Rooming With The Enemy Alpha

10. New Routines

(Danielle)

When I woke up, there was this weird feeling bubbling in my stomach. Not exactly nausea—more like my insides were confused. Restless. Uncomfortable.

Then it hit me. Oh, fuc.k, I wasn't alone in my dorm anymore. I had a freaking room mate, and we... made a truce yesterday.

I winced and pulled the blanket over my head, wishing it had all been a bizarre, overly vivid dream. But it hadn’t been, had it? The details were too sharp—his voice, the look on his face, the awkward silence, the... shower.

I was in the single bed, so that checked out. No dream.

And that boy in the shower—he was not a figment of my imagination. I know my brain can be dramatic sometimes, but I do not have the creative bandwidth to conjure up someone with that kind of, um... anatomical accuracy.

I felt my cheeks flush again. Oh god.

"Was I hallucinating, Rexi?"

"No, it's real," Rexi said with a smirk. I knew exactly what she was thinking about right now. I didn't want to think about it. Oh, no. "And you walked in on him, and... he is hot."

“Shut up, you shameless hussy,” I muttered to my wolf, stretching out beneath the sheets. My limbs felt heavy but slightly less so than yesterday. Progress?

I glanced at the other bed. Empty.

Had he already left? I hoped he had. I would rather not meet him this early in the morning.

I sighed, closing my eyes again, thinking about Daisy. Had she already left?

I could ask Aaron about her, but I already knew how that conversation would go. And I was in no mood for word wars this early in the morning.

Unfortunately, the universe didn’t care about my preferences.

“You’re still in bed? School starts at eight,” came Aaron’s voice, bright and judgmental, from somewhere in the room.

Oh, he is still in the room.

I knew the Moon Goddess hated me.

I yawned and pulled the blanket tighter around me. “I know.”

There was a pause. I could almost feel his disappointment. “Are you not going to get up?”

“Mm. No.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, and something about his tone made me crack one eye open.

Which was exactly when I felt a splash of cold water hit my face.

I shrieked and sat bolt upright, sputtering. “What the hell, McCarter?!”

Aaron was already backing away, smirking like the little gremlin he was. “Just helping you rise and shine, sunshine!”

“Oh, I’m going to kill you,” I growled, flinging the blanket off and jumping out of bed.

He darted into the bathroom and slammed the door shut, locking it with an annoyingly cheerful click. Fuc.king coward.

I stood fuming, fists clenched, staring at the door like I could will it to melt.

“You’ve got to come out sometime!” I snapped.

His muffled voice came from behind the door. “I was just doing you a favor. Don’t want you to be late for class.”

“Did I ask for your help?” I snapped, wiping my face with a curse.

“It’s my duty as your roommate to keep you on schedule,” he said, clearly grinning. “I take this role very seriously.”

And then I heard the shower turn on.

Instantly, the image from last night flashed into my brain—him in the bathroom, skin still wet, and... naked, all of his glorious... things on display. My throat went dry as I back away.

My body burned.

I groaned, burying my face in my hands. What is wrong with me?!

I need a psychiatrist. Preferably one with emergency walk-in appointments.

"You don't need a psychiatrist. You need Aaron McCarter, and his..."

"Do not finish your sentence, Rexi," I warned my wolf, and she gave a smirk. The wolf was fuc.king shameless.

"I don't want a freaking roommate," I muttered under my breath, but of course, he heard it. Wolf senses... ugh!

"Do you think I did?" he asked as I walked away from the place. If I stood there any longer, I would be saying things I couldn't take back.

My stomach was already grumbling like a wounded animal, and the kitchen smelled like heaven. On the counter sat a steaming cup of coffee and two golden slices of toast glistening with butter. I knew it wasn’t meant for me—nothing that considerate ever was—but it looked too perfect to resist.

With a sigh, I took a sip of the coffee, savoring the heat and bitterness as it slid down my throat, then bit into one of the toasts. Buttery. Crunchy. Divine.

Goddess.

I muttered a guilty "Sorry-not-sorry" to the universe, and once the toast had officially been declared the best thing I’d eaten all week, I made him another cup of coffee—black, strong, and perfectly un-drinkable.

“Do you really think this is a great idea?” Rexi’s voice buzzed in my head like a persistent warning bell. “You almost made peace with him last night. Remember that? The whole… ‘maybe-we-can-try-to-not-hate-each-other’ speech?”

I shrugged, letting out a long, tired sigh. “He started it.”

I placed his replacement coffee exactly where the first one had been with a wicked little smile.

After tossing my bedsheet into the laundry bin, I started folding the clothes he’d so helpfully turned into a chaotic pile yesterday. Once the shirts were folded and my patience worn thin, I turned to the mirror and froze.

My hair looked like it had lost a bet with a lightning bolt.

I groaned and grabbed a brush, trying to tame it with the desperation of someone who’d lost this battle too many times already.

“I swear, I’m going to shave my head one day. What will you do then, huh? You stubborn, disobedient mess,” I muttered, dragging the brush through the worst of it.

“Maybe you’ll finally look beautiful,” came Aaron’s voice from behind me.

I turned just in time to see him toweling his damp hair, shirtless, his skin still beaded with water. He looked—well, like someone carved him out of trouble and temptation.

What happened to wearing fuc.king shirts?

He peeked at me through the gap in his red towel, that annoying glint in his making me want to run.

I was not a masochist. I had enough chaos on my plate without adding “shirtless roommate” to the list of things I needed therapy for.

“Thank you, doll,” I said with a saccharine smile. “Not everyone can wake up looking like a cologne ad for annoying and insufferably smug.”

“You’re really, really irritating, Landon,” he muttered, shaking his head and walking toward the kitchen. Still shirtless. Just wearing those damn trousers that hung a little too perfectly on his hips.

I raised an eyebrow.

“Aren’t you going to wear something? Or are you holding out for your team of royal maids to come and dress you like the spoiled prince you are?” I asked, trying not to sound too impressed with myself for the burn.

Normally, Aaron would’ve stopped. Glared. Maybe even grumbled something snarky under his breath. But this time, he didn’t even break stride.

Instead, he said—quietly, casually, without looking back—

“What? Are you afraid you won’t be able to control yourself if I stay like this?”

The words hit like a match dropped in gasoline.

“Ooh. Burn.” Rexi whispered looking gleeful.

Evil, evil Rexi.

I clenched my jaw and pretended like my brain hadn’t just short-circuited.

I needed distance. Cold air. A bucket of ice, maybe. Anything but another round of mental replays starring Shirtless Aaron and his slow smirks.

"Your head is bigger than your-" I stopped and pointedly looked at his trousers, and he turned a shade of red that made me feel so much better.

But it looked like he wasn't done yet.

He took a step closer to me, and I really wanted to back away, but I stood my ground and looked up at him. His eyes were like glazed honey as he looked at me, and my heart went haywire.

"Are you asking to see? Again?" he whispered, and I gasped as I pushed my hand against his chest. Bare, lean chest. His skin was warm and he smelled like summer evenings and roasted marshmallows and yellow sunshine.

"That is poetic," the stupid wolf chuckled.

I realized my hand was still on his chest and I jumped away, flustered and feeling ashamed.

He looked at me for a moment too long and turned away from me, muttering something under his breath. I patted my chest until I could finally breathe normally again.

"Danielle?" He stopped and turned to look at me, and my breathing was back to abnormal. My stomach was doing salsa routines to a

difficult song.

I didn't know why this was happening to me, now of all the time? Hormones suck.

"Yes, they do."

"Don't fight with me, not anymore." His voice was gentle, so were his eyes. I wanted to turn away from his eyes, but they were like magnets. "I said I won't. We talked last night. Did you already forget it?"

This was madness. He was mad.

No. Just one talk couldn't solve years of animosity, could it?

But he looked at me like it could.

"I- that is us, you know. We can't not fight," I said. "We hate each other and that is something we can not-"

"Ssh," he said as he pressed a finger on his lips. "We can try, Danielle. I am willing to try," he said as he looked at me like he had never looked at me in the past one and half years. Full of warmth and understanding. Full of empathy.

"Something is wrong," Rexi said and I felt it. My stomach felt weird.

"I... is this some kind of game?"

I wanted to run to him and cry on his shoulder. He looked strong, steady. Looked warm and approachable for the first time since that fateful day.

But I knew I could not depend on anyone. Everyone leaves eventually, and I knew that better than anyone.

I shook my head to clear myself. I could not fall for this. For him. Not again. One time was enough for a lifetime.

"We can't. Please Aaron, all I am asking is to leave me alone," I whispered, and his eyes flashed for a moment.

"I can, Danielle. I can stop fighting with you. I can- Don't run away from this. You know, running might be easier for you, but please, I need you to stop fighting. You told me you are tired. I am tired, as well," he said, eyes desperate.

"His eyes look so real. Maybe it is real."

"No, I can't trust him. I won't."

"I don't want to try. I don't want to... This is not us. We can't.. change. Why are you acting like you suddenly- I don't trust you. People don't change overnight. What are you playing Aaron?"

"No games. This is me. This is me being honsest."

"No. No. You are lying."

"I am not lying. I want to change, I'm trying to change. We were friends once. More than friends, were we not?" he asked as he looked me straight in the eyes.

We were, and then he chose Samantha over me. He chose to trust her words, and he judged me. I was convicted for the crime I hadn't done.

"It's all in the past. We are nothing now." I said as I walked away from him and found shelter inside the bathroom. I stood under the shower and let the hot water spill down my aching body.

What does he want now? What is his intention? Why is he behaving like this? Just because I asked?

I could not trust anything he said. I could not trust Aaron McCarter. Period. He had showed me more than enough time that I couldn't trust him.

I am not an Idiot... I won't trust Aaron.

"But maybe..."

"No, Rex. No."



___