Lessons in Love

Chapter 14: What Did He Just Say?

POV: Riley Campbell

I knew coming to the opening ceremonies was a bad idea, but the truth was, I hadn’t been able to come up with an excuse to give Sam and Katherine to avoid it. Friday, I felt the constant push and pull of Ben’s emotions. He was uncertain of this bond, and I felt both relief and anger at him for avoiding me. I made no effort to seek him out either, and maybe I should have. We would have to talk eventually, I thought to myself as I tried to make myself small and unnoticeable in the crowd.

The doors opened, and four people came forward. There was a weird energy in the crowd, and I heard a few whispers that this wasn’t the Alpha and Luna. I looked up at the stage to see Rick on the left. An elegant but fearful looking woman stood arm in arm with a very large man, who gave off the worst vibes. Then there was Ben.

My heart almost stopped. He was taller than I had imagined him, a few inches taller than Rick, and Rick was six foot if he was an inch. Those arms of his flexed under his burgundy dress shirt as he put his hands behind his back, and I had to remind myself to slow down my breathing. His sharp blue eyes seemed to shine brighter in person than they had in his picture. He was attractive, no question there. He adjusted his shoulders slightly, and his cheeks got pink. He felt me staring, I realized. I was mortified and looked away.

He had been looking in every direction but mine. It told me he knew I was there, and he wasn’t interested. It wasn’t my rank or station that had put him off me. It was something else that made him not want me. I didn’t want to be mated anyway, I reminded myself. I was going to reject him as soon as I had a moment alone with him. I felt a tightness in my chest and snapped my eyes back to Ben to see if he’d felt that, too.

He had. His whole body went rigid, and then I felt and watched him feel it as sharp pain ripped through our chests. He closed his eyes for a moment and discreetly breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth. The pain was so intense that I actually reached up and rubbed over my heart. I felt instantly awful. One careless thought had made his life so much harder than it needed to be.

Ben’s eyes opened and landed on me. His eyes were intense, filled with pain, and I regretted being there even more. I wanted to look away but couldn’t. It didn’t seem like he could either. He just stared at me, trading emotions back and forth faster than we could control them.

“It is with Alpha Marcus’s blessing, and in an effort to ensure our women are learning the right skills, the young ladies of Sapphire Lake will be taught separately from the boys. And will focus on the importance of matehood and mate’s duties.” George spewed into the microphone.

The rage I felt was so intense that I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to contain it. I wanted to scream, I wanted to shift, and I wanted to do some damage to the misogynist piece of s**t who was dismantling my curriculum piece by piece. It was as Ben turned his eyes on his father that I realized I was still staring at Ben. Alpha George was backing up from the podium with a wave to the stunned and confused crowd, who were already starting to disperse.

“Did you know about this?” I asked Sam.

“I was about to ask you the same thing.” Sam replied, shock still clear on his face.

I moved away from Sam and his family toward Rick and the Luna. I had to remember my station. I couldn’t talk to Rick the way I had last night. I had to be calm and diplomatic. “Delta Rick,” I called out to him as I got closer. “May I have a word with you, sir?” I tried to smile.

Rick’s eyes told me everything I needed to know. He’d had about as much warning on the speech as I had. “Acting Luna Claire Westlake, this Riley Campbell,” he said, giving me a stern look. “She’s our new high school …”

“Our new Women’s Studies teacher.” The acting Alpha interrupted.

The smell of warm apples and herbs hit me hard and all at once. I begged myself not to look at him as I plastered a smile on my face and extended my hand to the acting Alpha. “Sir, a pleasure to meet you.” He took my hand and squeezed it as hard as he could without doing actual damage. I smiled at him the entire time, watching the cloud of anger cross his eyes when he realized I wasn’t afraid of him.

He released my hand abruptly and opened his mouth to say something, but I turned to the Luna before he could speak and extended her my hand as well. “And it is wonderful to meet you, Luna Claire.” Her hand shook in mine as she took it nervously. She clearly didn’t know how her mate would react to being interrupted. That, and I had deliberately snubbed him by using her title and not his. I heard a hint of a growl from George, and Claire pulled her hand back immediately.

“Sir,” I launched in before he could speak again. “I’m very excited about my opportunity here. But as I understand it, the high school is currently not useable. Where are you planning to put all the students once we separate them?” I asked politely, almost too politely if that’s a thing.

“There’s nothing wrong with the high school a couple of coats of paint won’t fix.” He grinned maliciously. “Beta Benjamin and Delta Richard will spend the week fixing it up to ensure it’s in tip top shape before the semester begins.”

I felt a flash of panic from Ben, and Rick looked like he was holding his breath as he looked at the ground and rubbed his forehead. “That is very gracious of you, sir. But Sam and I will happily take care of the clean-up duties. There’s no need to provide the valuable time of your officers for such a menial task. Cleaning is one of those mate’s skills, after all. Delta Rick, shall I provide you with the list of supplies needed?” Rick didn’t look up at me, like he was in his head somewhere and not able to hear me. “Or should it come you?” I looked at Ben immediately.

Ben’s fingers flexed at his sides, and I watched him fight the urge to grab a hold of me. His jaw was set rigidly, like he was grinding his teeth to hold back a growl. How dangerous was this blow hard that both the Beta and Delta seemed to be silenced by his presence.

“That will be fine, Ms. Campbell. Delta Rick and I will meet you there tomorrow morning at 8 am to do an initial walk through.” He managed to sound like he didn’t care, but I felt the immense amount of control he was exerting on himself. It made me feel guilty and selfish that I had come over here with the intent to pick a fight.

“Mom, are you ready to see the kids?” He asked the Luna.

“It was lovely to meet you, Ms. Campbell. I’d be happy to offer advice to you for your curriculum. You can let either of these fine officers know when you’re available.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. It was then I noticed the heavy make-up around her right eye and how it looked a little more swollen than the left. It enraged me to know this woman had been hit. The sadness that rolled off of Ben in that moment was crippling. I needed to walk away now before I started to cry.

“Thank you, Luna Claire.” I gave her a nod. “And to you as well, sir.” I said to the acting Alpha and walked away.