The Professor's Second Chance Mate

Chapter 22b

“Are you alright, miss?” I looked up, completely shocked to find an older man staring at me. I’d totally expected it to be Haden. He seemed to lurk around corners, waiting for me to be distracted just to then jump out in front of me at the last second, so I’d smack into him. That guy has problems.

Judging by the scent, his was a werewolf.

“You smell like the Alpha.” The man next to him said, taking a small step forward while drawing a not too discrete sniff.

Oh f**k, I wonder if he even told anyone he’d met his second chance mate.

I mean, he said he told his daughter. My mind started to race. What if he wasn’t ready for his pack to know? What if I say something wrong? Maybe Hayden would have been better. He's flirty but harmless. He doesn't put me on the spot with invasive questions.

That wasn't invasive, quit panicking. Just smile and introduce yourself.

Easy for you to say, Maya. You get to hide out in my head.

Honestly... Whatever snarky remark Maya planned to utter was cut off by the guy I bumped into next question.

“You’re his second chance mate?” A lightly teasing smirk twitched his lip. Did that mean he was happy? Does that mean Kelton did mention me, or is this guy guessing? "You’re younger than I expected,” he added.

“Lucky old bastard,” the sniffer chuckled.

Oh, I get it, there is a substantial age difference. I’d almost forgotten about that now. When I was with Kelton, nothing mattered but how well we worked together. Yet, a lot of people will judge us for that.

“He marked you,” said the first man with what looked to be a genuine smile. That's a good sign, right?

The two of them stood facing me, and I wasn’t quite sure how to respond. So, naturally, I stood there looking lost and stupid. We hadn’t discussed our packs much. I was enjoying living in our secret little private bubble, no expectations, no judgment.

Realizing I still hadn’t responded, I held my head high and adopted a smile. “You should ask him your questions.” Shoving my natural insecurities down deep, I held my fake-confident smile and pointed at the building behind me. “That building, second floor. He's in room 232. He was with a student though.”

“Please come with us. We’d like to get to know you better and what we have to discuss involves you too now.”

“Thank you for including me. However, I have a class.” It was touching that they seemed to accept me so quickly.

“You teach here too?” One asked. I was starting to feel like I was watching a tennis match with the way my head swiveled from one to the other as they tag teamed me with questions and comments.

I bit my lip without thinking.

“Oh my Goddess, you’re a student.” The tall sniffer cackled. I could feel Maya bristling at his response. Though I could tell he hadn’t intended to offend me.

“Exactly how old are you?” Bumper asked. Thankfully, I detected curiosity, rather than judgement in his tone and demeanor. Or maybe that was just my wishful thinking.

He seemed a little familiar, but I didn’t think I’d met him before. Maybe he’d visited our pack and I’d seen him around.

“Would that matter?” I remarked as politely yet firmly as I could. Besides, too late now, he marked me.

“No, of course not. I was just curious.” His eyes twinkled in a kind way. My tension thawed a tad. Then the man’s phone dinged.

“It’s Keith,” Bumper informed Sniffer. I should really ask their names. I can’t keep calling them those awful nicknames in my head.

“He’s meeting us in Kel’s office.”

Wait. Keith?

Uncle Keith.

Kelton’s beta, the one I hadn’t seen in years. How would he handle this? And my aunt? She’d always been sweet to me, at least from what I remember. But would they all think I’m some gold-digging Luna wannabe now, just looking for an easy way out of my miserable, lonely home life? Who knows what kind of nonsense my mother told them. With that thought, I lost what little confidence I had. Acid burned within my chest.

“It was nice to meet you gentlemen, I really must be going.” Hoping they wouldn’t see through my fake smile, I shifted my bag awkwardly on my shoulder, just wanting to slip away.

“It was lovely to meet you too,” Bumper replied. Suddenly, the acid dissipated, and my heart warmed at the acceptance I saw in him. Acceptance was still a new concept for me. It mad me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

“I’m so glad Kelton found you. “No one deserves a second chance mate as much as Kelton. He’s a good man.” Sniffer rocked on his feet while smiling at me.

Oh, he’s better than good, my dirty-minded wolf hummed.

My cheeks heated with that telltale blush that sprung up whenever I thought of my mate. I simply nodded in agreement. It wasn't until later that I realized I didn't even ask their names.

My ethics professor shot me an impatient look as I dashed into her class just a few minutes late. Apologizing didn’t soften her frown, I noticed. Though, she was the all business type, so that didn’t surprise me.

My head was scrambled throughout most of that class. Why were they here? What had Kelton told them about us? What did they mean they had things to discuss that involved me too?

A minute after my class ended, my phone dinged.

Ally- Yo, and a coffee emoji

K, I texted back.

I wasn’t quite sure how much to tell my new friend, but I did enjoy having a girlfriend to talk to. It was still new, having a girl friend, but definitely nice. Having a boyfriends was still knew too. Something told me I trust Ally. After a short internal debate I decided I should tell her everything.

However, when I walked into the coffee shop I nearly walked straight back out. Ally was not alone.

She waved brightly. Damn it, she spotted me, foiling my escape plan. I pasted on a smile and headed to the table where Ally was sitting with Haden, though my body was buzzing with nerves. It's like I thought of him and he appeared.

“Vanilla latte, no foam.” Haden handed me my drink. Not sure how I felt about his knowing my coffee order. Still, it was a free latte. Not turning that down.

When I sniffed it he laughed lightly. Got to be safe, right? Thankfully, Ally missed my weird gesture, yet she caught his chuckle.

“What are you laughing at?”

“I just can’t believe I’m here with the two most beautiful girls on campus on this fine day.”

Ally blushed, she looked well and truly smitten. It was easy to see why. Haden gave off this confident, mysterious air, with a dash of danger and a huge amount of s*x appeal. He was unnaturally good-looking and, judging by his clothes, clearly rich. He made you feel like he was some secret prince or something.

“It’s gray out” I mumbled, deliberately ignoring the way his glacial eyes burned, as if he could see right through me.

“It is,” Ally agreed, though it didn’t seem like anything was going to dampen her mood.

“I love the rain. Don’t you? It helps things grow.”

The way he emphasized the word grow had me on edge. I just couldn’t for the life of me figure out what he was trying to say. But I did know there was for sure a hidden message there. He was right. I do love the rain and I love gardening. I have a natural talent. Was he implying he knew that? Or was he referring to my growing relationship with Kelton? Just talk straight to me, Hayden!

“I love the rain,” Ally cooed, looking all doe-eyed at Haden. I snickered as I distinctly remembered her saying she hated the rain. It meant more work on the ranch. Cleaning stalls, cleaning horses hooves, inspecting and fixing fences, monitoring the food and water more closely, and so much more - she had a lengthy list.

I have to admit Haden’s dark, seductive vibe would have been attractive if I wasn’t so deeply in love with the hottest man I’d ever met. Then a thought struck me. Maya didn’t comment when I internally assessed haden’s physical attractiveness. I expected her to defend her mate or toss out some snarky remark. Yet she remained silent. In fact, Maya was always silent when Haden was around. After our first mate’s rejection, and until we found Kelton, she’d been begging me to bang any hot man we walked past. But not him. Why not? Why had she never even surfaced when he was around?

Maya?

She didn’t respond. I could feel her though. She wasn’t gone or blocked. It was almost like she’d curled up and gone to sleep.

The conversation flowed friendly and comfortably after that.

Despite the odd feeling I got from Haden, he didn’t really frighten me. He intrigued me. He creeped me out sometimes. I almost felt like I knew him somehow, or like he knew me. Strangely, it seemed like I was a curiosity to him. Something he was interested in understanding, yet not having. I sensed no desire or l**t in him for me. More like I was a mystery he was trying to solve.

Maybe that was because I couldn’t shake the feeling he was following me, tracking me. At home, if boys followed me, it never ended well for me. It could just be the paranoia my brother and his cronies drilled into me rearing its ugly head.

What shocked me the most though, was that Haden following me didn’t bug me as much as it should. And I couldn't figure out why that was.

A little while later, I made my excuses and headed back to my room. No doubt Kelton would want me to stop by and officially meet his friends later. Besides, I was curious about what they had to say. Not about Kelton’s son. Honestly, I wanted to slap some sense into that boy for potentially ruining my quiet mate time with pack nonsense he should have been mature enough to deal with. I mean really! The guy has been training his whole life for this one job, and he mucks it up in the first few months?

When my phone dinged with a text my heart sang.

Only, it wasn’t Kelton’s number.