Ivan helped me study. We even watched videos together breaking down the fundamentals of music, and I’m still confused.
“Hey. You arenotgoing to fail.” He takes my shoulders gently.
“I dropped out of college before,” I tell him sadly. “Maybe I’m just not meant to learn new things.”
The words are like acid on my tongue. They sound eerily similar to what my parents said once Avery told them I quit school.
I haven’t bothered to talk to them in years, and Avery is the only sibling with minimal contact. I don’t need to hear anything they say.
“Oh, sweetheart.” Ivan presses his forehead to mine, and I inhale his Alpha scent. Apples and caramel fill the air, and I relax in his hold. “That’s not how that works. You know that.”
“I just want to learn to play music and serenade the cats,” I whine. “Why is that so difficult?”
He chuckles, then presses a quick kiss to my lips. “Maybe you could ask for private lessons.”
I snort. “I can’t imagine how expensive that is.”
“We’ll figure it out. One step at a time, baby, and the first step is getting into your car and driving to campus. Then, you can show me everything you learned tonight.”
Ivan is spending the night at my place again—there’s no way I can stand to be away from him for too long due to the recent scent match.
Every moment in his presence is a balm to my soul, and his scent is more addicting than ever.
“More nesting supplies should arrive tonight, too,” he adds cheekily. “I can set it all up for you before you come home.”
My face flushes, and I can’t stop the smile that spreads across my face.
“You said you already had supplies for me,” I say, after he admitted this weekend to stocking up on nesting blankets before we even scent matched.
Maybe I should find that intimidating, but with Ivan, I just laughed in delight when he told me.
He’s been wanting this as long as I have.
“You can never have enough nesting supplies,” he confirms. “You told me that yourself.”
He tenderly kisses my forehead, and I sigh.
“You’re going to do great,” he says.
It’s the same thing he says in his text thirty minutes later when I arrive back on Luna Community College campus.
My rented guitar case is slung over my back, and a black studded messenger bag contains my study materials and assignments.
I scent Fang before I even make it to the music building, and I wonder if I should just turn around and go home.
Even across campus, my body’s reaction to that spicy leathery Alpha scent is intense.
My mouth waters, and I follow the aroma across campus, past a long field of grass dotted with benches.
Alpha. Alpha. Alpha.
I’m in a trance, Blair’s advice completely forgotten.
Now that I’ve found one scent match, it’s like my Omega is trying to find as many as she can, even if that potential match is my guitar professor.
Mine. Mine. Mine.
I’m almost past the grassy area when there’s a rustle in the bushes, and a black void shoots out from the foliage.
