Page 39 of Black Ledger

The only person besides Severin who ever tempted me was his half-brother, Mikhail. I still thought about the night he had danced with me when I was sixteen. He was twenty-two at the time, and it was highly inappropriate to have a crush, but there was something about him.

And I couldn’t deny that I felt something.

But perhaps it was because they looked so much alike, except for the hair. Mikhail had the Volkov blond hair, while Severin’s hair was dark brown with beautiful honey undertones. Everything else about their looks was nearly identical.

Their personalities, though, were vastly different. Severin was wild, chaotic, and unhinged, while Mikhail was far more serious. He acted as if he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.

“You’re not excited about it?” Rachelle asked. “He’s one of the hottest and richest guys at UChicago.”

I forced a happy mask onto my face. “Of course, I’m excited. It’s Chad Holloway; any girl would feel lucky if he was interested in her.”

Rachelle’s eyebrows crinkled together. “It doesn’t seem like you’re all that happy about it.”

I bit my lip. “It’s complicated. There’s—” I looked out at the trees that stretched across the quad. It was winter quarter, and the campus was covered in a light dusting of snow. “I’m just not good at dating.”

“I am pretty sure that boy doesn’t want to date you. He wants to fuck you.”

I nodded. “I know. I’m not good at that, either.” I threw a hand up in surrender. “I’m just stiff.”

“You know fucking would help with that.”

I swallowed hard. “I know.” But I wasn’t good with touch, emotions, or normal human things, and besides, I didn’t want anyone who wasn’t Severin Volkov to touch me… not really. Not even Mikhail.

Chad would never satisfy what I needed. And honestly, I didn’t fucking know what I wanted or needed.

I was very distracted in class.

And four hours later, when I had to walk home alone, I was still distracted.

Ivy climbed the limestone walls as I made my way through campus at twilight. The icy wind nipped at my nape, and gargoyles stared down at me. Judging.

I glared back up at them, cursing them in the cold winter night. They fucking knew what they wanted. But it probably wasn’t to fuck Chad Holloway, either.

Yet the gargoyles still glared at me.

I never felt unsafe walking alone through campus. After all, I could take down a grown man with my bare hands. I’d trained my whole life to do exactly that.

But tonight felt different.

Goosebumps rose on my skin, and all the shadows on campus danced—swirling as if a greater darkness existed in their depths.

At that moment, I knew someone was watching me and stalking me.

Silently.

I felt it down to my marrow.

What I couldn’t decide was whether the person was dangerous. He didn’t feel dangerous, and this person was certainly a he.

I continued as if I had no worries, carrying my textbooks and swishing my ponytail like a girl with no cares in the world.

If he was going to attack me, I wanted to catch him off guard. I wanted to look like prey, lure him in, and then strike, my venom slow and deadly.

So I pretended to be a soft, gentle girl instead of a wolf in sheep’s clothing. And I wasn’t just a wolf. I was an alpha. I was the queen, and this stalker would soon figure that out.

We walked for fifteen minutes until I got sick of it, and then I dipped into a dark alley between buildings.

I silently begged my attacker to come closer.