His broken omega mate

Chapter 6 - Wake up calls

Valerie’s POV

Although I still didn’t believe it, and after making Ruston prove himself over and over, and some serious soul-searching, I finally accepted that he really did want me, and it wasn’t some horrific joke the ranked members were playing on me. I had actually started to enjoy his company … Who woulda thunk it?

I had grown more used to eating in the dining room with the ranked members, although my first instinct still screamed that I would rather be helping out in the kitchen. So, we came to an agreement that would work for both of us.

I explained to him that I liked cooking, and no matter what he did, I was going to go to the kitchen. He agreed that he would stop dragging me out of there if I was on time for meals. What I did find strange, though, as I hadn’t seen Melody around for a while. I wasn’t friends with any of her friends. No, strike that, I wasn’t friends with anyone, so I couldn’t really ask them if she was okay. When I plucked up the courage and asked Ruston he just shrugged and mumbled something about Melody’s aunt being sick, and she had to stay with her. But that was not the Melody I knew and hated. She would never do something like look after a sick person. Not even if they were family … She just wasn’t built that way. My mind didn’t need any help in finding the entrance to crazy town, and before long I was dreaming up all sorts of reasons why she disappeared so suddenly.

“Maybe she got herself pregnant, and now she has to wait for the baby to be born … I wonder who the father is.” I heard one of her crew say to another just as I was about to step around the corner to my class. I guess that was just the way things were if you swam with those little piranhas. As soon as you turned your back, they turned on you, even if you were one of them. The moment they smelled blood … You were as sure as dead. It had always amazed me how these girls could turn their ridiculous speculative ideas into fact! By the time Melody did return, she was going to be the campus sl.ut and all of that thanks to her loudmouthed friends!

“Look, we all know that Melody is a bit dense, but surely, she wouldn’t be that stupid?” The voice came from one of the lower-ranked families that have recently moved to join us. Great, just what I needed … More bratty girls who wanted Ruston and wanted me out of the picture, for good, if they had anything to say about it.

I leaned against the cold slate of the rock wall and took a deep breath. If I waited any longer, I would be late. Peeking around the corner, I tried to look for Ruston, but he was not there, meaning that he was already in class and wouldn’t even know that I needed someone to defend me against those girls! He lived in a dream world where everyone was friendly and got along like a house of fire.

Damn, who decided that a house on fire is a good thing for saying something is going really well?

Dragging my thoughts away from my scatterbrain, I peeked around the corner again. Breathing a sigh of relief, I made my way to class. I was late yet again, thanks to those girls and my own procrastination this morning.

Professor Aries glared at me when I walked into the classroom just as he was about to start, and I could feel his eyes burning into the back of my skull before I sat down next to Ruston. Why did Professor Aries hate me so much? It couldn’t just be because I was late on my first day. Everybody’s late on their first day!

There was no use in trying to move to a different class, either. I’d already checked, and all the other classes were full to the brim.

“Miss … What’s your name again?” He rubbed his forehead, as he always did when he was trying to remember something important.

“Valerie, Sir.” Something flashed over his face I couldn’t quite place, and his eyes turned as dark as the night sky.

“Valerie, are you joining us for class today, or are you going to waste my time further by not paying attention?”

“I apologize for disrupting the class, Sir.” I had no idea why the hell I was apologizing. I’d done nothing … yet! The professor glared at me for a moment before returning his attention to the entire class.

“Today we are going to work on chapter eleven in your textbooks. The development of psychological thought. For those of you who didn’t do yesterday’s assignment, this means the development of human beings' cognitive, emotional, intellectual, and social capabilities and functioning over the course of a normal life span, from infancy through old age.” I sat back in my chair and started to chew on my pencil while listening to the professor.

Aries, what kind of name is that? His parents must have really hated him when he was born, or they wished for him to become some fierce warrior. Clearly, he wasn’t warrior material if he spent every hour of every working day giving a class about one’s feelings. The thought did cross my mind that he might be gay, but I shoved it back into its box quicker than the thought appeared. I shouldn’t be thinking about such things! Especially not about a professor.

“Valerie!” I jumped when he was standing right in front of me and I didn’t even notice him walking up the damn stairs!

Aries’ POV

Fine, so, I loved the way she called me “Sir” even after I told everyone at the beginning of the year to call me Aries, but her total disregard for the fact that I was trying to teach her something infuriated me. I had her in my class for only an hour a day. That boy had her the rest of the damn time! Why couldn’t she just pay attention?

“If you carry on daydreaming in my class, you are going to fail!” I shouldn’t have said that! It just slipped out, but maybe she needed the wake-up call.

“I’m sorry, Sir. It won’t happen again.” She lowered her eyes and I noticed her lashes flutter over the top of her cheeks.

Oh, bugger, I had to get out of here before anyone noticed I had a huge bulge in my pants! For once, I was thankful for my large counter in the front of the class where I could try and squash my problem. I couldn’t even begin to think of what the board might think of me if they heard that I was walking around the class with an erection! My curriculum was already pretty provocative and forward-thinking.

“Where was I? Oh, yes, Emotional Intelligence …” Something which I was clearly not in control of at the damn moment. Feeling frustrated that I wasn’t capable of controlling my urges when she was around. I had never been so thankful that a lesson was over when my alarm announced that our time was up.

“Okay, guys, that’s it for today. Don’t forget to do the assignment on page seventy-eight with a partner. I want proper reports on my desk by next Friday.”

No matter how hard I tried to avoid her, I caught a glimpse of her from the corner of my eye.

“Valerie, can I have a moment, please?” She looked at her boyfriend, who shrugged and nodded. For a moment I thought he might hang around, but when he left I was surprised.

Valerie’s POV

Great! Now he’s probably going to kick me out of his class, and then I will have to spend an extra year at university to catch up on this subject! He leaned against the desk, crossing one ankle over the other, and crossing his arms over his chest, accentuating his lean build.

“Listen, I’m not going to beat around the bush …”

“Are you kicking me out?” Me and my big mouth! If he wasn’t thinking about it already, he was thinking about it now!

“No, I don’t kick people out, but I do talk to them when I notice their marks dropping. Is there something going on in your pack that I should know about? Perhaps something that is bothering you personally that you can’t tell anyone?” I felt as if his stare was going to turn me into a puddle on the floor, making me shift my body weight from one side to the other.

“Uhm, no, Sir.” My voice sounded like a squeaky toy again!

“Aries, please. I’ve told you before, you can call me Aries.”

“No, Aries.” I tried out his name, and I liked the feeling of saying his name out loud. “Everything is perfectly fine, actually.” I relaxed, smiling sincerely. With Melody still away, my life had been a breeze!

“It’s just that, well, you are about to fail this class and that makes no sense because you started out so well.” He looked sincerely concerned, and it made me feel horrible about thinking that he didn’t like me.

“I’m sorry, S … Aries. I guess I’ve been a little distracted lately. Please don’t kick me out. I really need to pass this class.”

“I told you, litt … Valerie. I won’t kick you out. Just spend more time with your studies and less with your romantic life, and you should be fine.” He winked at me and something inside me stirred, but as soon as I was out the door, it was gone. Oh, f**k! Did he really just wink at me? This was not funny anymore. I smelled my shirt quickly, wondering if all this talk of body chemistry was making mine go haywire. Was my body giving off some come hither scent or something?

“Don’t fall for the professor!” I thought to myself when Ruston took my hand, and we walked to my next class.

“What did he want?” I giggled at the face Ruston was pulling, knowing the “he” Ruston was asking about was the professor.

“He wanted me to dump you and run away with him to a tropical island.” I fluttered my lashes and pouted for extra effect.

“Keep dreaming!” Ruston laughed, but what he just said stuck into my heart like a dagger.

“Why the hell would you say that?”

“Because you are with me. You are to be my mate, and he can’t have you.” Ruston almost looked furious, but he was fighting it and I could see that he was struggling. I completely misunderstood who his comment was aimed at, so I kept quiet.