I watch him go and something in my chest twists.
"Okay, that was weird," Lily says quietly. She's watching the room with a concerned expression. "Nova, seriously, you should see the healer."
"I'm fine."
"You don't look fine. You look like you have a fever and you're making every male in this room act strange."
I put my spoon down because I've lost my appetite entirely. My hands are shaking slightly and I don't know if it's from whatever is happening to my body or from how Caspian is still staring at me like he wants to cross the room and I don't know what.
"I'll go after breakfast," I lie, because I have no intention of seeing the healer and having them ask questions I can't answer about why my body is doing things it shouldn't.
Lily looks like she wants to argue but she doesn't. We finish eating in silence and when I stand to leave, I can feel eyes tracking my movement. I don't look back at any of them. I just walk out of the dining hall with my head up and my shoulders back, pretending I'm not absolutely terrified by whatever is happening to me.
The corridor outside is blessedly empty and cool. I lean against the wall for a second and just breathe. My skin feels too hot again. My heart is racing. There's this restless energy under my skin that makes me want to run or fight or do something physical to burn it off.
I push off the wall and head toward my first class. I'm halfway there when I hear footsteps behind me, fast and purposeful. Before I can turn around, a hand grabs my arm and pulls me sideways into an empty classroom.
I spin around and it's Caspian. He's breathing hard like he ran to catch up with me, pupils dilated enough that his eyes look almost black instead of their usual amber. He's standing too close, close enough that I can smell him, expensive cologneand something underneath that's just him, just Alpha and dominance.
"What are you doing?" I try to pull my arm free but his grip tightens.
"You need to tell me right now if you know what's happening to you." His voice is rougher than usual, lower, like it's taking effort to keep it level.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
He makes a sound that's almost a growl and steps even closer, backing me up against the classroom wall. One hand goes beside my head, caging me in, while the other stays on my arm. His thumb is pressing against my pulse point and I know he can feel how fast my heart is going.
"Your scent," he says, and his voice has gone even rougher. "It's changed. Do you understand what that means?"
"No." I meet his eyes even though looking at him this close feels dangerous. "I think I'm getting sick."
He laughs but there's no humor in it. "You're not sick." He leans in and I feel his breath against my neck as he scents me properly. I gasp and try to move but there's nowhere to go. The wall is solid behind me. Caspian is solid in front of me. I'm trapped between them.
"You're scared," he says against my skin, and I can feel the vibration of his voice. "I can smell it."
"I'm not scared of you."
"You should be." He pulls back just enough to look at me. His hand slides from my arm to my throat, not squeezing, just resting there with his palm warm against my pulse. "And you're wet."
Heat floods my face. "What?"
"I can smell your arousal." He says it matter-of-factly, like he's commenting on the weather. "Do you have any idea what that does to me?"
I do gasp now, embarrassment mixing with something else that I don't want to name. "I'm not doing anything."
His hand tightens slightly on my throat, not enough to hurt but enough that I feel it. "That's what makes it worse." His other hand leaves the wall and starts to move down, fingers trailing along my collarbone. "You don't even know what you are. What's happening to you."
"Then tell me." My voice comes out shakier than I want it to.
He stops, his hand frozen at the base of my throat. For a long moment he just stares at me and I can see him fighting something internal, some battle between what he wants to do and what he knows he should do.
"Do you know what you're doing to me?" he asks again, and this time it sounds almost pained.
I shake my head because I genuinely don't understand any of this.
His hand clenches into a fist against the wall and he steps back abruptly, putting space between us. "Stay away from me, Nova." He runs his other hand through his hair, messing it up. "For both our sakes, just stay away."
"I don't understand."
