.

"You're going," she said, before I even opened my mouth. "Don't argue."

Tyler's car wasn't what I expected.

I figured he'd have something flashy-black and shiny and aggressively masculine. Instead, it was a silver SUV with a faint scent of leather and coffee. He held the door open for me, waited until I buckled, then slid in behind the wheel.

"You okay?" he asked softly.

I nodded. "Arm still aches. But it's better."

His hands clenched the steering wheel. "I couldn't stop thinking about it. You. The blood. I've been in fights, Erica. Bad ones. But I've never felt sick afterward. Until that night."

I glanced at him, heart skipping. "You didn't mean to hurt me."

"That's the worst part," he muttered. "If it had been intentional, I'd know how to hate myself. But this? This just feels like fate being cruel."

I didn't know what to say to that. So I stayed quiet, watching the city blur past the window until we reached the clinic.

He insisted on walking me in. Waited in the hallway while the nurse changed my bandages and scolded me for not taking the painkillers as regularly as prescribed.

When I came back out, he stood. "Hungry?"

"I could eat."

We ended up at a little burger joint tucked into a quiet corner street. He held the door open, ordered for both of us when I couldn't decide, and somehow picked the exact burger I would've chosen myself.

"Lex says I should stay away from alphas," I said between bites.

"She's not wrong," Tyler replied, setting his drink down. "Most alphas are assholes."

I blinked. "You included?"

He smirked. "I'm working on it."

Something about the way he said it half-sincere, half-broken made my chest ache.

"You're not what I expected," I said. "When you hit me, I thought you were just some jock with anger issues. But you're..."

"Still a jock with anger issues?" he offered.

I smiled. "Maybe. But also someone who's trying."

His eyes lingered on me for a moment. "You make it easier."

We were walking back to the car when I felt it an unmistakable flutter low in my belly. My step faltered, and I grabbed his arm to steady myself.

"Erica?" he asked, instantly alert. "You okay?"

"I I think..." I swallowed. "It might be starting."

His jaw tightened. "Your heat?"

I nodded, cheeks burning.

"Shit. I'll get you home."

But I didn't want to go home.

Not yet.

"I don't know if I can make it back without" I trailed off, breathing shallow. The world was tilting. His scent peppermint, musk, everything Alpha was suddenly overwhelming.

He guided me into the passenger seat, hands careful, voice low and calm.

"I'll take you to my place. It's closer. You can rest. I swear, I won't touch you unless you ask me to."

The thought terrified me.

The thought thrilled me.

I couldn't speak. I just nodded.

By the time we reached his flat, my skin felt like it was burning. I could barely walk straight. He half-carried me up the stairs and onto his sofa, grabbing blankets, a cold drink, and everything else within reach.

He crouched in front of me, brow furrowed. "Do you want me to leave the room?"

I shook my head.

He exhaled, slow. "Okay."

I leaned back, every nerve ending on fire, scent glands flaring.

"I don't know what's happening," I whispered.

His gaze softened. "I do."

"Is this...?"

Tyler's voice dropped. "You're reacting to me. My scent. It's strong because we're bonded. Or starting to be."

I froze. "Bonded?"

"We're not fated, not fully. Not yet. But Erica... this thing between us? It's real."

I stared at him, heart pounding.

And then, softly, I said, "Kiss me."

He leaned in, breath warm against my skin but just before our lips met, someone pounded on the door. Loud. Aggressive. Tyler stiffened, every muscle in his body going tense.

"Erica," he whispered, jaw clenched. "Stay behind me."

I sat up, pulse skyrocketing. "Who is it?"

"I don't know," he growled.

But I saw it in his eyes.

Whoever was at that door wasn't here by accident.

And this night our moment was about to be shattered.

Tyler POV

The knock came again. Harder this time.

Three sharp pounds that rattled through the flat and sliced through the charged silence between us. Erica was on the edge of the couch, arms wrapped around herself, eyes wide and unfocused, part heat, part fear.

I stood between her and the door without thinking. Instinct. That deep, primal alpha drive I'd spent years burying snapped to attention like it had just been waiting for a reason to come alive.

"Erica, go to the bedroom. Lock the door."

"What? No"

"Now."

She flinched at my tone, but I softened immediately. "Please. Just do it."

She hesitated only a second longer, then disappeared down the hallway. The click of the door locking behind her didn't make me feel better. Not even a little.

The knock came again, but this time it wasn't a knock. It was a fist slamming into the wood.

I growled.

Who the hell "I yanked the door open."

And froze.

"Haskin?"

He stood there, half in shadow, soaked from the rain that had started sometime after we got home. His jacket was unzipped, revealing a Polar Blades hoodie beneath, and his expression wasn't just hostile it was smug.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" I asked.

He pushed past me without permission, dripping water onto my floors.

I shut the door behind him, fists clenched. "You've got three seconds to explain before I make you regret ever showing up."

He turned, wiping his wet hands on my couch like a goddamn animal. "Relax, Wood. I'm not here to fight."

I stepped forward. "You show up unannounced at my place, during an omega's heat, and you're not here to fight?"

His eyes flicked toward the hallway. "So it's true."

I didn't blink. "What's true?"

"You and the girl. The one from the game. The one you fell on." He smirked. "Didn't think you'd go for a student, man. Bit beneath your usual type, don't you think?"

I lunged.

He stumbled back into the kitchen counter, grunting when his spine hit the edge. I slammed my arm across his chest, pinning him there. My scent flared, sharp and furious.

"Watch your mouth."

He didn't look scared. That made it worse.

"I came to warn you," he said, voice low. "Management's sniffing around. You're in trouble."

I pulled back a fraction. "What?"

"They think you're unstable. Too aggressive. You've got a record, Wood. The second they smell scandal, they'll use it. And word's already circulating that you've got an omega tucked away. One who wasn't vetted. You know what that looks like."

I cursed under my breath and shoved off him, pacing to the far side of the kitchen.

He adjusted his hoodie and smirked. "You can't afford this kind of attention."

"I didn't plan for this to happen."

"Doesn't matter. It's happened. And now they're watching. You've got two choices: break it off or get dragged down when they yank your contract."

I laughed bitterly. "You think I give a damn about the contract?"

"You should. Because this girl? She might be sweet, but she's trouble. You're not bonded yet. You can still walk away."

I turned slowly, every bone in my body on fire. "Get out."

"Tyler"

"Now."

He looked like he wanted to say more, but finally finally he walked to the door.

Before he left, he glanced back once. "You're not the only alpha interested, you know. Omegas like her? They don't stay unclaimed for long."

I slammed the door so hard the frame shuddered.

I leaned against the wall, breathing hard, trying to calm the rage bubbling under my skin.

He wasn't wrong.

I was already under scrutiny. Already skating on the thinnest ice. The league wanted reasons to drop me, and this... this thing with Erica? It was like handing them ammunition.

But I couldn't walk away. Wouldn't.

I rubbed my hands over my face and moved down the hallway.

I knocked gently on the bedroom door. "Erica. It's me."

She opened it a crack, then wider when she saw my face.

Her eyes searched mine. "Who was that?"

"Trouble. But it's handled."

She frowned. "I heard yelling."

I exhaled, stepping inside. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't." She walked back toward the bed and sat, tugging her sleeves over her hands. "I just... I didn't expect someone to show up. Especially not during-" She waved vaguely at the air.

"Your heat," I finished for her.

She nodded.

"Do you want me to leave?"

She blinked. "No."

"Are you sure?"

"I don't want to be alone right now."

That was all I needed.

I walked over, sat on the edge of the bed, and took her hand gently. "I meant what I said before. I won't touch you unless you ask me to."

"I know." Her voice was quiet. "That's why I feel safe."

Something loosened in my chest.

We sat like that for a while quiet, the air heavy with scent and tension. Her heat was rising slowly, not full-force yet, but enough to make her cheeks flush and her breath quicken.

"I don't understand why this is happening," she whispered. "We barely know each other."

"I know." I looked down at her hand in mine. "But it's not nothing. I felt it the second I hit you. The bond might not be complete, but something's there."

She leaned her head on my shoulder. "I'm scared."

"I am too."

I reached for the blanket and draped it over us both.

"If you need anything," I murmured, "wake me."

"I will."

But I didn't sleep. I couldn't. My mind was racing.

Not just with the bond. Not just with her scent and the way she trembled beside me.

But with what Haskin had said.

"You're not the only alpha interested."

I had no idea who else was watching her.

And that terrified me more than anything.

Sometime around 4 a.m., Erica stirred.

I opened my eyes to find her staring at the ceiling, tears clinging to her lashes.

"Erica?"

She blinked, startled. "Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't." I sat up, brushing hair from her face. "What's wrong?"

"I had a dream. You were gone. Everyone was."

I held her tighter. "I'm not going anywhere."

She looked at me, eyes red. "Promise?"

"I promise."

She curled into my chest, and I held her there until her breathing slowed again.

But I didn't relax.

Because outside the window, across the street, a figure leaned against a lamppost, smoking.

Watching my building.

They didn't move when I stood and looked out.

They just stood there.

Watching.

And I knew in my gut,Haskin wasn't bluffing.

Erica wasn't safe anymore.

Not unless I found out who was after her.

Not unless I protected her like she was already mine.

Even if she wasn't.

Yet.

The next morning, when Erica was still sleeping, I got a message from an unknown number.

Unknown: You think she's safe with you? Think again. She's marked. We're coming.

And just like that, everything shattered.