Chapter 16
Flora
“And that is all for this evening—now, don’t forget…” the professor droned on as everyone packed their books, excited to get home for the day.
As much as I didn’t want to, walking home was inevitable. Ever since my space had been invaded, I’d been on edge. Spencer was a pain in my ass, but I honestly didn’t believe he would harm me.
If he was right, someone else was following me. Even though I was dubious, that little voice in the back of my mind wouldn’t stop nagging. What if I really was in danger?
I had a late-night tutoring session at the library, so the walk home was going to be extra late.
There was always the option to give tutoring lessons in my own apartment, but considering several of my students were male, I didn’t want to do that.
The idea of a random man in my space gave me the heebie-jeebies.
The library was safe—or, at least, it had security cameras.
My classroom was only a five-minute walk from the library, and despite the late hour and dark night, there were plenty of streetlights to illuminate my path.
Heading straight to the library, I didn’t even stop to grab a coffee.
I wanted to get the evening over with and get home to the safety of my nest.
Connor, my student, was a sweet guy. He was a second year, who desperately wanted to be a teacher, but he was struggling with some of the mathematics requirements. There were a few credits he was short of, but he was determined to make it work.
There was no way I could cancel on him just because I was feeling out of sorts, so I trudged to the library. We often studied on the first floor, where silence wasn’t expected. There were several large circular tables in the space, so people could work collaboratively.
Connor was already there, reading through one of his textbooks. When he saw me approach, his face broke into a smile, and he waved eagerly. “Hey, Flora, Sorry to have you out so late.”
“Not at all,” I replied, waving off his concern. “It’s only eight.” I took the seat opposite him and started pulling out a few of my own notebooks.
Connor looked like he didn’t believe me. “I wouldn’t feel happy if some random guy was keeping Lucy out this late.”
“Well, that’s because Lucy is spoiled rotten and the center of your world,” I pointed out.
Connor might have been young, but he and his pack were already bonded with an omega and were blissfully happy. Lucy was also studying to be a teacher. He had told me about her several times, always excited.
Maybe one of the reasons I liked him so much was that he was clearly obsessed with another woman. He had never flirted with me or even given me so much as a suggestive glance. In fact, he had only ever been protective. I had no doubt he was going to make a good teacher.
“How did you do on the last test?” I asked.
“Shockingly well,” he admitted, pulling two cans of soda out of his bag and placing one in front of me.
“Thank you,” I said with a smile. He had taken to bringing caffeinated beverages to our study sessions.
“It’s the least I could do.”
As we started looking over the formulas Connor needed to work on, a thought occurred to me.
“Kind of feel free to tell me to buzz off if I’m being nosy, but why do you always bring cans?” I asked. “I’m not being ungrateful, but all the places around here tend to sell bottles of soda.”
He looked up from his textbook. “Oh, Lucy told me to do that,” he said. “She said soda cans are better for women, and they’re harder to tamper with. So, if I’m giving a drink to a woman, it’s safer than giving her a bottle.”
“I’d never thought about it that way,” I replied, staring at the beverage in front of me.
“Honestly, I hate that she even had to think about things like that. Anyway, it’s no big deal for me to stop by the store on the way to campus and grab cans instead of buying bottles here.
” He paused. “Anyway, I’ve really been struggling with page six.
” He turned his textbook around to show me the problems.
“Oh, you can easily do this. Let me just run you through them,” I said happily.
The next hour and a half passed with ease. I was so distracted that I didn’t even notice the students milling around us.
“You’re a star,” Connor said, stretching languidly. “This stuff is like Latin to me until you explain it.”
“You’re a lot smarter than you think.”
“Oh, I think I’m a genius—just not when it comes to math.” Connor laughed. “Are you sure you’re okay getting back?” he asked as he shoved his papers into his backpack.
He had offered to drive me home several times. Even though I trusted him, I didn’t want him to see my crappy, rundown apartment, so I turned him down every time.
“I’m going to stay and study for another half hour, don’t worry,” I said, keeping my voice easy.
He nodded, and we said our goodbyes.
I didn’t want to be a liar, so I continued working on a paper for another thirty minutes before packing up and trudging out of the library.
It was shockingly cold outside. I really needed to remember to bring a thicker jacket with me. When I decided to move to California, I’d assumed it would be summer weather all year round. My first winter had quickly dissuaded me of that idea.
Then again, I had a wonderful, thick leather jacket sitting in my nest that I could wear.
What would happen if the tall, handsome stranger recognized me wearing his jacket? Would he ask for it back? That idea made a small whine escape me.
On my phone, I casually answered a few tutoring inquiry emails as I made my way home.
Keeping my mind distracted was for the best. Recently, I’d been imagining someone standing in every dark corner.
It was foolish. Maybe Spencer had made the entire situation worse, but who would be after me?
As far as I knew, I was pretty boring. All I did was study and sleep.
“Hey, princess,” a familiar voice called out.
My eyes closed, and I took a deep breath, praying I was wrong—that the voice didn’t belong to who I thought it did.
Unfortunately, Spencer appeared at my side moments later, throwing an arm around my shoulders, and I cursed internally.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I said.
“Just escorting you home.”
“I still have my taser.”
He nodded. “Good girl.”
Those two little words made my insides quiver, but I kept my face stony. Spencer was a royal pain in my ass, and I had no intention of letting him know his words had any impact on me whatsoever.
“You are aware this is stalking?”
Spencer shrugged. “I’m stalking the stalker who’s stalking the stalkee,” he replied casually.
That sentence didn’t even make sense. “Do you need to see a doctor with a head as big as yours? I wouldn’t be surprised if you ran into a wall and got a concussion without even realizing,” I growled, shrugging out of his embrace.
“Hate me as much as you want, trouble, but you’re being followed, so I’m sticking close by,” he muttered, keeping his voice low.
I turned to look at the street around us—the street that was undoubtedly empty.
“Well, fuck, am I being followed by a ghost? One who is obsessed with stealing chocolate and replacing it with vegetables?” I huffed, lacing my voice with sarcasm.
“Just because they’re hanging back right now doesn’t mean they aren’t there,” he pointed out. “The food was for your own good. You eat like an unsupervised toddler.”
Holy hell, this man was insufferable. While I did think I’d been followed a few nights ago, I doubted it was happening again. I hadn’t noticed anyone. The only person who’d been following me recently was Spencer.
“I’ll have you know, my diet is perfectly fine!
” I snapped. It was a lie; my diet was terrible, but I wasn’t going to admit that to him.
I should have been terrified; this alpha had been in my apartment and taken my food—I had point-blank refused to eat anything he had left me.
I hadn’t totally lost my mind yet. Still, there was something magnetic about him.
Drawing me to him. Deep down, I was actually inclined to believe him that he wasn’t my stalker.
Well, my original stalker. There was no question that he was now a stalker. A highly irritating one.
He raised his brow at me. “When did you last eat a vegetable? I said you needed a keeper.”
“Well, maybe I don’t want to be kept!” I hissed.
“Too bad.” He shrugged.
“Why can’t you just leave me alone?” I asked, my voice exasperated.
“Because I just can’t,” he said matter-of-factly.
I’d been so busy talking to him that I hadn’t noticed we’d reached my building; we had been walking together for a while.
“This is where we part ways,” I said. There was no way in hell I was going to allow him to follow me in—not that he seemed to listen to me.
“Are you sure I can’t walk you up to your door?”
“Should I get out my taser?”
He held up his hands in surrender. “Fine. Okay. Just know I’ll be watching out for you.”
I shook my head before hightailing it into my building, slamming the door behind me a little harder than I probably should have.
What gave that man the audacity? All I wanted to do was strangle him, possibly kick him in the nuts, and make him suffer.
And maybe run my hand through his hair. Was it as soft as it looked? Did he smell even richer up close? My mind wandered to the possibility of shoving my nose into the space behind and under his ear, where his scent would be extra potent.
I shook my head. Clearly, I was losing my mind.