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

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

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

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

- Stop the bullying from Luca’s friends

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

Remaining, he still had:

- Stop the Luca stalking

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

- Get friends back within ten-feet radius

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

After collecting his lunch he led his diligent stalker to an empty classroom. Luca grinned wickedly as he shut the door behind them. Darcy didn’t want to know what he was imagining was about to happen. He hopped onto a table and put his food beside him. Luca followed and placed himself between Darcy’s legs, his hips pressed into the table top and his hands splayed either side of his thighs. His head hooked over him 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.”

Luca chuckled. “Sounds boring,” he remarked with a wink. It flustered Darcy instantly.

“I don’t- I want you to stop-” Darcy floundered for his words, the words he had spent all morning rehearsing. “You follow me around because you don’t want anyone to taint your back-up option,” he 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,” Luca said slowly. His cheeky attitude was slipping already. His fingers began tracing along the outside hem of Darcy’s trousers. It made his thighs clench involuntarily.

He pooled his patience and reminded Luca 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,” he said sharply. The hurt he had been feeling for the last month puncturing his 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.”

Luca laughed cruelly. “You’ve got your balls 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 him.

He 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 him. “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,” Luca 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 are 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 him over, either considering the offer or considering how quickly he could strip him. 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 shirt? 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 tattooed on your face.”

“You’re right. I’d prefer your ass spread over it.”

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

The Luca in his mind was clutching at his thighs, pulling him down deeper as he balanced on his mouth. Imaginary Darcy had been reduced to sobs and shakes. Naked from the waist down, he clutched at his shirt with one hand and Luca’s perfect golden curls with the other. His mate ate greedily.

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

“N-no, thank you.” It was mortifying how breathless he 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,” he huffed. “It’s a deal.”

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

Darcy eyed his hand warily, it was definitely a trap. It stayed out, demanding he acknowledge it. He extended his own half-size hand and Luca snatched it roughly, pulling him off the table and in against his chest. His other hand groped at his ass, sliding his fingers between his cheeks over the material.

“H-hey!” he yelped.

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

Darcy gasped and struggled out of his grasp.

“I’m not!” he squealed. He was half-hard, it didn’t count. And imaginary Luca was to blame. He snatched up his lunch bag and made it to the door with only a mild stumble. “And you can’t touch me any more!” he reminded him as he yanked it open. “We have a deal.”

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