Camila smelled the prince before she saw him.

She was at the royal pack's north side high school library doing her daily rounds, organizing and removing books the students had put in the wrong places.

"Your Highness, a pleasure to see you," Camila said, not looking down from the top of the twenty-foot tall ladder she was on.

"You do not feel pleasure, knowledge keeper," the prince said coolly.

She listened for the presence of another person. She could hear a few behind a shelf twenty-five feet away, trying to either get a look at the prince or eavesdrop on their conversation. Both reasons irked her. She felt another emotion coming, the first since she saw him last night.

Irritation.

"Social mannerisms are a chore. Did I say it wrong?" she asked him as she put the last book in its place, trying to mask how she felt. He still noticed.

Are you okay, sweetheart?, he mindlinked her. She jerked her head in the direction of the eavesdroppers.

I noticed them as soon as I entered; we'll leave here when you're done, he mindlinked again.

"I have a message from the king," he said.

The king, not my father.

He was trying not to alert any eavesdropper of the somewhat intimate tie between both of them. Did he finally see the sense in what she had said or was he just temporarily agreeing until he could find a way to convince her?

Either one didn't sit right with her.

Camila slid down half the length of the ladder and jumped down the rest at neck-breaking speed. His hand moved forward to hold her, but he stopped himself at the last second.

Don't do that to me, mate, he exploded in her head.

"A fall from twenty feet would not hurt the average wolf, much less me," she muttered, knowing he would hear her. She made quick work with a bow. The crown prince rolled his eyes.

Why not just mind link? he asked.

"My wolf is inactive. I have her strength but I do not have a solid connection with her. Hence, I cannot mind link." She straightened, extending her hand to receive the scroll. "But this is not the time or place for that discussion, Your Highness."

She moved to put it in her bag, but he held her hand to stop her.

They reacted immediately to the sparks: his hands flew into his pockets, and she clumsily dropped the scroll.

As she bent to pick it up, ensuring her back was to the girls, she muttered, "I would rather we refrain from touching each other in public, Your Highness."

So we can in private, he said slyly. In mind link, of course.

Without thinking, she reached under his right ankle and yanked out his leg hairs. The prince flinched but composed himself, glaring at her. She stood and began to walk outside of the building in the direction of her office, three streets away.

When Camila entered and shut the door of the fairly used building with only three rooms in it, she turned to him and held up the scroll. "I assume I am expected to read the contents right away."

He had been staring at her. Her voice seemed to snap him out of the trance he was in.

He shook his head. "Yes, yes, you are."

She opened it and read through it. As she did, she slowly realized her plan of avoiding him had failed. She hadn't remembered this detail when she was rescheduling her daily schedule to ensure they don't cross paths until the earlier proposed time for the wedding. She had even planned to deliver a letter to the palace that evening, advising the king and queen to reconsider their decision to annul the prince's wedding to Evangeline.

"Your Highness, do you know the contents of this letter?"

She watched him intently while listening to his heartbeat for any indication of a lie.

"No, but my dad did look smug as he handed it to me. Now that I think about it, why did he send me to you?" he mused, rubbing my jaw. Truth.

Camila let out a short breath. "You only just think about it now."

He stepped closer to her. "The only thing I did think about was the fact that I was going to see you without making up an excuse."

Another truth.

Her heart skipped a beat. Suddenly, Camila wished she had paid more attention to Freda when she was ranting about her emotions and her newest crush. Clearing her throat for no reason, Camila handed the prince the scroll.

It read:

To Miss Camila Athena Allard,
Greetings from His Majesty, The King.
His Majesty, King Lucian Gerard requests your presence in his meeting room at 19:00 hours today. As you may have previously discussed, it is time for Crown Prince Alexander Gerard to begin his knowledge training in the shifter kingdom archives. Over the next six months, you shall educate the prince on the history and customs he could not have learned in school. This is to prepare him for his ascent to the throne. His Majesty looks forward to seeing you.

As the prince read, his smile grew.

"So, I get to see you for at least six hours every day with permission from the king? This is the best thing he has ever done for me."

He laughed, picking Camila up and twirling her. His green eyes brightly staring at her caused something warm to blossom inside her. His happiness was contagious, and she felt her facial muscles twitching upwards in a smile.

That would be a first.

When he dropped her, that was when they realized how close they were to each other in an empty, locked room.

He moved first.

Prince Alexander crashed his lips on hers. Her knees gave way. If he was not holding on tightly to her, Camila was sure she would have fallen.

A second later, she closed her eyes and let the feelings of pleasure, completion, and happiness flood into her, washing away her uncertainty and fear about their relationship.

She began to see colors behind her eyes; the air touching her skin seemed lighter, almost soft. She felt like she was flying above the ocean in a cloud of jasmine.

Who knew she could feel this way?

She held him by his collar and moved him impossibly closer.

He tugged on her lower lip, and she responded, opening her mouth. As soon as their tongues touched, he groaned, and just like that, their bubble shattered.

Camila pushed him away and jumped back a few feet, trying to catch her breath. He leaned on her desk, doing the same.

"That was amazing," he said, chuckling.

Prince Alexander was a unique being among men—with his light brown hair looking gold in the sun, his green eyes welcoming, but reminding that the forest is dangerous. She could see the joy and mischief in those pools as he tried to step closer to her.

Camila scurried a few more feet away. "Yes, it was. Do not come any closer, and never do that again."

He scoffed. "If I was going to let you go, I won't now. Not after I've tasted that."

His eyes fell on her lips. Camila jumped atop the shelf behind her. "You know why we should not repeat that although it was..."

A shudder of pleasure ran through her.

He grinned up at her. "You're feeling, aren't you?"

"Too much. Freda did not tell me a first kiss was supposed to feel this way," she whispered. "Maybe I would have been more prepared."

He started laughing but suddenly stopped, all humor gone from his features.

Did she break him?

"T-that was your f-first kiss?" he whispered, now looking sad.

"I do not...understand the need for physical contact, and even if I wanted to, I have been isolated, reading my whole life," she said.

After leaving school when she was seven to start her education with the previous archivist, she lost all contact with everyone aside from her family. Since then, her entire life has been based on the accumulation of knowledge.

He stared at her for a few seconds, then knelt and bowed, his head to the ground.

"I am sorry for not being there to protect you, for not waiting for you so we can experience our firsts together. From now till forever, I promise to think of you before anything else. I promise to always be by your side when you need me and when you do not. I promise to be your shield against the demons of your past that may surround you. I was incomplete before you, and I shall be incomplete without you," he said before jumping on the shelf she was on.

"B-but...This shouldn't h-happen...y-you..." she stuttered as he held her.

She was a mess, a stuttering emotional mess.

With each of his words, she could feel his love and acceptance pouring into her heart, threatening to burst it at its seams. She could feel his scent and presence, satisfying a need for unity that she did not know she had. She wanted to throw it all to the wind and latch onto him and never let go, but she knew she could not.

He was a prince, next in line to the throne. His obligation was to his kingdom. Their relationship would only cause problems.

As if he read her thoughts, he said, "I know you feel hesitant about being with me. You don't understand why I'm willing to risk my crown to be with you but allow me to show you there's more to life than words and algorithms. I'll take it slow as you want, I promise. It'll be our little secret".

He kissed her shoulder lightly before getting down from the shelf. "I'll see you in a few hours."

As he walked out of the room, she stared at him, her hands lightly touching her still-tingling lips. Despite what would generally be termed a scandal that had occurred, she wanted to smile. She covered her face with her hands and made a high pitched noise, looking forward to the next time she saw the prince.