Page 23 of Rise of the Alpha

“So you have Mr. Godrickson for Supernatural History? You lucky bitch! I heard he was fine as fuck. I have some old hag, at least her name sounds like it, Myrtle McVorken.” Wylla croons, I swear I see fucking hearts in her eyes.

“Have you ever seen him?” Curious if the rumors she heard were true.

“No, but one of the girls from my coven had him, and she told me. She said when she graduated she tried to hook up with him, but he turned her down, something about saving himself for his mate or something to that effect. Hell, maybe he just wasn’t into her,” she says, shrugging her shoulders, before lifting her energy drink and taking a large gulp.

“Wylla, Magnolia!” We hear from behind us, and we stop dead in our tracks, turning in the direction the familiar voice came from. “I went by your room, but y’all were already gone, thought I wouldn’t see you for a while. We were supposed to talk about what happened with the,” Blaine lowers his voice with the last word as he gets closer to us, “ritual.”

“Well, I have class in thirty minutes, and Magnolia needs to go by the counselor’s office before her Supernatural History class at ten. We don’t have time to sit around and wait for a boy.” Then she catches sight of the two other boys standing behind him, “Excuse me, boys.” Wylla gives them a wink and a silly schoolgirl giggle.

“We were just headed to the cafeteria for something to eat. We all start at the same time today with Supernatural History with Mr. Godrickson,” Jude says in his intoxicating, sexy as sin voice.

“What time? I have him, too.” Excited about having someone I know in my class.

“Ten, and I can go with you. I need to go by the counselor’s office as well. I need to drop off an approved class change,” the giant who I seem to keep running into, literally, offers to take me. "I'm Zeke, by the way," he tells me.

“I’d like that, Zeke. Wylla was going to rush to her class after showing me, but this would save her the trouble.” I nervously chew my lip, hoping he’s serious.

“Well then, I’ll catch you later, Magz, and you too, boys.” Wylla shoots me finger guns with a wink, before turning and dashing off in the direction I suspect her class is in.

I just laugh, there's nothing much more I can do. When I turn back to face the guys, I find them all staring at me. Like they see me and not just the shell of a body I’m in, which makes me nervous. “Well, I need to get to the counselor's office.” Glancing at Zeke, “Ready?”

“Yeah, let’s go. See you in class, guys.” Zeke tosses his hand up in a pseudo-wave.

“We’ll save the two of you a seat,” Blaine calls out.

“Sure will. You can have the one beside me,” Jude belts out, just before Blaine jumps on his back and they begin to wrestle, laughing the whole time.Well, I think it was laughter.

“Let’s head over, so I can turn my paperwork in and you can do what you need to do,” Zeke begins, gesturing his hand in the direction we need to go. “Umm… Magnolia, I really am sorry about how rude I may have come off the last couple of times. I just have a lot going on, and I ran into you during a time I was trying to process it all. I’m normally not that terrible of a person.”

“You’re fine. I haven’t exactly been the best person to be around, either. Dealing with family, pack shit, and apparently a mate that’s not going to make my dad happy,” I mutter the last part of it under my breath, hoping he didn’t hear it. For some reason, I didn’t want it to get back to Blaine.

“Cool and sorry you’re having pack issues. My family is actually a part of Blaine’s father’s pack.”

“So you’re a wolf shifter too?”

“Umm… no, I’m not. Oh, here we are,” he says, reaching out, and pulling the door open for me. “I need to go to the third floor and drop this off. Meet you back here when you’re done,” he says as he takes off towards the elevator, leaving me curious as to what type of shifter or supernatural he is.

We walk into class at the stroke of ten, well, if there was a clock showing the time. The fucking counselor I got gave me the hardest time changing my schedule until her supervisor came over and took over, then it went smoothly. I was so close to saying fuck it and just sticking with what I had. Maybe it was destiny telling me I just needed to do what my father and Alpha had commanded me to do. But fate is a fickle bitch and someone intervened.

Looking around, I see Jude jumping up and down, waving us over. Could he be any cuter or more embarrassing? “Everything go okay?” he asks, gesturing towards the empty desk he’s standing behind.

The classroom reminds me of a classroom in high school. Rows of seats, eight across and probably about ten deep. In the middle of the center rows is a projector pointing straight at the white screen that's been pulled down. I’m about to answer when I hear all the chatter in the classroom come to a screeching halt as the door slams shut.

Standing in front of the classroom is the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen. I say man because he is definitely not a student. He looks to be about thirty, with long brown hair and a full beard. Dropping the bag that was over his shoulder on the desk, he turns to face us, “Good morning, class. I’m Mr. Godrickson.” His voice is deep and rough, capturing me in its melodic tone.

He’s unlike any professor I’ve ever seen before. Instead of a suit and tie, he’s wearing black, skintight, leather pants, a black t-shirt, and, goddess help me, black Harley-Davidson boots. Picking up a stack of papers, he heads to the far side of the room and begins handing out a pile to the first person in the room and continues across the room. “Welcome to Supernatural History. If you are not supposed to be here, now is the time to leave. This class will be fast-paced with weekly assignments due, a midterm exam, and a final.” He stops at the row I’m in, lifting his head up, his eyes meeting mine. At least it felt like his gaze lingered on mine, and if the growl I’m hearing is coming from Blaine, I think my assumption is right.

“This semester we will discuss the history of the supernatural world and supernatural species.” Stepping back over to his desk, he picks up a controller from it, hitting a button that fires up the projector. On the screen is a picture of the gates out front with the gargoyles, and I’m instantly drawn in, so much so, I almost get a paper cut on the face when the girl in front of me hands the paper he just passed out back.

“Are gargoyles real?” I blurt out loud, causing the class to erupt in laughter.

“Quiet class,” he booms out.

“Come on, Mr. Godrickson, I mean she’s hot and all, but how stupid is she? They’re long extinct,” a burly blond sitting in the back calls out, as he garnishes high-fives from his posse.

“It seems both of you are in the dark. Yes, Miss?”

“Magnolia. Magnolia Holloway,” I say nervously, now that I’m the center of attention for the class.

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