Chapter 75 First genuine discussion

Chapter 75 First genuine discussion
Chapter 075

RAVENNA

I dropped into the chair, my bag sliding off my shoulder and landing on the floor beside me with a dull thud.

Darius turned around and walked over to sit in the chair directly across from me.

"I thought you would not make it tonight," he commented, his tone neutral but his eyes watching me carefully.

I shrugged, pulling my notebook out and setting it on the table. "I have a bad feeling about working together with you since the last time we tried this was not exactly productive. But here I am anyway."

Darius ignored my jab completely, which was probably for the best.

We sat in awkward silence for a moment whilst I organised my materials and tried to figure out where we should start.

Then I remembered something from last night that had been bothering me ever since.

"Who is Atlas?" I asked suddenly, looking up at him.

He frowned slightly. "What?"

"Atlas," I repeated, leaning forward slightly. "You called out that name yesterday night. You said fuck you Atlas, but there were only two of us in the library. So who is Atlas?"

Darius stared at me for a long moment without responding.

Then his eyes suddenly shifted colour, the brown turning into that brilliant golden hue that always made my breath catch.

"This is Atlas," he finally answered, his voice deeper and rougher than usual.

I was quiet for a while, my mind working through what he was telling me.

Pieces were starting to click together in my head. "Your wolf is Atlas. That is what you mean. Your wolf has his own name."

Darius reached across the table and poked my forehead with one finger, the gesture oddly playful coming from him. "Do you really not know anything about werewolves at all?"

I shook my head honestly. "Just a little bit. The basics, I suppose."

He sighed deeply, like I was a particularly slow student he had to teach. "My wolf's name is Atlas. Every wolf has their own identity, their own personality separate from the human side. We share the same body and mind, but we are two distinct beings. Do you understand?"

"I think so," I responded slowly, fascinated by this new information. "So when you shift, Atlas is in control? And when you are human, you are in control?"

"Something like that," he confirmed. "It is more complicated than that, but yes. That is the basic idea."

I opened my mouth to ask him more questions, suddenly desperate to understand this part of him better.

But before I could get any words out, he held up a hand to stop me.

"Pay attention to why we are actually here, Ravenna," he interrupted firmly. "I am not really in the mood to have casual conversations with you like friends do. We have work to finish."

The dismissal stung more than I wanted to admit. "Fine. Be an asshole then."

A grin spread across his face at the insult. "Remain a human."

"Asshole," I shot back automatically.

We fell into our usual pattern of trading barbs, but this time it felt less hostile and more like banter between people who were starting to understand each other.

Strange.

We began working on what I had already started preparing for the presentation.

Darius immediately took issue with the product I had chosen, arguing that we needed something more tangible and marketable if we wanted to make a real impression on Professor Bonn.

"What about athletic performance drinks?" he suggested, tapping his pen against the table thoughtfully. "Something targeted specifically at student athletes. We could call it Apex."

I considered the idea for a moment. "That is actually not terrible. But Apex sounds too aggressive. What about Velocity? It suggests speed and improvement."

"Velocity is boring," he countered immediately. "What about Eclipse? It implies surpassing others, being better than the competition."

We argued back and forth for nearly twenty minutes, both of us stubborn and unwilling to compromise.

Finally, we settled on a name that neither of us loved but both of us could live with: Ascend.

It suggested upward movement and improvement without being too obvious or aggressive.

Once we had agreed on the product name, we moved on to preparing the actual speech that would attract potential customers to buy it.

I grabbed a fresh sheet of paper and started making notes whilst Darius paced around the table, thinking out loud.

"The speech needs to contain solid reasons why they should buy it," I suggested, writing down key points as they came to me. "Clear benefits that set it apart from other products on the market."

"Obviously," Darius agreed. "But we also need to focus on the qualities of the product itself. What makes it different? What makes it better? Why should anyone trust that it actually works?"

I nodded, adding more notes to my growing list. "And we need to talk about how tested it is. Show research data. Testimonials from users. Proof that this is not just another gimmick."

We worked together surprisingly well once we stopped fighting about every little detail. Ideas flowed back and forth between us, building on each other's suggestions until we had a rough outline that actually looked impressive.

After about an hour of intense focus, I needed a break.

My hand was cramping from writing so much, and my brain felt overloaded with information.

I reached into my bag and pulled out a packet of biscuits I had brought with me, opening it and taking one for myself.

"Want one?" I offered, holding the packet out towards Darius.

He just stared at my hand without moving or responding.

I hissed in frustration and threw the packet at him. "Just eat it, Darius. If I really wanted to kill you, I would not settle for something as stupid as poisoning. That would be far too boring and predictable."

He sighed but picked up the packet, opened it, and took out a biscuit. He ate it slowly whilst watching me with an expression I could not quite read.

"How does it feel to be with Atlas?" I asked suddenly, curiosity getting the better of me again.

Darius studied me for a moment, clearly debating whether to answer or tell me to focus on work again.

Then he corrected me gently. "You mean when I allow my wolf to take over. That is the proper way to phrase it."

I leaned forward eagerly, resting my elbows on the table. "Yes. That. How does it feel when that happens?"

He chuckled at my obvious interest, and the sound made me freeze.

I realized with a start that this was the first time I had heard him laugh.

Really laugh, not just that mocking sound he usually made.

It was warm and genuine and completely unexpected.

I got carried away staring at him whilst he considered how to answer my question.

His eyes were truly beautiful up close, something I had never really noticed before.

The way the black colour mixed with the brown created this unique shade that seemed to shift depending on the light.

Bis mismatched eyes were striking.

And his brown hair fell across his forehead in a way that made my fingers itch to reach out and push it back.

I wanted to touch it. To touch him. To understand what it felt like to—

Something poked my forehead hard enough to make me blink.

Darius was leaning across the table with one finger extended, a wicked smirk on his face. "You pervert. Stop eye fucking me and pay attention."

My eyes widened in horror as his words registered. "I was not doing that. You are not someone worth fucking, Darius."

His smirk widened into a full grin. "Are you sure about that?"

"Completely sure," I insisted, my face burning with embarrassment.

"Then what did I just say?" he challenged. "Right before you started staring at me like I was something to eat. What was I talking about?"

I opened my mouth to answer and realized with horror that I had absolutely no idea.

I had been so distracted by his face that I had not heard a single word he said.

I hit my forehead with the palm of my hand and cursed loudly. "Damn it, Raven."

Darius's grin grew even wider, clearly delighted by my admission. "I know I am very handsome, human. But I should probably warn you that I do not do relationships. Most especially not with humans."

I glared at him, mortification turning quickly into anger. "You are a pompous idiot. And for your information, I do not look like someone who would do relationships with someone who has two personalities. One being an absolute asshole and the other being an animal."

The insult hit its mark. I saw his entire body go rigid, his expression shifting from amused to furious in an instant. He glared at me with such intensity that I almost regretted my words. Almost.

"Reduce the volume of your anger," I told him quickly, holding up both hands in surrender.

"We are both just joking and pissing each other off. That is what we do, right? No need to actually murder me over it."

Darius looked at me for a long moment, his jaw tight and his eyes still flashing dangerously.

Then, completely unexpectedly, he burst out laughing. The sound filled the quiet library making me jump slightly in surprise.

I found myself smiling whilst watching him laugh so freely, his whole face transforming into something almost boyish and carefree.

The laughter was infectious, and soon I was joining in too, both of us giggling like idiots over an insult that probably was not even that funny.

When we finally calmed down, wiping tears from our eyes and catching our breath, I felt something shift between us.

Like maybe we could actually be civil to each other. Maybe even friends, though I would never admit that out loud.

"Tell me about your family," I ventured once we had both settled back into our chairs. "Do you have any siblings? How do they cope with your asshole attitude on a daily basis?"

The change in Darius was immediate and terrifying.

His expression turned ice cold so fast it was like watching a door slam shut.

All the warmth and openness that had been there just seconds ago vanished completely, replaced by a wall I could not see past.

He stood up abruptly, his chair scraping loudly against the floor. "The study session has come to an end for tonight."

"Wait, what?" I stood up as well, confused by his sudden shift. "We still have work to do. We are not finished yet."

But he was already gathering his things, shoving papers into his bag with jerky movements.. "I said we are done. Goodnight, Ravenna."

He turned and walked out of the library without looking back, his footsteps echoing through the silent space until the door swung shut behind him.

I stood there alone amongst the books and scattered papers, trying to understand what had just happened.

What had I said that was so wrong? I had only asked about his family.

It was a normal question that people asked each other all the time.

But the coldness in his eyes before he left told me it was anything but normal for him.

I realised then that the coldness was not anger or hatred like I had assumed so many times before. It was a shield.

A wall he put up to protect himself from something painful that I did not understand yet.