Page 40 of Zodiac Beasts

“Studying for Calculus?” Lila’s voice filled my ears right on cue. While I’d certainly never admit I’d come here hoping I might see her, her intrusion was more than welcome. She’d not visited me in the library at all last month, and I had missed these little interactions. Seeing her a few days a week at the shop wasn’t enough Lila time.

The picnic had been such a burden.

I looked up to greet her. “Finals will be here quickly. It never hurts to brush up on the lessons.”

“I can’t imagine you ever falling behind or forgetting anything.” She said, taking the seat across from me as though she belonged there. It was our natural default state in the library. I was likely becoming too accustomed to it, considering, well… everything.

“I don’t, but Professor Shen is infamous for slipping a few trick questions into the test to make sure you truly understand the material.” I pulled my notebook from my backpack to help supplement the study session. “Would you like to compare notes?”

“Yes, please.” With the most charming smile, she reached into her backpack to fish for her own math folder.

I watched her from across the table. Her silky hair spilled over her shoulder, revealing the slight peek of a Leo’s mate mark on her neck, marring what was otherwise a lovely sight. As much as I wanted to avoid the topic, for my own sake, I needed to address it.

“You completed your mate pact.” I stated without inflection. “One of your pacts.”

Her soft cheeks flared. “H-how can you tell?” She stumbled over the words like she was somehow ashamed of it. I would be too if Emery was my permanent mate.

“All shifters can tell.” I brushed off the question, while I watched her squirm. The fact that his scent was so overwhelming on her was more nauseating than it had been when the Tobacco and Rosemary notes were equally as prominent. “You seem displeased?”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just really new still, and I don’t know what it really means.” She was so innocent and ignorant. I envied that.

“It’s like marriage, but more permanent.” That was, perhaps, a bit over dramatic. She still had a second mate mark, after all, so it was possible that it was slightly less serious for her. “I hadn’t realized you were in such a serious relationship.” I said, not out of any form of jealousy of course. I was curious about how she viewed her relationship with Marcus, partially out of curiosity.

And mostly as a defense mechanism.

“I guess I hadn’t realized that either.” Her face heated as she stared at the notes on the desk. “I didn’t really understand what I was getting into.” She whispered the last line, and my brow twitched at the quiet admission. How typical of him to withhold crucial information before she consented to something life changing. A mate pact might require consent and desire, but it didn’t technically require true love. Just blood, semen, and active acceptance.

“Will this be an issue for you? Continuing to study and work with me, I mean. I would hate to make your mate uncomfortable, and I know how some shifters get once they seal a pact. Possessiveness and aggression is a rather common symptom of... mating.” I cleared my throat and caught myself before I called the pact an infection, not wanting her to feel bad for something that would be very difficult to change. No need to shove my own bitter ideals onto her.

“Oh no, of course not.” She shook her head with surprising gusto. “He’s not the jealous type.”

I started to laugh out loud on accident, but was able to immediately disguise it as a cough. “That’s good to hear.” I shaped my lips into something similar to a smile. It was unlikely to be convincing, but it didn’t need to be. Not the jealous type. He must have pulled off a world class act on her. I bet I could shatter that illusion. Unless he’d died and been reborn as someone else entirely, I’d never met a more insecure Leo. I pondered on that for a moment. Being a man of science, this might be an interesting experiment. “In that case, would it be acceptable if I asked if you were free to do inventory this month? Summer is always so busy, and it’s a lot to manage on my own…” I paused, realizing I had to be reasonable, and assure she had some idea of what she’d be getting into. “It’s during this month’s Purnima, so I know you might have other plans. But I could use the help if you don’t.”

“Oh, it’s on the full moon?” Her demeanor visibly sank. I knew it was too much to ask. She would surely be there if Marcus asked her, but we weren’t lovers or anything beyond barely friends.

“It’s inconvenient, I know. Perhaps next month would be better.” I was quick to correct myself to ease the sense of social obligation. “You should spend that night with your mates. I apologize for asking at all. I can be a bit selfish this month.”

Her face lit up in an epiphany. “Wait, you’re a Gemini. Isn’t it your birthday this month?”

“It’s…” I hesitated to admit this, feeling a touch manipulative myself when saying it out loud. “Yes. Inventory night is also my birthday.” It was the truth, but I didn’t want that to be the reason she agreed to spend the moon with me. I would enjoy having her there for inventory, but it was too bold a request. I was already regretting having started down this inquiry at all.

“Wait, really? And you’re going to spend your birthday alone at work?” Lila gasped with exaggerated disgust.

“I don’t mind. I like being in the shop.” I shrugged, not wanting to come off as any more pitiful than I must already look. I was being absurd. “I don’t want to disrupt your month during such an important time of year.”

“It’s not disrupting anything. I have a million more nights I can spend with my uh… mate.” Her discomfort with the word was noted. “But you only have so many birthdays. I would love to celebrate with you.” Lila could barely contain her smile. This reaction was completely unexpected. She was so vibrant and enthusiastic. The joy suited her beautiful face. “I mean, if that’s okay. If you don’t like birthdays or have someone else you want to celebrate with, I’m happy to just come help out with work so you can have the night off. I don’t want it to sound like a…”

Subtle.

“A date?” I shook my head. I was about to say I wouldn’t have invited her if I was courting someone else, but that would imply she was dangerous temptation, and I wasn’t going to admit that such a thing was obviously true. So instead, I went with, “No, of course not. You’re a taken shifter, and I simply enjoy your company. I was more concerned that you would get in trouble with your mate. I would hate to cause any stress over a purely platonic and professional engagement.”

“I share a cash register with you every day. I’m sure it’s fine.” She said brightly. “It seems like a great way to celebrate the end of the semester, anyway.”

“Excellent. I look forward to it.” This smile did reflect in my eyes. I was playing in a sand box in the seventh circle of hell, but there was nothing down there scarier than I was.

Lila was buzzing with unexplained cheer for the rest of the study session, and my heart was beating at an unusual rhythm as a result. A curious development.

She was so quick to dismiss the importance of spending time with her mate during the full moon, which was insane for any shifter, but especially a half-shifter. I probably should have addressed that fact specifically, but if he’d not explained anything to her yet, that was on him.