Chapter 12 #3
Before I could say anything, another woman sat in front of Ruby and pinned her with an amused look. “Are you scaring the poor girl? Already? How long have you been sitting here? Less than a minute is a record, even for you.”
Ruby was intimidating, but it was nothing on this woman. Her black, almost blue hair hung down to her waist, and her bright violet eyes flickered from Ruby to me before frowning. “Damn it, Ruby. What did you say?”
I needed to say something, I knew I did, but I had absolutely no idea what to say.
“I thought she knew!” Ruby whispered, looking panicked.
My throat grew thick as I considered the reality of what they were saying.
If I was their mate, and they didn’t tell me, there was a reason.
It was possible they hadn’t been ready or didn’t know how.
The larger possibility was that they didn’t want me as their mate, which hurt so much it wasn’t even funny.
I suddenly wished I had my phone or that I could ask one of them.
That was the easiest and fastest way to handle it.
I just needed to be blunt and inform them of what Ruby had told me.
What if I looked stupid, though? What if Ruby was wrong? How did I feel about having a mate, even? I didn’t even know my own emotions, so how was I supposed to examine theirs?
Before either woman could say anything else, or I could ask for the other’s name, the woman up front stood.
I watched as she wrote ‘Sue Falero’ on the board before turning towards her small but attentive class.
Unfortunately, I was feeling anything but attentive right now.
In fact, all I could think about was how I wished I was back in the other class with Caedmon before my day had turned into such a confusing toss-up of information that I didn’t know what to do with.
At least the Ryder thing was less confusing than what they had just said.
“Welcome to Shifter History and Groupings,” she began in a soft but firm tone, handing packs of paper out at the start of each row.
I took mine, turning in my seat and offering the stack to the student behind me, feeling bad about ignoring his smile but finding myself far too distracted to try to make friends.
Honestly, I was also afraid of what other information would be given to me that would flip everything upside down if I talked to anyone else.
“My name is Sue Falero, but you can just call me Sue. I like to keep it pretty casual with classes this small.” She offered a small smile.
“I am a second-year professor here at SFU and teach a myriad of different classes, but my doctorate was specifically focused on Shifter History in the past two hundred years. Since this class is a freshman requirement and all of you are in your first year, we will spend next class introducing ourselves to one another. Today we are going to mainly focus on running through the syllabus so you know not only what is expected out of you for this semester but what you can expect from me.”
My attention began to refocus on the class at hand, her mannerisms very relaxing, and a slight string of excitement distracting me from my other thoughts.
The more complicated ones. Although, it was frustrating, because the moment I started to look at the syllabus, all I could think about was the guys and how I wanted to know more about them.
It was clear that a large portion of the class was focused around the different types of wolf shifters and their associated history.
I ran my finger along the course outline and found myself smiling, happy to have a name for the other two types of wolves: totemic and lycan.
Hadn’t Julian said Dakota was the first today in the cafeteria?
So that would mean logically that Caedmon was a lycan, if the blood-bonded packs consisted of all four.
I murmured the names of both under my breath as she began to go through elements of the course, her pronunciation assuring me that I was saying them correctly.
Good. I didn’t need to look any more out of my element around these guys than I clearly already was.
My fingers twitched to grab my new textbook from my backpack so that I could start reading about each type instead of waiting for when I got back to the dorm.
Somehow I had a feeling Sue would notice me not giving her my full attention, so I kept my eyes on the syllabus, hoping that she wouldn’t call on me or ask my opinion.
I didn’t need to draw any more attention to myself.
Especially if it showed how little I knew.
Hell, I didn’t even know if these books were actually mine or just for the semester.
I’d been distracted enough by Caedmon that I hadn’t asked, and I was now regretting it, worried that if I somehow bent or marked the pages, that they wouldn’t take it back.
I nibbled my lip as I ran my fingers along the smooth plastic surface of the desk I sat in, my eyes darting momentarily to the clock and wishing that this would also be a short class today.
Despite my excitement for the course content, my urge to know if Ruby and the other woman were telling the truth was really beginning to pull on me.
The time felt as if it dragged, Sue going through the class rules, as I occasionally noticed the two women next to me exchanging looks before looking down at their phones.
Were they messaging one another? I frowned, feeling a bit jealous.
Not because I wanted to be part of their messages, specifically—although it would be cool to be friends—but more that if I had a phone, I could message the guys.
Also because their friendship was a reminder of how different and alienated I was from everyone else.
Why couldn’t the person who applied me have done it a semester earlier? If I had started as a normal freshman, I probably would have managed to make friends. Possibly.
Then again, maybe making friends wasn’t in the cards for me.
While the guys had been different so far, it was possible the normal cruelness that I associated with other people could end up applying here.
But that didn’t seem likely. I mean, Ruby had been open enough to reveal something to me that was so shockingly important that all I could do was be thankful for her.
Frowning, I ran a hand over my face, hoping that this would be over sooner rather than later.
I was starting to feel claustrophobic, my fingers tugging on my turtleneck to pull it away from my neck as my head spun.
Panic edged through my body as I tried to refocus but failed horribly, leaving me completely and utterly distracted.
So much so that when students finally began getting up and putting on their coats, I had to snap myself out of the haze I’d been in.
I stood, sliding on my backpack, as I frowned, realizing that I had never taken off my coat. Goddess. I was a mess.
“Ready?” Ruby asked. I looked up, surprised. Had they been waiting for me?
“Ready?” I asked hesitantly.
“Yeah, we are heading to the library for a bit, are you coming with or do you have another class?” the other woman asked curiously.
“I’m done,” I offered.
“Perfect!” She clapped as we walked towards the door, then turned and looked at me. “By the way, I’m Aanya.”
“Nice to meet you.” I meant that, and despite my caution, I felt thrilled that they wanted to hang out with me. It was also distracting me from my panic.
As we passed through the door, I briefly wondered if I should wait for the boys, but I didn’t want to inconvenience my friends.
They would find me, right? Crap. I really had no way to contact them, and since arriving, this was the first time we had been apart, wasn’t it?
I shook myself, pulling on a small thread of confidence, realizing that I needed to do this.
Just in case they decided they didn’t want to be friends…
well, mates, with me. If they didn’t, I could at least say I had two possible friends.
Maybe. My wolf whimpered at the concept of being rejected by our own mates.
I wasn’t naive enough to completely remove it as a possibility, though.
“Where are you from, Effie?” Aanya asked as we walked outside. I shivered slightly, tucking my hands into my pockets.
“Chicago,” I explained, walking on her one side as Ruby walked on the other, watching me with interest.
“Same,” Ruby murmured.
“I’m from Kyoto,” Aanya offered easily before sighing. “Okay, well technically, my parents are from there. I grew up mostly in New York, but they moved back there the minute I went off to college, so I guess I live there on holidays now?”
I couldn’t help but smile at her rambling, finding myself wanting to ask her more about Japan. I’d never traveled in my life, but it had always been something I’d been interested in. Just one of those unattainable aspects I’d assumed wasn’t in the cards before leaving my pack.
Maybe now I could find a way.
Before I could respond, Aanya looked ahead, her eyes suddenly widening. We were passing a building, and I could see a gathering of different students coming out of it, but she immediately grabbed Ruby’s arm to pull her to a stop.
“Ruby…”
Ruby growled under her breath. “Fuck. I see them.”
Then she was gone. Literally gone, as she dipped into the side entrance of the building we were passing without another word.
I frowned in confusion as Aanya muttered a curse but hooked arms with me and led me ahead easily.
She was shaking her head but dipped her gaze as a group of four massive men passed us, their energy similar to the men I lived with.
My brows went up as I realized one of them was familiar.