When Darcy stepped off the bus the next day, Luca was waiting for her. He had his cheeky half-smile pointed right at her and she almost lost her footing.

Her heart was turning her into a fool in love. But it wasn’t real. They were mates, but his true nature would peek out again soon enough. It was a cycle she couldn’t allow herself to be caught in. Nice for a moment and cruel for the rest. She said nothing to him and headed straight to her first class, she was more than happy to sit at her desk early.

All Darcy wanted was her boring Alpha Assistant role in her own pack, on familiar territory, to be left alone to live a peaceful life. This was her main goal for the rest of her existence. Why did he have to be so hot? Why did his kisses have to make her melt into a puddle? Every time he touched her she was getting worse. Darcy was feverish for him.

Of her list of smaller goals for the Luca situation, so far she had only crossed off:

- Stop the bullying from Luca’s friends

He had promised he would tell them to leave her alone, but she had still only crossed it out in pencil, just in case.

Remaining, she still had:

- Stop the Luca stalking

- Stop the touching/kissing/anything that made her fall deeper in love with her stupid bully

- Get friends back within ten feet radius

She was hoping to tick every remaining box for handling this curse off in one move.

After collecting her lunch she led her diligent stalker to an empty classroom. He grinned wickedly as he shut the door behind them. Darcy didn’t want to know what he was imagining was about to happen. She hopped onto a table and put her food beside her. He followed and placed himself between her legs, his hips pressed into the table top and his hands splayed either side of her thighs. His head hooked over her with his ridiculously sexy height. He had a lecherous look in those molten gold eyes.

Darcy spoke before he could make a dirty remark. “I want to propose a deal to you.”

“You want to propose to me?” he teased, sharp grin out in full-force.

“I want to make a deal.”

“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours?”

“No.”

He chuckled. “Sounds boring,” he remarked with a wink. It flustered her instantly.

“I don’t- I want you to stop-” Darcy floundered for her words, the words she had spent all morning rehearsing. “You follow me around because you don’t want anyone to taint your back-up option,” she said all in one breath, words smushing into each other. “I want to make a formal agreement so that you don’t need to. I don’t get stalked and you don’t have to worry about someone who might be your mate pursuing… other people.”

“You are my mate,” he said slowly. His cheeky attitude was slipping already. His fingers began twiddling with the hem of her skirt where it drooped over the desk.

She pooled her patience and reminded him with the most monotonous tone possible, “You don’t know that for sure. That’s why you’re embarrassed to be seen with me.”

“I do know, MYSTIKA-”

“I’m the back-up,” she said sharply. The hurt she had been feeling for the last month puncturing her already-thin screen of self-restraint. “You believe in MYSTIKA just enough to want to keep me away from other wolves, but not enough to put all your chips in.”

He laughed cruelly. “You’ve got your knickers in a twist because I haven’t marked you?” he asked, all playfulness had dissipated from his features. Darcy blushed uncomfortably hot at even the thought of him… of Luca… marking her.

She stammered, “N-No-”

“I can’t mark my mate until I turn eighteen.”

“So leave me alone until then!” Darcy yelled, frustration bursting out of her. “That’s all I want. We can make a deal, put it in writing if you want, that I won’t date or do anything with anyone else until your eighteenth birthday. Then I get my peace and you get yours. No more bodyguard.”

“It’s not you, it’s the others,” he said darkly. “You couldn’t fight off anyone!”

“I’ve done okay until now,” Darcy huffed. “The only people I have had to fend off is you or your friends! As long as you don’t let them touch me, I have nothing to fear.” It was an obvious dig to his pride as a beta to control his pack members, but it seemed to work.

“I’ve ordered them not to go near you. They wouldn’t dare,” he growled. He suddenly leant back, folded his arms and looked her over, either considering the offer or considering how quickly he could strip her. It was difficult to tell with Luca. “This agreement,” he drawled. “In writing. What happens if one of us breaks our end? What if I see someone with their hand up your skirt? Or you sitting in some guy’s lap?”

It was Darcy’s turn to let out a sarcastic laugh. “Whatever you want, because it won’t happen. Choose the worst punishment you can imagine because at least I’ll know then you will follow the rules.”

A wild grin split his gorgeous face. “Loser gets the other’s name tattooed on them.”

“Are you insane?”

“On their face,” he added.

Darcy sighed. “I don’t want my name on your face.”

“You’re right. I’d prefer your pussy.”

Darcy’s brain malfunctioned. Four words had transformed her into a doll, frozen in place.

The Luca in her mind was clutching at her thighs, pulling her down deeper as she balanced on his mouth. Imaginary Darcy had been reduced to sobs and shakes. She clutched at her skirt with one hand and his perfect golden curls with the other. He ate greedily.

In reality, Darcy was incapable of moving a muscle, and her body temperature had surpassed lava. Her eyes were fixed on Luca’s chest as he laughed himself stupid. She didn’t know if he was laughing at his own words or her reaction, but he was doubled over and clutching his stomach. If he had even the slightest inkling of what had just passed through her mind, she wanted the ground to swallow her whole.

“N-no, thank you.” It was mortifying how breathless she sounded.

Luca straightened. “Fine, a step down from that awesome idea.” He wiped a pretend tear from his eyes. “T-shirts with the other’s name on. Gotta wear it every day to school until D-day.”

“D-day?”

“My birthday, dumbass.”

“Whatever,” she huffed. “It’s a deal.”

“Shake on it?” He stretched out his palm.

Darcy eyed his hand warily, it was definitely a trap. It stayed out, demanding she acknowledge it. She extended her own half-size hand and he snatched it roughly, pulling her off the table and in against his chest. His other hand groped at her under her skirt, sliding his fingers between her thighs.

“H-hey!” she yelped.

“Gotta get my fill if we’re going to be apart for the next month,” he groaned into her ear. “Oh? You’re wet.”

Darcy gasped and struggled out of his grasp.

“I’m not!” she squealed. She snatched up her lunch bag and made it to the door with only a mild stumble. “And you can’t touch me any more!” she reminded him as she yanked it open. “We have a deal.”

Luca’s farewell smile was far too fiendish for Darcy’s liking. Positive thinking, she reminded herself. A deal was a deal, and she only had to keep him away for a month.