Chapter 38
Internal Combustion
~AURORA~
I'm halfway down the corridor toward the conference room when I hear the shouting.
Not just raised voices—actual shouting, the kind of aggressive volume that makes people stop and stare. The kind that suggests a situation escalating beyond professional disagreement into something more volatile.
My pack's scents are overwhelming even from this distance. Burnt cedar and coffee mixing with dark chocolate and gunpowder, the combination spiking with aggressive Alpha pheromones that make my Omega instincts want to either flee or submit.
I slow my approach, instinct warning me that walking into this argument might not be wise.
"—don't understand how the fuck this keeps happening!" Luca's voice carries through the partially open door, sharp with frustrated fury. "We have resources. Connections. Money. Everything we should need to identify and neutralize threats."
"You think I don't know that?" Cale's response is equally aggressive. "You think I'm not spending every waking moment trying to figure out who's behind this?"
"Then maybe you're not looking hard enough!"
I press myself against the wall beside the conference room door, out of sight but close enough to hear clearly. My heart hammers against my ribs—partly from the confrontation, partly from the spike of aggressive Alpha scents that are making my biology respond with uncomfortable intensity.
"I received another threat this morning," Adrian's voice cuts through, calmer than the others but carrying an undercurrent of cold fury. "Detailed descriptions of Aurora's routine. Her apartment layout. The routes she takes between the compound and home."
My blood runs cold.
"I got one too," Elias adds quietly. "More photos from the kidnapping."
"Why the fuck are we just hearing about this now?" Luca demands.
"Because we've all been hiding threats from her," Cale says, and I can hear the self-recrimination in his voice. "Trying to protect her from the psychological impact of knowing how targeted she is. But clearly that's not fucking working."
Silence falls, heavy and oppressive.
I'm about to step back, to give them privacy for this conversation that's clearly pack business I shouldn't be eavesdropping on, when a hand touches my shoulder.
I nearly jump out of my skin, spinning to find Roran standing behind me with his finger pressed to his lips in a gesture for silence.
He points to a small alcove further down the corridor—a place we can listen without being visible if anyone exits the conference room. We move together with the synchronized precision of people who've been in each other's space their entire lives.
"We're supposed to be a pack," Luca is saying, his voice rough with emotion I rarely hear from him. "That means protecting our Omega. And we're failing. With all our resources, all our connections, all our supposed intelligence…we can't figure out who the fuck is threatening her?"
"It has to be someone with serious organization behind them," Adrian argues. "The level of surveillance, the technical sophistication of the sabotage, the way they're staying ahead of our countermeasures, this isn't amateur hour."
"Then we need to do better!" Luca's volume rises again. "I don't give a fuck about the stakes or the competition or any of it if it means Aurora's going to be in constant danger!"
There's a pause, and when Cale speaks, his voice is sharp with challenge.
"Are you just saying that for show? Because one minute you're acting like you don't give a damn about her, keeping your distance, treating her like she's some obligation you're stuck with.
The next minute you want to protect her at press conferences and throw your body between her and any potential threat. "
"What's that supposed to mean?" Luca's tone drops into something dangerous.
"It means everyone is saying you're bipolar. Or probably gay for all they care." Cale's frustration bleeds through every word. "Thinking our pack is just a stunt for publicity, that you're not actually bonded to Aurora because you barely show her affection in public."
I can feel Roran tense beside me, his ozone-and-linen scent spiking with protective concern.
"Good." Luca's voice is flat, emotionless in a way that's somehow more frightening than the shouting. "Let them think whatever the fuck they want. And if you guys think I don't want the best for her, y'all can fuck off too."
"Then stop showing mixed messages!" Cale explodes. "Actually show that you love her instead of keeping her at arm's length while simultaneously going feral anytime someone looks at her wrong!"
The word 'love' hangs in the air, heavy and complicated.
"You want to know why I keep my distance?" Luca's voice is quiet now, barely audible, and somehow that's more devastating than any amount of shouting. "The last time I got close to an Omega, she fucking died."
The silence that follows is absolute.
I feel like I've been punched in the chest, all the air leaving my lungs at once. Beside me, Roran's hand finds mine, squeezing gently in support.
Luca had an Omega before.
One he clearly cared about deeply.
And she died…
No wonder he's been hot and cold. No wonder he pushes me away while simultaneously being fiercely protective.
He's terrified of history repeating itself.
I'm about to step into the conference room, to confront this revelation directly and demand he talk to me about it, when Roran's hand tightens on mine. He shakes his head firmly—not yet.
"Luca—" Cale starts, his voice gentler now.
"Her name was Sera." Luca cuts him off, each word precise and controlled. "Sera Volkov. We met four years ago, before Thorne Racing really took off. She was brilliant—race strategist with a mind for patterns that made engineers look stupid. We bonded fast. Too fast, probably."
I can hear him moving, pacing maybe, his scent spiking with remembered grief.
"The threats started almost immediately. Anonymous at first, then escalating. Someone didn't like that I had the mere chance to be close with an Omega, or they were targeting me through her, or—fuck, I still don't know the exact motive. But the harassment was constant. Brutal."
My chest aches listening to the pain in his voice.
"I tried to protect her. Hired security, changed our routines, kept her close. But it wasn't enough." His voice cracks slightly. "She was driving to meet me at the track. Just a normal day, familiar route. But someone had tampered with her brakes. She went off a cliff doing ninety miles per hour."
Fuck…
"They never found who did it," Luca continues, his words coming faster now like he needs to get them out before he loses the courage.
"The investigation went nowhere. No suspects, no evidence beyond the sabotage itself.
And I was left with this pack…us…" his voice softens slightly, “and Elias and Adrian helped me survive losing her. "
"But you didn't try to find another Omega or think of the idea of our pack having one," Elias says quietly. "Until Aurora."
"Until Aurora," Luca confirms. "And now the same shit is happening. The kidnapping, these threats, the sabotage that could have seriously injured her. It's like a fucking nightmare on repeat, and I can't—I can't go through that again."
His voice breaks completely on the last word.
"Being distant will keep her alive," he says roughly. "Or at least that's what I tell myself. Because clearly these threats are connected to me somehow. The pattern is too similar. Someone targeted Sera because of me, and now they're targeting Aurora for the same reason."
"You don't know that," Adrian argues gently.
"I know that I'm not going to be calm or tame until whoever is behind this is behind bars or fucking dead.
" Luca's voice hardens into something cold and final.
"So yeah, I'm distant. I'm sending mixed messages.
I'm a shitty pack Alpha who can't properly care for his Omega because I'm too busy being terrified she'll end up like Sera. "
Footsteps—sharp and angry—signal him leaving.
"Luca, wait—" Cale starts.
"Just let him leave for now" Elias interrupts.
The conference room door slams open, and Roran pulls me deeper into the alcove as Luca storms past. His dark-chocolate-and-gunpowder scent is thick with grief and fury, his expression set in hard lines that discourage any attempt at conversation.
I watch him disappear down the corridor, my heart breaking for the pain he's carrying.
"Should we go after him?" Cale's voice drifts from the still-open conference room.
"Let him cool off first," Elias suggests. "He needs space to process, not us crowding him with good intentions."
"Fuck." Cale sounds exhausted. "I had no idea about Sera. He never mentioned her."
"Some grief is too heavy to share easily," Adrian says softly.
Roran tugs on my hand, gesturing that we should leave before the others emerge and find us eavesdropping. We move silently through the compound, finding an empty equipment room that provides privacy.
The moment the door closes behind us, I let out a shaky breath.
"Did you know?" I ask Roran quietly. "About Sera?"
He shakes his head. "Rumors, maybe. Whispers in the paddock about Luca losing someone years ago. But nothing concrete. Nothing like what we just heard."
I lean against the wall, processing the revelation. Everything about Luca's behavior suddenly makes horrible sense. The way he pushes me away then pulls me close. The fierce protectiveness mixed with deliberate distance. The anger that masks fear.
He's terrified I'll die like Sera did.
"I need to talk to him," I say, pushing off the wall.
"Later," Roran advises. "Let him cool down first like Elias suggested. But actually, I have something to tell you."
The shift in his tone makes me focus on him properly. There's excitement mixed with apprehension in his expression, his ozone-and-linen scent carrying notes of both emotions.