He had been following her for three days without a single word and it was beginning to give Darcy the shakes. Waiting for him to begin the interrogation had her nerves more than frayed, they were mutilated. If this was a tactic to spook her and get her to talk once he finally asked her the dreaded question, she feared it was working. Having him floating behind her like a ghost rendered her barely able to function. Often he was so quiet she only kept track of his presence by scent.

He had a strong, dominant scent of the forest that clung to everything he touched, as long as it hadn’t already been brushed with the scent of an alpha. Beta scents covered normal wolves’ scents. Alpha scents overpowered all. Alpha scents also stuck around the longest, omegas the shortest. But with omegas having such weak scents of their own, their skin was incredibly easy to scent mark. It soaked up other wolves’ scents with only the lightest touch, then it took a good deal of scrubbing to get it back off.

A teeny, tiny droplet of hope in Darcy’s soul wished he would accidentally get so close in his stalking that he would brush against her. Accidentally scent mark her. Her logic being that he might find some kindness or empathy in his heart for an omega wearing his scent. Right now she could not tell what was in his heart. He was utterly blank. It felt like she had the cockiest assassin in the world tailing her.

His lackeys were keeping their distance, it seemed they didn’t know what to make of his behaviour either. Darcy caught them giving her belligerent looks whenever they passed, but they said nothing to her or Luca. More miraculously, they did nothing to her. Not even a sly locker shove.

Unfortunately, her few friends were also giving her a wide berth with her intimidating tag-along. They were scared to even message her while he was at her back. At home, she filled them in on what was happening as best she could. But she barely knew herself what was going on. He was just… there. He didn’t speak or touch her. Occasionally his breath would breeze over her skin - her neck or crown or shoulder. She didn’t always manage to suppress the shiver that came with it. If he noticed, he still said nothing.

They were seated next to each other in only two classes these days, a blessing that Darcy thanked her lucky stars for every day. On the first day of school they had been seated next to each other for every single subject. As the years went by things had shifted little by little. For three days though, even when he wasn’t taking class in the same room at all, he would be waiting outside the door faster than she could scoop up her things to leave.

On day four, Darcy was a wreck. Her hands were wracked with intermittent shakes, most often triggered by Luca’s presence. Dark circles had bruised her under-eyes. She was expecting a heart attack at any minute.

When her planner slipped from her jittery fingers, clattering to the tiled floor as she made her way to chemistry, he snatched it up before her knees had fully bent. His hand a flash beneath her. Apparently he hadn’t planned to steal it, as he then stood gormless, clutching it in one hand. A week ago, he would have lofted it above her head and teased her. Now he seemed lost.

She reached for it at a snail pace, her little fingers dangling in the air between them as she approached. Like a child timidly reaching to pet an animal. She avoided eye contact for as long as she could, but when the tips of her fingers grazed the book he lurched it back and her face snapped up to meet his. They were frozen like a pair of statues, her hand stretched out, and his pinning the planner to his chest like a scandalised woman would her handkerchief.

His expression mimicked the one he had when he first found her after his MYSTIKA appointment. Confused. Uncertain. Curious.

“Please may I have my planner back?” Darcy whispered.

Something crackled between them and the noise of the bustling corridor returned. Students hollering and laughing. Teachers corralling them as best they could in the chaos.

A low rumbling growl came from Luca’s chest but Darcy was sure she was the only one who noticed. She felt the vibration of it on her cheeks even with the space between them.

He lowered the planner robotically.

She still had to lightly pry it from his fingers but he allowed her to take it. Amber eyes watched her as she did. With a pivot on one foot, she scurried to chemistry. Luca hesitated, but was at her back again in seconds.

At the end of the day, he accompanied her to the bus as he had done every day that week since the MYSTIKA Monday incident. He was silent until they reached the steps. As her foot flattened on the bottom step, she glanced back at him to do her awkward good-bye look over he shoulder that she had gotten into the routine of this week.

“What’re you doing this weekend?” he asked. Hearing his voice after a week of silence was a shock, but it sent a warm tingle over her skin. He was still her soul-mate, and her body would not let her forget.

Darcy faltered. “Hmm?”

“You’re either on the bus or off the bus, omega!” yelled the bus driver.

Darcy jolted and continued up a step. “Um, nothing,” she said quickly over her shoulder.

“Good,” said Luca. The single word prodded her right in the chest. She hated that it hurt. She was stupid to think that he might have softened, of course he would love to hear she had no fun plans for the weekend. He revelled in her misery.

She skipped up the last few steps, nodded an apologetic grimace to the driver and took her seat.

His weird words stuck with her all weekend.

Monday came around as heartbreakingly quickly as always and Darcy trudged into the main school building with little enthusiasm.

Luca was waiting at her locker and for a brief moment she considered whether she really needed her books for class. Unfortunately, she feared being chewed out by her teachers just as much as Luca.

Before she could get her combination in, Luca suddenly became incredibly talkative.

“What did you do at the weekend?” he asked, although it sounded like an order for information rather than an innocent inquiry.

Darcy paused with her hand on the lock. “Um, n-nothing,” she answered tentatively.

“What kind of nothing?”

The question did not compute in Darcy’s brain. She finally glanced up at him for a hint of what answer he was looking for, his expression was blank. “What do you mean?”

“Who did you do nothing with?”

Darcy scrunched her face. “No one,” she answered with a little more attitude in her tone.

He continued to push. “And does ‘no one’ go by any other names?”

“Is there someone specific you’re looking for?” Darcy offered, hopelessly trying to make sense of his line of questioning. Whatever he was hoping to hear, she was not catching on. “Because they weren’t with me.”

“Who was with you?”

“No one,” Darcy repeated with a sigh. “I did homework, I watched some movies and I burnt some brownies… then I ate some burnt brownies. My friends were all busy.” Her voice softened as she pooled all of her courage to add, “not that my social life is really your business.”

Luca’s voice became a quiet rumble, approaching a growl. “Everything you do is my business.”

Darcy backed up, pressing her lips together and squashing her brows in confusion. He watched her until she got a few metres back, then he rushed forward and snatched her up by the elbow. A shocked squeak came out of her but she did not struggle. She knew enough about Luca to know it would only irritate him more. His body was so close to hers, his scent was wafting off of him in dreamy waves. Darcy was desperate to bury her face in his shirt. Instead, she turned her face away in what she hoped was an indignant manner.

“We need to talk,” he said directly into her ear.