Past (2 years ago):
The Encounter: The Collision in the Rain (Revised Version)
Setting: Streets of Monaco, late afternoon. A fine, cold rain was falling, turning the asphalt into a dark, shimmering mirror. The streetlights began to flicker on, casting golden halos into the mist.
The Alpha (Lucien Vane): He walked with long, calm strides, as if the rain dared not touch him. He held a high-end black umbrella in one hand. In the other, his phone was pressed to his ear. He was listening to his underboss report a logistical failure at the border.
"Resolve this by midnight or you will have a problem with me," he said, his voice low and deep, his breath forming clouds of vapor. His face was impenetrable. But his eyes... his eyes were white. Not albino, not blind. They were white like liquid pearl, like polar ice, like a full moon on a starless night. They glowed faintly in the dim light. His platinum white hair was dry and impeccable under the umbrella, contrasting with the darkness of the street.
The Omega (Ren Aoki): On the other side of the street, a small figure was running desperately. Ren was returning from the bakery where he worked part-time. He had no umbrella. The rain had already soaked him completely.
His beige coat — loose and old — was wide open, flapping and slipping off one shoulder as he ran. Underneath, his simple white shirt was transparent, clinging to his thin body and defined ribs. He was shivering, his breath ragged. His dark hair (deep brown, almost black) was plastered to his forehead and the nape of his neck. And his eyes... bright green eyes, like emeralds wet with rain.
"Just one more block... just one more block..." he thought, lowering his head and running faster as he turned the corner.
The Collision: The impact was violent.
Ren didn't see the massive chest in front of him. He simply felt the shock. His body hit something as hard as a concrete wall. The force of the impact stopped him instantly and sent him flying backward.
He fell to the wet ground, feeling the cold water seep into his pants. His open coat flew even further to the side. His white shirt lifted slightly, revealing his thin waist and pale skin. His legs splayed out on the asphalt. He let out a groan of pain, his hand hitting a puddle.
For a second, he lifted his head, confused. Raindrops ran down his long lashes and over his parted lips. His green eyes were wide, frightened, and beautiful.
The Alpha's Gaze: Lucien froze. The phone slowly slid from his ear.
The world around him went into slow motion.
He looked down at the young man fallen on the soaked ground. The wet white shirt revealed everything — the fair skin, the thin chest. The boy was disheveled, beautiful, and shivering from the cold. Lucien's white eyes scanned the fallen figure and met the omega's green eyes. It was like an electric shock. The contrast was mesmerizing: the icy white of the alpha and the vivid green of the omega staring at each other for the first time.
And the scent... through the rain, even from meters away, the Alpha smelled the sweet aroma of vanilla and warm milk. It was Ren's pheromone.
"Get up," Lucien's voice came out like a low thunder. His white eyes glowed dangerously in the dim light.
He quickly closed his umbrella and threw it on the ground, kneeling in the rain without caring about his thousands-of-dollars suit. He reached out his large, pale hand toward the boy.
Ren looked up with green eyes, confused. That man was tall, handsome, and terrifying. Those white eyes seemed to see right through his soul.
"You're going to catch pneumonia, you idiot," Lucien grumbled, pulling Ren up with brute force and delicacy at the same time.
At that moment, their hands touched. Ren's skin was icy. Lucien's was hot as an ember. The white of the alpha's eyes locked onto the green of the omega's eyes.
And the first physical contact between the White-Eyed Alpha and his Green-Eyed Omega was sealed.
Present (Current day): Chapter 1: The Rainy Morning
Marriage duration: 1 year and 4 months. Time known: Exactly 2 years (they met in that rain, dated for 8 months, and got married).
The rain drummed softly against the windows of the Vane palace. It was a rhythmic, almost hypnotic sound that enveloped the master bedroom in an atmosphere of coziness and dim light.
The black silk sheets were slightly rumpled.
Ren Aoki opened his eyes slowly. The gray light of the rainy morning filtered through the gaps in the heavy curtains. He blinked a few times, still dizzy with sleep, and then he felt the heat.
So much heat.
His body was completely pressed against Lucien's.
Ren froze.
He was lying on his side, his bare chest pressed against the Alpha's broad, muscular chest. His head rested on Lucien's chest, directly over his heart, which beat slowly and strongly, like a ship's engine. One of his legs was hooked over Lucien's thigh, as if he had wrapped himself around the Alpha during the night.
Lucien's arms were around Ren's thin waist, holding him against himself in a possessive embrace, even while he slept.
Ren's face burned.
"Damn it..." he thought, feeling the blood rush to his ears. "I wrapped myself around him again..."
He looked up, slowly, afraid of finding Lucien's white eyes open. But the Alpha was sleeping soundly. His face, free of the cold expression he wore for the world, looked almost... soft. His white hair was messy on his forehead. His jaw was relaxed. He looked like a hibernating wolf.
Ren stayed there for a long second, just watching the man who was his husband. The richest and most powerful man in the European underworld, who could buy countries, but who slept holding him as if Ren were the only treasure that mattered.
But the shame spoke louder.
With all the care in the world, Ren began to move. He slid his leg off Lucien's thigh. Slowly. Millimeter by millimeter. He pulled his arm away from his waist with the lightness of a thief.
His chest detached from the Alpha's chest. The cold air of the room touched his skin, and he felt a shiver.
He sat up in bed, his feet touching the soft rug. He looked back. Lucien didn't move.
"Thank goodness he's sleeping..." Ren sighed in relief, bringing his hand to his chest to calm his racing heart.
He got up slowly, grabbed a silk robe that was on the chair, and put it on without making a sound. The thin nightgown he wore to sleep — one of the ones Lucien bought in Paris — barely covered his thighs. He adjusted the robe and left the room, closing the door carefully.
The Living Room of the Vane Palace:
The mansion was silent. The staff only arrived later, and Lucien's private security stayed on the ground floor. Ren walked barefoot down the marble hallway, his feet cold on the floor, and reached the main living room.
The phone was on the coffee table, where he had left it the night before.
Ren picked up the device and turned on the screen. The light shone in his green eyes.
12 unread messages.
He frowned. It wasn't common. His contacts were few: Lucien, the cook, the candy shop he liked. But those messages came from an old group.
Group name: "The Lost Ones (Only the strong survive)"
Ren felt a tightness in his chest.
He opened the group. There were photos, memes, audio clips of laughter. The same friends from when he worked at the bakery, before being "rescued" by Lucien. They were all older than him — about 3 or 4 years difference, at most — but they treated him like their little brother.
They still sent messages. They still made jokes. They still told him about their lives.
Ren hadn't replied in months.
He swiped his finger across the screen, seeing a photo of one of them celebrating a birthday at a small bar. A shrill audio laugh played softly. He smiled, a sad and nostalgic smile.
"Those were good times..." he thought.
But then he looked around. The huge room. The crystal chandelier. The view of the Monaco gardens through the windows.
He was happy. He loved Lucien. He loved the security, the affection, the way the Alpha held him at night, even if he smothered him with jealousy from time to time.
Ren closed the group. He put the phone in his robe pocket.
"I won't reply today."
He took a deep breath and walked toward the kitchen.
The cold water from the marble faucet fell into the crystal glass. He drank in silence, watching the rain run down the kitchen window. A new life. A great love. And a phone full of memories that he still didn't know if he wanted to keep or let go.
Meanwhile, in the bedroom:
Lucien opened his eyes.
The white eyes glowed in the dim light.
He wasn't sleeping.
He felt when Ren got out of bed. He felt when the omega's warm body detached from his. He felt the scent of vanilla and orange blossom drifting away.
Lucien closed his eyes again.
"He went to get a drink of water. He'll be back."
He waited.
And, silently, the white wolf went back to pretending to sleep, just to feel the omega nestle against him again when he returned.