A Very Inconvenient Boy

“You’re staring again.” Dave nearly dropped the pen in his hand. Across the library table, Mara looked deeply unimpressed beneath the warm amber glow of the reading lamps. Stacks of books surrounded them in uneven towers while rain tapped softly against the tall windows outside.

Larkin’s library smelled like old paper, polished wood, and inherited academic pressure and Mara disliked all three. “I’m not staring,” Dave protested weakly. “You absolutely are.” “I was thinking.” “That expression usually means trouble.” Dave leaned back in his chair with exaggerated offense. “You wound me.” “You survived.”

Barely a week into knowing Mara Vale, Dave had already learned several important things. First, she insulted people the way normal humans breathed. Second, she somehow made every conversation feel less rehearsed.

Third…Being around her too long made him forget himself. Which was dangerous. Especially here.

Mara flipped another page in the economics textbook she clearly hated on a spiritual level. “Who invented supply curves?” she muttered. “And why were they allowed to continue?” Dave smiled despite himself.

Around them, students worked quietly between endless shelves while soft classical music drifted faintly through hidden speakers overhead. Several people still glanced toward Mara occasionally. The stories about her had spread further now. Some exaggerated and some disturbingly accurate.

Apparently she had become a form of campus entertainment or warning label and it all depended on who you asked. “You realize,” Dave said casually, “most freshmen try not to declare war during their first month.” Mara looked up slowly. “I haven’t declared war.” “You extorted Celeste Arden twice.” “I requested emotional compensation.”

“You threw Ethan Hale into a fountain.” “He entered the fountain emotionally before I assisted physically.” Dave laughed loudly enough that two nearby students looked offended. Mara pointed at them immediately. “See? That right there.” “What?” “That expression rich people make when joy becomes inconvenient.”

“Pretty sure that’s just academic suffering.” “No. Academic suffering looks haunted. That looked judgmental.” Dave opened his mouth to answer, then stopped. Because suddenly Mara had gone still. Not frightened but aware. “What?” he asked quietly.

Her eyes shifted toward the far end of the library. Dave followed her gaze and immediately regretted it. Alaric Arden stood near one of the towering shelves several rows away. He had on a dark coat. His posture was composed and he reeked of old beauty handcrafted specifically to make ordinary men resent evolution.

Several students nearby visibly straightened when he passed. Others lowered their voices automatically. Mara frowned faintly. “There’s that weird thing again.” Dave’s stomach tightened. “What weird thing?” “People act around him like he’s secretly armed.” Technically accurate but wildly incomplete. Dave forced a casual shrug. “He’s an Arden.” “That explains wealth. Not… whatever this is.”

Her gaze lingered on Alaric another second too long. And Dave noticed immediately. So did Alaric. Even from across the library, the shift happened instantly. His focus on Mara was direct, intense and unavoidable. Mara exhaled softly through her nose. “He does that constantly.” Dave kept his expression neutral with effort. “Does what?” “Looks at me like he’s trying to solve a murder.” That was, unfortunately not inaccurate either.

Before Dave could respond, footsteps approached quietly beside their table. Mara looked up and for one brief disastrous moment, Dave saw something flicker across her expression. A physical kind of awareness.

Like her body recognized Alaric before the rest of her caught up. The realization irritated Dave more than it should have. “Thornton,” Alaric said calmly. Dave leaned back in his chair. “Arden.” Mara looked between them slowly. “You two greet each other like rival governments.” “Fairly generous description,” Dave muttered.

Alaric ignored him completely. His attention settled on Mara. “You skipped Political Theory.” Mara blinked once. “You noticed that?” Dave nearly closed his eyes. Wrong question. Very wrong question. Because something subtle shifted in Alaric’s expression immediately. Not visible to most people. But Dave had known him too long. The wolf liked that she noticed him noticing. Dangerous territory already.

“I notice most things involving you,” Alaric replied quietly. Mara stared at him for exactly two seconds..“That sounded significantly creepier out loud.” A nearby student choked violently trying not to laugh. Dave looked down immediately to hide his own grin. Alaric, however…Actually looked thoughtful. Like he was genuinely evaluating whether she had a point. Which somehow made the interaction stranger.

“I’ll refine the wording,” he said eventually. Mara pointed at him. “See? That.” Dave sighed. “Mara, one day you’re going to need to explain what any of your gestures mean.” “No I won’t. The energy communicates itself.” “It absolutely does not.” Alaric’s gaze flicked briefly toward Dave, then back toward Mara. “You left class early yesterday.”

Mara narrowed her eyes suspiciously now. “Are you tracking me professionally?” “No. Just thoroughly.” Dave inhaled slowly through his nose. There were several reasons Alaric Arden terrified people. The honesty ranked surprisingly high among them. Mara looked caught between confusion and irritation. “That should not sound flattering,” she informed him. “And yet,” Dave muttered into his book, “here we are.”

Mara kicked him lightly beneath the table. Traitor. Unfortunately, Dave still smiled. Because despite everything complicated and dangerous surrounding this entire situation… He liked this version of Mara. Relaxed, sharp-tongued and lively.

Not guarded the way she became around most students at Larkin. Not even around Alaric. Around Alaric she became something else entirely. Hyperaware. Like standing too close to lightning without understanding why your skin felt warm.

Alaric’s eyes shifted briefly toward the movement beneath the table where Mara had kicked Dave and the atmosphere cooled instantly. It was subtle but unmistakable. Mara noticed too and her brows lowered faintly. “There it is again.” Dave nearly groaned. “What now?” “That weird territorial thing rich people do.” Neither man answered immediately. Because unfortunately…She had accidentally hit far too close to the truth.

Mara leaned back in her chair slowly, studying Alaric now with open suspicion. “You know,” she said thoughtfully, “I genuinely cannot decide whether you dislike me or want to put me inside a museum.” Something dangerous flickered behind Alaric’s eyes. “Neither.” The single word landed strangely heavy and Dave looked away because he already knew that tone.

The wolf was slipping. Not visibly enough for humans. But enough for him. Enough to worry him. Because Alaric Arden, future Alpha of one of the oldest bloodlines in the country, was beginning to orbit a human girl like gravity itself had changed direction. And wolves…Did not survive mates easily. Especially not impossible ones.

Mara closed her textbook abruptly. “I need food.” Dave blinked. “You’ve been studying for twenty minutes.” “Yes. My brain deserves compensation.” “That is not how education works.” “That sounds like propaganda invented by exhausted people.”

She stood, stretching slightly, and Dave immediately rose too. Mostly from habit. Unfortunately, so did Alaric. The three of them paused and Mara looked between them slowly. Then sighed. “No. Absolutely not.” Dave frowned. “What?” “You’re both doing the weird synchronized bodyguard thing again.”

Dave sat back down immediately but Alaric remained standing. Which somehow made it worse. Mara pointed accusingly at him. “See? Cult behavior.” Something almost like amusement touched Alaric’s face briefly and Mara noticed how it transformed him in deeply unfair ways. Worse… Her body noticed.

That strange warmth unfurled low beneath her ribs again. Subtle but dangerous. The same feeling she kept trying unsuccessfully to ignore whenever he looked at her too long. Which was often....Far too often. It made no sense. Dave made her comfortable. Alaric made her aware. One felt safe and the other felt like standing barefoot near the edge of something enormous. And Mara had spent her entire life learning that enormous things usually crushed people.

“I’m getting coffee,” she announced firmly. “The cafeteria?” Dave asked. “Yes.” “You called their coffee a hate crime yesterday.” “I stand by that. But unfortunately I require consciousness to pass statistics.” She started walking away before either man could respond. Then paused, turned back and pointed directly at them both. “And neither of you are allowed to follow me.”

Dave raised both hands innocently but Alaric said nothing. Which somehow felt significantly less reassuring. Mara narrowed her eyes. “You especially.” For the first time all day…A small but rare genuine smile almost appeared on Alaric’s face. It was dangerous enough to stop her heartbeat for one deeply annoying second.

Then Mara turned sharply and walked away before her nervous system embarrassed her further. Silence settled briefly at the table after she disappeared between the shelves. Dave exhaled slowly. “This is getting bad.” Alaric remained watching the direction Mara had gone. “Yes.” Dave studied him carefully. “You’re losing control around her.”

Finally, Alaric looked away. Not defensive or angry. Just tired in a way Dave had never seen before. “You think I don’t know that?” The quiet honesty unsettled him because this was not obsession. Not entirely. It was worse...Instinct. Ancient and absolute. And if Mara ever discovered what that truly meant before Alaric figured out how to protect her from it…Everything would burn.