Chapter 200: Enough Privacy

First came the awkward silence, and then conversation broke out like a storm.

"What the fuck just happened?!"

"I think my eyes are deceiving me right now!"

"Did Professor Maverick just kiss that human girl? I thought he couldn’t stand women touching him!"

"That cannot be! Professor Maverick is mine!"

"Look at her wearing fur. She did this on purpose. She seduced him!"

The voices multiplied until Aria couldn’t distinguish one conversation from another. Within seconds, the entire arena was buzzing like a marketplace, questions and accusations flying from every direction as beasts tried to make sense of what they’d just witnessed.

Aria could hear enough of it to become painfully self-conscious beneath all that attention. This was exactly why she hadn’t wanted their relationship known yet. She wasn’t ready for the questions, the gossip or whatever drama came with an entire academy discovering that Maverick Nightshade, an Alpha who had spent years refusing the attention of women, had decided to devour a human girl in front of everyone.

Her eyes moved through the crowd until they somehow connected with Karen’s. She looked horrified, staring at Aria and Maverick, unable to believe what she’d just witnessed.

The shock lasted only until she realized Aria was looking back. Then her eyes narrowed with such immediate fury that Aria could practically hear the insult forming inside her head. That fucking ghetto bitch. How dare she go after what was hers?

Aria looked away. She had no time for Karen’s drama tonight. Except Karen wasn’t standing alone. Caelis Cobryn was beside her, and the moment Aria’s attention shifted, her eyes collided with his instead. Perhaps it was simply knowing what those beautiful silver eyes were capable of doing to a person, but her heart missed a beat.

It didn’t help that Caelis was already staring at her. There was something strange about the scrutiny in his silver gaze, as if he were trying to figure her out. He didn’t look shocked like everyone else. He didn’t look amused either.

Caelis simply watched her from behind those dark glasses with an intensity Aria couldn’t understand, and for some reason, that was far more unsettling. Before she could make anything of it, Karen moved closer to him, practically pressing herself against his side in a gesture that communicated one thing perfectly.

Mine.

Aria’s brows drew together immediately. Wait a minute. Karen and Caelis?

Blah. Aria wanted to throw up.

She’d thought the Basilisk Prince was smart, but it seemed even brilliant men occasionally let whatever was between their legs do the thinking for them.

More surprising was the fact that Caelis seemed willing to entertain a human at all. Ophidian had hardly rolled out the welcome mat for the Concordia girls, and Caelis himself wasn’t known for his warm and welcoming personality. Yet there Karen stood at his side, looking like she’d managed to accomplish the impossible.

Aria almost had to applaud her.

Almost.

Then Maverick caught her chin and gently turned her face back toward him until she met his eyes. "Let’s get out of here."

Aria didn’t even object. She nodded, more than ready to escape the hundreds of eyes still following her every move.

Maverick intertwined his fingers with hers and led her away through the rising confusion and conversations surrounding them. Thankfully, the music came back on, filling the awkward silence with another heavy beat, and slowly, the party seemed to remember itself. Aria was perfectly happy to let it continue without her.

Except Maverick didn’t take her back the way she’d come. Instead, he led her away from the arena and into the surrounding woods. With every step, the music grew fainter and the firelight disappeared farther behind them until the crescent moon became their only source of light.

It wasn’t nearly enough for Aria to see where she was going, but Maverick seemed perfectly at home in the darkness. He kept her hand firmly in his, slowing whenever the ground became uneven and guiding her around roots and low branches she couldn’t make out until they were practically beneath her feet. When her boot caught against a stone, his arm immediately circled her waist, steadying her before she could even stumble.

Aria would never have followed some other man into the woods in the middle of the night. No, that was probably one of the stupidest things a woman could do if she had any interest in remaining alive, especially when said man happened to be a beast. But this was Maverick. Her lover. Her mate. The man whose hand she trusted enough to let him lead her deeper into the darkness without once wondering whether she should turn around.

Eventually, Maverick stopped in a small clearing where the trees opened just enough for pale moonlight to spill through the branches. The arena had become little more than a distant thump behind them, far enough away that the voices were gone completely.

"This should be enough privacy," he said.

"Yeah," Aria breathed.

But as she stood alone with him beneath the trees, still painfully aware of the kiss they’d shared only minutes ago and the way his eyes had yet to leave her, another question occurred to her.

Enough privacy to do what?

Except Aria already knew the answer, and that knowledge made her swallow as the air between them suddenly tightened. Maverick began walking toward her, forcing her backward one slow step at a time until her back finally met the rough trunk of a large tree. There was nowhere else to go.

Maverick towered over her, effectively trapping her between his body and the tree, yet her heart raced with anticipation rather than fear. He leaned in without saying a word, his nose brushing slowly along her cheek before traveling lower.

Aria shivered at the barely-there contact. Maverick breathed her in as he went, following the familiar scent of lavender and mint until his face settled into the crook of her neck. His nose grazed the sensitive skin there, before he pressed closer and inhaled deeply like he’d been deprived of her scent for far too long.

A strained sound left Maverick’s throat, somewhere between a groan and a growl, and then Aria felt it—the sharp point of a fang pressing against the side of her neck.