The Professor's Second Chance Mate

Chapter 17a

No, that can't be right. People can’t melt into shadows. Seconds later, I was proved wrong as three shadowy figures emerged from nothing. The air swirled, and the creatures just pulled themselves into blurry humanoid shapes. My mind was racing. This seemed personal. These shadow things seemed intent on attacking me. Now, a smart person would have run.

Apparently, I’m not a smart person. I just stood shocked and still until a voice behind me spoke.

“Well, that is interesting.”

Swinging around to face the voice, I saw Haden. He didn’t seem the least bit scared of whatever these things were. He stepped forward and waved his hand through the first shadow creature. When it dissolved, like it was nothing more than a smoky figure of my imagination, I gasped. Haden chuckled to himself.

“Come with me.” It wasn’t a question.

When I didn’t answer, he continued. “I just want to take you somewhere safe.” As he stepped toward me, he seemed to age slightly. He now looked thirty-five instead of the twenty-three he’d looked earlier. His glacial eyes seemed to hold all the worries and knowledge of the world. Or maybe he just had one of those ageless faces.

Mesmerizing.

Snap out of it. Get to our mate now! Maya yelled in my head.

He was so close now, too close. When he reached out, I grabbed his shoulders and kneed him in the jewels as hard as I could manage. Then I sprinted. I didn’t know where Kelton lived, so I headed to my dorm and called from there. Along the way, it felt like every shadow was trying to take form and reach for me. More than that, it seemed like the trees were reaching for me.

After a short call to Kelton, quickly explaining the craziness, I waited just inside the door of my dorm complex. I felt stupid that I needed rescuing. I’m a big strong, supernatural, Kick-a*s warrior for Goddess sake. Moments later Knight in his giant wolf form bounded up to the window.

Instantly, all the tension left my body when I saw him. It was like all threats just vanished.

The second I stepped through the door he was sniffing me, searching for injuries. “I’m fine, my Knight in soft fluffiness.” It was crazy to be out and about in wolf form, but he could get here much faster on four legs than two, I supposed. Plus, it’s better than walking around with my professor at night. What if someone saw me entering his home?

Knight c****d his head indicating which direction to head in.

“Oh my God, he’s gorgeous.” A girl I’d seen around the building but hadn’t met, cooed and ran over to Knight. She dove her hands into his fur and rubbed vigorously behind his ears. I couldn’t help but laugh. Alpha wolves weren’t used to this kind of treatment from anyone but their mates. Something about the silliness of it, negated the terror of what had happened earlier.

“You know you’re supposed to ask if you can pet someone’s dog before you do it. What if he wasn’t friendly?”

The girl offered me a sheepish grin. “Sorry. He’s just so pretty.” She cooed again in her baby voice. Then she added in her normal voice.

“And he’s off leash, so I figured he must be friendly. How’d you get a permit for a dog on campus? Is he a service animal? I want one.”

“I’m a dog walker. I’ve been walking this one for a couple of weeks. I guess he jumped his fence and spotted me or something. I’ll take him home.”

“Oh, he can live with me. I have anxiety. I need a cuddle buddy. Want to be my therapy dog, huh boy?”

“I don’t think Professor Gileson will be thrilled if I give his dog away,” I smiled.

“Gileson? That’s the new hot one, right? I swear everyone on campus has an eye on him. What’s he like?”

Mine, Maya commented in my head. I was surprised she hadn’t spoken up earlier with another woman rubbing herself all over her mate. At that time, she knew it wasn't about an attraction to her mate per se, just a gorgeous fluffy dog. I’m sure Maya could tell as well as I could that Knight could be any dog and this girl would have been all over him. I sensed more impatience than aggression from my inner wolf.

Knight started to wander away, “Oh, I better get him home. Nice to meet you.”

“Sally,” she offered. “What kind of dog is he? He looks like a wolf.”

“He's an Inuit. They look a lot like wolves. Professor Gileson joked that Knight’s mom must have found a steroid stash or something when she was pregnant. He is exceptionally large for his breed.”

“I can walk with you if you like.”

“Thanks, Sally. But I’ve got it. You were headed somewhere, right?”

“Yes, I’m meeting some friends. What’s your name?” Sally asked.

“I’m Lara.”

“Well, Lara. If you ever need someone to help with your dog walking, let me know.”

We said our goodbyes and followed Knight home.

Now that we were alone in the dark, a little unease started to trickle back in. I’d only given Kelton the cliff notes when I called, so I took this opportunity to explain what happened in greater detail. I knew he would ask the second he got me home, so I figured I might as well start the story now. Besides, it gave me something to focus on other than creepy shadows and mysterious men.

Soon we approached a two-story brick home. The door was still open from when Knight had dashed through it I assumed. I jumped a little when I heard the door close behind me. Turning, I saw my amazing man in all his n***d glory looking at me with such concern that I wanted to ooh and aah over him like Sally had with his wolf. To tell him I’m fine. I’d probably overreacted.

“You’re sure you’re OK?”

“Fine, really. I was frightened more than anything.” I felt like an i***t. I’ve taken out alpha wolves with confidence. Why am I acting like a mouse when faced with these things? I should have just demanded that Haden tell me who he was and what he wanted. That creep must have an agenda.

Then I remembered something I’d blocked from my memory. And suddenly I knew why I hated the dark. I knew why I was afraid of shadows.

“I have seen those shadow things before. I just sort of blocked it.”

“When? Where?”

“Get dressed. I’ll tell you.”