Either it was incredibly awkward, or I was thinking too much. Considering the way Rickon kept looking at me as if I needed saving, though, I was going to bet on awkward. But that wasn’t all too surprising since I was sitting across the table from a foreign alpha who was giving his froofy blended coffee an unnerving amount of attention.

We’d been riding in silence since he realized what my stricken expression meant. It would have only taken a good sniff; the scent of an omega was easily recognizable even to one who had never smelled it thanks to our instincts. He knew it the same way I would have known he was a child of the stars even without my experience with Neo. Of course he was a child of the stars. As if I wasn’t in enough danger already.

“So…” Viktor drawled the word, giving only quick glances up from his coffee as if he were afraid to look at me for too long. “Funny meeting an omega here. I heard male omegas were all but impossible.”

“We are,” I answered, tight and short. I didn’t have the nerve to say more, not when fascination was growing in his eyes.

Viktor finally let go of his cup to look at me properly, green eyes alight with curiosity. “What pack are you in?”

“Ipomoea. It’s the only pack in this city. We don’t often get outsiders- the college is on pack territory.”

“Is it?” Viktor sounded honestly amazed by that, as if he had no idea. How could he not know? What the hell was this wolf?

I sat back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest. “Yes, it is. Which is why there shouldn’t be a child of the stars in my school- you’re lucky Neo didn’t scent you and rip you to shreds.” Especially since you’re sitting across a table from me. If he finds out… I swallowed hard, not wanting to think about what my childhood friend would do if he caught another alpha sniffing around me.

“Neo? Who’s Neo?”

I gritted my teeth. “Neo is our future alpha. He’s a child of the stars just like you, blessed by the moon. This is his pack, and his territory even if he’s not old enough to claim it properly yet.”

“Oooh, I see. I wasn’t told there was another child of the stars going to this college. I’d like to meet him, if I can.” Viktor’s smile was bright, innocent.

As captivated as I was by it, I was also astounded. “You want to what? Die? Because that’s what you’ll get! What the hell weird assed pack did you come from?”

“Rude,” Viktor huffed, sucking from his coffee again before he answered. “I’m from the Cereus pack. Alyx sent me here because he heard some interesting things about a particular boy who was being mistreated.”

I stiffened in my seat, eyes wide. He was from the Cereus pack, the one which had been scrubbed from national pack history over twenty years ago. They’d shamed themselves when a banished alpha, a child of the stars name Alyx, brought his sinful ways back to the pack. Not only did he defeat the pack leader of the time, another child of the stars who had been butchering humans in the area, he also ceremoniously mated himself to a human. After being banished for an illegal relationship with the alpha he killed to take Cereus, he mated to a human male. The entire pack was disgraced, and we were forbidden to even speak of it.

And yet, here was a young child of the stars from that very pack, looking casual as can be while sitting across from me like I didn’t have every right to kill him if I wanted to.

“My pack doesn’t mistreat any of its wolves. I don’t know what you’ve heard, but it’s wrong,” I said, working to keep my voice calm.

Viktor snorted at me. “Oh really? So that nasty bruise I saw on your side when your shirt pulled up while you were stretching is from what- kicking yourself in the ribs? That’s likely.”

“I-” I grimaced as my voice cracked before I could try to explain it away. He had sharp eyes; nobody ever noticed the bruises I fought to cover up when in public to avoid being further beaten by the pack.

Viktor gave me a smug grin, though there was sorrow in his eyes. “Yeah, I thought so. We didn’t know you were an omega, though. That doesn’t change a damn thing, but I think you should meet Alyx.”

“Why would I want to meet an exiled disgrace of a wolf who thinks he should be allowed control of a pack?” I snarled the words, and hated myself for every one of them. If it were up to me, Alyx would never have been exiled to begin with. I understood the need for our few men to have children- but we lived in a world of sperm banks and in vitro fertilization. The traditions we had dragged through from older times didn’t make much sense to me.

They made sense to the rest of my pack, though- and considering I was the outsider, I might just have been willing to believe anything which would make me less of a leper.

Viktor gave me a look which said he saw right through my attempt at being a standard pack wolf. “Right… how about this, then. If you don’t want to meet him now, I’ll accept that. I understand why you’d be hesitant, especially since your pack would probably lynch you if they found out. I swear Alyx would protect you if it came to that, but I won’t force you into anything.

“So let’s compromise. Be my friend, Tsuki. Get to know me, spend time with me. Run with me on a full moon if you want. Just give me a chance to show you what wolves can be like when they’re not out for blood. I promise you won’t regret it. And if after a month you still want nothing to do with the Cereus pack- which is highly unlikely, by the way- then I’ll drop the issue altogether. Okay?”

“And what guarantee do I have?” I asked, keeping my defensive stance in my chair.

Viktor grinned at me again. “Jay said you were smart- he wasn’t kidding. Let’s see here… I swear by the moon that I will respect your decision in a month’s time, and leave if you desire it.” His voice vibrated with an unearthly timbre, and I knew he had just spoken binding words. For a normal wolf, this would have been an issue of honor; for a child of the stars, the same mysterious power they were gifted by the moon forced them to follow oaths given out when sworn to the lady moon who blessed them.

I continued to stare at him for several long moments, debating my choices. If I didn’t agree, I had a feeling he would hound me anyway. At least this way, I could get rid of him. I only had to put up with it for a month. Thirty days wasn’t so bad. I would just have to desperately hope I could keep it a secret from Neo for that long.

“Besides,” Viktor’s voice was softer and sweeter, “I’m very interested in you. You’re cute, intelligent, and I’ve always been a sucker for the underdog. I want to get to know you better. Coming here was at Alyx’s request, but the desire to coax you into joining our pack started to become selfish the moment you answered my call.”

I blinked at him, feeling color rush hot to my face. “Don’t call men cute. Are you trying to get yourself accused of sin?”

“For you? Definitely.” Viktor laughed at my shocked expression, reaching forward across the table to put his hand over mine. His fingers teased over my palm, making me pull in a sharp breath at the tickling sensation. “The thing about the Cereus pack is we don’t hold to those bullshit archaic traditions. There are ways to continue pack lines other than forcing gay men to fuck women like animals in heat. Alyx doesn’t think like that; he’s been through the consequences of that crap, and he won’t put anybody else through the same thing.

“Cereus wolves are free to live and love however they like. You’d be amazed by how much happier everybody is because of it, too. I think you’d be a perfect fit in my pack. No pressure, no archaic rules, no being beaten down just because of your biological standing as an omega. It’s pure freedom, Tsuki, and I want you to experience it with me.”

I had to admit; he was winning me over. While he had been speaking, I had been slowly leaning forward until I was pressed up against the table and our faces were too close. I didn’t even notice until I realized I could almost taste the sweet mocha flavoring from his coffee as his warm breath washed over my face. His gaze dropped to my mouth for a moment, and my heart seized with anticipation and fear.

Then Viktor leaned away, a casual smile gracing his lips. “But like I said, you don’t have to decide now. You have a month. Until then- why don’t we get down to studying. That is what we met for, isn’t it?”

“O-of course! Sorry!” I stumbled hard over the words, jerking back in my seat, and could feel my face on fire as I put every ounce of my concentration into my notebook and the textbook which was open next to it. What the hell had I been hoping for? Damn it, I knew what I’d been hoping for- and Viktor’s smirk said he knew, too, and had probably done it on purpose.

He was hot, but if he thought he was seducing me into leaving my pack, he had another thing coming… I hoped.

I only had to survive a month. One little month being tortured by the attractive alpha who had my instincts going wild. That wasn’t too much, was it? I had an unsettling feeling that question was going to haunt me, so I threw myself wholeheartedly into the information from Jay’s English Lit class and prayed to the moon goddess for a little bit of luck. Prayed that just once, I could get a break. And I should have known better.

Viktor was just the beginning.