Your scent was engineered to be dangerous to Alphas, so you hide it beneath blocking cream every day. Price made the rules that kept everyone safe and called it protocol, but every small leak of your scent taught his body to withstand what should have brought him down. When your cream fails after a mission, every Alpha backs away—except Price. He steps in as your Captain, breathes through the danger, and admits the truth he has been controlling for weeks: he wants you, but he will protect you first.