She chose to laugh. Because he was joking. Right?

After two hours with the flamboyant professor, she met up with the girls for dinner at the cafeteria. Pasta. The food was delicious—a seafood carbonara. She couldn’t help remembering the one Alexius had cooked for her on Friday. It had been way better.

In the afternoon, she was supposed to join her classes and get a feel for them; her schedule would only be final at the end of the week, so she could still drop whatever she didn’t like.

She had to admit, she had issues remembering to take notes, fascinated as she was with everything her professors said. It had been so fucking long since she’d…learned stuff. Mentally challenging herself was a novelty.

She was exhausted and exhilarated all at once by the end of the day.

Then, she followed Gwen and Blair to the dorm, stealing guilty glances at the hill. No doubt Chloe and Cat were sparring there, or doing yoga. She wondered whether she’d be welcome to join them. She didn’t think they’d exclude her, but they weren’t close friends, and now, they weren’t sort-of neighbors either. There was a troll on their doorstep; he might not let her get back into the hill.

Her four walls felt confining. She itched to get out and go for a run. Nonetheless, it wasn’t safe here, so close to the Wolvswoods.

Frustrated, Avani decided to shift anyway. She paced in her bedroom, tried the queen-size bed with new bedding. It felt wrong. Too soft, too cold.

Shifting back into her human shell, she headed to the bathroom. She sighed. Any standard bathroom would have been a disappointment after Alexius’s. No crystals, or candles, or funny little flasks.

She’d let herself be spoiled for ten days.

She took a bath anyway—without anything in it. Dragging herself back to her bedroom, Avani opened Alexius’s suitcase and cheered up. Right on top of her clothes, there was the shirt she’d borrowed from him when she’d been tipsy enough to let Greer beg for it. His scent was very faint now, but comforting all the same. She took it to bed and curled herself under the sheet.

The room was better than the house she’d had before. She’d get used to being alone again.

She would.

Home

He hated this. Hated it.

The house felt wrong, too silent. Avani’s scent was already fading. He needed her to rub herself against every upholstery and countertop to plant it there.

Alexius had never stopped to consider whether he was lonely. Being alone hadn’t bothered him before. Today, it did.

He tried to distract himself. He cooked, he cleaned, he drank, and watched a movie. Then changed the movie. And changed it again. No movie felt right. There was an Avani-size hole in his life, and it needed to be filled.

Suddenly, something changed in the air. Something he recognized; he could practically taste it. A smile spread on his lips.

There were steps on the hill—a set of four steps too fast to belong to a human. He rushed to his bedroom, unhooked a dressing gown from his bathroom door, and ran back down, just in time to open his door to a large gray wolf.

He handed her the dressing gown wordlessly, and watched as she shifted back, keeping his eyes on hers.

Avani looked down. “I’m spoiled. I couldn’t sleep in the dorm.”

She looked incredibly frustrated with herself for it. Alexius considered telling her that he’d been minutes away from giving in to his need to head down the hill and drag her ass back here, where it belonged.

He stepped aside in silence.

“It’s your fault, you know. With all the wine, the fancy bath stuff, and the endless supply of delicious snacks. How can I settle for less now? I need to wean myself off of the good stuff.”

“You’d make a terrible vampire, crazy wolf. No control whatsoever.”

This was called hypocrisy, and he excelled at it.

“Oh, I have control,” she replied. “I just choose to only exercise it when I must. Do you mind if I crash here again?”

He settled on the truth. “I’d love if you stayed. I was watching a movie, if you’d like to join me. Now, let us get some wine and delicious snacks. Fancy bath stuff is waiting for you in your room when you’re ready.”

The movie was fine all of a sudden. His anxiety stopped. He could breathe and relax.

Shit. He was in so fucking deep. He’d thought he’d done a good job at keeping his desire in check. Now he started to understand just how useless any attempt at pushing the wolf away had been.

She’d jumped right past whatever walls he’d built around himself, and made herself matter to him.

Now, what was he going to do about it?

“Ugh. Really?” she groaned, watching the 3D screen and recognizing his chosen movie.

“Oh, yes. Really.”

She was going to watch The Empire Strikes Back and she was going to like it.

Avani wisely opted not to protest, hopping on her favorite spot on the sofa and tucking her legs under her again. “Did I tell you my subscriptions went mad after your appearance? I have like, a thirty percent growth in just a few days.”

“You’re welcome.”

She rolled her eyes. “They’re only following me to see a hot vampire. They’ll drop me when they see it’s just boring old me, normally. Although the comments are hilarious.”

He concentrated on the important bit of information here. “You think I’m hot?”

That was news to him. Good news. Terrible news. He couldn’t quite decide.

Alexius had certainly sensed their chemistry and initial attraction, but Avani had been quick to stop looking at him in any particular way. Which was just as well, or he was certain he would have had a harder time keeping his hands to himself.

She rolled her eyes. “Not going there. I don’t believe in feeding the egos of men like you.”

Alexius held his hands up to his heart. “You wound me. My ego is entirely fragile and could use a bit of stroking, every now and then.”

“I’m sure you have plenty of admirers stroking your…” Her gaze traveled downward, to his crotch. She smirked. “Ego.”

He laughed, adoring every second of their banter. “Certainly, but they aren’t you. I didn’t think I was your type.”

“You’re everyone’s type. Now, shush. I’m watching your stupid movie.”

The last thing he wanted to do was shush right now. But watching her closely, seeing the way Avani blushed and looked everywhere except at him, he found that he didn’t actually need her to spell out just how pretty she thought he was.

She was attracted to him. There was no questioning it now. The only thing left was to decide what to do with that knowledge. Ignoring it would have been the wisest course of action.

Alexius hadn’t exactly been wise this month. No sense starting now. Only one decision made sense. Oscar Wilde had a fucking point. There was only one way to get rid of temptation: yield.

She fell asleep before the end of the second Star Wars, confirming her disastrous taste in movies and lack of appreciation for the classics. He didn’t mind; he got to carry her to her room.

Sometime over the last two weeks it had become hers rather than his sister’s. Diana hadn’t used it for the last thousand years; Alexius doubted she’d ever come back here. And he liked the thought of Avani having a place she could call hers here. Maybe he should ask her if she’d like to decorate.

He laid her down on the bed and tucked her in, lowering his lips to her forehead before retreating. She was holding on to his hand in her sleep. He looked down at her fingers and smiled, taking his time unclasping them one by one. Oh, no. He couldn’t stay. If he did, he’d wake her up, and he doubted she’d get a chance to sleep for the rest of the night.

There was no need to rush. He had every intention of savoring the moments he’d have with the crazy, beautiful wolf.

He drove her that morning, stopping by the dorm so she could get changed.

She winced, seeing a couple of girls come out of the building and stare at them open-mouthed. “People are going to talk.”

They most definitely would. Not because she came down from the hill—she wouldn’t be the first undergrad to do so. Because he was dropping her off.

“Probably.” Alexius winked. “Try not to fight over me.”

Her jaw hit the floor as he drove off, feeling far too smug.

It was a dangerous slope. He knew it. And truly ceased to care. He’d stopped thinking about his fascination with her as something he could help. He was into her. Eventually, he’d bite into that taunting lower lip, and kiss her neck. Alexius had half expected to change his mind come morning, but he hadn’t. He’d therefore accepted the inevitable.

He needed to take his time and communicate properly, because he didn’t want this new direction to end up hurting her—or himself.

He could do casual with a woman he liked and respected. He technically hadn’t before, but many had managed it; it couldn’t be that hard. They’d get the out-of-this-world chemistry out of the way and part ways when they grew bored with each other. Simple. As long as he didn’t get too invested, it shouldn’t be a problem at all. He needed to talk it out and ensure they were both on the same page. He had never let a woman believe he was up for more than what he wanted to offer and he wasn’t going to start now.

He rushed up the stairs to stop by the main study, which was dark and mostly empty. Mikar lingered near his computer. He glanced up to him.

“You’re here early, for you.”

Alexius, like Levi and others, used to work night shifts. Levi had changed his schedule to match Chloe’s of late; and the last couple of weeks, Alexius had returned home earlier, too, in order to cook dinner. Even then, he’d generally made it to his lab by eleven or twelve, not eight. They did their best to avoid the influx of students who arrived first thing in the morning.

“So are you.”

Mikar sighed, passing his hand through his hair.

“Late, you mean. I’ve been at it all night. I’m looking for an acquaintance Levi hired to sniff around the queen. He used to check in every week. We haven’t heard from him since the beginning of August.”