All Chapters of Larkin College: The Alpha's Catastrophe : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Seraphina’s gaze lingered on Mara a moment too long before she finally turned away. Not visibly hostile. That would have been easier. No, this was quieter than hostility. Like someone studying structural weakness in a building before deciding where to place explosives.Mara disliked it immediately. “Well,” she muttered as the girls disappeared across the courtyard, “that felt medically unsafe.” Dave snorted softly beside her. “You get used to it.” “That sentence concerns me deeply.”Classes resumed around them in shifting waves of movement and conversation. Students gathered books, adjusted coats, drifted toward lecture halls. Yet despite the noise returning to campus…Mara still felt it. That strange invisible tension humming beneath Larkin’s polished surface. Like everyone here knew rules nobody had bothered explaining to her.Alaric remained standing nearby. Silently watching her with that same unbearable focus. Mara finally pointed at him. “You.” His brow lifted slightly. “You keep

Dave recovered first. “Well,” he said faintly, “that feels targeted by fate specifically.” Mara turned slowly in her seat. Alaric remained motionless three rows behind her, his expression unreadable beneath the warm lecture hall lights. Only his eyes betrayed anything. That unbearable focused attention again. Mara immediately distrusted it.Professor Aldridge, meanwhile, continued assigning partners with the blissful ignorance of a man who had unknowingly detonated social stability inside his classroom. Beside Mara, Evelyn Price looked delighted by Dave’s misery. “I already made color-coded outlines,” she informed him smugly.Dave stared at her like a man contemplating academic death. Mara almost smiled before realizing half the class was still watching her. No. Watching them. Specifically her and Alaric. The realization irritated her instantly. She turned fully around in her chair. “Alright,” she announced quietly, “why does everyone react like we’ve been assigned ritual sacrifice du

Mara returned from the cafeteria carrying three coffees and a growing sense that Larkin College might secretly be a psychiatric experiment.The line downstairs alone had nearly caused violence. One finance student had looked moments away from stabbing another over cinnamon. Rich people were deeply unwell.She balanced the drinks carefully while weaving back through the library corridors lined with towering shelves and amber light. Halfway there, she slowed. Because voices drifted faintly from around the corner ahead. Male voices. Dave’s and Alaric’s.Mara would not have stopped intentionally. That sounded unethical. Unfortunately, curiosity frequently overpowered ethics when boredom got involved. “You’re slipping,” Dave said quietly. Mara blinked. Well. That sounded dramatic. Alaric answered after a pause. “I’m aware.” “You looked ready to tear Ethan apart that day.”Mara slowed further. That seemed excessive. “He touched her.” The words landed low and cold enough to make something st

Mara continued staring at Alaric several seconds longer than socially advisable. Unfortunately…He noticed. Of course, he noticed. That man noticed everything involving her like it personally offended the laws of physics not to.The corner of his mouth shifted faintly. Not enough to qualify as a smile. Enough to make Mara immediately look away before her nervous system filed a formal complaint. She concluded that being near Alaric was very dangerous. She cleared her throat and reached for her coffee instead but it was now cold. How tragic. “Great,” she muttered. “Now the coffee tastes like regret.” Dave looked grateful for the conversational shift. “That’s the cafeteria’s signature flavor profile.” “Do they roast the beans over active resentment?” “Mostly economics majors.” Mara snorted softly.Across the table, Alaric watched her with quieter intensity now. Less sharp than before but almost thoughtful. Which somehow made him feel even more dangerous. Because Mara was beginning to sus

“Mara.” Dave called out, softly. “Hm?” Dave sighed, “Stop looking at him like that.” Mara tore her gaze away from across the cafeteria for what felt like the fiftieth time and frowned at Dave. “Like what?” “Like you’re trying to solve a murder.” “I am trying to solve a murder.” Dave blinked. “What?”“This school is clearly hiding at least six.” She gestured vaguely with her fry. “Possibly ritualistically.” Despite himself, Dave laughed. The sound loosened some of the tension knotting inside her chest. Only some. Because across the room, Alaric still hadn’t looked away. Not continuously. That would have been easier somehow. No, what made it worse was the deliberate restraint. He looked away often enough to seem normal. Then inevitably his attention returned to her like gravity correcting itself. Mara hated how aware she had become of it. Worse… She hated how aware she became when it stopped.The realization alo