Deception (Dark Alpha #3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

her from underneath it as he dug around in his backpack for a paper pad. “I’m just another student who happened to sit next to you. Nothing special.”
    She had already turned into a mannequin, stiffly staring at her swing-arm desktop then turning to dig into her own backpack. “What are you doing here?” she asked harshly.
    A small pain tore through his chest. Maybe this was a mistake.
    Arianna had failed utterly in keeping her voice down. The guy in front of them turned slightly but didn’t say anything before apparently deciding it was none of his business. He moved over three seats.
    “I had to see you,” Jak said quietly. “But if you don’t want to see me… anymore…” He was having a hard time getting the words out. His whisper faded at the end, and that feeling in his chest was stabbing him again. He stared at her hands, turning white as she clutched her notebook.
    “Jak.” It was just one word, but it was his name in a whisper full of emotion.
    He lifted his gaze: her eyes were glassy with tears. If she told him to stay away, he could still blame it on Mace and the mating bond—her alpha had to be just outside—but that wouldn’t stop it from ripping a hole in his heart.
    “All I want is you.” Her words were barely audible. A tear slipped from the corner of her eye, and she ducked her face away.
    Jak’s heart was soaring.
    He glanced to the top of the classroom: the door was closed. He turned back to Arianna and reached for her face, lifting her chin with one finger so she would bring those beautiful blue eyes back to him. She blinked more tears, and he gently brushed them away.
    Her lips quivered. “But I’ll die if you’re hurt because of me.”
    He leaned as close as he dared. “You’re not going to die. And neither am I.” He pulled back and held up his notepad. “Notes only. Okay?”
    She sniffed back the rest of the tears and nodded. If he had to pick one moment as the exact instant when he fell in love with Arianna Stefan, he would have to say that was it: when she had nothing to go on but his word, but she trusted him anyway. All while being amazingly brave in the face of what they both knew was a ridiculously dangerous idea: breaking her free.
    All the more dangerous to be plotting it here under Mace’s nose. Although Jak’s heart was still flying from her words and her trust… now that he had that, nothing would stop him from being the one to set her free.
    The instructor had arrived on the stage at the bottom of the room, and all eyes were on him. Jak bent over his notepad and scribbled out his first flush of thoughts. He would have the whole length of the class to write out all the details of his plans for Saturday. But he had other things he had to tell her first.
    You’re all I think about. Everything I want. I made a promise to you. I’m going to keep it. And soon… Saturday, my love.
    He slid the pad to where she could see it, still on the swing-arm desk of his stadium seat, but close enough for his scribblings to be legible.
    She read it then bent over her own pad, and a moment later, held out a note for him. The submission ceremony? The whole pack will be there. Too dangerous.
    He suppressed a grin. I’ll be the last thing they expect, he wrote.
    This time, it took her several scratched out tries before she wrote back. Too dangerous.
    I’ll need your help, he scribbled on the pad. You’ll have to signal me at just the right time. He dug into his backpack again. The instructor was telling them to get out their textbooks which led to a flurry of iPads being withdrawn from backpacks and covered his shuffling pretty well. He drew out a small phone, the tiniest he could find on the market. It was a burn phone, but it had text capability. That was all she would need.
    He passed it to her under the tabletop. When her fingers brushed his, the warmth of them surged his senses. But her hand was gone an instant later, whisking away the phone before he could do more than