For the better part of an hour, Arthur had done nothing but push a piece of roasted chicken aimlessly around his plate. His face was an uncharacteristic, blazing red, completely shattering the usual lively rhythm of dinner where he would typically chatter endlessly about his students or the school curriculum.
The shift in his energy was impossible to miss. Kelly hovered by the serving bowls, her eyes tracking his flushed cheeks until she could no longer keep silent.
"Arthur, why are you dazing off so much today? Did something happen at work?"
"H-hah?"
Arthur blinked, the syllables slipping out before he had even fully processed the question. He squinted slightly, shaking his head as if trying to forcibly clear a thick, intoxicating fog from his brain.
To the untrained eye, he looked like he was coming down with a sudden fever. But to the one Alpha sitting directly across from him, the reality was exquisitely clear.
