My Rare

AELIA REVA

"You're looking for... The Curse of Thorned Realms, right?" I asked the girl, scanning the books on the shelf to my right.

"Yes!" she chirped, a little too loudly for library standards. "It's for my book club."

"Found it." I plucked the copy from its slot and handed it over with a smile. "Be careful, though. The author's got a thing for killing off characters you like."

She gasped. "No spoilers!"

I chuckled. "Not in this book for sure!"

She thanked me and walked off, holding the book like it might spill secrets if she held it wrong.

I glanced over at the clock above the help desk.

5:54 PM.

My stomach flipped.

"Stay after you're done. I'd like to spend time with my mate."

Six.

That's what I told him.

That's when I said I'd be done.

That's when he asked me to stay.

"It's about time, don't you think?"

Warmth crept up my neck before I could stop it. I pressed the back of my hand to my cheek, useless. I was practically glowing.

Get it together, Aelia.

I tucked the stool back under the desk and tried to smooth down my blouse like it would somehow smooth the nerves under my skin. My fingers fiddled with the hem absently as I walked over to Maria's desk.

She didn't look up from her book.

Not at first. Then, without even glancing my way, she said, "Go on."

I blinked. "What?"

"You're all pink in the cheeks and your hair's doing that anxious fluff thing again." She raised her head now, her glasses rested low on her nose. "He's waiting. Don't make the poor boy suffer."

I stared at her, open-mouthed.

"I didn't say anything."

"You didn't have to." She closed her book with a soft thump and gave me that knowing, motherly look that made me feel sixteen again. "That boy's had 'where is she' stamped on his forehead whenever you're not around him."

I bit my lip, half-laughing. "Is it really that obvious?"

"Sweetheart, if it were any more obvious, I'd have to start charging him rent for that window he keeps staring out of."

I groaned into my hands.

She just laughed, softly, warmly, the kind of laugh that made everything feel a little less terrifying.

"You'll be fine," she said, reaching out to squeeze my hand. "Go see your mate. And don't walk like you're heading into a courtroom."

I laughed again, this time more freely. "Thanks, Maria."

"Don't thank me till after. Who knows what that brooding son of mine has planned." She winked.

My eyes widened slightly and with that, I turned and made my way to the staircase.

Each step I took felt heavier and lighter at the same time. Like walking toward something I'd been trying not to admit I wanted all day.

The closer I got to the top, the faster my heartbeat fluttered, quiet, steady, and somehow louder than ever.

I didn't know what I was walking into but I knew who I was walking to and that made my heartbeat flutter more.

I raised my hand slowly and knocked on the door, twice. Soft and controlled, like I wasn't currently about to combust from nerves alone.

"Come in," came the familiar, low rumble from the other side.

I opened the door gently and peeked in.

Ulric was at his desk, sleeves rolled up, one hand steadying a thick file while the other scribbled something down with practiced focus.

The way his sleeves were rolled just enough to expose his forearms made me question every smart thought I'd ever had.

His brows were slightly furrowed, hair mussed in a way that made him look more human than alpha for once. Or maybe just... more mine.....and incredibly hot.

Holy Goddess

He looked up as soon as I stepped in, and something about his entire expression shifted. Softer. Warmer.

"Good evening, my Luna."

I froze in the doorway for a half second, not from the title, but from the way he said it.

Like it was both a fact and a promise.

"Hi," I replied, a little softer than I meant to.

His lips curve into a small but genuine smile laced with something private.

"Come in," he said, nodding toward the sitting area across the room. "Just give me a few more minutes. I need to finish this report before I can be all yours."

I swallowed and nodded quickly, moving toward the large navy couch that sat in the corner of his office. It looked way too expensive to sit on casually, but I did anyway, perching at the edge like it might vanish beneath me if I sank in too far.

He went back to writing and I... went back to staring. I didn't mean to. Truly.

But watching Ulric work was unfair. He made paperwork look like an art form. The way his jaw tensed ever so slightly when he concentrated. The way his forearm flexed when he pressed the pen down. The way his eyes scanned each page like he already knew what it said but still read it twice.

He wasn't just powerful. He wasn't just Alpha. He was… intense. Grounded. Unapologetically sure of himself.

And something about all of that in one man was driving my nerves into a spiral.

"Enjoying the view?" his voice, smooth and teasing.

And apparently… making me forget I was supposed to be subtle.

My breath caught. My spine straightened so fast I nearly knocked over the throw pillow beside me.

"I– I wasn't–"

He didn't even look up at first. Just smirked, still writing.

"You're staring, Luna."

"You–you do it too!" I blurted out before I could stop myself.

That got his attention.

He finally lifted his head, locking eyes with me across the room, and his smile changed, deepened, turned slower and more dangerous, like he'd just been handed a favorite secret.

"Do I?" he asked innocently, tilting his head slightly.

I crossed my arms in defiance. "Yes. From the window. Like a creep."

Ulric laughed once, low in his throat, then stood slowly, closing the file in front of him with a soft click.

He walked toward me, not fast, not slow, just with the same confident ease he always had, like he knew every step would bring him closer to exactly what he wanted.

By the time he reached me, he was standing in front of the couch, gaze locked onto mine.

The amusement was still there in his eyes but it was drowned beneath something else now.

Something warm.

Something… unshakably intimate.

"How could I not stare," he murmured, voice lower now. "When the Moon Goddess has given me a mate so breathtaking… it makes every other sight feel dull."

My heart stuttered violently. I didn't move. Couldn't. My skin prickled with heat, and I was very certain my cheeks were now their own ecosystem of flame.

"I—" I tried. And failed. Again.

I watch his lips turn into a real smile, the kind that pulled all the oxygen from the room.

I looked away first. Of course I did.

But I still felt it, the weight of his gaze, the quiet steadiness in the way he watched me like I was already his. I am already his.

Ulric let the silence stretch between us for a breath longer before finally speaking again.

"Come," he said softly, his voice still rich with warmth. "There's something I want to talk to you about."

I looked up at him, blinking slowly, still recovering from the intensity of just...him. His hand was outstretched now, palm open toward me.

"After that," he added with the hint of a smile, "we can go grab dinner together."

I stared at his hand for a second longer, then nodded and placed mine gently in his, his hand engulfing mine.....and I think holding his hand might become my favorite thing.

❦︎ To Be Continued ❦︎