SERAPHINA'S POV
The day after the freakish incident, Olivia and I silently decide not to discuss it.
I'm grateful for that. Addressing it would mean facing whatever is awakening inside me. These strange occurrences only make me feel like I'm genuinely a magnet for disaster.
I mean, think about it. What else would explain what I did to Olivia?
Suddenly, I, a mere human girl, powerful enough to send a werewolf soaring across a room during one of my episodes. And then there's that mysterious woman who kissed my forehead.
I have this nagging feeling that I know her, and uncovering her identity might help with my ongoing identity crisis.
These thoughts keep my mind occupied for the most part until I step out of the female dorm, bag in tow, to see Artemis leaning against a wall, deep in thought.
Other girls walk by, stealing glances at him in adoration, but he pays them no mind, absorbed in his thoughts.
The moment I shut the dorm doors, he looks up, as if sensing me. Our eyes lock briefly before a big smile graces his peach pink lips, revealing a full set of pearly whites.
Those same lips that claimed mine so passionately just the day before. My heart skips a beat, and I have to remind myself to breathe - it was just a kiss.
A meaningless kiss.
Artemis kisses everyone, and I'm no different.
I shake my head, clearing those thoughts, reminding myself to stay focused.
"Sera!" he exclaims, waving me over with such enthusiasm that everyone's gaze turns to us.
I respond with a raised eyebrow, my tone icy.
"What are you doing here?" A hint to him that I haven't forgotten and I'm not here for his charms.
"I'm walking you to school today," he announces casually.
It's obvious he's acting like nothing ever happened between us, but I'm not playing his game today.
"Funny, I under the impression that, based on your request and our contract, that role was mine."
His smile cracks for a second, then a frown, but he quickly reinforces it.
"I don't want you doing anything you're not comfortable with."
"Doesn't that contradict the whole point of forcing me to be tethered to you?" I ask, a sweetly sarcastic smile on my face, challenging his warped logic.
This shuts him up.
I start walking, but after a few steps, I realize that he's still rooted in place.
"Tick-tock. We'll be late if we don't hurry now, Alpha," I emphasize his title, a reminder of the nature of our bond - strictly contractual. No ties beyond this, because clearly, the concept of friendship is foreign to him.
His smile doesn't return this time. Instead, he walks ahead, leaving me to follow in silence.
The walk to school is tense, riddled with unspoken words and the weight of our obvious discomfort. I spend every second avoiding looking at the muscular contours of his back.
Occasionally, I sense his eyes on me, and the intensity of his gaze, hot and unraveling, sends shivers down my spine, but I keep ignoring it.
We reach his locker, and for a moment, he's silent, just staring at it.
Finally, he sighs deeply, then turns to me with a soft and desperate look.
"Sera?"
That look reminds me of the kiss from yesterday - a memory my mind stubbornly clings to.
Doubling my walls, I respond, "Yes, Alpha?"
The hurt is evident in his pained blue eyes.
"Please, don't call me that," he says, slightly irritated.
"Is that a command, Alpha?"
"No-"
"Then I'd continue referring to you as such, Alpha."
He sighs with frustration. "Are you going to act like this from now on?"
I remain silent, letting my lack of response answer his question.
After a moment, he says, "Suit yourself. You can go now."
I nod, then turn to walk away.
But he's not done.
"Just so you know," he begins, his voice deep and filled with barely restrained passion - darkened by something dangerously cold and intense, "acting like a robot won't change anything. I won't stop wanting you by my side. Even if I have to endure this distance and the ridiculous title, I'd do so without a single regret. I'd wait for you till you feel the same."
My breath hitches.
I stop in my tracks, processing his words. They ignite a spark in my chest, making my heart race and body tremble in unexpected places.
Even without looking into his eyes, I can feel the persistent, the hunger of a chase from a predator - he'd never stop wanting me.
I shake it off quickly, not wanting him to see me waver or catch even a hint of the curiosity burning within me. The need he might have awakened in me with that disastrous kiss.
I sprint to my locker at the other end of the hall.
Something's off with me, and I'm not just talking about the usual strange occurrences that plague my mind.
Ever since Kamila's proposition, ever since that unsettling kiss, Artemis invades my thoughts, prompting the most inappropriate reactions when I should be fuming.
Dirty scenarios flood my mind at the wrong moments - flashes of kissing him, grinding down against his body, and letting him run his fingers between my thighs, where this ache burns the most.
It's maddening that he's managed to sneak his way into even my reflexes, taking yet another piece of my control.
Maybe a part of me does want to give Artemis a taste of his own medicine.
And when my eyes fall on Olivia, waiting by my locker and tapping her left foot impatiently, I remember that my plan has already been set into motion.
"Did you see her?" I ask the second I'm close enough, throwing my locker open and tossing my bag in.
"You okay?" She asks, noticing the sweat on my forehead and my panting, all reactions from hanging too close to that kiss-stealing Alpha.
"Oh, it's nothing. Just tell me if you've seen Kamila," I change the topic.
After hours of long, hard thinking, I decided to give into my own selfish wants rather than preserving trust in someone that would break his words, trample on my trust and our barely developed bond, just to soothe his own selfish desires.
I mean, it's just sex.
If everyone's doing it, why can't I?
Plus, sex is like air to Artemis, and I'm sure doing it with me would also make no difference.
He wants something forbidden, something he hasn't had, and I'd give him just that. He'd realize that my inexperienced body and skill is a bore, then he'd move on from my life.
Forever.
Easy, right?
"She's free for the first period, so she's probably in the school garden right now," Olivia responds.
"Perfect," I reply, prepping myself to meet her and sign a deal I may or may not regret.
Sex with Artemis Sinclair, Future Alpha King and ruler of all wolf kind. I bet any other girl would be dying to have that offered to them on a platter.
I, on the other hand, have sweaty palms and can't stop hyperventilating from thinking about it.
If Kamila doesn't kill me, seeing Artemis naked will.
"Wait," Olivia stops me before I can walk away, pulling me back to face her again. "You haven't told me how you're going to get someone like Kamila to give you access to such a restricted place," she says doubtfully.
Her mind probably recalls every single wicked antic she's pulled just to get rid of me.
I immediately remember that I haven't filled her in on the nitty-gritty details, rather, barely scraping the surface of the entire situation.
"Oh," I respond, nervously smiling.
"Oh?"
"It's kind of complicated," I say with another nervous smile and chuckle at the end.
Her eyes narrow, trying to figure me out.
"Are you offering up your kidneys to that witch in exchange for taking a peek into that library, Sera?" she ventures, assuming the worst possible scenario.
"Worse than that, actually," I admit.
"Worse?" She looks both shocked and intrigued.
"I'm going to sleep with her mate so he can lose interest in me and finally focus all his attention on her. That way, they can finish their mating rites as wolves, and everyone becomes happy in the world again," I explain in a rushed breath, hoping it's simple enough for her to grasp.
Her face seems suspended, caught in a moment of pure shock.
The entire situation was likely so profoundly unusual that her brain needed a moment, perhaps a reboot, to fully grasp the details. Thus, she remains, staring ahead, her gaze unfocused and distant.
Great going, Sera. You've broken your friend.
"Uhm... Catch you later, I guess?" I say with a quick wave, hastening away before she can shake off her shock and attempt to sway me from my course.
Because, in the end, this is my only path to uncover the answers I desperately need, to truly understand my identity.
To discern whether I've been gifted with an extraordinary power...
Or perhaps burdened by a curse.