Chapter Eight
“May I speak with you Alpha Amy?” The class just ended, and I was struggling to hold on to Nix. She wanted to shift, and holding her back was almost impossible. I turned to Gamma Charles and sighed.
“Of course.” I made my way to his desk as the rest of the men filed out of the room. Once I tucked my power away, Charles did his best to refocus the class and start on the material, but you could feel everyone was on edge.
“I’m sorry.” He started, but I raised a hand, stopping him.
“I am not foolish enough to believe that it was intentional. I assume in your teaching career you have had quite a few individuals who had tried to pretend to be a rank they weren’t. I also understand that female Alphas are very rare. I don’t take it to heart.”
I watched as he breathed in a sigh of relief. “I am still sorry. I know I put you in an awkward position today, and probably for the rest of the semester. But I will go to the rest of your teachers and let them know so you don’t have to do this kind of display in every class.”
I perked up at that. “Thank you. I would appreciate that very much.” I rolled my shoulders.
“I mean, I have to be honest with you here Alpha-”
“Just call me Amy, please.” I smiled.
Charles nodded. “We don’t have a lot of females going for this degree. And in the twenty years I have been teaching it, in all the schools I have traveled to, none were Alphas.”
I froze. “What?”
“I’ve never had an Alpha take this course. And I’ve only had a handful of females in all the years I have been teaching this course. So you are really surprising.”
I nodded and shrugged. “My father said this would be a good course to take to help support a pack. You learn security systems, innovative systems to improve your tech, and you can make money from humans.”
Charles slammed a hand down on the desk. “Exactly. And with the way the world is going, tech is becoming more and more prevalent.” Charles became more animated the longer he talked. “Most Alphas disregard everything you just said. So I’m more surprised and feel like I should apologize even more.”
Nix growled in frustration. I need to run. Now.
I had to stop the shift. Fur rippled down my arms and Charles stumbled back a step. “No need to apologize. But I have to go. My wolf is antsy from before and needs to run.”
Charles nodded. “I understand.” He gestured to the door, and we walked there side by side. He pointed left down the hallway. “Head left, straight out the last door. You will find a walkway that leads past the soccer fields. There is a forest past the edge of the last field you can run in.”
Nix pushed harder, and I stumbled a step. I squeezed out a breath. “Thank you.” Then I turned and ran. Nix kept pushing, but I held her back. “Let me get outside, at least.” She growled, and I ran faster. As soon as I hit the door outside, Nix forced my shift and we were sprinting down the pathway.
A few people screamed and jumped out of the way. I knew having a huge black wolf sprinting full speed towards you can be a little intimidating. I chuckled as Nix sped up. She was nearly panting as she hit the dark shadows of the forest.
She ran for at least an hour, feeling the wind in her fur and dirt beneath her feet grounded her in ways I didn’t know she needed.
She was finally settling in when we heard a snap of a twig.
We skidded to a stop and whirled as a dark grey wolf with striking white eyes stepped into the clearing.
I stumbled back over myself in my mind, just seeing the sheer size of this wolf.
I had never seen a wolf as big as mine, but he was at least double my size.
“Who are you?” His deep voice sent ripples down my skin. Nix’s fur twitched and her hackles raised and then flattened.
“Who are you?” We asked. I pushed closer to the surface and our voices combined. “Are you a student here?”
The grey wolf laughed. “I’m no student.”
“Are you a professor?” Nix settled on her haunches.
“You could say that.” The grey wolf prowled closer. “Who are you?” He repeated his question.
Nix shook and tilted her head. “Who are you?”
The grey wolf tossed his head back and chuffed out a laugh. He turned his eyes back on us and Nix, the minx, took off.
What are you doing? I called to her.
“Seeing if he is worthy of knowing my name.” She tossed back and sprinted through the trees, the male sending out a howl and taking off after us.
She called back, taunting the giant male, and I just groaned.
Nix, why are you doing this?
“Because if he wants my name, he has to prove he’s worthy of it.
” She chuffed out a laugh. “Any man that wants anything from me from now on has to work for it.” Thoughts of everything from my previous life flashed through my mind.
Nix was right. I gave everything to Brandon, forgave everything, and he killed me and our baby.
You’re right. I had to agree with her.
Nix huffed another laugh. “I know.” We were distracted and the grey wolf dove out of the bushes for us.
Nix rolled out of the way and was back up on her feet, sprinting away.
She looked back and howled before rushing down the banks of a small river.
She splashed across the water and was up over the other bank.
She rushed through a lot of underbrush before diving under the roots of a tree. She huddled there, waiting.
What are you doing?
I’m waiting to see if this male is smart. If he is, he will find me. If not, he isn’t worth my time.
Why?
Because any male, any wolf that is worth it, would be able to find me.
There was a soft shift of grass and Nix hunches down. She barely breathed and her ears were swiveling left and right. She drew in a deep breath, and no scent hit our nose. She narrowed her eyes. Something was off and she couldn’t figure it out.
What is it?
He’s close. Her words were whispered in our mind. She was almost afraid he would hear our conversation in our mind.
How close? My voice dropped low, just in case.
“Little rabbit.” His deep voice sounded above us. “Come out and play.” We froze. There is no way. How could he know we were here? “If you want, I can come and drag you out?” He chuffed out a laugh. “I think I’d enjoy that one little rabbit.”
Nix took off out of the roots. She dove right and rolled under a bush, but the grey wolf jumped on us. “How did you know?” She panted out a laugh as she looked up at the giant wolf.
He stared down at her with bright eyes. “You are good. I’m just better.” He crouched lower and sniffed around our neck. “You smell wrong.”
We stilled under him. “What do you mean?”
“I think you would know better than I do. You know why you smell wrong.” His eyes narrowed. “Who are you?”
“My name is Nix.” She tried to get up, but he let out a tiny growl. “Who are you?”
“Who is your human?”
Nix turned her head. “What’s your name?”
“Erubus.” He moved back and sat on his haunches. “My human called me Ru.” He tilted his head as we got to our feet. “Now, who is your human?”
Nix shook her head. “I can’t tell you that yet.” Nix got to her feet and walked backwards.
Nix looked to the sky, and I realized how much darker it was. Fuck, we were cutting it close. Nix, we have to go. We have to eat before class. And this is the class with the surprise teacher.
“Why can’t you tell me?” Erubus stepped closer.
“Because.” Her voice was playful. “You have to earn it.”
Erubus stood and prowled around me. “And how do I do that?” He rubbed his length down our side, scenting us and layering his scent on us. He nipped at our ear as he circled around the other side of us.
“I don’t know yet.” She bumped into him as she headed back to the school.
“When will you know?” He huffed out.
“Might be soon, might not.”
Erubus threw back his head and laughed. “You are different.”
“Of course. I’m one of a kind.” She flicked our tail in his face. “You just have to figure out if I’m worth the hassle.”
“Oh, that’s all?” He chuckled. He caught up to me and we walked side by side. “I think that is probably the easiest decision we have ever made.”
“Oh?” Nix looked at him.
“Oh, yeah.” Erubus bumped our shoulder back. “You are the first female that hasn’t thrown herself at me. It’s refreshing.”
“Females throw themselves at you?” I wasn’t sure why, but that statement bothered both of us. “A lot?”
He just nodded and we growled. “Are you jealous?” His voice turned amused.
“I don’t know you enough to be jealous.” Nix tossed out. But the truth was, we were jealous.
Why are we jealous? I looked at Megan, and she almost shrugged.
Have you scented him?
Nix took a deep breath and smelled nothing.
“Sure Rabbit.” He waggled his eyebrows, which was weird on a wolf.
“Why don’t I smell you?”
He stumbled over his feet. “What?” He gave me a side look.
“You act like I shouldn’t have noticed. We are wolves. We live through our nose,” Nix scoffed.
“You are right, but no one has ever asked me directly.”
“Why not?” We stopped and looked at him. “Why has no one ever questioned why a wolf has no scent?”
He sat down and looked at me. “Probably because of my rank, or my size.”
“What’s your rank?”
He tilted his head. “I’m an Alpha.”
I nodded. “Alphas don’t scare me.”
“I see that.” He huffed out a laugh. “But most people are. The sane ones, at least.”
“Are you saying that I’m not sane?”
His eyes widened a bit. “I didn’t mean it like that.” He started, but we just laughed.
“Sure.” Nix looked up to the sky. “I have to go.”
“Why?” He stepped in front of us, but we just walked around him.
“I have to get back to class. I ran out of my last class rather quickly.” We started running, and Erubus ran after us.
It turned into a game. We ran together, nipping and diving for each other. He tackled me to the ground, rolling over each other as we tumbled. “When can I see you again?” His voice was deep, but slightly hopeful.
“Are you from around here?” It was Nix’s turn to be slightly hopeful.
Erubus shook his head. “No, but I’m in the area every Monday and Friday.”
“Then I guess you might see me one of those days.”
“Might?”
“I can’t say yes or no. Not when we don’t know who the other is.” Nix brushed herself along his length and then turned and ran.
She heard his footsteps behind her, but we ran straight into the school through an open door and made our way to the bathroom. We pushed in to the door and when there was a small scream we shifted. “Sorry.” I raised my hands. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
A small Asian girl with a sweet smile and a cute bob laughed. “It’s okay. I just wasn’t expecting it is all.” She dried her hands on a paper towel. “You are the size of a male wolf, and I thought that’s what you were, a male coming in here.” She shook her head.
“Oh yeah. Sorry.” I walked to the sink and fixed my hair.
“No worries.” She tossed back. “You are gorgeous, by the way.”
“Thank you.”
“Hanna.” She stuck out her hand, and I shook it.
“Amy.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“You too.” I smiled. “Do you know the time?”
“It’s six.”
“Fuck. Gotta run.” I ran out of the bathroom and back to the math room. Thankfully, it was still unlocked. I grabbed my stuff and headed to the cafeteria. I grabbed a tray of food and sat at the nearest table. I scarfed down my dinner and grabbed a bottle of water before I headed to the next class.
I slid into a desk in the back and popped a piece of gum. I pulled my phone out of my bag and checked my missed messages from my mom and Cass. Then I scrolled a few minutes on social media and waited for the others to head in.
“Do you know who the teacher is?” Two guys walked in and sat in the front.
“No, I haven’t heard a peep about who it is.” They both turned and looked at me. They were both from my math class. They both swallowed loudly and gave a tiny wave. I smiled and waved back.
The rest of the class entered and half were from my earlier class and they kept their distance. The others were new and sat around, with a few males coming to sit very close to me.
I ignored the looks and turned back to my phone. A few people whispered, but I pulled out my computer and plugged it into the wall. Thankfully, there were outlets everywhere.
The room grew silent. I looked up from my computer to find a giant at the front of the room, writing something on the whiteboard. I looked around but everyone was solely focused at the front.
I closed my laptop and leaned in. I wanted to see who this was.
The man straightened his back and I was surprised by the colour of his hair.
The sides were shaved down, but the crown was a tarnished silver tossed in a topknot.
Nix and Megan stood up and walked closer to the surface of my mind.
Even they were interested in whoever this man was.
A deep voice that was slightly familiar rang out.
“Welcome to Coding 101. This class will cover coding languages, building systems, and my personal favourite, laying the groundwork for security systems.” He turned to face us and I felt my stomach drop.
He was gorgeous. He was the hottest guy I had ever seen.
“My name is Alpha Rowan.” Alpha Rowan… my mouth dropped open as his eyes met mine.
King Alpha Rowan.