- "He Can Manhandle Me Anytime."

Alarice DeVega's PoV:

"Goddess! I fucking hate this shit!" I curse, kicking the huge three-seater couch in my office so hard, it skids across the dark wood floors and comes to a stop a few feet away.

That would've earned me a few broken toes, if I were human.

The football match/ backyard party had just gotten over, and I'd fled the moment the last guest had left.

I just couldn't stand there any longer and pretend that every moment wasn't killing me more and more.

"Calm the fuck down," Kade snaps, walking in like I'd known the jackass would, slamming the door shut behind him, "You're being so loud. Your Mate, Anders would definitely suspect something is going on."

"Just get the hell away from me right now, Kade. I don't wanna hear your 'I told you so'." I snap, turning around, giving him my back as I struggle to put a leash on my raging emotions.

"Woah, woah, woah," He comes around me, raising his hands in defense. His eyes shine with anger and . . . hurt — damn, I deserve the worst friend of the year award — as he crosses his arms, glaring me down, "I'm so glad to know that you think so high of me, Alpha."

The "Alpha" is an insult, the attack clearly hitting its mark like a blow to my heart.

I let my head hang, ashamed, "I'm sorry." I sigh, knowing that I crossed the line.

And the fact that he's still standing right in front of me, still ready to take further blows if I'm ready to dish them out, without actually leaving the room and letting me deal with my own issues just makes me feel even more worse.

Yep, I'm defiantly gonna get the worst best friend in time immemorial award.

I let out a defeated breath, clearing my throat, "I'm so sorry, I know I shouldn't have done that."

"You better."

I smile, knowing that I'm forgiven, but it'll take a while for him to forget.

"So what pissed you off so much? I noticed both of you getting along well after the match. Oh, by the way, we owe them all big time. They were complaining about how running slow enough to pass as human was, and I quote, 'so boring'."

"The food was to compensate that." I roll my eyes, because it'll be an ice cold day in hell before any of those guys accept that it was. "And yeah, we were getting along, but then he questioned about why this place seemed different. Like why we are all so united and stuff."

"Uh oh,"

"Yeah." I nod, the shake of my head, grave. "With me lying about so many things already, I wanted to stick to the truth as much as possible. So I told him it was kind of monarchic, and that father is our current leader."

"You could've just told him that you were."

"Sure. He looked like he wanted to roll his eyes when I said it was father, so I can imagine what he would think if I tell him a girl around his age is ruling over a Pack."

"Shit. I don't like where this is going."

"So basically he just laughed it off. The idea of it all was so absurd to him, he couldn't even take me seriously for two seconds, and when he realized I was not bullshitting, he actually looked at me like I've completely lost it."

"He does that a lot actually," Kade comments, shrugging. "We can't fault him, though. Guess we would react the same in his place."

"Maybe." I sigh for the hundredth time, sinking into my leather chair in despair.

Kade copies me, taking his usual seat in one of the chairs across the table. He scratches his head, looking at me in distress, "What do we do now? Obviously both of you are never gonna get anywhere at this rate because this kidnapping is a huge hurdle in his mind. He's never gonna look at you as anything more than that."

"I'm afraid so." I let my head thump against my forearm as I drop it, my hair serving as a thick brown curtain as it covers my face and falls on the table.

"Way I see it, the best solution is to make your interactions as normal as possible. Like, the situation and surroundings should be what a human his age does when he mates with a female, so he loses himself in the scenario and actually starts seeing you as more."

"You have a point." I look up, straightening as a new wave of hope washes over me, "But what do we do? As long as we're here, it's not gonna happen."

"How about a vacation?" He snaps his fingers, grinning. "Just the two of you."

I look at him in horror, "No way, Beauregard. Firstly, going on a vacation is not my idea of fun. Okay, maybe if it's him and me I'll like it, but then again, he'll just feel like I kidnapped him from one place to another."

"Yeah, you're right about that." He agrees, shaking his head.

"A set-up accident where you take the injury for him?" He ponders out loud after a moment, looking at me thoughtfully.

"No," I shoot it down immediately, "Granted, I already love him a lot," I surprise us both by saying it out loud for the first time, "that would only serve as showing how much I love him. He thinks it's a fake marriage. So obviously I'm supposed to not have feelings for him." I sigh, "I'd be happy if he sees me as anything but his kidnapper. That much wiggle room is all I'm asking for. But he isn't giving me a frigging inch."

"He's a tough cookie."

"Did you just call my Mate, your Aleph, a cookie?"

"What?" He looks at me, baffled, "I'm hungry and it's a common human phrase."

"Whatever."

We remain silent for a few minutes, just thinking.

"This is hopeless." I groan, "Nothing's happening. I'm clueless."

He hums in response, "Don't give up yet. We'll figure it out. Wait, you saw him come out of a Barnes&noble store right?"

"Yeah." I rub my temples, wishing he building ache there along with all these complications would just go away. I look up suddenly, both of us grinning slowly as I understand his train of thought.

"He loves books!"

"Yeah, so you've gotta do something with that."

"Hm, I just have to figure out what that is now."

* * *

"Anders!" I sing, rushing into the wide open doorway of our room. I slow down as I enter, stopping myself from entering fully. Anders looks up from the same notepad I'd seen him using this morning, closing it quickly when he realizes that I'm looking at it with unmistakeable interest.

Not quick enough though.

My sharp senses had caught a rapid glance.

And I'm surprised.

"You illustrate manga?" I gush, unable to stop myself.

He looks at me strangely, almost as if he's pleased, but doesn't know what to think of it.

"Crap! I'm so dumb at this social thing. I said something weird again and messed it up, didn't I? I did, I definitely did, shit, fück!" I turn away, running my hands through the root of my hair as I make a conscious effort to not rip a chunk out in frustration.

"You actually didn't." He says quietly, shaking his head with a smile, as if he found me endearing. If he thinks anything of my potty mouth, he doesn't say it.

Ha, you wish, Alarice, you wish. You want him to like you so much that you're constantly analyzing every move of his for signs that he does.

So pathetic, I know.

"No?" I ask, unsure and too scared to believe.

"No," He confirms, smiling, "The way you said 'illustrate' instead of 'draw' was . . . I don't know, seemed to me like you didn't find it a waste of time," He shrugs, a wonderful shake of red staining the apples of his cheeks, "And that you called it 'manga' instead of a 'comic'. Both draw and comic are not any form of derogatory terms and are almost the same semantically, but the way you said it surprised me is all." He grins, the red deepening as he averts his gaze, apprehensively fidgeting with the pencil he still held.

Score!

I have to make a big effort to stop myself from breaking into a victory dance.

Yay!

I clear my throat, controlling a megawatt grin to a smaller one, "Well, takes an otaku to know one. I used to be obsessed until I took over as —" I bite my tongue, stopping myself in a second, "Until I took off to college. Life was busy in those 4 years."

"You're not pursuing a Masters degree?" He queries, tilting his head, intrigued.

Thank Goddess, he doesn't seem bothered that I'm almost 2 years older than him.

Then again, he doesn't know that we're in a relationship.

"Um," I contemplate how much to reveal, "No." I finally admit, sighing, "I'm twenty-two already. And Dad wanted me to come and intern with him so I can learn." I say vaguely, hoping he would just drop it.

He does, taking the hint.

"So I wanted to take you to the humble library that Oakhill boasts. Thought we could grab a ton of books and buddy-read."

He mulls it over for a moment, probably considering whether I would kill him or not.

Yeah, I know that he thinks the worst of me. No need to rub it in my face.

"P.S. Don't think I've forgotten about the manga." I add, grinning cheekily.

Yes, I'm a dork who actually says "P.S."

"Um, okay, I guess. What can go wrong with books?"

I smile broadly, finally giving him that megawatt grin I'd been controlling earlier.

* * *

"This is the 'humble library'!?" Anders gasps, looking up at the huge monstrosity with his jaw hanging open.

Yeah, I guess that it kind of looks like a palace with all the marble intricacies in its exterior, and creamy accents that compliment it perfectly.

I smirk, unable to help myself as I turn off the ignition, twisting the keys out. "C'mon." I chuckle, "You're gonna catch flies."

That instantly makes him shut his mouth, but he still looks at the building with awe, his eyes round as he takes it all in.

Score two for Alarice!

Well, technically Kade suggested it, but it's me versus the stubborn Anders here, so it's gotta be a point for Team Alarice.

"This is awesome!" He yells, as he gets out of the car, banging the door close in his enthusiasm. I wince at the loud sound, feeling my heart lurch at him manhandling my baby Camaro.

'He can manhandle me anytime.' My horny-all-the-time and not-so-subtle Wolf sighs in my head, dragging my thoughts to the gutter in a moment.

Damn, one of these days I'll have to start paying rent to the gutter for all the time my mind spends there.

Fûck that, I'll probably buy it.

"Sorry," He apologizes instantly — and for one disoriented second I'm clueless as to what he's talking about — patting the door like it was a pet. He meets my eyes, and I knew he got why it'd affected me.

Only people who love their cars can get their heads around it.

"No problem." I say immediately, coming around to grab his hand, using it as an excuse to to touch him, as if he wasn't a perfectly functional human capable of following me inside.

Well, for argument's sake, let's just pretend he isn't.

I can feel him withdrawing for a second, trying to pull away but, nuh uh, I'm not having any of that. I tighten my grip slightly as I drag him through the arched doorway, hoping like hell he won't rip his palm out of my grip completely.

I almost exhale in relief when I feel him relax and give in.

"My granddad was a huge book fanatic. He was the one who funded its construction." I explain as we cross the threshold, entering the quiet building with me leading.

"Wow, so you own this place."

"Technically, it's public property. But yeah, sort of."

The librarian at the front desk nods at me, standing up with a greeting on the tip of his tongue. I silence him with a look, commanding him with my eyes to sit down and act normal.

He complies immediately, going back to his seat with a warm smile.

"Hello, Braeden." I greet the slightly older man, taking Anders' lack of attention to us, to my advantage, pretending as if we didn't just have an exchange.

Braeden plays along as best as he can, "Hello, Ms. DeVega."

I chuckle with forced effort, "I've told you a million times, it's Alarice."

"I understand the pain." Anders chimes in, finally diverting his attention to me, "Sometimes, people just refuse to call you by your name. My butler back home is one of 'em."

I beam, thankful that he didn't pick up on anything dubious.

"I know, right."

"Lead the way, Ms. DeVega. Let's dig in!"

The enthusiasm he shows for a frigging library has me jealous of an inanimate building for the first time in my life.

Goddess, I need help.

"Yeah," I agree, sourly, "Let's dig in." I chime, taking the longest way to the fiction and mystery section, because I'll have no choice but to unlink our hands when we reach there.

Yes, it's official. I definitely need help.

Or a healthy dose of my yummy man-candy of a Mate, Anders Larzelere every fucking day.

* * *

And there it is, an update!

THANK YOU MY DEAR AWESOME READERS!

I can't thank y'all enough for all these reads and votes. Please continue to make me a happy person.

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thanks once again!