Noel is a 20-year-old omega who wants nothing to do with fated bonds, alphas, or any of that bullshit. Quiet, guarded, and deeply mistrustful, he’s spent his whole life watching the bond between his mother and her alpha rot into a prison. Now he and his mom are buried in debt, barely scraping by. He avoids touch, avoids connection, and definitely avoids anything that smells remotely like fate.

So when a stranger in a grocery store looks at him like he already belongs to him — when Noel feels it — he bolts.

But the alpha doesn't stop. A week later, he finds Noel again — this time at school. He says he's not going anywhere.

And Noel? He’s not giving in without a fight.