The Professor’s Rejected Mute Mate

IN THE DARK

Ayla

Professor Arkon's voice was rough, breathless. Like he had been running.

He pulled me upright, but didn't let go. His hands stayed on my waist, steadying me, and suddenly I realized he wasn't wearing a shirt. Just dark pants, his chest bare and gleaming with a faint sheen of sweat.

Or was it from shifting?

“What are you doing out here?” His amber eyes blazed in the moonlight, and up close, I could see they were still slightly glowing. Still more wolf than human.

I fumbled for the small whiteboard I had shoved in my robe pocket, but my hands were shaking too hard.

“You saw me.” It wasn't a question. His jaw clenched. “You shouldn't have.”

I managed to pull out the board, scrawling quickly, “That was you. The wolf.”

“Yes.”

Just that. No explanation, no excuse.

“Go back to your room, Ayla.”

I shook my head, writing again, “Why were you looking at my window?”

Something dangerous flashed across his face. His hands tightened on my waist, pulling me closer. So close I could feel the heat radiating off his skin.

“Because I can't seem to stop looking out for you,” he said roughly. “And that's a problem.”

My breath caught. His eyes dropped to my lips, and for one heart-stopping moment, I thought he might be leaning down for my lips.

A twig snapped somewhere in the darkness behind us before I could finish.

Professor Arkon's head whipped around, a growl rumbling deep in his chest. His entire body went rigid protective, shifting to shield me.

“Someone is here,” he breathed. “Go. Now.”

But before I could move, before I could even process his words, a voice drifted out from the shadows.

“Well, well. This is interesting.”

Veronica Blackwood stepped into the moonlight, her torchlight held up. It was obvious she was recording.

“I wonder what the dean will think about a professor… talking to a student in the middle of the night?”

She smiled, and it was absolutely vicious.

“Especially with the mute charity case.”

Professor Arkon didn’t move, but the change in him was instant. One second he was human, and the next, the Alpha. His amber eyes flared brighter, glowing like red, locking on Veronica with a force that made my stomach twist.

The smirk on her lips faltered.

“Turn that off,” he said quietly. Too quietly.

It wasn’t a request. It was a command filled with power that rippled through the night air. I felt it in my bones.

Veronica blinked fast, her phone trembling in her hand. “I… I’m just…”

“Turn. It. Off.”

His voice deepened, the alpha inside him was pushing through, and the authority in his tone made even the night birds go silent.

Veronica’s fingers shook as she fumbled to end the recording. The phone slipped from her grip and hit the ground with a soft thud.

“Good,” Arkon said, his gaze still locked on her. “Now hand it over.”

She hesitated. Big mistake.

His growl was so deep and animalistic that it seemed to echo from everywhere , the trees, the shadows, even inside my chest. Veronica gasped, taking a step back, her torch shaking wildly as light flickered across his face, sharp jaw, glowing eyes, and muscles tense like a predator about to strike.

“You think hiding behind your father’s name makes you safe?” His voice was barely human now. “Try me.”

Veronica’s eyes widened in terror, I had never seen her like that. very confident, cruel Alpha’s daughter was trembling, lips quivering as she slowly crouched and picked up her phone, holding it out to him with shaking hands.

“I… I didn’t mean to… I just saw…”

“Leave.” His tone dropped like ice. “Before I forget, you’re still a student.”

She turned and ran, stumbling over roots, the beam of her torch bouncing wildly as she disappeared into the darkness.

The silence that followed was heavy.

Professor Arkon stood still for a few seconds, breathing hard. The red light in his eyes began to fade, but the energy around him didn’t.

I reached out slowly, my hand brushing his arm. He flinched, then looked down at me, his gaze softer now, but still full of something fierce.

“I told you to go back to your room,” he said loudly.

I wrote quickly on my board, “You scared her.”

He gave a humorless laugh. “I scared myself.”

Before I could ask what he meant, a sound cut through the night, a howl. Not his, not from the school grounds either.

Professor Arkon froze, his eyes darting toward the forest.

“Get inside,” he said again, but this time, his voice wasn’t just protective, it was urgent.

I opened my mouth to protest, but the howl came again, closer. Louder. And this time, it wasn’t alone.

More joined in , a chorus of deep, wild howls that made every hair on my body stand on end.

Professor Arkon’s eyes glowed bright red again as he turned toward the trees.

“They are here, they found you.”My heart skipped. They are here? Who were “they”?

Before I could write anything on my board, his eyes flashed brighter. He stepped back, looking toward the thick forest that surrounded the academy grounds.

“You need to leave, Ayla. Now.”

He didn’t wait for me to respond. One moment he was standing there, human, and the next his body began to shift. Bones cracked, muscles rippled, and in seconds, the man was gone. In his place stood a massive black wolf, his fur glistening under the moonlight, eyes burning red from afar.

I stood frozen, staring after him, my heart racing. The sound of snapping branches echoed deeper in the woods, followed by a low, rumbling growl that didn’t belong to him.

I didn’t wait to see more. I ran.

By the time I reached my dorm, my lungs burned and my hands were shaking so badly that I could barely close the door. I slid down against it, clutching my whiteboard to my chest.

What did he mean by 'they found you? Who are they?'

Sleep didn’t come easily that night. Every sound outside made me jump. Every shadow felt like it might move.

When morning came, the sunlight felt strange, too bright, too normal after what I had witnessed. Students filled the courtyard, laughing, chatting.

I walked quietly down the hall toward my next class, my hood pulled low, trying to keep my thoughts straight. My heart still hadn’t settled.

But then… I felt it.

That pull. That strange, sharp awareness that crawled under my skin.

I froze. Slowly, I turned and there he was.

Damien Vane.

The boy…. no, the monster who had once held my future in his hands… and shattered it with one sentence.

“I, Damien Vane of Silverstone Pack, reject you, Ayla Rashborne, as my mate.”

Those words still echoed in my head like a curse.

And now he was here. Standing in the middle of the academy courtyard, well-dressed and more dangerous-looking than I remembered. His silver eyes locked onto mine as usual.

For a second, the whole world went still. Just us.

Then he spoke. Softly.

“Ayla.”

I felt my heart race.

And before I could move… before I could even breathe, he started walking toward me.