DEDICATION: As promised, I updated early for your birthday. Have an awesome day! :P

          "Hey, are you OK?" Christian asked, coming up behind me.

          I jumped at the sound of his voice. I'd practically been hyperventilating as I leaned slumped against a wall in a deserted corridor.

           "Yeah. I just felt a little queasy back there." I shrugged and attempted to smile, turning to look at him. It wasn't exactly a lie; I had been on the verge of throwing up in Luca's classroom.

           "Maybe you should just go back home?" he suggested, brushing some hair off my face. "I stood ages outside the girls bathroom, thinking you'd run in there to puke or something. It was only when I saw Vera and sent her in after you, that I realized you weren't there."

           "I'm so sorry," I apologized. Leaning into him, I pressed my face into his chest. He was so warm, and so kind and thoughtful. Every moment I spent with him since that night in the club, I was reminded that I'd probably jeopardized my relationship, my friendship, with one of the best people in my life.  

          I felt his face in my hair as he squeezed me. "Come on, I'll take you home."

           "No. Honestly, I'm fine. I think I just need something to eat, I didn't have any breakfast," I told him. I'd kill for the chance to get away from here, but going home would mean having to carry on this stupid charade for my mom. I didn't have the energy for that. "Let's go get something out of one of the vending machines."

            I grabbed his hand, and attempted to put at least some resemblance of normalcy into my expression.

            ***

          I couldn't wait for the bell to ring, signalling the end of the school day. Every time I stepped out of a classroom, I kept glancing around anxiously, hoping that I wouldn't see Luca. Hoping that I would.

          I'd decided that I would go to his apartment. There was no ignoring this – especially considering that I would have to see him on a daily basis for the rest for the school year. The thought made me feel nauseas.

          We needed to figure out where to go from here. I'd go to his apartment and find out what he had to say, and then... well, I had no idea. I did however know that I couldn't live with any more what ifs, so I would go just for some peace of mind. Hopefully.

          I still couldn't believe that this was happening. Maybe this was a sign from the universe. An omen. I shouldn't go. I should avoid him like the plague.

          Did he still feel that undeniable attraction between the two of us? What if he didn't want to talk at all, and wanted to fool around instead?

          Yes, a voice inside me hissed in victory.

          NO! I all but yelled back. He'd been sneaking glances at me throughout the hour, but that was to be expected. There was no way anything would be happening after school. He was probably far too worried about losing his job to even think of me as anything other than his worst nightmare come to life.

          But why did everything inside of me refuse to believe that?

          He wants us.

          I was so fucked up. This whole situation was completely fucked up.  Maybe if I'd told Christian already... but what would that have done? Absolutely nothing. It felt like there was something snarling inside of me, trying desperately to claw free. I tried my hardest not to whimper, to remain perfectly still.

           I had been staring at the clock in front of me for the past half hour while the seconds slowly ticked by. I looked around now to see if anyone had noticed anything. The growling and roaring in my head were so loud, I was sure that everyone else could hear it too but they all seemed completely oblivious.

          I should go to a doctor. But what the hell would I say? I'm hearing voices? That was a one-way ticket to getting myself institutionalised.

          As the last bell finally rang, I gathered all my stuff and headed outside to where Christian had parked his car this morning. He'd told me at lunch that he'd be waiting for me next to it, and not one to ever let me down, he was already there when I arrived.

           "Hey, baby, how'd your afternoon go?" he asked as I approached.

           "It was fine." I shrugged. We had different schedules after lunch. "You coming round to mine?" I asked, hoping the answer would be a no. I needed to go see Luca.

           "Not today. I have a doctor's appointment." He played with a bracelet on my wrist as he spoke.

           "For your throat?" I asked. He looked tired, which had become the norm for him. "Is it keeping you up at night?"                                                                                                                                          

           "I'm fine," he said, which wasn't really an answer at all. He placed a quick kiss on my cheek. "It's just a check-up. I'll drop you off at your house first."

           No one was there when I arrived home. Ditching my backpack, I grabbed my car keys and headed back out of the door again. I saw a text message from Vera asking to hang out, but I ignored it, too anxious to come up with an excuse. We had no classes together and even our lunch period was different. Aside from this morning, I hadn't seen her all day and I surmised that the rest of the school year would be like that. I couldn't even bring myself to be upset by that right now, I was too wound up.

          I drove as slowly as I could, wanting to delay the inevitable. If I hadn't decided to go to his apartment, I was sure that he would have tried to seek me out at school. It would have been disastrous if someone had overheard us, and I guess I kind of owed him an explanation.

          I turned into the familiar street, recalling how I'd run away as fast as I could the last time I was here. I parked in front of the apartment complex, and glanced nervously up at it. It wasn't a huge building. It had three floors and I remembered that Luca's apartment was on the second level. There was a man dressed in security uniform outside, so it must have been one of the more expensive apartments in the city. I couldn't remember if the security guard had been there when I'd fled last week. There certainly hadn't been somebody there that night when Luca and I had rushed into the elevator. Or maybe there had been, and I'd been too absorbed by Luca to notice. It was possible.

          I pressed the button for his floor once I was inside the elevator, and waited nervously for it to close. What would I say to him? What really was there to say?

          When the elevator dinged and the doors opened, I felt sick with apprehension. I couldn't remember his apartment number, but I was sure that it was further down the corridor, on the right.

          I braced myself as I knocked on his door.

          When it opened a short while later, I was both relieved and a little stumped to see that it wasn't Luca. Had I come to the wrong apartment after all?

          I looked at the guy who'd opened the door a little warily. He openly perused me in return, his eyes roaming from head to toe. There was something familiar about him, but I couldn't pinpoint what it was.

           "Are you done yet?" I asked asI crossed my arms over my chest, feeling a little peeved. And a little worried. He was really tall and really built. It was hard not to feel a little concerned by his appearance.

          His grin turned predatory, and it suddenly hit me that he was the bouncer of AngelEyes, the club I'd met Luca at. He opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by a voice from inside.

                 "Is it her, Keaton?" I heard Luca say. I exhaled slowly, my nerves making a reappearance.

           "I hope not," Keaton murmured. What did he mean by that? He was brushed aside as Luca appeared in the doorway. He looked really anxious, but as soon as he saw me, his expression became tranquil.

           "Hey." I smiled uncertainly.

           "Hi," he whispered, staring at me like he was drinking me in.

          I couldn't tear my eyes away from him either. He was so hot, I couldn't help but be struck by his looks every time I saw him. But more than that – I couldn't help but feel every cell in my body respond to his presence.

          A small dazed smile began to tug at the corner of his lips, as his eyes stayed latched on mine. I smiled at him again – this time more genuinely. He just looked so pleased to see me that I couldn't help but feel flattered by it. He was practically a stranger to me, but it felt like I'd known him forever.

           "Are you going to stand there staring at her like an idiot all night, or are you actually going to invite her in?" Keaton's voice penetrated through my thoughts – and Luca's too, judging by the way he jolted. He looked at Keaton like he'd forgotten he was there. Seeing the two of them, side by side, I saw the similarities in their appearances and realized that they were probably related.

           "What are you still doing here?" Luca demanded.

           "I was just leaving." Keaton put his hands in the air before he swept past me, his hips brushing against mine. He winked at me. "Nice meeting you."  

          I heard a growl, much like the one I'd noticed in Luca's classroom earlier. I blinked, startled to see that it had come from Luca. What the hell?

           "Leave already, will you?" Luca said to Keaton, his eyes softening as he looked at me. "Please, come in."

          I stepped inside, getting up close and personal to him as he didn't step away from the doorway. It was a tight fit and most of my body made contact with his as I passed. It caused goose bumps to rise on my arm, and I shivered at the electrifying energy coursing through me.

           "Make yourself at home." He gestured towards the couch, looking just as affected by the contact as I was. He took a deep breath and clenched his hands, almost as though he was keeping himself in check. "I'll be right back."

          I blinked as he headed swiftly out the door I'd just come through. For a moment, I simply watched those broad shoulders of his ripple as he walked out the door, before I got up and tiptoed curiously towards it.

          Luca was just a few feet away, whispering heatedly to Keaton.

         "That's her? Whoa, she sure is something," Keaton was saying. Had Luca talked to him about me? I felt my face heat at the thought.

           "Yeah she is, so what the hell was all that about?" Luca looked furious, his jaw ticking as he spoke.

           "Calm down, Dane."  Keaton shook his head at him. Dane? He'd told me his name was Luca.

           "Don't flirt with her," Luca or Dane spoke so forcefully that Keaton stepped back.

          I backed away from the door. It looked like the conversation was almost over and I didn't want to get caught eavesdropping. This was not going how I'd thought it would. He was being all... possessive? Maybe I was reading everything wrong. I was his student, of course he'd warn off his roommate.

           "Dane? I thought your name was Luca," I said quietly as I heard him come back into the apartment. He shut the door, but I didn't turn to look at him. I was trying so hard to act blasé, but we were completely alone in the apartment and the air between us was charged.

Luca's POV

           "Luca is my first name. Apart from my mother, everyone tends to call me by my middle name, Dane," I explained to her. I was sure that she could feel my eyes boring into the side of her face, but she didn't turn away from where she was, looking out of the damned window.

          Wanting – no, needing – her to look at me, I stepped closer to the couch and took a seat right next to her. I inhaled, letting her scent calm my wolf, and tried to ignore the small subtle whiff of her human boy that lingered on her skin. It infuriated me, and I was already on edge due to Keaton's small display. He lusted after her. Lusted after what was mine.

          I took a deep breath, unsure what to say. I had to warn her, but how? I had done a lot of research this past week about human and wolf matings. Keaton had helped – as had my uncle and my parents. They'd been really supportive, though their pity was too much for me to deal with at times. Everyone knew just how much I'd wanted to meet my mate, and for her to leave me... their sympathy was suffocating.

          There was a library in Rome that had records about werewolves worldwide, dating all the way back to the fourteenth century. I had an uncle who worked at the library, and we'd been conversing everyday through phone calls. According to him, there was no way for a human and a wolf to mate. It just wasn't done. It was like a lion falling in love with a lamb.

          Somewhere in Camilla's – or Mila, as I had heard her friends call her – genome, there was a dormant gene. It happened sometimes. A werewolf would be born malformed and unable to transform into a werewolf. They'd be the Omega of the pack and they often left to become rogue. They usually mated with humans as they themselves were essentially nothing more than human. Omega's still tended to carry werewolf genes though, hence why Mila was my mate. Somewhere in her family history, she had an Omega ancestor. She wasn't fully human.

          I hadn't gotten the chance to mark her that night. I'd beaten myself over it for days after she'd left. If I had marked her, then I would have been able to find her. Instead, I'd spent this past week agonizing over possibly never seeing her again. I'd only learned last night, from Uncle Trevor, that even if I had marked her, it wouldn't have worked. It would have been like just a normal human bite, and would probably have freaked her the hell out.

           "I think I'll stick to calling you Luca." She finally turned to look at me, and I fidgeted. Grabbing a pillow, I put it over my lap to hide my arousal. I couldn't help it. She was so beautiful and my wolf was wild for her. He wanted to mate with her again, and it was taking everything in me to hold him back. "Why did you want me to come here? No one knows about that night and I won't tell anyone. You don't have to worry about losing your job."

          My job?

           My job was so far off my mind, it was laughable. I didn't care about losing it. I cared about her. I'd have quit today just so I could have her without any consequences, but I could tell that nothing would be happening between us soon. I needed a way to stay close to her, to keep an eye out for signs of her wolf. I'd have to keep my job for her, even if it meant maintaining my distance for now. And she had that... that boy. Of course she would keep what had happened quiet.

          She wouldn't want him to know that she'd been with someone else, I thought, bitterly. It was hard to not to think bitter thoughts. She was mine – not his. She was my everything.

          I hadn't been sleeping this past week – at all. I'd pace my room for hours on end, until I couldn't take it anymore. Then I'd go to the nearby forest and shift, running till I was so exhausted that I couldn't help but sleep. Even though the circumstances were awful, I wasn't going to back down like a cowardly pup. I would make her mine. He wouldn't be in the picture much longer anyway. His scent had informed me of that.

          If the boy had been a wolf, I would have challenged him right there and then for her. Challenges didn't happen much anymore. Most werewolves had become tamed and civilized over the centuries as we adapted to blend in with humans. Only the ravages – the rogues – still held some of the old sacred rituals, like the combattimento, the fight for the right to claim a she-wolf.

          But he wasn't a wolf. He was human, and our laws protected him from harm.

          I needed to warn her that she would be shifting soon. She needed to be prepared. But if I told her, there was little chance that she would believe me. If I tried to show her, she'd probably run out of the room screaming. In wolf form, I wouldn't be able to chase her. Not in public.

           "Luca?" she asked softly, her voice penetrating through my thoughts. I realized that I hadn't answered her question.

          I looked at my mate and could see her eyes darting towards the front door every now and then, like she was debating leaving. Her long red hair looked a little tousled, like she'd been running her hands through it, and I itched to run my fingers through those tangles of hers. There was a hint of nervousness coming from her scent though, and I was sure that my long silence had caused it. A bout of affection went through me as I continued to gaze at her. She was perfect.

          I had been restraining myself, but I couldn't help but lean in a little closer to her, twisting a lock of her hair around my finger.

           "Luca?" she repeated, her voice barely a whisper. I watched a pretty pink flush work its way high onto her cheeks.

          What should I say?