Page 25 of Rise of the Alpha

“Bathroom!” I call back to him, throwing my one free hand up in the air, brushing him off. I glance over my shoulder just long enough to see a look of hurt, or is it concern, on Magnolia’s face. Blaine, well, he knew why I was running and was fighting hard to hold back the laughter.

I do stop by the bathroom, long enough to throw some cold water on my face. I need to get my shit together. But most of all, I need to think long and hard about how I’m going to explain this to Magnolia.

Heading to my next class, which of all things was freaking English. I mean, do we really need to take a mundane course like this? We’re shifters, not humans, when will the proper tense in a sentence, pronouns, passive voice, or any of that shit be of any importance to us.

What was going to be the only bright spot of the class has now become nothing. For a week, I was excited when I found out that even though I had to take this course, Professor Carlson was teaching it. I met her at orientation and let's just say she had my dick hard the entire time, it may have been because she was a succubus, but still. She was tall, almost six feet, with curves in all the right places. Unlike most women who want a flat stomach, hers was soft with a little pooch. Her emerald green eyes and fiery red hair had me begging to have her looking up at me as she sucked my cock. That was pre-Magnolia, though. Professor Carlson doesn’t hold a candle next to the beautiful white wolf that’s torn my world apart.

I make my way to a seat in the back of the class and drop down into it, letting my bag hit the floor, then place the books in my hand on the desk. Looking up, I see Jude walking into the room. He looks over to Professor Carlson, and I wait for him to hit on her like he normally would any woman he saw that was drop-dead gorgeous. He looks, but only for a second, with no wink or flirty smile, before he heads to the empty seat beside me and sits down.

“What’s up with you, man?” Jude’s look tells me he wants to know why I ran the way I did.

“Dude, you heard, so don’t act dumb. She knows about ferret shifters and is thinking back to the day in the woods. The better question is what’s up with you? You walked right by the professor and nothing,” I whisper to him, not wanting anyone to overhear.

“First, just talk to Magnolia. Explain everything, she may be mad at first, but then she’ll understand and forgive you. Second, I already have the two women I want. That lady is nothing, hell, any other woman is nothing.”

“Easy for you to say, man. You didn’t do what I did and kept it a secret from her. I’ve run into her enough times that I could've told her if I wanted to. But I didn’t. So I don’t think she’s just going to be ‘aww, that's okay, I forgive you’. Add to that, I’ve been a fucking dick more than once to her.”

“Class, I am Professor Carlson, and I will be your English professor this semester. Many of you are probably wondering why you need this course. Well, I’m here to tell you. English…” she continues on, but at this point, I’ve tuned her out and opened my notebook, writing down my different options of how I can tell Magnolia my side of things.

Class went on, and I prayed to hell Jude was at least taking some notes. The girl in front of me giggled as she turned in her chair to place the syllabus on my desk. That quickly changed to fear when she saw my death glare and abruptly turned back to the front.

“Ease up, man. Just grow some balls and talk to her,” Jude leans over, whispering to me.

“Whatever, just take notes. I’ll need to copy them later.”

“Good luck then. I was counting on your ass to take notes. Guess we’re both in deep shit.” Jude says nothing new. I should’ve known his notes would be shit. It’s one of the reasons he was excited he was in this class with me, so he could copy mine.

Focusing back on my notebook, I continue writing down quick notes and different ways I could explain this clusterfuck of a situation. This class can not end soon enough.

I opted to skip lunch with the guys, and instead, I grabbed something from the vending machine and headed out to the quad. I found a deserted spot under a tree to go over what I’d spent the day writing down. Rehearsing, as if I were talking to her and going through what her responses could potentially be. I want to be ready.

I lean my head back against the tree as I gaze up into the branches and see a squirrel scurrying across the branch, its mouth is swollen from the acorn it’s holding. Why the fuck didn’t I just tell her that day? I know why. It’s because I thought she knew and was putting on a show. Just a tease, waiting to see what I would do. But the more I thought about it after it happened, I realized she didn’t, especially when she cuddled me in her arms and spilled all her inner thoughts.

Looking at my wrist, I freeze when I see the time. Class starts in twenty minutes. Standing up, I slap the dirt and leaves from my pants. Reaching down, I stuff the book I had into my bag and pick it up from the ground.

Last class of the day, Introduction to Psychology, then I need to fess up to what I did.

It takes me ten minutes to walk across campus to the classroom. It’s empty when I get there, meaning I get the pick of seats. I head to the back and take the last one in the row, which just so happens to be in a corner. Perfect.

I slide into my seat and place my bag on the floor before pulling out my notebook. None of the guys were in this class, so I need to stay focused. All attempts at that are lost the second she steps into the classroom, smiling when she looks around the room and her eyes land on me. She beelines straight to the empty desk beside me, dropping down into it, and breathing heavily as if she’d run all the way here.

“Missed you at lunch, Zeke. Blaine said something about you having to work out or practice something. At least, I think that’s what he said when I asked about you. He was being kind of dodgy with answers though.”

She asked about me. Shock and excitement overtake me. “Yeah, I needed to work on something, to make sure I know exactly what I’m going to do.”

“Ohh, okay. Well, I missed you. I was worried about you after you ran out of Supernatural History class like that.” Her voice is soft and tender, as she speaks, filling me with warmth. She cares.

“Yeah, I've got some stuff on my mind. Umm… Can I talk with you after class about something in private? Just you and me.” I can’t believe how nervous I am, asking that. I can't even imagine how it’s going to be when I tell her the truth.

“Of course. Is everything okay?”

God, can this woman be any better? I just give her an ‘I don’t know’ shoulder shrug, as the instructor for the class begins to lecture.

It was hard focusing with her beside me, her cotton candy scent swirling around me, driving me mad with desire. Her sneaking glimpses at me throughout the class didn’t go unnoticed.

Looking at my watch, I see there are only a few minutes left of class. The instructor finishes up discussing the group project we would be working on over the semester. Turning to Magnolia, I give her a forced smile, knowing the potential outcome after I spill the beans to her.

So engrossed in my thoughts, I miss the instructor ending class until I hear the clamor of the others in the class stirring as they go to leave. It’s now or never.

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