Alexius stiffened. So far, in the three days since the blood moon, no one had caught on to the strangest thing that had occurred that night.

The fact that he’d been outside of their walls.

Alexius had no idea how to answer that, so he’d been relieved that it had passed under the radar. Count on Fin Varra to ruin it.

“Shit.” Realization dawned on Luke’s face. “You were outside of Oldcrest. Is your curse over?”

Alexius laughed, remembering the searing pain each of his steps had caused him when he’d gone out. He’d felt his skin burn bit by bit.

“I don’t think so. I was literally barbecued alive.”

Levi frowned. “Then how?”

Alexius shrugged. “Didn’t kill me. So I kept going. I got the job done, that’s the main thing.”

“But,” Fin stated, “you weren’t pretty doing it. That’s the real tragedy.”

Alexius could never tell whether the fae was joking. There was a chance that he meant it.

“Well done, Helsing. It must have taken a lot of strength.”

Alexius shifted uncomfortably. “Are you going to be able to get the board to enroll her, then?” he asked. Because he wanted to know as much as he wanted to shift the attention away from him.

He didn’t have issues talking about himself. Conversely, that fucking curse was a subject he never liked to broach.

“Yeah, sure. I wasn't certain the old crones would approve, however, admission shouldn't be a problem, given her transcript, interview, and sponsorship.”

While Levi owned the land, he had no administrative role in the school, which meant that enrollments had to go through the board for anyone he recommended.

A sponsorship by Levi usually meant instant approval, but they hadn't been certain with Avani, since they'd guessed she wouldn't have much of a transcript, as a member of the Elder Pack.

"I’ll speak to her to see what Avani herself wants to do. Given her previous record, she might be able to get enough credits to do her undergrad in one year, then switch to a master’s program. I mean, she doesn’t have to, it’s just that the usual courses might not challenge her. Her records are as good as any vampire.”

“Send her to me. I’ll train her.” Fin got to his feet, his long black cape trailing behind him, and sailed out, as if the subject was over.

Which, Alexius supposed, it was.

“Aren’t we worried about throwing the poor girl to him?” Luke asked.

“No,” Levi replied.

“She’ll be just fine,” Mikar supplied.

Alexius remained silent.

Fin was admittedly the most knowledgeable creature in this world. Perhaps not the smartest, but he’d lived longer than any of them. He was an excellent teacher.

He was also ridiculously pretty, and had a reputation for punishing his apprentices by licking them and denying them orgasms until they came up with the right answer.

Perhaps not apprentices—those he liked the look of. And he’d like Avani. How could he not?

Alexius got to his feet. “I’m out of here.”

“Class to teach?” Mikar asked.

“Something like that.”

He didn’t have anything on his schedule for the rest of the night, actually, hence why he’d been working on the fusion spell again.

He left the tower to return home.

He’d avoided his house as much as possible for the last couple of days. It smelled wrong. Too enticing and forbidden. Too…Avani.

Even if it weren’t for his self-inflicted rules, he wasn’t the kind of asshole who would make a move on a girl who’d just been kicked out of her only home and chased by her family. But he wanted to. God, he fucking wanted to.

Walking in and following his sense of smell to his lounge, he found the damnable temptress on the floor, her ass in the air and her thighs spread wide. Never mind that Greer, Blair, Cat, Gwen, and Chloe were contorted in the exact same position right next to her; his attention was solely focused on her incredible legs.

“Am I interrupting an orgy? Because I’d like to watch.”

Chloe giggled. “Sorry, Alexius. We borrowed your lounge for a yoga session.”

“So I see.”

It wasn't the first time that he'd walked in to find his house commandeered by these girls. In less than a week, the quiet home had turned into a hub of activity, a place where people gathered to relax. He would have said he had no idea how that had occurred, except that would have been inaccurate. It was her. Avani had the sort of presence that made people want to spend time with her, include her in their plans. She was magnetic. A little like Chloe, though perhaps in a different way. Chloe made people around her feel like they should please her. Avani made them feel like they wanted to have fun with her.

Reluctantly, Alexius left them to it, heading to his kitchen and starting half a dozen green smoothies. He was halfway through mixing apple, spinach, and banana, when he winced, realizing how damn pussy-whipped he was. Particularly for a man who wasn't getting said pussy.

He poured himself a glass of blood, downing it like it was water. He knew he was drinking too much, but it was the lesser of two evils right now. Satisfying his thirst for blood helped him to control his desires, curb his impulses. He knew that if he was hungry, surrounded by her smell and watching her, he’d pounce. He just would. Because Avani looked at him in a way that made it clear she might let him.

Fuck.

Alexius wanted her like he couldn't remember ever wanting any woman, but he'd decided against exploring their chemistry, with great reluctance. For one, she lived in his place; he didn't want things to become complicated to the point where she might not feel comfortable here. Secondly, she was a student; a student who might be postgrad as soon as next year. That made her doubly off limits.

Thirdly, he liked the woman.

Liking them immediately put them on a list of females he wouldn't touch. Sex was impersonal for him and it needed to stay that way.

With Avani, it would be personal. Intimate. He'd take her everywhere, every which way, over and over. And not just once; he knew he'd want her for a longer period of time.

So he was going to keep his hands to himself, no matter how fucking delicious she looked in yoga pants.

He brought the drinks to the lounge and placed them on a side table.

Another glance at her ass, now up in the air in a dog pose, had him stifle a groan.

"I need a drink."

Again.

Freedom

By the time Alexius emerged from his study, the girls had gone back home. Avani was the only one left.

Greer had stayed in the house for one day, then she'd gone back to the Institute dorm, after Levi had scheduled bodyguards around her.

Avani wasn’t going to admit it, but she liked it when it was just them. Alexius was different without an audience.

He played nice in front of Greer and Chloe and Levi. He had the occasional sarcastic retort, yet overall he remained on his best behavior. Controlled. Fake. His movements were purposely slower, as if to deliberately appear less threatening.

With her, he relaxed. He wasn’t always here, but when he was, it was him she saw, not a polite, watered-down version. He didn't try to pretend to be a nice, friendly guy. He let her see the predator. Case in point, he had a glass of red liquid that clearly smelled like blood in his hand. Greer said he never drank in front of her.

"Did Luke call you? He got your transcript."

She grinned. "He said the board is okay with my starting next week. I'll have a dorm room, so your sister can have her room back."

"I'm sure she'll appreciate that, wherever she is."

Avani tilted her head. “What’s with that? Feel free to tell me to butt out of your affairs, of course.”

He didn’t. Instead, he explained, “My little sister was sickly. My mother’s attention was entirely on her, and my father wasn’t the paternal type, so I didn’t have any role model. She blames herself for my turning out the way I did.”

Avani didn’t like that one bit. “You turned out all right.”

The vampire laughed. “Well, then, you don’t know me very well.”

“True.”

He sipped some of the blood out of his wine glass.

There was something carnal and sensual about it. Fascinating.

"You look like you want a taste."

For a wild second, her eyes on his lips, she wondered if he'd meant something else entirely, but he handed her his glass.

She hesitated, biting her lip.

"It's synthetic, if it makes you feel better. Go on. You only live once, and all that."

"That's awfully cliché."

She took the glass anyway, sniffed at it, before wetting her lips and licking it.

It was sweet and velvety. A lot better than she would have imagined.

She took a sip, closing her eyes as it traveled down her throat.

Avani handed him the glass back. "Not bad," she admitted. "It's not too different from animal blood. I like rabbits."

"I had a pet rabbit, once."

Avani shrugged. "I'd have eaten it in a pinch."

He laughed, then his expression changed, darkening without warning as his attention turned to the open window at his left.

Vampires were like that; with you one minute, elsewhere the next. Avani saw Chloe do her best to concentrate on the moment from time to time; Alexius never bothered when they were alone.

"What is it?"

In the next instant, she heard it. One lone howl, soon joined by others.

Ah.

"Your old friends. I think they're going on a run."

She could have guessed as much. "They do it every week inside the territory as a pack. They stay in the Wolvswoods."

She thought she managed to hide the deep longing that clawed at her insides, but Alexius leaped on it like it had been written across her forehead. "You miss it. You want to run. Have you even shifted in four days?”

She had, every night in her room. But she hadn't run.