Page 10 of The Fall Before the Heat

“If it happened in the bed, I have to remind you, that I am a professor at the school, and it would be inappropriate for us to discuss that. I’ll be happy to get the school nurse, therapist, orOmega Studies professor on the phone for you. Anything else, we can probably discuss.”

“No, it didn’t happen in bed,” I said, blushing and tearing into an envelope a bit too hard.

“Eh, don’t worry about a split side. They’d probably never get opened without your help,” Lee shrugged. “What happened this morning?”

“We were talking about groceries and hunting and scholarship money and---” I rambled but stopped myself. Was I really about to tell Doctor Knight-Hemlock that I was upset because my hot roommate sighed at me?

“Do you guys need help? We have lots of resources for our students. No one should ever need to argue about groceries here.”

“No, it’s not that. At least, I don’t think it’s that. We’re not going hungry. The opposite just in fact,” I admitted. “Rex just keeps buying groceries and---”

“You don’t have space for yours? We can get Darian to sign off on another fridge for the apartment,” Lee said, moving onto the next letter. “This is trash. Well, I have to give it to campus security, but it’s trash.”

I wasn’t sure how to explain the situation and had lost track of my thoughts as soon as Lee said campus security.

“Oh, don’t smell like that,” Lee laughed, leaning back in his chair. “Really, don’t. It’s just someone who’s a fan for all the wrong reasons. What’s up with your groceries?”

“He keeps feeding me and this morning when I asked him if he really didn’t mind, he sighed at me,” I finally blurted out the story.

“Did he say anything when he sighed?” Lee asked.

I sighed in relief. He wasn’t going to laugh at me after all.

“That he really didn’t mind,” I said.

“Then he doesn’t mind,” Lee said. “Do you mind?”

“I don’t want to be a burden for anyone.”

“I’m sure you contribute to the apartment too,” Lee said. “I know you randomly do laundry. Rex has said that much.”

“The first time I had a panic attack, because I realized I hadn’t asked him before I did it,” I admitted.

“Here at Hemlock Academy, wolves end up living with other wolves who aren’t family for the first time. Those who get along end up being more cooperative than not. It’s in our DNA. Literally, in our DNA. We’ve evolved to form packs and take up responsibilities for our pack. It can be mind boggling the first time you realize you can have that with someone who isn’t your immediate family or the people you grew up with.”

“So, you think he doesn’t mind then?” I asked after pausing to think about what Lee said.

“I think Rex would speak up if he minded, but I also think Rex is the sort of guy who really doesn’t mind. I mean, come on, Del. It’s food. We all have to eat. If you had extra perishable food that would go to waste if you didn’t let someone else eat it, it would be immoral not to share them, right?” Lee asked.

“I guess I hadn’t thought about it like that before,” I frowned at myself.

“Most people don’t. Though, most people will share without thinking it through that far. So, for instance, why did you do Rex’s laundry?”

“Because I was already going to the laundromat, and it was the free day of the month. I didn’t want him to miss out and he had classes all day.”

“See, you’re the same as him and as the rest of us. I know sometimes it can be hard to believe there are people out there who do nice things or even the right things without some ulterior motive, but there are. The academy is a good place to learn that lesson.”

We fell back into silence for a few long minutes. I opened more envelopes and Lee read more letters.

“Ask him what he meant earlier when he asked if we were trying to figure out whether or not Rex liked us,”my wolf poked me.

Only when I opened my mouth another question came out.

“Do genetics play a part in when someone has their first heat?” I asked.

It wasn’t my real question, but it was a good place to start.

“They can,” he nodded. “Is this a conversation filler, a make the professor uncomfortable question, or do you have a real question?”

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