The Wolf’s Whisper: The Complete Series

5. Emily

I arranged things on my desk in their usual order, falling into the rhythm of my afternoon class. Unfortunately, that same ravenous hunger had filled me again about halfway through my labs in the medical center, and it took nearly all of my willpower to make it to the end without running to get more food.

Part of me was mortified by how much I was eating, and for a brief moment, I had the urge to restrict. A huge aspect of getting healthy and loving myself, though, was to learn to eat when I was hungry.

And boy, was I hungry.

So I’d practically sprinted right back to the coffee shop and bought two of the sandwiches they had there, shoving one into my bag and practically inhaling the next one. My stomach wasn’t going to be happy about it, but if I didn’t get something into my system, I felt like I’d pass out, and I only had about ten minutes to get to my next class.

At least it was a class I could potentially eat in after the professor had done his usual introductions. My sandwich was calling to me like a siren’s song, drool collecting thick in my mouth.

Geez, what was wrong with me?

I knew I was risking becoming fixated on the sandwich if I kept staring at my bag, so I pulled my focus away and watched the other students filing in until the lecturer entered and walked up to his usual place at the front of the class. Grateful to have something new to focus on, I turned my attention to him, except he didn’t talk. An eternity seemed to pass, but instead of beginning the lecture, he was pointedly staring somewhere behind me towards the back of the class.

I was tempted to turn around and look, but I also didn’t want to see what he was glaring at. If it was anything like the last couple of times, it was one of two couples who liked to get a little handsy in the back row. As much as I loved education, I could never see myself getting that excited about a lecture.

“Are you in this class, sir?” the lecturer asked. That didn’t sound like something he’d say to a couple enjoying too much PDA in his class.

Turning in my seat, I looked behind me to see a stunningly handsome man who looked absolutely too old to be in our class. The med school track was a pretty difficult one to start later in life since it was so long. Everyone in the program tended to be fairly young.

The mystery man was tall, with dark eyes, dark hair, and chiseled features that could’ve belonged to a model. I felt my interest flare automatically, but then reality set in. A strange man with no business being in our classroom? What if he was a school shooter? There’d been so many horror stories lately, and for a moment, my head was filled with dozens of images and scenes horrific enough to make my stomach churn.

Anxiety was ever so fun.

But then those deep, black eyes met my own, and it was like the floor dropped out from under me. All thoughts of my sandwich were gone. I could only stare back at him.

There was something… classic about him, like a man from an era that was largely bygone. And a ruggedness, too, which normally didn’t interest me in the slightest. But now? Well, now I felt my ovaries reacting in a way that didn’t seem physically possible.

Calm down, ladies. Geez. I’m not a cavewoman.

Did I need to see a doctor? My body seemed to be doing its own thing and taking me along for the ride. Not exactly an alien sensation, given all the things I’d been through in my life, but not a welcome one, either.

“Excuse me, sir. Are you a student?” the lecturer asked again.

The man nodded slowly, and I almost called bullshit right then and there. He had no pen, no bag, no laptop. He didn’t even have the required cup or thermos of coffee in his hand that all med students needed after lunch. But my lecturer was laidback to a fault, at least compared to my other professors, because he just nodded, then motioned the man towards a seat.

The rugged stranger nodded, his eyes breaking away from mine as he settled in. Or I was delusional and he was actually staring at the blond girl seated behind me. I couldn’t tell, but when I finally faced forward, I swore that I could feel his eyes boring into me.

Did... did I rob someone or beat them up without remembering? Okay, his gaze didn’t seem malevolent , just intense. Incredibly intense. So much so that it was like physical heat was spreading across my scalp and down my body.

I felt keyed up in a way that was entirely unlike me, and once more, I was acutely aware of all the perfumes around me. They weren’t as thick and cloying as the club, but they certainly weren’t subtle, either.

With all the sensory input, the lecture went by at an absolute crawl. It was borderline maddening, and as it finally began to wind down, I had no idea how I got through it. At least my appetite had dropped off, my brain being too caught up with all the other information it was sorting through.

Naturally, once the lecture ended, I got up pretty quickly and packed my stuff. Normally, I liked to sit there for a moment, process everything I’d learned, write any homework I needed to do in my planner, then meticulously gather my things, but not now. I could still feel the eyes of that stranger like a weight across my shoulders. Even though the lecture had lasted forever, I couldn’t recall a single thing Professor Welles had said. His words had gone in one ear and out the other, pushed along by everything else that was inundating me.

Once all my stuff was collected, I looked to the exit, where everyone was hurriedly making their way to their next class. It annoyed me that there was only one, as it always caused traffic jams at the start and end of class, but that feeling was validated three times over when I saw the stranger standing there.

He looked like a painting, leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his broad chest, emphasizing his biceps. I’d certainly never cared about muscles before, but he looked strong. Intimidating.

Delicious.

What the fuck? I blinked, surprised by the unbidden adjective that’d so readily supplied itself in my mind. I didn’t think it was wrong to find other people attractive, but I never really had since I’d started dating Gavin. My stomach sank with guilt, so I tried to hurry past the stranger as fast as I could, banishing all thoughts of the rugged man from my consciousness.

I just needed to eat my other sandwich, get another water bottle, then get to my next class. Once my day was over, I could take a rare nap. I’d certainly earned it, and maybe it’d wipe away all the weirdness going on with my body.

However, I was only a couple of steps out of the doorway, barely past the throng of people, when a hand alighted on my shoulder. I yelped, nearly jumping out of my skin, and I turned to see who the hell would possibly touch me.

Of course it was him. Who else would it be? I felt myself blush furiously as I realized several people around us were looking at me curiously, but I just waved them on.

“Can I help you?” I muttered, wondering what the hell he wanted. Why was he staring at me? Why had he snuck into my class? Was he some stalker? I wasn’t the type of person who would ever have one, or at least that was what I had always thought. But still, there was something about the way his dark eyes lingered on me that made me feel... feel…

Hunted.

“Could we talk for a second?” he asked.

“Uh, I have to go to my other class,” I said quickly, stepping out of the man’s grip. His handsomeness was quickly fading in comparison to how much he was wigging me out. Who would just put their hands on people all willy-nilly? The only reason I wasn’t reaching for my pepper spray was because quite a few people still surrounded us.

“Right, I’m sure. It’s just you smell… you seem like someone I used to know.”

Someone he used to know? What kind of line was that? “I assure you, I’ve never seen you before. Who is it you’re even looking for?”

The man looked like he didn’t want to answer my question for a moment, but when he did speak again, there was weight to the single word that he let past his full lips. “Kaia.”

“I’ve never heard that name before, sorry,” I said. “You have the wrong person.”

He reached for my arm like he had some right to touch me, and I stepped back again, knocking his hand out of the way. That same fever rushed through me, making it feel like my blood was speedily pumping through my veins. Was I sweating?

“Look, I—” I began.

But I’d had enough. I felt cornered and irritated, and I was so sick of people manhandling me lately. So before I could really think about it, I swung my satchel right in his face and turned on my heel to rush away.

I wasn’t full-on sprinting, but I certainly was going quickly. I didn’t slow until I made it to the stairs and partially lost my loafer halfway up. Only then did I pause to shove my foot back into it. It certainly wasn’t the time for me to play at being Cinderella.

Goodness knew that this stranger wasn’t Prince Charming.