by Marian Tee
Kassia's mouth was set in a mulish line. "I don't care." Pain shot through her temple, and she closed her eyes to ward it off. "I just don't understand him, El. If he only wanted me for sex, then he could have had me last night. So why didn't he?"
Ellie winced. “Show a little restraint, Kas.”
Kassia turned on her side, facing Ellie. "What if I'm overthinking this? What if he really had family stuff to do and that's why he had to leave in the middle of the night? What if he's not really avoiding me?"
Ellie was torn. One part of her wanted to lie, just so she could see her friend smile again. The other half of her, however, wanted to be practical and truthful. Professor X was a jerk. It didn't matter if he had a reason or not for disappearing on Kassia. It was Kassia's first time to spend the night with a guy, and even if nothing had happened, the professor should have been there when she woke up.
But he wasn't, which meant he was a jerk and Kassia was better off without him.
"Ellie?"
She opened her mouth to tell the truth.
Then she saw Kassia's eyes swimming with tears.
Crap. She was such a sucker for tears.
Clearing her throat, Ellie said, "I think it's how you feel that matters, Kas. If you think he had a reason to do what he did, well, then...he did."
A relieved smile touched Kassia's lips. "I think so, too."
Ellie returned the smile weakly, thinking that she never wanted to fall in love like Kassia did.
****
Three more flights to go, Kassia. Just three more flights. That translated to thirty-six steps or a total of ten minutes spent climbing the stairs. It should sound easy, especially since she tackled the same set of stairs practically every day, but it didn't.
It sounded like hell, considering how her temperature was still over 100.
Taking another deep breath, she climbed another step. She felt heavy and sluggish, and it felt like she had weights around her ankles. Around her, the world started to dance, but she forced herself to ignore it. She mustn't lose her focus. She just had one test to go. One last test, and it was really important since it was for one of the two subjects she was in danger of failing. She had to pass this one last test, and Alessandro Moretti would be hers.
Another deep breath.
Another step.
Kassia looked up.
Thirty-four more steps to go.
God, she wanted to cry.
A second later, and she realized that a tear had already escaped her eye, trailing down her cheek. Just one teardrop, and it weakened her immensely, making Kassia lean against the wall and clutch the handrail desperately.
Oh God. Thirty-four more steps. THIRTY-FOUR!
"Are you okay?"
She recognized the voice. It was Jacob, coming from behind. She could only wait for him to reach her, having no strength left to even turn around and say hi.
Kassia saw his eyes widen at the sight of her, and she almost found the strength to smile. Almost. "That bad?"
"Umm, yeah. Kind of." He reached to touch her forehead and yanked his hand back. "Kassia, you're burning up."
"I've already taken meds, don't worry."
He frowned. "I don't think you should go to class—"
She shook her head. "I can't. I've got one last test."
"But you can be excused—"
She grimaced. "Not when it's Professor Vincent's class."
His protest died. "Damn." The professor Kassia mentioned was notorious for her strictness, and it was more than possible that she would refuse to give Kassia a make-up test even if she was in danger of dying from pneumonia.
Kassia looked back at the flight of stairs ahead of her.
Thirty-four, Kassia. Just thirty-four more to go. You've already climbed 24 steps. You can do this.
Jacob followed her gaze. "Fifth floor, right?"
She nodded.
"Should I carry you?"
It just showed how desperate she was that she seriously considered Jacob's offer. He was a football player, anyway. He was used to heavy lifting. He could probably get Kassia to her class in five minutes.
But...
What if other people saw them and misunderstood?
Kassia slowly shook her head. "No, but..." Biting her lip in hesitation, she took another deep breath before asking, "Is it okay if you let me lean on you while I head up?" By the time she finished her question, she could feel her face turning completely red. It wasn't like her at all to be this forward, but she didn't have a choice. She needed to take that test. Her life depended on it.
****
Pain slashed at Alessandro with every step he took. Injuries that didn't heal in a matter of hours were rare for Lyccans, but this was an exception since the wound was a result of having been clawed by his own kind repeatedly. While the wound no longer bled, the Moretti pack's healer told him that it would take at least a week for the scarred tissues to repair itself.
"You should rest, Your Highness. This injury will and is already taking its toll on you, and you'll find yourself unable to function normally."
Alessandro had nodded at the healer's warning, pretending to agree even though he had no plans of staying in bed. No fucking way, not when Kassia's tests were scheduled today. She would need his support, dammit, and he would not let anything stop him from giving her what she needed.
Ahead of him, Kassia's unique scent beckoned, and he followed it doggedly. Even though Alessandro didn't want to admit it, his twin's words had disturbed him.
What was Kassia to him? And what did he intend to do about her?
Even now, he was still unwilling to place any kind of label on his feelings for her. All he knew was that he had to see her. He just had to see Kassia again, and he would know everything then.
Kassia's scent became stronger as Alessandro started for the stairs. While it had the same sweet, delicate hint of flowers to it, there was also something different about her. Not with the way she smelled, but the way she...felt.
It was almost like she was...in heat.
As soon as the thought occurred to Alessandro, he bounded up the stairs, barely able to control himself from using his Lyccan speed to reach her in seconds. When he reached the third landing, he saw her—
Alessandro froze.
She was pressed tightly against the side of another man. A boy. No, not just any boy, the fucking twerp who had been trying to get inside her pants from the start. Jacob. He wanted to snarl the name out, wanted to turn into a wolf so he could claw the boy away from her side.
Kassia was his.
HIS.
The boy should know that. Kassia should know that, so why the hell was she all over Jacob and clinging to him like she couldn't bear even a mere inch of separation from the boy's body?
He watched them walk together, the smell and feel of Kassia's heat burning his skin like acid.
A moment later and they were entering a room together, the door swinging shut behind them, but not before he heard her laugh.
It was the most beautiful sound, as well as being the most devious.
"Oh Jacob. What would I do without you?"
Alessandro spun away.
He had heard enough.
****
“Professor Moretti, please wait.” Midterms were over, the weekend had passed, and yet this was only the first time Kassia managed to catch sight of the professor. Even so, she told herself it was only because he was busy. He wasn’t avoiding her. He. Was. Not. Ellie told her so, and Ellie was always right.
But ahead of her, the professor hadn’t stopped walking. He didn’t even seem to have heard her.
“Professor Moretti, PLEASE WAIT!” She shouted the last two words, loud enough to have the students lounging in the corridors below to look up. She didn’t care about them, but she did care that the professor had finally slowed to a stop just before reaching the door to his office.
She hurried towards him. “Professor?”
Alessandro faced Kassia. “
Ms. Summers?” Both his tone and smile were perfectly polite, because he was damned if he would let this slip of a girl find out she had succeeded in making a fool out of him.
Kassia’s mouth opened and closed. She suddenly found herself lost for words as she stared up at the professor’s perfectly chiseled features. Had it really been just a few days since she had last seen him? Right now, it felt like forever.
Alessandro struggled to keep himself expressionless even as Kassia practically devoured him with her eyes. As always, she looked feminine and sexy, good enough to eat. But whereas such a sight would have once made him drag Kassia to the nearest place of privacy so he could have a taste of her, everything about her now left a bitter taste on his tongue.
Damn her.
As Kassia continued to gaze at him with eat-me-up eyes, half of Alessandro wanted to shake Kassia for her sheer gall while the other half of him wanted to kiss her punishingly, over and over, until she would only be able to utter his name and no one else’s, not even hers.
As the silence between them stretched, Kassia slowly realized that the professor really wasn’t going to say anything. No explanation about why he had really left in the middle of the night, no explanation why he hadn’t returned any of her calls. Nothing.
So what now?
Did she give up?
She squared her shoulders.
No. She wasn’t going to give up.
Clearing her throat, Kassia stammered, “Professor, I had my tests graded in advance.” And then she looked up at him, hoping and praying he would take it from there.
Alessandro felt sick at the way the starry-eyed-look on Kassia’s lovely face still managed to draw a powerful reaction from his body, even though he very well knew by now that it was all an act. Right now, with her little black dress and cute pumps, all she lacked was a pearl necklace and she would have been the classic femme fatale. The thought made him want to laugh bitterly. He was the Lyccan here, and yet it was this girl who had managed to get her claws into him first.
Did she look at Jacob the same way she was looking at him now? He wouldn’t be surprised if she did. And what if the boy went down on her? Did she also make the same sounds—
The beast inside him raged, begging to be let out so it could follow the scent to Kassia’s human boyfriend and rip him apart with his bare fangs.
Alessandro’s teeth gnashed. He had to stop thinking about her like that or everything he had planned would be ruined.
“Would you excuse me for a second, Ms. Summers?”
Kassia blinked. “Umm, of course, professor.” She watched the professor take out his phone, his fingers moving swiftly over the screen. Who was he texting?
Afterwards, the professor slid his phone back into his pocket. “I’m sorry for that.”
“It’s okay.” She tested another smile as she told him for the second time, “I have my grades from Professor Matthews now.”
An odd smile curved on the professor’s lips. “And?”
Kassia couldn’t answer right away, her gaze drawn to the professor’s smile. It was so…odd. In a way that she didn’t like to think about.
Telling herself she was imagining things, she took out the grade slips from her pockets and handed it to the professor nervously. Strangely, it took a while before the professor accepted them, making her feel even more nervous. “They’re both B-plus,” she stammered. “It’s a miracle, really, considering…” She stopped.
He asked pleasantly, “Considering what?” Considering she had betrayed him with the human boy the very same day she was supposed to be acing that test for him?
It was beginning to be clear to him now. Maybe Kassia had played with him just to ensure she could get him to tutor her for those two tests. Maybe Jacob had told her he didn’t want an idiot for a girlfriend.
So many damn possibilities, Alessandro thought grimly, but none of them mattered. She had made a fool of him, and he had let her.
In front of him, Kassia was shifting on her feet, all blushing shyness, and he had to force back the growl of rage that threatened to come out of his throat.
“The day I took those tests, I was sick.” She let out a nervous laugh. “I was burning up with fever, and my temperature – it was crazy. I think you could have probably boiled an egg on my skin.”
Alessandro didn’t answer. Puzzle pieces in his mind were scrambling to rearrange themselves, and they all started to paint a different picture of the past.
“Just getting up those stairs…I really wanted to cry, Professor.”
Alessandro felt himself going pale with each word. That day he saw her with Jacob was still a vivid memory in his mind. He remembered how she smelled and felt hot, and his fists clenched. He remembered how the healer had warned him about his senses not functioning normally, and Alessandro knew then he had just committed the most devastating mistake.
In front of him, Kassia was still babbling about the day. “If not for Jacob, I would never have made it to class, Professor. Never.” She didn’t look at him as she spoke, but anxiety was written all over her, and the way she kept tugging the tips of her hair tore his heart into pieces.
How the fuck had he gotten everything so damn wrong?
He opened his mouth to say something, anything to stop his world from crashing down on him, but it was too late.
“There you are,” a voice sang gaily from behind.
He knew who it was, even without having to hear those words. He knew, just by watching Kassia stiffen and her gaze jerk up to meet his in hurt confusion.
Kassia watched with sick fascination as Professor Y – the chemistry teacher she loved to hate – took hold of Alessandro Moretti’s arm and wrapped it around her own waist, as if she knew that was where it belonged.
The older woman faced her with a smile. “Everything all right, Ms. Summers?” She threw a coy look the professor’s way. “Or is this wicked man of mine giving you trouble about your grades?”
The older woman laughed, and with just that sound, Kassia knew. That sound said it all. Deep down inside, people never failed to recognize the sound that would destroy them.
“Why aren’t you saying a thing?”
Why was she saying too much?
Professor Y snuggled closer towards the professor, and Kassia’s world started to spin faster and faster when the professor didn’t pull away. He did not!
The older woman patted the professor’s cheek. “Leave this naughty man to me. If he bullies you, I’ll punish him…after our quickie.” She pulled away with a sigh. “I should have come to you as soon as I got your text. Maybe I’d have caught you alone then.”
With another sigh, she took a step back from the professor. “Maybe next time.” She glanced at Kassia and winked. “You’ll keep our secret, right, Ms. Summers?”
Kassia managed a smile. “Of course.”
She watched Professor Y leave while the professor watched…her. She could feel his eyes on her. She didn’t understand why, and she didn’t care.
Alessandro knew he should have pulled away from Melissa, but honor had forbidden him from moving away. He had been the one to flirt with the other woman first. He had been the one to make all the moves, the one who had not told Melissa about Kassia when he had invited her to his home and fucked her the entire weekend.
He had fucked up with Kassia. He had fucked up with Melissa. And now, it was fucking killing him to see how his cruelty had extinguished the light in her eyes.
“Ms. Summers—” He reached for her.
She flinched. “Don’t.”
He froze.
Her voice was so damn thin, and the sound had the professor lowering his arm back to his side. If he pushed, she might just crumble, and he didn’t want that for her.
Kassia stared up at him. She wanted to curse him, wanted to cry, wanted to ask him why. But no words came out. All she could suddenly think about was that odd smile on his face earlier and how stupid she was to have ignored it.
He was odd. Just li
ke her mother. And because he was odd that way, he had been able to play with her like she was no better than a toy.
“Kassia, I—”
She shook her head jerkily, not wanting to hear her name on his lips. “Goodbye, Professor.” She turned around and walked away. If her shoulders shook a little, well, that was fine. At least the tears didn’t fall, not until she was able to lock herself inside one of the restroom cubicles.
She sank to the floor.
And that was when she cried.
****
For a long time, Alessandro remained rooted in his spot, the devastating sound of Kassia’s tears ripping him apart.
He gazed sightlessly towards where Kassia had disappeared in the distance, knowing that he could go after her and maybe make things right.
But he didn’t.
Because maybe, just fucking maybe, it was better this way for both of them.
If her smiles had made him realize she was special, her tears had made Alessandro realize she was like no one else, and that he wasn’t ready for.
It was better this way.
He repeated the words in his mind, endlessly, using them to chase away the seemingly incredible picture of Kassia walking away from him with her back straight, her shoulders shaking, a picture of defiance and shattered innocence.
Other girls her age would have thrown a bitchy fit, would have called him names and sought to humiliate him the way he had deliberately sought to humiliate her, thinking she had betrayed him.
Kassia could and should have done any or all of those, but she hadn’t.
She had simply walked away.
And that was fine.
It was better this way.
He had existed all these years without Kassia, and he would go on living, would go back to enjoying his life the way he had when he had never known someone like her existed.
He did not need her because she would be his weakness, and she did not need him because he would only bring danger to her life.