A hand slammed into the wall beside Darcy’s face, halting her with an almost painful jolt on her way to her first class of the day. The broad-bodied dominant hadn’t actually touched her, but the shock was enough to knock her back a step.

“Mornin’, puppy,” he cooed, puckering his lips in a mock kiss at her. Darcy didn’t recognise him, but no doubt he was an associate of her moronic mate. He looked the type. Big, ugly, and stupid.

“Good morning,” she replied curtly. She attempted to side-step him, but he turned as she did and blocked her in against the wall. His arms trapped her, albeit lazily, drooping a little as though she wasn’t worth his full effort.

“Wanna play a game?” he asked with a full puff of rancid breath.

“No, thank you.”

“Are you the gambling type?” he suggested with a conspirational wink.

“No. Please excuse me.” Darcy attempted to squeeze away, but he pressed in closer. She could see chunks of his breakfast stuck between his teeth.

“How about we strike a deal? You let me put my hand in your pants, and I’ll let you go to second period?”

“First period is about to start,” Darcy corrected him.

“I like to take my time when I play with cute toys like you,” he said darkly. His smirk was twisted and his eyes lecherous. They slid over her body like a slug, slow and slimy. “The slower I go, the more they squeal.” With a groan, he added, “I’ve always wanted to play with an omega.” The way he licked his lips brought bile to Darcy’s throat. “What do you say? It’s a fair trade, no?”

A smooth, furious voice came from behind the oaf’s body. “Counter offer: you don’t touch her and I don’t kill you.”

Big and ugly jumped back a step, releasing Darcy from the cage of his arms. At his back was Luca, gaze murderous.

“My bad, Luca!” He laughed awkwardly. “I was only messing around.”   

“How about you do me a favour and mess around somewhere else?” Luca growled.

The pervert saluted in some kind of nervous joke. “Anything for you, beta,” he wheezed. He stumbled over his own feet scrambling away.

Darcy watched him go, frozen to the spot. She was trembling from head to toe.

“You okay?” Luca asked quietly. He reached his hands out to cup the bottom half of her face. After a few moments of him cradling her cheeks, the shakes dissipated.

She managed to mumble, “he was scary.”

He slid the fingers of one hand through her hair while the other opened her clip and caught the smoothed strands within it. Setting her hair back into place. “You don’t need to be scared of anyone, Darcy,” he murmured. He ran his fingers down her waves softly, admiring his handiwork.

“I’m scared of you,” Darcy whispered.

A long silence. Luca clearly didn’t like that answer.

“I wouldn’t hurt you,” he said with a frown.

“You hurt me before.”

“How many times do I have to tell you to get over ‘before’?”

Darcy pinched her lips together for a moment. He had said she could be firm with him. Their new deal.

“Go away,” she squeaked. She had intended to sound stern but her anxiety got the better of her.

Luca stepped back. His golden eyes were stuck to her face. Her hands clenched around her backpack straps nervously, but she refused to take the words back. He stepped back again and she held firm, watching him go. His expression was both concerned and confused. He managed to make even that look hot. He finally turned away and disappeared around the same corner as his stumbling goon.

Darcy’s soul almost fell out of her body in shock when his voice suddenly bellowed, “HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO REPEAT MYSELF?”

Mumbled male voices responded.

“If I have to tell any of you not to touch her again, you’re all dead.”

Mumbled affirmation.

“I don’t even want you idiots talking to her. Think twice before you look at her.”

Darcy squeezed her arms over her chest. His words had no reason to make her feel so warm. She didn’t like when anyone raised their voice, but especially not a beta, or even worse, an alpha. The two most dominant genders sent shots of pure fear through her blood when they barked. Luca’s barking was reassuring, though, maybe she really would get some long-term peace from his dumb friends.

And he had listened to her. Despite his very obvious disagreement with her decision, he had complied when she told him to go.

She hurried to first period, sliding through the door a little late, but not enough to get into trouble as a first-time offender. Not that she took any of the lesson in, she was still in a daze at having been obeyed by a beta… publicly. Her phone buzzed a little before the bell to mark the end of class. She pulled it out as she dawdled to her next lesson. A text from an unsaved number was sat on her lock screen.

Unknown: Hey

Darcy: Who is this?

Unknown: Rude.

Darcy: Melody? I thought you just got a new phone, not a new number.

Unknown: It’s Luca.

Darcy: Where did you get my number?

Regardless, she saved it so that she wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. She had made it to the queue into her maths classroom and leant against the wall, shielded by a much larger girl ahead.

Butt-Face: I’ve had it for months.

Darcy had no idea how to respond to that. She wondered if ‘months’ was before or after MYSTIKA. Had he been planning to cyber bully her, too?

Butt-Face: Do you still want me to stay away or can we have lunch together?

Darcy fumbled the slim phone, almost dropping it. This guy was getting far too comfortable. And being asked to have lunch together… felt like a date. She definitely shouldn’t say yes.

Darcy: Only if you’re buying.

Butt-Face: Of course. I’m a gentleman after all.

She was a fool in love. The worst kind of fool. Love foolishness was the hardest to cure. A lobotomy was her only option.

He was waiting for her when the lunch bell rang. They made quiet small talk walking side-by-side to the lunch hall. It felt weird. Her bully wanted to know how her class was, and what she had after lunch (which he no doubt already knew, he was far too good of a stalker), and whether she was dreading it.

He bought two of everything she picked from the lunch line-up, but they didn’t sit at any of the tables like everyone else. As soon as they had their food, Luca lead them back out of the food hall and to an empty classroom. Darcy frowned, he was still embarrassed to be seen with her publicly, then.

He dumped their gatherings on one of the high tables and took her by the waist with both hands, plonking her next to the food without warning. Darcy didn’t have time to even huff her indignation at being manhandled. It would have been fake anyway, she loved his touch too much.

Luca hopped up on the other side and dug in.

He ate like someone had a gun to his head, the only way Darcy could slow him was to ask boring questions about his classes, or what he had written his English essay on. He would pause, sometimes mid-chew, and think carefully before answering. As though she had asked him something remotely deep or meaningful. It bought her time, though, and she eventually caught up with him. When the end of lunch bell rang, she was squeezing the last of her juice into her mouth.

Darcy was escorted to her next class full of food and superficial knowledge of Luca’s current academic status. It sounded like he was doing well in most of his classes. The love fool was proud of him, her bright, intelligent mate. The victim inside of her hated that he got to succeed at everything.