Another semester. Another group of students who weren't interested in learning.

It was like this every year, but I still taught because the stories of the gods were still very much needed in today's society. The students who actually cared about it, learned more about themselves than anyone I had met.

"Alpha Lee," Levi, one of my pack members said, from my university office door.

I glanced up from my desk, gathered the rest of the materials for the first day of the classics class I taught to first and second year students, and nodded to the door. Levi shuffled into the room and closed it behind him, bowing his head.

While many of the students at Arcane University in New Hampshire knew about the paranormal that haunted these woods, some, even professors, were still human. If any one of them found out about us, the Wolf Council would chew me out.

"What is it?" I asked.

Levi stuffed his hands into his ripped jeans. "I spotted wolves from the Goldtooth Pack at our borders."

My entire body stiffened. "Goldtooth Pack? Are you sure?"

"Yes. Beta Milo told me to relay the information to you."

I drew my tongue across my teeth, feeling the prick of my canines. "Don't engage. If the Goldtooth Pack is here, they're looking for something and will do anything to find it, including kill our pack members."

Levi nodded and stepped toward the cherry-oak door. "Will do," he said. And just as he was about to step out the door, I called his name. He paused in the hallway, tensing when a human professor walked opposite of him. "Yeah?"

"Go to class. I'll handle it," I ordered.

"But—"

"You're not missing another one of my classes. You're taking classics again, because you failed the first time."

"Can't you just pass me? We—"

"No."

After rubbing his hand across his face and grumbling under his breath, he walked down the hall toward the auditorium where class started in fifteen minutes. I hiked my bag over my shoulder, locked my office door behind me, and started toward the exit. I didn't have time to run back to my pack before class started, I had to get one of the patrols in the forest to do it.

Glancing down at my watch, I shoved the door open, the crisp fall air blowing through the scruff on my face. Someone stumbled back, a phone and some classic books tumbling to the ground.

She gasped and leaned down to grab them. "Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry!"

My breath caught in the back of my throat as her sweet scent drifted through the air.

Mate.

I crouched down and grabbed some of her books from the walkway, admiring the way strands of her dirty blonde hair blew into her face. "It's my fault," I said, wanting to hear her voice again and so desperately wanting her to look at me.

In a moment, she glanced up at me with piercing blue-violet eyes. Cheeks flushing a rosy red, she grabbed her books from my hand, our fingers grazing against each other's. My wolf growled inside of me, demanding that he feel her skin against his again.

Mate.

"No, I was, uh, trying to find my class and not paying attention." She stood up, readjusted her glasses, and brushed out her knee-length black skirt that had a slight split in it, and my wolf went wild. "Is this the Aenovan Building?"

"It is."

In attempts to control my wolf, I stuffed my hands into my pockets and clenched my fists.

She was a student who didn't know the campus, probably her first year. Touching her was forbidden, no matter how much I wanted her right here and right now. If the Wolf Council found out about it, they'd remove me and all the other teachers who were wolves from this place.

"Okay, thank you." She scooted by me and into the building. "I don't want to be late."

Forcing myself not to turn around to grab her by the waist and pull her closer, stuff my nose into the crook of her neck and breathe her in, I inhaled her scent until it disappeared completely. I hurried toward the forest, finding the first damn wolf I came across, and told him to relay the information back to my beta.

If our mindlinks worked for long distances, I would've done it myself.

But they didn't anymore, thanks to the Wolf Council.

After racing back to the building, I took a shortcut toward the auditorium knowing that the only classics class in this building today was mine, which meant one thing... my mate would be there, sitting in one of the many desks and staring up at me with those breathtaking eyes almost every day for the rest of the semester.

Stepping into class, I scanned the room for her yet couldn't pick up her scent from the hundred mixed smells from the students. I relaxed only slightly and walked down the auditorium steps to front, giving everyone a tight smile when they looked up at me and began quieting down.

I placed my bag on the front desk and looked around the room again. The door opened, her scent drifting into the room and her clumsy cute ass nearly tripping over the carpet as she walked into the room.

She tucked some dirty-blonde hair behind her ear, gnawed on her pretty pink bottom lip, and anxiously searched the small auditorium for a seat, brows furrowed together. I stiffened and stared at her, my heart thrashing against my chest.

Mate.

Canines lengthening, I pressed my lips together and let them cut into my gums, because not everyone who attended Arcane University was a werewolf, including her. I didn't want to scare her out of my class just yet. I didn't even know her name.

When she looked at me, I sucked in a breath and quickly looked away. She slowly walked down the wooden stairs of the auditorium to the second row, glanced down the aisle to see if she could find a seat. There was one, right in the center, right where I could see her, look at her, watch her without it seeming creepy.

Instead, she moved even closer to the front row and sat down toward my right. I inhaled her sweet beachy scent. She smelled so good, too good. I wanted to sink my teeth into her neck, right here and right now, not caring who it was in front of. I needed her to be mine.

So. Fucking. Badly.

After sitting, she placed her laptop and phone on her desk. She chewed on her bottom lip and tapped on the messages on her phone, staring down at messages from someone that she hadn't seemed to respond to yet. A moment passed, and she shook her head and shut the phone off, then looked back up at me.

Being taken off guard by those breath-fucking-taking eyes, I cleared my throat and looked down at my computer screen, shifting through the names on my attendance list to find hers. In a hundred student class, I would never take attendance but it couldn't hurt to try to spot her name.

Gracey Neal

Malak Ivo

Selin Flowers

Antonina Nichols

Bria Benton

Codey Spence

Malachy Herbert

Cain Wheeler

"Hey," Levi said to her, sitting beside her and holding out a hand. "I'm Levi."

Hands balled into fists behind the desk, I pressed my lips together to suppress a growl. While I wanted to break them apart right then and there, I wanted so desperately to hear her voice, wanted her name, needed to have more of her.

"Bria," she said, cheeks flushing again.

She was blushing.

My mate was blushing because of someone other than me.

"Don't touch her," I scolded Levi through the mindlink.

Before she could shake his hand, Levi pulled away. She widened her eyes and gave him a small embarrassed smile, then turned back toward her computer. Levi glanced up at me, brows furrowed together, but I ignored him and cleared my throat, silencing the other students.

"Welcome to Classics: Ancient Mythologies. I'm Professor Lee. Let's get started."