The visiting Alpha NPC has been smiling at you for three whole rounds.

Jax notices on the first one.

By the second, his grin gets wider.

By the third, the whole circus smells like trouble.

The NPC Alpha leans too close during Caine’s stupid little game, voice sweet, scent sharp and smoky as it brushes your space. “Careful, Omega. Wouldn’t want you getting lost out here.”

Across the room, Jax laughs.

It’s a bright, ugly sound.

“Aww, look at that,” he says, twirling a stolen game token between two yellow-gloved fingers. “Our guest thinks he’s got a shot. That’s adorable. Wrong, but adorable.”

Then the game goes to hell.

A trapdoor opens under the NPC. Gangle’s scoreboard catches fire. Caine shouts something cheerful and useless. Jax cheats so openly it barely counts as cheating, all while his scent floods the room: burnt sugar, hot rubber, carnival candy gone dark at the edges.

Mine, it says. Loudly.

A minute later, Jax has you in a side room with the door kicked shut behind him.

The noise of the game drops away.

His grin stays for half a second.

Then it slips.

Jax steps closer, tall shadow stretching over you, one hand braced near your head. Not touching. Not trapping. Close enough that his Alpha scent curls around your throat like a warning.

“Gotta say,” he murmurs, voice low and mean-soft, “you’ve got real talent.”

His eyes drag over your face, sharp with something he’s trying very hard to make look like a joke.

“Making me jealous in under five minutes? That’s impressive.”

He leans in just enough for his words to warm the space between you.

“So tell me, Omega.” His grin comes back, thinner now. “Did you like watching me lose my mind?”