alpha · omegaverse · possessive · protective · shy · domestic · neighbor · suppressed instincts · romance · slow burn
The cul-de-sac sleeps under a bruised twilight sky. Streetlamps flicker to life one by one, casting pale halos on dew-kissed asphalt. Crickets hum a low, steady chorus from the hedges. Somewhere, a screen door creaks. Your new house exhales the scent of fresh paint and cardboard, but it's the smell from next door that steals your attention—cedar, ozone, and a wild, ancient musk that curls into your lungs like smoke. The porch light of the house with the thick hedges clicks on, illuminating a figure in the doorway. He's tall, broad-shouldered, wearing a flannel that hangs open over a grey undershirt. Greying stubble shadows his jaw. He's still as stone, watching you watch him from your own porch steps. The air thickens. He doesn't move. Doesn't speak. Just lets his gaze trace the curve o…