Reese stumbled into her classroom, a couple of minutes late. Her face was flushed, a combination of embarrassment for interrupting the lecture and whatever other unidentifiable Nathan-related stuff whirled around in her head. She'd never before experienced those incredible highs and lows over seemingly such a small thing and didn't know what to do about them.

The professor didn't acknowledge her tardiness, so she slipped into her seat, still breathing heavily from her frantic run across campus. Pulling out her books as unobtrusively as possible, she got herself ready for class, and let the professor's voice wash over her as she settled in to learn.

Except instead of properly listening, her mind kept straying back to Nathan, like she'd already been pulled in to orbit around him. The more she tried to suppress thoughts of him, the worst they seemed to get. Normally, she would have found the topic at hand interesting—after all, who wouldn't find an in depth analysis of the different branches of seventeenth century literature interesting?—but her mind just wouldn't stay focused.

And if she wasn't focused, she might miss something that very well could be on the test later. That thought chilled her. She straightened in her chair, breathed in and out  a couple of times, and then turned her attention back to the lesson at hand. She was pretty sure she could stare at Nathan for a hundred years and would still find him mind-numbingly attractive, so her befuddlement clearly wasn't going anywhere.

The rest of the lecture went more smoothly after she got down to business, but she was still relieved that it was over, and even more relieved when her professor didn't feel the need to pull her aside to criticize her for her tardiness. Other students were sometimes late, but she'd never paid attention to what happened to them afterwards.

Once safely away from the classroom, she ducked into a little study alcove and pulled out her phone. The only text she'd received was from Harley, telling her a bunch of stuff about their coming plans. She held her breath and wrote and rewrote a response, asking if they could bring another guest along.

Unlike usual, Harley didn't instantly respond, so Reese could only guess that she was probably neck deep in explosive chemicals or whatever it was she actually did during her labs, probably looking like a model while conducting Frankensteinesque experiments.

With nothing left to do but wait for a response, Reese decided to return back to her room. It was a short walk from campus to the residence, and she swiped her card to enter the building. Using the stairs to get to the second floor, she entered the small common living area she and Harley shared with four other students. Two of them were sitting on the couch chatting. They paused to greet her, and she responded with a smile before retreating to her own room.

The room wasn't very large, but it was still her sanctuary. She neatly put away her things and then flopped down on the bed and checked her phone. Still no response from Harley.

Desperately in need of a distraction, Reese tapped her reading app, quickly returning to her story.

Even the idea I might have a reason that I should resist disappeared from my mind like dust swept away by the wind.

His huge hands found my waist, and he tilted his head down until there was barely a hair of space between us. My heart quivered at the first slight brush of his lips against mine. The slightest moan escaped me, but he heard it, tightening his hold on my waist in response.

The touch of his lips, which began as a feather-light brush grew more insistent. Instinctively, I opened my lips, and he took the advantage, his tongue slipping in to find my own possessively.

"Angelica!" Unbeknownst to me, my sister had come up behind me. She put her hand on my wrist, and pulled me by my arm in her direction. He finally broke off the kiss with a dissatisfied growl, turning his fierce gaze towards my sister.

"Celeste! What are you doing?" I snapped at her, vexed at the interruption.

She met his eyes as if she weren't afraid of his anger. "I need to speak to my sister."

He scoffed but relented. "I'll give you one minute."

Celeste pulled me away from him, to a corner with few people. It cleared out after she shot the few remaining people a glare. Being daughter of a powerful alpha came with a few perks. "What am I doing!? What are you doing? You know that Father is going to be furious when he sees what you're doing!"

"But he's my m—"

"It doesn't matter what he is to you, it only matters who he is! Do you even know who it is you were kissing?"

"Of course I do. Everyone knows him. He's Alpha Raiden McIntyre—"

"And he's from the Cold Moon pack."

"I don't care where he's from," I said stubbornly. He was my destiny.

"Well, Father will. You know what they did to our mother. He'll never forgive or forget that."

My heart sunk at the reminder. Cold Moon was the reason we had lost her. But...

Alpha Raiden wasn't his father. He was my mate, and nothing my father thought could change that. Not unless we let him stop us.

Reese read away for a half hour while Angelica's father caused all kinds of difficulty between her and Raiden with his inflexible rage. Finally, Reese finally got a response from Harley. She'd been told to bring along whoever she felt like so 'of course' Nathan could come along with them, but then tried to dig into the reason that Reese would be acting so out of character that that she would invite anyone anywhere. Especially some guy that Harley had never even heard about before.

Reese rolled her eyes at the implication that she was an antisocial hermit rather than just someone who enjoyed quiet time alone. Preferably with her books.

After another half hour of reprieve, there was a knock at Reese's door. "Just come in."

The door burst open. Harley was eager to continue her inquisition in person. She was still wearing a lab coat, which meant she'd probably forgotten to remove it in her excitement to come and harass her friend.

"So, who is this guy named Nathan who you could possibly want to invite?"

"Just a guy I met."

"Just a guy? There is no such thing as just a guy, not when you decided to take initiative and invite him out."

Reese shrugged, pretending it was no big deal. "Well, he asked if I wanted to do something with him tonight, and since I'd already made plans..."

Harley loomed over Reese, inspecting her with far too much curiosity for comfort. "Even if I couldn't see straight through the whole no-big-deal thing you're currently playing at, just the fact you even suggested it gives you away. Tell me about him." She flopped down onto the bed and stared at her friend.

"I don't know much about him yet, honestly." Just that he was the most attractive man she'd ever seen in her life. But Reese wasn't about to admit that and invite further questioning. She wasn't ready to admit how much she liked him at just one glance. She'd never felt drawn to anyone before and the intensity of her desire felt dangerous. Speaking it aloud even moreso.

As much as Reese hoped the draw was mutual, she was afraid of how much it would hurt if he didn't return her feelings. He had seemed eager, but who could really say? None of her ex-romantic interests had ever seemed all that into her, and that wasn't even thinking about the negative experiences she'd had with the sneaky guys who liked Harley and used her in their attempts to get close to her friend. She kept her face as neutral as possible.

Harley rolled her eyes at how hard Reese tried to shrug it off. "When did you meet him?"

"He came in right after you headed off to lab."

She looked disappointed to have missed the drama. "Damn. I should have just been late so I could have gotten a peek."

Reese was sort of glad that Nathan hadn't gotten a look at Harley. She didn't need the chance to look drab in comparison. But it was inevitable. He'd meet her friend tonight, and then...

Reese felt kind of sick with nervousness at the thought of how he would react, so she changed the subject. "I was late for my class."

"You were late?" Harley's wide eyes and gaping mouth were of pure over dramatic shock. Reese looked down at her phone and pretended to ignore her friend. She wished that she could shoo Harley away so she could spend another hour reading rather than worrying about what was going to happen when Nathan got a good look at a woman who looked like a supermodel crawled out of a magazine. She already knew they would look sickeningly good together.

Unfortunately, Harley wasn't so easily sidetracked. "If you don't even know anything about him, then how did he manage to make you late?" Her eyes narrowed. "Wait, just how good looking is he?"

"Very hot," Reese admitted in a voice barely clearer than a mumble. It wasn't like Harley wouldn't notice when she met him.

Harley grinned like the Cheshire cat.

Reese winced. "You'd better not embarrass me tonight." Or worse, make Nathan fall for her at first sight. Harley would never do that on purpose, but she couldn't help the way guys flocked to her.

"I would never do that."

"Good. So now, I'm going to—"

"Oh, you absolutely are not. You're getting ready. Now." She was on her feet and over at Reese's closet in a millisecond. "We've got to find you something perfect to wear. Something that is you, but you at your best."

"Maybe we shouldn't set the bar that high."

She scoffed. "The important part is highlighting just how hot you really are, so Mister Distracting-enough-to-make-Reese-late has that image in his head going forward." She started tossing clothing towards Reese, and she barely avoided being hit in the face by a flying skirt by catching it before it made contact.

"Calm down, it's not that big of deal."

Harley had no interest in listening to her protests. "Reese, you're very smart, and you know I love you like a sister. But you're completely hopeless with math and with men. I can't trust you to take this seriously enough without my assistance."

She wasn't above begging for mercy. "Harley, please, it's really not necessary. I'll just throw on some jeans and—"

"If you don't cooperate, I'll go get the others to come help me." Her smile pure evil, perfect for the deceptively beautiful mad scientist she was at heart.

There was no escaping her, so Reese gave in and tossed her phone back on the bed. "Fine."

Apparently she wouldn't be taking a break that evening. But, with the flash of Nathan's face that skimmed along her memories, maybe that wasn't so bad. Maybe she should put in extra effort.

If he really was interested in Reese, and if by some miracle he didn't notice how nearly perfect Harley was, maybe this night would be something to remember.