Page 42 of Rise of the Alpha

“Magnolia, thank you for coming in today. Please, shut the door and take a seat,” he tells me as he motions towards the plaid-patterned, wingback chair in front of his desk.

Moving nervously over to the chair, I slowly sit down on the edge of it, keeping my back rigid as I let my bag fall to the floor and cross my hands in my lap. He cocks his eye at me in confusion for a moment before speaking again, “You look nervous, Magnolia. I assure you there is no reason to be. I simply wanted to discuss a couple of things with you.”

“Oh, okay.” I know it sounds like I’m a bumbling idiot, but I truly don’t know what else to freaking say to him.

“First, I just want to make sure you’re okay. The other day when we ran into each other, you seemed upset. I just wanted to check on you.” He pauses, staring at me intently, no doubt waiting for my response. I’m caught off guard. I’ve never had a teacher concerned about me being upset.Why is he?

“Yeah, I’m fine. Had a misunderstanding with a friend, but we’re working through it. Is that all you wanted to discuss with me?” I ask as my shoulders relax a bit, knowing it wasn’t anything too serious. I slide back in my chair and get more comfortable.

“Great, I’d hate to see you upset.” I couldn’t help to feel there was some underlying message in his words. “Now, the second thing I wanted to talk to you about. Your knowledge of the supernatural world is limited, through no fault of your own. Sadly, your pack is one that feels women should be ignorant of the world around them. What I want to do, if you’re in agreement, is offer some private tutoring to get you up to date. We can meet two or three times a week at this time, or whatever is more compatible with your schedule.” He pauses, his eyes laser-focused on me, as he sits in silence.

“Y-y-y-you want to tutor me? That’s what the email was about?” Confusion and relief overwhelm me at the moment.

“Yes.” His response is short and simple. “I feel it would make this semester's course load easier for you, as well as increase your understanding of the various types of species out there. I imagine it must be confusing for you to encounter species you never knew existed.” He shuts his laptop, placing his elbows on his desk as he leans forward.

“Oh, that sounds good. Would it just be you and me?” Fuck, he already has me on edge. How could I handle what I assume would be an hour a day for three days a week?

“Yes. You are the only one at a disadvantage with the knowledge. Is that okay? I promise I won’t bite.” He opens his mouth to say more, but quickly clamps it shut. Fucking great, now all I can think is about him pinning me down and sinking his teeth into me. My panties are damp from my arousal, and I wonder if he can smell it.Shit, I’ll be so embarrassed if he can.I need to hurry this along and get the fuck up out of here.

“Okay, when do you want to start, Professor Godrickson?”

“How’s tomorrow? Same time, same place.” He smiles hopefully at me, and goddess, it makes me want to swoon.

“Perfect. Anything else? If not, then I need to go and take care of my homework.” I bend over, pick my bag up from the floor, and stand as I slide the strap on my shoulder. The whole time I’m doing it I mentally replay Wylla’s words about me doing this very thing except in a skirt and no panties. He stands as well and reaches out to shake my hand. Placing mine in his, I’m stunned by the electrical shock that passes between us. I immediately drop his hand and bolt for the exit, stopping momentarily to wave an awkward goodbye as I open the door and step out into the hallway.What the hell was that?

I’m surprised to see Wylla, leaning against the wall with a book open in her hands and intently reading. “Waiting for me?”

“Yeah, you were pretty worked up this morning, so I figured I’d be here just in case it was bad, which by the absence of tears on your face, I assume it went well?” Pushing off the wall, she quickly closes the book and loops her arm in mine as we walk down the hallway.

“Well, you were right. It wasn’t anything bad. He just wants to do some tutoring sessions to catch me up on the supernatural world and to make sure I was okay from when he saw me the other day. You know, after the whole Zeke in the woods thing. What were you reading? You had a huge ass smile on your face.”

“Can I say it now? Fuck it, I don’t care.I told you so. I told you so,” she sings out to me like a kid before finally calming herself enough to speak again. “Lucky ass bitch, getting to be alone with that sexy ass man. I wonder what he’s like in bed. Is he the dominant take charge, whip me around and tell me what to do type, or is he the sweet, cuddle bunny type? I’m down for either. As for what I’m reading, it's this spicy little number about this girl who goes undercover to find her childhood friend who she believes killed her other best friend. Think criminal minds meets mafia. You should read it, we could have a book club.”

“Sounds amazing, let's go back to the room and order it, so I can read it too, but we need to wait until after dinner. Jude made me swear we would meet him after my meeting. But before we go, can I tell you something?”

“Of course.”

“When I touched Professor Godrickson’s hand, I felt a shock run through me. It wasn’t the first time either, it happened before. What do you think it means?”

She’s silent for a moment, almost like she wants to be careful in how she responds. “It could be anything, especially with your unique ass situation. You throw everything we think through a loop. I’ll do some research and see what I can find out.”

“Perfect. Now about that book…”

Jude

Movingmyassacrosscampus, I’m trying to make it to the girls’ room before they go to bed. I have the tape to cover Maggie’s piercings. I meant to get it to her on Monday, but she was so nervous about her meeting with Mr. Godrickson it slipped my mind. Then it became a crazy whirlwind this week and I totally forgot to give it to her. Classes really picked up with the workload, so we’ve barely managed to even see Wylla and Maggie outside of class. We made sure to have dinner in the dining hall every night this week, so we could eat together. It was the highlight of each day for me but it was hardly the place to give her piercing tape.

Listening to both girls recall their day and how each class was for them should have been boring, but I felt hooked on each word. Maggie has been attending tutoring with Godrickson, and while none of us guys are too thrilled that she’s alone with a male teacher for an hour each session, we’ve sucked it up and not bitched and moaned about it. Well, not in front of her, that is. We’ve definitely done it when she’s not around. We’ve even gone so far as to come up with a plan to sneak Zeke inside the room in his ferret form so he could spy on them. Maggie has already learned so much, and hearing her excited about all thenormalshit she now knows is amazing.It’s also a tad bit sad and super fucking infuriating.I’m glad she’s getting educated on everything she was clueless about, but I’ve just got this nagging feeling in my gut there’s something more with Godrickson. I just can’t put my finger on it.

Reaching the girl’s door, I knock and Maggie yells, “Come in.” I turn the knob and let myself in, seeing Maggie alone and packing a suitcase that’s sitting on her bed.

“Where’s Wylla?” I ask her. I thought for sure since she leaves tomorrow, the sexy witch wouldn't stray too far from her.

“Wylla went to the library to do some last-minute research before she calls her grandmother this weekend.” She sighs while continuing to pack basic solid color, long sleeve shirts in her bag followed by a pile of black leggings. “I wish I didn’t have to go back there,” she whispers, barely loud enough for me to hear. Her head is downturned as she stares at the clothes sitting in her suitcase.

“It’s only a weekend, Maggie. You got this. Once we have the spells broken, you won’t have to if you really don’t want to. But until then, we can’t let your dad or Alpha know that we know about the blocks. You need to appear clueless about them,” I encourage her, reminding her why she’s going this weekend.

She sits on the bed. “I know, Jude. I’ve just really started to enjoy my life here and the freedom to be the real me. I have to go back there and dress and act how they want a good, obedient female wolf to act. Fuck, my dad even plans the meals my mother cooks.”

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