Amber slouches, bowing her head toward the ground. A bell rings out, announcing the change of classes. Students will come rushing out, and I need to hurry up and get her situated so I can return to my classroom.
As much as I’d love to shadow this mesmerizing alpha around, I can’t. I must kill this attraction before it kills me.
“Why are you being so nice?” Amber asks, her pained voice barely a whisper. She clutches a pendant hanging from her neck, her fingers turning white with the pressure. It’s the first time she’s spoken in such a way, and I can’t help but feel pity. I don’t know exactly what happened or why she was recruited by Drakewood, but whatever it is, it’s obviously broken her to pieces. And it’s my nature to want to help piece her back together and show her that no matter how cracked or damaged she is, she can overcome anything. She is an alpha. It’s what she was manifested to do.
I deny my need to comfort her and straighten my shoulders, peeking behind her at the students flooding through the campus. “I’m not being nice. Please don’t mistake my warning as kindness. Like I said, female alphas are rare, and today will be one of your worst days yet. So get it together and get to the office. I’ll see you later, Ms. Steele.”
I hate myself a little. I’m not used to acting in such a way toward someone that I have an unbidden desire for.
I just hope I can make it through the school year. I hope I can manage to retain my professionalism. I promised myself that no alpha would ever put me in my supposed place. That’s another reason why I took this teaching position. Omega Prep taught me to control them instead of the other way around, and it’s the only compensation I have for the shitty hand I’ve been dealt. Because these alphas are on the brink of ruining their lives.
I can’t let this one ruin mine.
Amber is forbidden. At least, to me.
“Go on,” I repeat. “You don’t want to be late.”
She glowers at me, her soft features hardening as she rebuilds the wall I nearly cracked.
Spinning on her heels, she flips her hair over her shoulder and strides away.
I force myself to let her go.
two
AMBER
Fucking Professor Theoden Hudson. Fucking Drakewood Academy. Fucking life.
The heat of Theoden’s gaze burns my back. I refuse to glance back at him and focus on the towering building before me.
I climb the stairs one at a time, my insides still buzzing from Theoden’s closeness. How dare my body and mind be at war over him. He’s a professor.
Digging my nails into my palms, I rush forward. If I can just get away, I can wash his scent off my fingers.
The heavy front door slams open and a giant, almost beastly figure emerges. He doesn’t even attempt to move. I’m unable to dodge him, smacking into his broad chest. He snatches my shoulders, not letting me fall, half-pushing and half dragging me back down the stairs until he stops and lets me go. Anger radiates from every inch of his enormous body. My heart thuds in erratic beats, my feet planted firmly on the ground. He has a lot of nerve, trying to intimidate me with his size. He towers over me, at least a full foot taller, but that doesn’t stop him from looking like he wants a fight.
“What’s your problem?” I ask with an exaggerated eye roll. Who does he think he is? He’s obviously a dumbass on some sort of mission, already trying to dominate me with his sheer size alone.
He snorts like an enraged ogre or a stupid brainless jock, snapping his head back as if he can’t believe I dared to address him directly. “I could ask you that. You fucking got in my way. You might have that kind of power at home, but here you need to watch your ass.” His deep, flat voice rumbles just like I expect it would. “There are a lot of fuckers here who’d love to spank it.”
Did his apparent anger at my existence really morph into innuendo that fast? Shit. I knew this place was full of asses, but I didn’t think they’d want mine. I’m not an omega.
I flatten my palm to his chest, testing my strength in getting him to move. He doesn’t budge. “Can you maybe get out of my personal bubble?” I say, brushing him away with my hands like the nuisance he’s quickly becoming. I flick my attention behind me, expecting to see Theoden coming to my rescue like some kind of knight crusader, but, no, he threw me to the asshole alphas. I shouldn’t have expected anything different from a male omega. “I need at least three feet of space at all times. So back the hell up. You should worry about your own ass. Not mine.”
He scoffs, taking one giant step toward me. Crouching down so we’re eye-to-eye, he growls in my face with a wicked smile. “Ooh, I like a good threat. Especially from a little kitten.”
The door slams open again, but I can’t take my eyes off the hulking lug in front of me.
“Beau! Beau, what the fuck, man?” another guy shouts, stalking toward us. His figure moves in my periphery, trying to snag my attention. I can’t back down from this alpha in front of me. He’ll take advantage if I do. “Damn it, Beau. Back off.”
I don’t look at this new arrival until he stands right beside his friend and yanks on one of his arms. The two of them create a solid wall of muscle between me and the entrance to the office.
Beau’s smile widens, the wickedness in his gaze testing my resolve—not because I’m scared, far from it—but the intensity of his eyes speeds my heart rate. I might be coming off the high of my alpha nature piqued by Theoden’s omega pheromones. Or it could be the fight for dominance this Beau guy is trying to initiate with me.
“Stop this bullshit. She just got here. Give the girl some space.” The other guy yanks Beau again.
And even though he’s offering the exact same thing I just demanded, fire lights in me anew. I don’t need his interference. I need to make a point.