He wanted to figure her out. Not recognising his own feelings was more than stressful and confusing enough.

Before I knew it, I was twirling around again, this time with a man that I didn't know. We just danced in silence, listening to the lovely tunes of the Waltz.

I wanted to excuse myself and go back to stuffing my face with the most delicious snacks I could find at that table, but for some reason I was never left alone.

I looked around me. Whereas half an hour ago there were almost no people dancing, now there was no one standing still. Everywhere around me there were dark dresses and colourful ballgowns swirling around with neatly looking men in suits. The one I was dancing with was similar to every other man present here. Black three-piece suit, smelling heavily of a rich cologne, an expensive watch around his wrist, and his head held high. Just by looking at him, I could deduce that he was high up in one of the major research companies of Sapientiae. Just his aura alone screamed that he thought he was better than anyone else in the room.

After one particular turn – or rather, a partner switch – the music changed to a slower pace abruptly. No longer were the people turning in beautiful patterns, instead everyone stood still and swayed from side to side slowly. The hand that touched the hand of my dance partner tingled softly, and I felt his body stiffen immediately.

I smiled sweetly. "This is convenient," I said. "Hello, Vir."

"H-h-hey," he answered, his cheeks turning red quickly, his eyes avoiding any region below my head. How cute, he was trying to be polite by not looking any further down. Although, looking into my eyes would have been perfectly fine. Him staring at a spot above my head was a bit extra, in my opinion.

The music, consisting of nothing more than a piano, violin and harp, was flowing softly between us, causing us to remain silent for a while. The chattering of the other guests made every single conversation inaudible on its own, even with my advanced hearing.

Even though we didn't feel the need to speak, I enjoyed dancing with my mate. I could feel his heart hammering in his chest almost as fast as mine did. I just couldn't help but ruin it. "You know," I started. "You could have told me that you were going to offer me a contract. You scared me. I thought I would have to go home tomorrow."

He kept staring in the distance, not once meeting my eyes. "I would have told you if you would have come to my office today, as we had discussed." In his voice I could detect some irritation.

I just stood there, my mouth agape. "I'm sorry?"

"I said, I would have told you-"

"I heard you fine," I snapped. "You sent me away the other day in a not so kindly matter, Vir. I wasn't feeling particularly welcome this morning."

Now he did look at me, his face morphed to represent utter confusion. "Why not? I literally said that you were welcome to stay in my office, but that I didn't expect to be back anytime soon, so it would have been better for you to just go to your own room."

I sighed. That may or may not have been true. "It's not the words you spoke Vir, it's the way you spoke them. You seemed irritated, eager to get rid of me, not actually enjoying my presence. I expected at least a goodbye, maybe a hug of some sorts. You just ran out on me after making quite sure that you don't want anyone to know about us!" I exclaimed the last few words, and he quickly shushed me.

"Oh," he said. "I guess, ehm, th-that, I should a-a-apo-, sorry?" He stuttered again.

I shook my head as an answer, biting my lip.

"So, what changed your mind?" I asked eventually.

"About what?" His voice was small, quiet, as if he was afraid he would push my buttons no matter what he said.

"Yesterday, you mentioned that we weren't going to be seen together like this. And now, you are dancing with me anyway."

He coughed slightly. "It would have been more obvious if I didn't dance with you at all. I will dance with all female representatives today. As will most men with some kind of authority in this pack, except my beta, probably." He keeps quiet for a while, obviously contemplating to tell me something else. "And I-I-I may h-have been want-t-ting y-you for m-myself fo-f-f-for a while." 

If it were possible, my heart would have melted right then and there. I pressed myself a little closer to his body, hearing a short hitch in his breath before he partly relaxed. I smiled in satisfaction, but it seemed as if he wasn't finished yet.

"I know I-I-I had told my beta to d-distract a lot of wondering minds from questioning whether we were mates or not, but seeing you at his s-side all evening, seeing you smile at him, seeing him look a-a-at you w-when you l-l-look like tha-that..." He sighed, trying to collect himself. "I don't understand, I... I just couldn't help myself."

I slowly caressed his neck, which made him blush. "It seems as if my plan worked, then," I said mischievously.

Vir gasped in disbelief. "B-but, why?" 

I smiled playfully. "Payback for what you did to me all evening during dinner, Vir. Now at least you know how it feels. Other people can touch you, talk to you, get your attention, while I can't, in fear of exposing us being mates. It's not nice."

He frowned, but didn't say anything. Instead, we just swayed from left to right for a couple of more minutes. I was happy that this particular song had no partner switches, because it allowed me to stay close to Vir a little longer. However, my happiness didn't last too long. Before I knew it, the music changed again, and soon we were moving around the ballroom again in an elegant matter. I didn't know the steps to this kind of music, so I just let Vir take the lead – which I must say, he was quite good at.

"It appears as if we are lucky, Livia. First the slow dancing without any partner switches, now the slow foxtrot. There is no way anyone could have foreseen this coincidence that we would be dancing together for over ten minutes." When I looked up into his eyes, I saw him smirk slightly, which made my heart beat even faster.

He had planned this. The fact that he didn't stutter or blush, that he spoke with confidence, that he smirked, most of all. He had made sure that there was a time for us to dance tonight. Considering his stiffened posture and nervous antics in the first few minutes, I suspected he was just overwhelmed by being this close to me.

It was endearing.

"I would like to see you tomorrow morning in my office, your first day as my Junior Personal Assistant. Be there at eight, I assume you know your way there." He ended our interaction with these words, after which he twirled me around a last time. I tried to immediately back out of the dance floor, but as soon as Vir left to dance with the next representative, another man stood in front of me, smirking.

"Good evening, miss Devoe. I presume we can have a civil conversation during a pleasant dance?"

I looked up, my entire face a mask immediately, no sign of what had occurred seconds earlier visible on my face.

"Of course, mister Montgomery, it's my pleasure."