It had been two weeks since I’d first met the foreign alpha I was set to tutor, and I had to admit I was halfway smitten.

Damn Jay for having picked me knowing how well we would get along. Viktor was smart, one of the few people who could actually keep up with me when we were discussing subtle meanings behind Shakespearean scenes, or arguing the merits of the oxford comma. He knew his shit, and he didn’t really need a tutor for very long; that didn’t mean either of us was willing to give up our twice a week meetings over coffee at Luna’s. Viktor was everything I could have wanted.

It made me a little suspicious, knowing such a perfect specimen had been sent to ‘save’ me. But it was hard to be harsh with him when he had whipped cream on his nose because he’d been too eager in getting to his refilled coffee. I wasn’t the only person laughing; we’d found out Rickon went to the same college and was taking some of the same courses, so he elbowed in on my lessons sometimes, and was just as amused as me.

Which was… nice. I’d never thought about having friends other than Neo, but it was warm and comfortable. If a little awkward at times. It must have been my nature as an omega, but it seemed men who had the capability to be sexually attracted to other men were drawn to me. Rickon was one of them- he’d asked me out more than once.

Viktor had done me the dubious favor of pretending he was my boyfriend so Rickon would leave me alone on that front. Which was why he leaned across the table with a wicked look in his green eyes. “You gonna get that for me, babe?”

“Idiot,” I snorted, but I played along. Partially because Rickon seemed to expect it- but also because it gave me a sort of sinful thrill, to wipe the whipped cream from his nose and suck my thumb clean after. It was an overtly sexual gesture that I would never have dreamed of doing before Viktor.

Rickon grinned at us, leaning back in his chair so that the front feet were off the floor. “You two lovebirds make me sick. And jealous. Good god, you got lucky, Viktor.”

“Don’t I know it,” he said with a grin, his smile teasing when he flicked a glance to me. His foot nudged mine under the table, and I pressed my lips together to keep from saying anything- or, more likely, giving an exasperated sigh. I’d sworn I wasn’t going to get seduced by him, but he made it difficult, even with the rules of our kind beaten repeatedly into my head.

He was temptation incarnate, and I really might have considered going with him to Alyx’s pack, if it weren’t for a certain somebody.

“You’re a much better fit for him than that brute of a man who’s always attached to him on campus, too. That Neo Maeda,” Rickon sniffed, rolling his eyes. “I bet he’s a hard player. We’d have to break his hands if he touched our sweet little Tsuki, wouldn’t we? Or maybe we can sacrifice him to the weather gods so they’ll make up their damned minds.”

Though I’d stiffened when Rickon’s words lined up with my thoughts, I eased into laughter at the end. “Mother Nature’s playing with us. What did it get to last week?”

“Ninety-seven,” Viktor said with a shudder.

Rickon snickered at him. “Of course you remember. You whined even more than I do.”

“It was hot. I wasn’t made for sweat and dry heat that fries out my skin.”

“Pansy,” I teased, holding my hands up in a gesture of surrender when he threatened to flick whipped cream at me in retaliation. “Ninety-five, god. It’s no wonder I felt like I was melting. And now the sky’s practically black, and we’ll be lucky if the temperature gets into the seventies. It’s been raining. I had to dig my hoodie out.” I pouted a little, waving my hands and flapping the overlong sleeves of my favorite hoodie as if they needed explanation.

“Whoever’s flipping the switches is a bit bipolar- not that I mind, because you’re stupidly adorable in that sweater,” Viktor said, getting an emphatic nod of agreement as Rickon was too busy sucking down coffee to offer words.

I blinked at him, already too used to his flirting to blush or get flustered as I had at first. I just smiled, small and a tad bit embarrassed. Only Viktor would find me attractive in a hoodie which was four sizes too big. I’d stolen it from Neo two years ago, when he was smaller, and I enjoyed the extra room when I was cuddled up to avoid being out in the rain.

“Besides, it means I can do this.” Viktor lunged forward before I could ask, snatching the sleeves of my sweater where they hung a good four inches past my fingers. He was grinning as he knotted them together so tightly there was no way I was untying them without taking the hoodie off. “Can’t get away from me now. Guess I’ll just have to bring you home with me.”

Rickon froze, wide-eyed and seeming to enjoy the scene unfolding before him. I winced, looking away quickly. “As much as I would love that, I can’t.”

“I don’t think your father’s going to mind if you spend the night out,” Viktor sighed; even I could tell it was half-hearted, because he was used to me turning him down.

I shifted in my seat, unwilling to meet his gaze. “I know. If I was just worried about him, I would go.” Unfortunately, that was the truth; something in me had jumped at the idea of going home with him. It was met with instinctual fear that I would be caught and punished for such sinful, errant feelings- but I couldn’t get Viktor’s claims that there was nothing wrong with it out of my head.

“Really?” Viktor’s eyes were bright again, lit with pleased surprise.

Lips pressed together tightly, I gave a moment’s thought to my explanation. If we were alone, I wouldn’t have had to carefully censor out any mention of pack or wolves- but Rickon was under the assumption that we were as human as he was. “I have a family meeting tonight. My… uncle is discussing the terms of handing over… his company to his, uh, his eldest son.”

Viktor’s eyes widened as he understood; Neo was almost twenty-one, and that meant he was almost of age to take control of our pack. The current alpha would lay out terms, and there would be a long night of negotiation in store. Though in the end, there wouldn’t be much the pack could do other than agree to most of what Neo wanted. Either they agreed, or some other pack would happily take a child of the stars like Neo as their leader.

“Well that’s exciting news. I hope it goes well. But does that mean I can ask you another night?”

“Maybe, if you shut up about it,” I grumbled, too conscious of how much attention Rickon was paying to our back and forth. He could fill in whatever blanks he wanted on his own. But I didn’t need to give him any more fuel for the fire when it came to teasing us.

Viktor’s smile was breathtaking, and I hated him for it. “I’ll take that,” he said, and the answer was apparently good enough for him to free my arms from their knotted trap.

“Good, because if this hadn’t grown completely boring already, I wouldn’t have been able to go back to work. My lunch is over. Thanks for helping me with those calculus problems, Tsuki, you’re a lifesaver,” Rickon said as he stood up, his empty cup tossed into the trash before he tied his apron around his waist again.

“Always a pleasure. We’ll be back on Thursday,” I said, sweeping my books into my bag in no real order.

Viktor winced seeing the chaos, packing up neatly; if even a pencil was out of place, it would drive him crazy. He waited until I was ready before he stood up. Viktor was right at my side as we left, waving a goodbye at Rickon before he opened the door.

I made it two steps before I found myself pinned to the wall, a squeak forced past my lips at the slight pain from the force of it. “V-Viktor? What are you doing?”

“Sh. Can’t you smell it?” His mouth was next to my ear so I could hear his hushed tone over the heavy rain.

I frowned, giving the air a testing sniff. All I could smell was rain. That was the wonderful thing about rain- and the only good thing about it, in my opinion. “No! What am I supposed to be smelling?”

“Your pack. They smell like you,” he hissed, and I froze up.

It took a lot of courage to look over his shoulder, and damn if he wasn’t right. “Fuck,” I spat the word, anger dripping from the expletive. What in the hell were pack wolves doing at my favorite coffee shop? Luna’s was out of their way, it was why I drove there. It had to have something to do with the guy with them, one I didn’t recognize, and the girl clinging to his arm; they were laughing with the pack wolves, and I felt a sharp stab of jealousy seeing those wolves actually be nice to somebody.

It turned into fear when they got closer, and I realized why Viktor’s heart was pounding. I was consorting with not just an outside alpha, but with a member of a forbidden pack. When they found me, they’d finally have every right to kill me no matter what Neo said. “Viktor,” I choked on his name, my hands curling in the sleeves of my hoodie.

He sucked in a breath when I whimpered his name, and yanked me father away from the door. I was against the wall again when he was satisfied. Viktor dragged the hood of my sweatshirt up over my head. It was large enough that when his face was in front of mine, he would be hidden by the fabric, too. I could only imagine what it must have looked like to anybody else.

“Don’t move. Don’t speak. The rain is strong enough that they won’t catch our scents; I only caught theirs because my senses are better than a normal wolf’s. But I’m sure they’re smart enough to recognize your voice. Just stay still. Can you do that for me?” Viktor’s hand came up to cup the side of my face, providing extra protection as the chatter of the group of students hit our ears over the pounding rain.

He didn’t have to tell me not to move; I was frozen stiff, my heart thrumming so fast it was making me dizzy. “Viktor, I’m scared,” I whispered the words, admitting for the first time that my pack was a danger to me; I’d denied it, though he’d been able to tell, and there was sorrow in his gaze when I finally said it out loud.

“I know. I’m sorry. Can I distract you?”

“Please!” I gasped the word, releasing my death grip on my sleeves so I could curl my fingers against the leather of his jacket.

Viktor’s grin was victorious, a little smug, for the few seconds I got to see it before his mouth was against mine. It shorted out my brain for a good minute, long enough to feel the wash of warm air as the door opened to let the pack wolves in. If I was smart, I would have pushed him away and ran for my car.

But the hand which had been cupping my face moved to curl around the back of my neck. His warmth was seeping into me, and it was both comforting and terrifying at the same time. It was the first time somebody had wanted me. My father loved me, and Neo protected me- but this was different. Thrilling. Viktor tested me cautiously, nipping at my bottom lip so that I’d open my mouth for him, and stole my breath away when the kiss became something new and hot enough to melt me.

“Tsuki,” he breathed my name against my lips, and a pleasant shiver ran through me. “Your pheromones are… fucking intense. They’re stronger than ever.”

I couldn’t think, pulling at his jacket to try to bring him back to me. “So? I thought alphas enjoyed an omega’s pheromones. It’s why the girls are treated like queens.”

“Oh, I’m enjoying this- maybe too much. But if we stay here, they’re going to know who you are. I’m okay with breaking the rules- but the whole point of this was avoiding discovery, wasn’t it?”

A low whine trembled in the air between us. “But I don’t want you to stop.”

“Damn,” Viktor hissed the word. “Screw my instincts to hell and back, I wanted to give you more time before- fuck it. My car. They can’t smell through metal.”

He spun me away from the wall, and I was grateful for the hood when we rushed out into the rain. Viktor wasn’t as flashy as Neo, though his car looked just as expensive; it was just less conspicuous. It turned out to be extremely comfortable, though, when I fell into the backseat with Viktor straddling my hips.