Chapter 9 – Coffee

I had expected Rafael to mention what happened in the courtyard. He did not. The next afternoon, we sat across from each other in the architecture studio with our drawings spread between us. Sunlight fell through the tall windows, warming the wooden table and catching in Rafael’s golden eyes whenever he lifted his head. Neither of us mentioned the students who had fallen to their knees. Or the wolves that had tucked their tails. Or the fact that I had apparently walked through something called an Alpha aura without noticing. Rafael focused on the project as though nothing unusual had happened. I tried to do the same.

“The entrance needs to feel welcoming,” I said, adjusting the tracing paper. “Not like visitors are walking into a fortress.”

“It is meant to represent the four clans.”

“That doesn’t mean it has to threaten everyone who approaches it.”

One corner of his mouth lifted.

“You don’t like threatening buildings?”

“I don’t like buildings that need to prove how powerful they are.”

His gaze rested on me for a moment longer than necessary.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“That didn’t look like nothing.”

“You have strong opinions.”

“Architecture deserves strong opinions.”

“I’m beginning to understand that.”

I leaned over the drawing and added another line to the central arch. Rafael shifted closer to study it, his shoulder brushing mine. The contact was light. Barely there. Still, my pencil paused. His clean cedar scent surrounded me, and the warmth of his body made it suddenly difficult to remember what I had intended to draw. I couldn’t concentrate with him sitting so close. Rafael seemed unaware of the effect he had on me. He pointed toward the base of the structure.

“If we move the support here, you can keep the open entrance.”

“Right.”

My voice sounded almost normal. Almost. I moved the line. His hand remained beside mine, close enough that the smallest movement would make our fingers touch. Neither of us moved for several seconds. Then Rafael leaned back. I breathed again. Professor Aldren called time, and the room filled with the sound of closing notebooks and chairs scraping against the floor. Rafael helped me roll the drawings.

“We made good progress,” I said.

“We did.”

I placed the plans in their protective tube. When I looked up, he was still standing beside the table instead of leaving with Nik, who waited near the door. Rafael adjusted the cuff of his shirt. It was such a small movement that I might not have noticed it if I had not already learned that he touched his clothes whenever something made him uncomfortable.

“There’s a café near the eastern courtyard,” he said.

I waited. He glanced toward the window, then back at me.

“We could continue working there.”

“Today?”

“If you’re free.”

The invitation sounded practical. Entirely about the project. Yet something in the way he watched me made it feel like more. I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

“I’d like to, but I promised Anna I’d have dinner with her.”

His expression did not change, but surprise passed briefly through his eyes.

“Oh.”

“She grew up among humans too. We haven’t had much time to talk yet.”

“Of course.”

There was a short silence. Then he nodded toward the drawings.

“Another day.”

I smiled.

“Another day.”

The warmth returned to his eyes.

“I’ll hold you to that.”

Before I could decide whether that counted as flirting, Nik called his name. Rafael walked toward him, but glanced back once before leaving the room. I watched him go for longer than I should have. Anna was waiting outside the dining hall when I arrived. Her curly hair had escaped whatever arrangement she had attempted that morning, and she was holding two books against her chest.

“Please tell me you’re hungry,” she said. “I’ve spent three hours listening to a professor explain why pack treaties require proper punctuation.”

“Maybe wars could be prevented with commas.”

“That was apparently his point.”

We had barely entered the hall when something chimed inside her bag. Anna pulled out her phone and read the message. Her expression fell.

“No.”

“What happened?”

“My transformation supervisor wants to see me.”

“Now?”

“Apparently one of my control readings was unusual.”

Worry tightened her face. Anna was an Omega who had grown up in the human world. Unlike most students, she had not been raised around people who could teach her how to manage her wolf.

“Do you want me to come?”

She shook her head quickly.

“No. It’ll probably be boring, and they might not let you into the underground wing.” She squeezed my arm. “I’m sorry about dinner.”

“It’s fine.”

“We’ll do it tomorrow.”

“Go. I’ll survive one meal alone.”

Her smile was apologetic before she hurried away. I watched her disappear into the crowd.

“Abandoned already?”

I closed my eyes briefly. I recognized the voice. Matteo stood behind me in a black shirt and dark jeans, his blond hair falling carelessly across his forehead. Don was several steps away, speaking with another student.

“Anna had an appointment.”

“So your evening is free.”

“That isn’t how appointments work.”

“It is when they belong to someone else.”

He moved beside me, his dark eyes sweeping over my face.

“Have dinner with me.”

It was not phrased like a question.

“No.”

Matteo stopped. For the first time since I had met him, he appeared genuinely surprised.

“No?”

“I barely know you.”

“That’s why people have dinner.”

“Or why they don’t.”

His lips parted. Then he laughed. Not mockingly. The sound was warm, amused, and unexpectedly attractive.

“You really don’t make anything easy.”

“I didn’t realize I was supposed to.”

“You aren’t.”

He stepped closer, lowering his voice.

“I like a challenge.”

I resisted the urge to bite my lower lip.

“That sounds like your problem.”

“It’s becoming one.”

His gaze held mine, confident but not cruel. For a moment, I understood why people probably said yes to him so easily. Then I remembered the way he treated every refusal as the beginning of a negotiation.

“Goodnight, Matteo.”

“Not dinner?”

“No.”

“Coffee?”

“No.”

“A walk?”

I stared at him. He smiled.

“Worth trying.”

I turned and walked away before he could offer anything else. As I reached the corridor outside the dining hall, I heard Don join him behind me.

“She rejected you.”

I slowed near the open doors.

Matteo answered with unmistakable satisfaction.

“She rejected Valerian first.”

“Does that make you feel better?”

A quiet chuckle followed.

“Maybe a little.”

I should have kept walking. Instead, I remained still long enough to hear his final words.

“She’s not ready yet.”

A pause.

“But one day…”

His voice softened with complete confidence.

“…she’ll say yes to me.”