Chapter Two #2
“What in the goddess’ name is he trying to do? Even if a person is the Alpha, some packs can’t afford this.” My mother snatched the paper out of my hand and shook her head. “What is he trying to do?” I looked at my mother and gave a tiny shake.
We can’t say anything here. “Well. I’m just not going to follow this.” I smiled a little. “And if Vince has a problem with it, he can take it up with me.” I shook my head and went to get up again.
“Wait.” I settled back into my seat at Mrs. Sandlewood’s voice. “Your food card. I forgot all about it.”
My mom smacked her head. “Oh my goddess, so did I.” I looked over at her and raised an eyebrow.
“I know you mentioned it before just now, but what is the deal? Couldn’t I just buy food with my debit card?” I switched between the two laughing women. “What?”
“Baby. The university works within a specific system. The only card you can use to purchase anything here is the food card.”
“We have been using the system for years. It’s stopping kids from flashing their money around.” Mrs. Sandlewood typed on her computer. “We load the card, and it comes with a specific daily limit that you can’t go over.”
“Why?” I was dumbfounded. What on earth was going on? In my last life, Brandon stopped me from going to university, so I was completely lost hearing this.
“Years ago, there were a few Alphas that went out of their way to throw their weight around. One was to torment other students, and then stood up and made a point.”
“What exactly happened?” I turned to my mother, and she snickered.
“Well, there was an Alpha that was throwing his money around.” She started between her chuckles. “Specifically, when I started here.”
“Okay…” I shook my head in confusion.
“Well, the first Alpha was from a richer pack, and he flaunted it.” Mrs. Sandlewood picked up the story as my mother lost it to her giggles. “He would try to buy things for his friends, and even bought out the textbooks for one class.”
“Screwing over the rest of the class.” My mother interrupted.
“He was from a much richer pack?”
“And a little bit of an asshole.” My mother cackled.
“And then the second Alpha, he bought out the entire store and gave everything away to the other students. He made sure everyone was ready for their classes with the textbooks, except for the first Alpha.”
“It was incredible.” My mother wiped her eyes, finally done laughing.
“It was something. I worked here in the office back then and was witness to the mayhem they both created. The card system was implemented within a month.”
I nodded along. “Who were the Alphas?” I looked at Mrs. Sandlewood, but she was clearly not going to answer.
My mother rubbed my hand as she coughed. “Vince was the first Alpha, and the second was your father.”
There was a thick silence in the room until Mrs. Sandlewood cleared her throat. “Now, that story isn’t meant to be run around the school, so keep it to yourself.”
“Of course.” I automatically answered.
“So, how much would you like to add to your card?”
“How often can we load it?” My mom asked. “When it first started, there was a one-time loading, and the kids had to learn to budget.”
Mrs. Sandlewood nodded. “The program is the same. That’s why Alpha Vince typed up the requirements for Alphas. He wanted you to be prepared before you came and had to budget.”
My mom looked at me and kind of bobbed her head back and forth. “And the remainder of the money at the end of the semester — is it rolled over or is it emptied and then reloaded?”
“We changed that, where we used to refund it every semester. We recently moved to a rollover method. You can add to it at the beginning of each semester, but once it’s gone, it’s gone until the end of the term.”
My mom nodded and looked at me. “You aren’t stupid with your money. But I want to make sure you have enough to do what you want.” She bit her lip as she thought about it.
“How much is normally added?” I turned back to Mrs. Sandlewood.
“Oh.” She clicked a few times on her computer and then nodded. “Beta’s or lower usually load between twenty-five and forty thousand dollars. But the Alphas usually load more.”
“Why?” My mom kept counting things on her hands, and I just laughed.
“Well, they have access to a few specialized clubs on campus. Plus…” Mrs. Sandalwood trailed off.
“What is it?” I prompted her to finish her thought.
She lowered her voice and leaned in. “It really depends on the Alpha. Some blow through their money quickly at the clubs.”
“You mentioned them. What are they?”
“There are a few sports bars and one dance club. Only ranked wolves can get in. But Alpha’s has a VIP section, and it costs more. The flashier ones spend their money there. Then the others, they are more respectful and sponsor kids.”
“Sponsor kids?”
Mrs. Sandlewood kind of sighed. “Some of the unranked wolves don’t have a lot of money. Or none at all. They get jobs around campus to earn their meals.”
My mother covered her mouth, and I felt my face fall. “But these kids are here to study, and now they have to worry about eating?” I turned to my mom, and she shook her head.
“That’s horrible.”
“I know you aren’t allowed to give me the names, but are you able to see how many students have a zero balance on their cards?” I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed my father.
“Of course.” Mrs. Sandlewood worked for a few minutes on the computer as I rang my father.
“Baby?” My father’s deep voice rang out, and I watched my mother shiver next to me. “Is something wrong?”
“Yeah, dad there is.” I drew a breath. “I need you to transfer me a lot of money.”
“What?” My dad chuckled. “Why?”
“I’m at the university, and we are getting ready to load my meal card.”
My dad burst out laughing. “They still do that bullshit.” He cackled for a few more minutes, obviously proud of himself. “Okay. Okay. What do you need for your meals?”
“It’s not my meals I'm worried about, Daddy.” I started, and he fell silent.
“There are three hundred low-ranked and unranked wolves with no money on their food cards.” Mrs. Sandlewood whispered to me, and I nodded.
I covered the phone and whispered back to her. “How much does a basic meal plan cost, just three meals a day, and the cost of textbooks for a semester?”
She clicked a few times and then scrunched up her face. “Around ten thousand dollars.”
“Daddy…I need three million.”
I listened to my father choke on whatever he was drinking. “Okay, but explain.” I heard my father whisper a few things to Ronnie, who also choked. He laughed again.
“I just found out that lower-ranked wolves, and some of the unranked wolves, have to take jobs around the campus instead of focusing on their studies.”
“What?” My father’s voice faltered.
“Yeah.”
“When did this happen? There used to be a basic food plan included in tuition.” Mrs. Sandlewood’s eyes widened as she looked away.
“The integrated food plan was removed about ten years back.” She answered, and I did the math. I leaned the phone towards her and hit the speaker button to make this easier.
“Alpha Vince was appointed as Dean ten years ago.” My father’s voice was dark, and I knew he was angry.
“That is correct.” Mrs. Sandlewood answered, but she wouldn’t meet my eye.
“How much is the basic food plan?” His voice was controlled, but I knew my dad.
Mrs. Sandlewood swallowed. “About six thousand.”
I pulled the phone back towards me. “I asked how much the basic food plan and the textbooks per semester would work out to be, Daddy.”
“Right, textbooks and necessities. So roughly, it's…”
“Ten thousand a person.” I finished.
“And how many are under the amount for the semester, for the entire school?” His question proved he was smarter than I was.
Mrs. Sandlewood, bless her heart, shivered in fear. “One second.” She did a few more minutes at the computer. “There are three hundred without money, and an additional two hundred students that fall below the basic living amount.”
“Mrs…”
“Sandlewood.” She finished.
“Mrs. Sandlewood, you were the secretary when I was there, weren’t you?”
“Yes, Alpha, I was.” She blushed, and my mother looked away with a smirk.
“Okay, Mrs. Sandlewood. How much would be needed to bump everyone up above the basic amount?”
She clicked a few more things, and then we all heard an audible gulp. “Four million seven hundred and thirty dollars.”