Victoria sighed. “All of this wouldn’t have happened if you had chosen a suitor.”
“Well I’m glad I didn’t!” I snapped. “They’re all absolute assholes who seem to think the earth moves for them.”
“They should!” Victoria raised her voice. I was shocked. She’d never gotten snarp with me. She must’ve realized because she sighed deeply again. “There is much for you to learn, Zora. The High Pack Alphas are highly respected. Wolfham and Moonraiser packs are of those High Packs. Their names alone demand people to bow at their feet.”
“That’s so stupid!” I protested. “So should I change my last name to Luna and start fighting people?!”
Victoria paused. I hated that I knew what she was going to say. “You could,” she said, softly. “It would make schooling much easier for you. People would fall at your feet instead of chase you.” She paused again and sighed, again. “But you must choose one of the suitors before you reveal yourself. For your safety.”
“Safety?” I snorted. “Because, what, people will try and get in my pants to get to the throne if I’m not ‘taken’.”
“Precisely,” Victoria said. She was utterly serious. I, however, was joking. Another sigh. “I promise you all three of the men I chose are valuable and honorable candidates.”
“Valuable and honorable, my ass!” I said. Professor Lunerly’s eyes went wide. “They are arrogant and pretentious. I don’t need them for ‘safety’ and I’ll graduate from this stupid school without the Luna name.”
With that, I hung up the phone. I looked up at Professor Lunerly. One of his eyebrows was raised in curiosity.
“Do you always speak to your mother in such a tone?”
I snorted and slumped back in my seat. “She left me to rot in an orphanage for eighteen years. Victoria deserves it.”
The professor hummed then sat back in his own chair. He brought his fingers to his lips in thought. They were long and elegant, just like his face. “Your mother asked that I keep an eye on you,” he said. “That is why I intervened today. Given your temper, can I assume I’ll have to do that a lot?”
“If everyone else can leave me alone, you won’t have to,” I snapped.
“So yes, then?”
I rolled my eyes. “Most likely.”
Professor Lunerly hummed again. It was beginning to get on my nerves. These stupid people and their non-verbal comments. He got up from behind the desk and motioned towards the door. I followed him and went to open the door when his hand pressed it back shut. He stood a mere inch from me and looked down at me.
I caught several gold flecks in his otherwise white-yellow eyes. They looked like little freckles on his irises. They were utterly beautiful. His eyes were framed with long, brown eyelashes that fluttered against his cheeks. I felt myself locking eyes with him
“Try to keep your head down,” he said, softly to me. “For both of our sakes.”
“I can make no promises,” I said back, still locked gaze to gaze. “Trouble seems to follow me.”
“That it does,” the professor mused. He opened the door slightly and ushered me out. His eyes were still locked with me. “Princess.”
“Professor,” I replied.
“Princess?” a voice said.
I snapped my head up to see Maximus reclined against the wall in front of me. I’d been caught.
“Mr. Wolfham,” Lunerly said. He sounded completely unphased. My heart, however, was beating out of my chest. “Thank you for coming to my office amidst afternoon classes.”
“I had a break,” Maximus said. He pushed off the wall. “What was this about a princess?”
“Yes, I just spoke to the queen,” Lunerly continued. “She is appalled at your behavior towards the wolfless. The King consort must be respectful of all beings. She asked me to punish you for your discressions.”
Maximus immediately sneered at me. It was if he thought that trying to kill me was my fault. I crossed my arms over my chest and raised my eyebrow at him.
“Weakness is a plague, Professor,” Maximus said.
“Weakness is inevitable, Mr. Wolfham,” Lunerly countered. “And a King consort knows that and knows how to deal with it. So – ” Lunerly pushed me forwards gently. ” – you will learn to deal with it via Miss Smith. You will mentor her for the coming semester.”
I whipped around, jaw unhinged and stared at the professor. “You can’t be serious?”
“Deadly,” Lunerly said. “It is the queen’s wishes.”
Of course it was. She was trying to bait me to get engaged to the son-of-a-bitch. I had absolutely no intention of falling for her tricks. But I needed Lunerly to think I was. “Fine,” I spat. Lunerly nodded. “That is all. You may return to your classes.”
“Class is over,” Maximus barked. “I’ll walk you back to the dorms.”
“Fine!” I said again. I marched off past him, making sure to bang into his shoulder in the way he had done to me. Twice now. But of course, the bastard barely moved. I thought I heard Lunerly chuckle behind me. I was tempted to turn around and throttle him too.
I barged out of the admissions building and began my tirade across the campus. I tried to keep my pace uncomfortably fast so Maximus couldn’t catch up to me. Unfortunately, he was a supernatural werewolf and I was just a girl. I saw him out of the corner of my vision and scoffed.
“I don’t need a fucking mentor,” I snapped. “I’m perfectly fine on my own. So let’s just stay in our own lanes and put on a show whenever Lunerly is around.”
“You’re acting like I volunteered,” Maximus scoffed. “I don’t want this any more than you do. But the Queen’s word is my word. I do what she says.”
If only he knew how little I cared for the Queen’s word.
“Plus,” he continued. “I need to spend my time training. Not watching your incompetent ass.”
“Incompetent ass that still managed to get a cut on you,” I countered.
Maximus growled, low and warning. “I need to train harder,” he grumbled. “The Gods should smite me for allowing a wolfless to maim me.”
I stopped short and whipped around to face him, catching him slightly off guard. He blinked in shock. Then his grimace was back.
“What do you have against the wolfless?” I snapped. “It’s not like I’ll be wolfless forver.”
Maximus blinked. “You truly know nothing do you?”
“I don’t know how that’s relevant,” I crossed my arms over my chest in defiance.
He shoved a hard through his short cropped hair and rolled his eyes. He finally looked back at me and began to speak.
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