Chapter Text
Lovro had never believed in the idea of sparks.
People talked about them constantly, those ridiculous moments in films where someone looks at another person and suddenly the whole world tilts. Music swells, hearts race, fate apparently makes a dramatic entrance.
Lovro had always assumed it was exaggerated nonsense. Mostly because he had tried, and hadn’t succeeded at all.
Lovro had spent most of high school surrounded by girls. Not intentionally, it just had happened that way. Girls seemed to love him, girls who pulled him into relationships, their weekend plans, their dreams.
And it was easy. Being around girls, especially beta and omega girls, never felt complicated. No strange instincts, no overwhelming scents, no weird territorial alpha posturing he had to put on. Just normal, which really made sense.
Lovro was pretty sure he was a beta. He hadn’t presented yet, not as an alpha, nor as an omega and by eighteen that usually meant that you were a beta. Late presentations happened, sure, but they were rare enough that most people stopped expecting them after a while.
So Lovro had gone along with it. Girls were easy, and yes, god knows he had tried.
There had been kisses at parties, soft, curious, experimental things behind loud music and dim lights. There had been hands sliding shyly under shirts, giggling whispers, moments that everyone else seemed to describe later with flushed faces and dramatic sighs.
Lovro always waited for the feeling people talked about. Those rush, heat, sudden electric pull that made someone impossible to ignore people would constantly talk about.
Don’t get him wrong, it was fine for the most of the time, their nice soft skins, plush lips and the faint sweet scent they carried so good too…
So Lovro thought, if he had tried hard enough, he would finally feel it, well at least some of it. While everyone else talked about fireworks and losing their breath and feeling dizzy from someone’s scent, Lovro mostly found himself wondering if the music had gotten louder or if someone had seen them sneaking away from the party.
Eventually he stopped trying to figure it out. He told himself that was just how betas worked.
Betas didn’t get overwhelmed by scents. Betas didn’t lose their minds over attraction. Betas didn’t have their instincts hijacked by biology.
They were steady, calm, balanced and hell, normal.
Lovro had been perfectly fine with that.
Until Tuesday morning.
The hallway outside classroom 3B was loud like always. Lockers slamming, people shouting greetings across the corridor, the usual chaos of first period.
Lovro leaned against the cool metal of his locker, half listening to his best friend Jakov complaining about their maths teacher. “…I swear she enjoys watching us suffer,” he was saying. “I don’t even want to study anything related to maths, why do I have to learn advanced integral?”
Lovro hummed absently while stuffing his history notebook into his bag.
“Lovro?” Jakov snapped his fingers in front of his face. “You’re doing that thing again. The staring into space thing.”
Lovro shook his head hastily. “I am not.”
“You absolutely are.”
Lovro rolled his eyes, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “Maybe your stories are just boring.”
Jakov gasped dramatically. “My suffering is boring to you?”
Lovro opened his mouth to reply, but then the hallway went quiet.
Lovro glanced up instinctively, and saw him.
At first it was just another student walking down the corridor, tall enough that his head rose above most of the crowd. Brown, sticking hair with broad shoulders and a confident posture.
Something inside Lovro’s chest stuttered. He had never seen him before, which was strange because the school wasn’t that big. Even if you didn’t know everyone, you at least recognised faces in the hallway. But this guy was completely unfamiliar.
The guy laughed at something someone beside him said, tilting his head slightly. The sound carried easily through the hallway noise, low, warm and effortless. His eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled, the expression open and unguarded in a way that made it impossible not to notice.
As they walked towards Lovro who was definitely staring even harder now, he felt his insanely strong and sharp scent. It hinted of something woodsy, clean like pine trees after rain, deep and cool and grounding.
Strong one too, judging by the way a few younger students instinctively stepped aside to let him pass.
It slid through the hallway noise and chatter like a blade through water, cutting straight through Lovro’s senses before he could even process what was happening.
He had smelled alpha scents before, plenty of them. His best friend was an alpha. Half of their class alone were made up of alphas who practically drowned the locker room in their presence.
But this was different, way more stronger and sharper. The guy basically drowned everyone on the hallway with his scent, what was his problem actually?
Was he like a, premium alpha? Was that even a thing? Maybe just a strong alpha, then…
Lovro watched the boy walk closer, his gaze following without permission. Closer, closer, closer until suddenly the alpha’s eyes lifted and met Lovro’s. It was maybe just for a second, or even less than that but it felt longer to Lovro.
Something hot flickered low in Lovro’s stomach, quick and startling like the snap of a live wire. His pulse jumped.
The guy slowed slightly. Not stopping, exactly but just enough that it looked like he had noticed something out of place, his nostrils flared visibly. His eyes lingered on Lovro with a faint crease between his brows like he was trying to figure something out.
Lovro’s brain immediately panicked.
Stop staring.
Except he didn’t. The guy inhaled softly as he passed and for the briefest second his expression shifted, surprise flashing across his face before it smoothed over again.
The hallway swallowed him again, noise returned and movement resumed.
Lovro was still standing there, frozen besides his locker, his heart beating strangely against his ribs.
The strong scent of pine lingered in the air yet nobody seemed to realise it. He frowned slightly, shifting his weight. “Who’s that?” Lovro asked without thinking.
Jakov followed his gaze. “What? Oh. That’s the tomos guy. I think his name is Ivan or something.”
Lovro blinked, inhaling deeply to not waste the scent lingering in the air. “You know him?”
“Not really. He transferred last week.” Jakov shrugged. “I heard he had problems at his previous school, like he beat another alpha who had an alpha dad in big places. Respect man.”
Lovro turned back to his locker, pretending to adjust the zipper on his bag. His heart was still beating too fast and it made no fucking sense. He had seen plenty of alphas before, the school had dozens of them.
None of them had ever made his chest feel like this.
By the time Lovro got home that afternoon, the sky outside was already turning pale orange with early evening light.
His house was quiet, his mom probably still at work. He tossed his bag on the floor of his room and collapsed backwards onto his beanbag chair with a long sigh.
For a moment he just stared at the ceiling, thinking about nothing. And then, just as if his brain had been patiently waiting for the silence, Ivan…
Lovro groaned and dragged his hands over his face. “God, seriously?”
Why was he still thinking about that guy? He had seen him for maybe ten seconds. Ten! That was nothing.
People saw hundreds of strangers every day and didn’t obsess over them like weird stalkers.
Lovro turned onto his side and grabbed his phone from the nightstand. He unlocked it and stared at the home screen.
Put it back down.
Picked it up again.
“This is stupid,” he muttered to himself. Still, the thought wouldn’t leave him alone. That scent, sharp and cool like pine trees after rain.
Lovro grabbed a pillow from his bed and pressed his face into it with a frustrated groan.
Why had it smelled so good?
It had been obnoxiously strong too, completely unnecessary. The guy had basically flooded the entire hallway with his alpha scent like he was trying to start a dominance competition with the whole school.
Which was honestly rude, very rude. Nobody seemed to notice it though, Lovro thought. His school was full of dickhead alphas who would definitely try to pick a fight with him if they were to realise how strong Ivan smelled. Had they all decided to become normal suddenly?
Lovro frowned into the pillow. …But it had still smelled good, so annoyingly good. He rolled onto his back again, staring at the ceiling. “Whatever,” he said to the empty room. “I’m just curious. Totally normal curiosity.”
People looked up classmates online all the time. It wasn’t stalking, it was… information gathering.
Lovro opened Instagram. The search bar blinked at him expectantly. He hesitated for about two seconds, then typed: Ivan.
A thousand results appeared immediately. “Great,” Lovro muttered, very helpful.
He would try something else. He would just find the guy next to him, which would be easy because he knew what class he was in and he had friends there, and then he would type Ivan to his followers.
Á voilá!
A profile picture of a tall guy standing on a basketball court, one hand reaching casually to the hoop net. Lovro leaned closer to the screen. “Got you.”
The username was simple: ivan_kovacic01.
The bio was even simpler.
Basketball
18
Zagreb
That was it. Lovro snorted softly, a minimalist. He tapped the profile and a few photos appeared, mostly basketball pictures, some group photos with teammates, one blurry shot of a beach at sunset.
Lovro scrolled slowly.
Okay.
Fine.
The guy was… objectively attractive. Annoyingly attractive even. Tall, obviously athletic with that relaxed confidence that some alphas had where they looked comfortable literally everywhere.
Lovro zoomed in slightly on one basketball photo without thinking. Ivan mid-jump, muscles tensed, hair messy from movement.
He kept scrolling. Ivan sitting on the hood of a car, laughing at something outside the frame.
Ivan with two teammates, arms slung over their shoulders.
Ivan with a… horse? They seemed very close and Ivan was kissing on his nose kindly. That was cute.
Lovro tapped the like button on one absentmindedly-
The heart turned red and he froze, his stomach dropped sixty stories. “Fuck!”
He stared at the screen in horror. The photo was from three months ago.
Lovro’s brain short-circuited instantly. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” he whispered frantically. He tapped the heart again and the like disappeared.
Too late, way too fucking late.
Lovro dropped the phone onto his bed like it had burned him. “Oh my god.” His hands flew to his hair. Why would he do that?? He wasn’t even following the guy!
Lovro grabbed the phone again in a panic. Maybe, maybe if he blocked him… No, that was worse, he would definitely look like a psychopath.
He flopped back onto his pillow with a miserable groan. “Fantastic.” Absolutely fantastic.
Now the insanely strong alpha with the pine-tree scent probably thought Lovro was some rando creep stalking his Instagram.
Lovro lay there for a solid thirty seconds, staring at the ceiling like his soul had temporarily left his body. His phone rested on his chest, heavy, judgmental, full of terrible life choices…
“Okay,” he muttered finally. “Calm down.” It was just a like. People accidentally liked things all the time. Ivan probably wouldn’t even notice. He was so hot that he probably got dozens of notifications every day. One random like from some guy at school would disappear in the flood.
Right?
…Right?
Lovro groaned softly and dragged the phone back up in front of his face. For a brief, terrible moment he considered deleting his Instagram account entirely and starting a new life somewhere else.
Maybe Norway, he thought.
Instead, he opened Google. His thumbs hovered over the keyboard for a moment before he typed:
can male betas be attracted to male alphas
He stared at the words for a second, then hit enter. The results loaded instantly like articles, forums, old Tumblr posts and several Reddit threads. Lovro tapped the first Reddit result.
r/AboAdvice
Post by beta_confused23
Title: Beta guy here, think I’m attracted to an Alpha? Is that even normal?
Lovro immediately felt less alone as he opened the thread.
beta_confused23 wrote:
I am a beta guy and I’ve always thought I was straight. I’ve dated omega girls before and I have an omega girlfriend now. But recently there’s this alpha guy at my gym and every time he’s around I feel weird?? Like hyper-aware of him. His scent is really strong and it’s kind of distracting. I don’t know if betas can even react to alphas like that??
Lovro blinked slowly. “…Okay that’s creepy accurate.” He scrolled to the comments.
graymind_logic
Yes. Betas can absolutely be attracted to Alphas. Betas aren’t scent-blind or anything, they just don’t have instinctive dominance/submission responses like Alphas and Omegas do.
Lovro frowned thoughtfully. That… made sense? Another reply sat underneath it.
BetaWithAnAlphaBF
Some Betas actually prefer Alphas because the scent difference can be attractive. It’s just biology.
quietbeta1997
Alpha/Beta relationships are super common actually. My boyfriend is an Alpha and I’m a Beta. It works great because Betas don’t trigger Alpha dominance instincts the same way Omegas do.
Lovro tilted his head slightly. That sounded… surprisingly reasonable.
omega_lurker
Personally I’d never date an alpha as a beta. Some of them get weird about it and think betas are “boring.” Also if they want an omega later you’re kind of screwed.
Lovro’s stomach sank slightly. He backed out of the thread and clicked another one.
r/ABORelationships
Post by curiousbeta22
Title: Do Alpha guys like Beta guys?
alpha_reader
Depends on the Alpha honestly. Some prefer Omegas because of instinct and scent compatibility. But a lot of Alphas date Betas because it’s less complicated. No heats, no rut cycles, no scent-triggered drama.
burnedbyalpha
I dated an Alpha once and he eventually admitted he missed having an Omega partner. The instincts matter more than people like to admit.
Lovro grimaced slightly, not great, he kept scrolling.
stop_overthinking_beta
Alpha/Beta couples exist everywhere. Stop overthinking it.
Lovro snorted. “Wow. Thanks. Very helpful.” He scrolled again, his curiosity now fully awake and overtaken the embarrassment from minutes ago.
r/AboAdvice
Post by beta_nose_problem
Title: Why does this Alpha’s scent affect me so much? I’m a Beta.
Lovro sat straighter and clicked immediately.
beta_nose_problem
There’s this Alpha at my college whose scent is insanely strong. Like pine and cedar or something. I swear every time he walks by I notice it immediately.
Is it normal for Betas to react that strongly to scent or am I just imagining things?
Lovro sighed softly. Pine, seriously? He scrolled to the replies.
scienceomega
Some Alphas naturally have stronger scents. Betas can definitely notice them more.
maybe_you_like_him
Could also just mean you’re attracted to him.
Lovro dropped his head back onto the chair. He stared at the phone again, at the dozens of strangers casually discussing things that suddenly felt a little too personal.
Now he had learned exactly nothing useful and he was sitting there with a notification of stalking in Ivan’s phone.