My Werewolf Professor (6 page)

And Kate, my lovely, strong grandmother…

I could see it in the way she was hugging her husband, the way she wished she could take all his pain and absorb it inside of her.

All of this because of my mother and how
odd
she was.

Rushing to them, I wrapped my arms around Kate and Chris. “
I’m sorry
.” The tears started to fall, and the oddness started to disappear. “I’m so sorry you had to meet her again because of me.” The more I spoke, the harder I cried. But I didn’t stop because it also made the oddness go away, and I wanted that. I
needed
that.

“I love you, Gran, love you, Gramps, always.” Closing my eyes, I hugged them more tightly, destroying the oddness by allowing the pain of love to fill me.
 

My mother was odd because she only wanted love without the pain.
 

But I wasn’t going to be like her
, I promised myself fiercely. I wasn’t going to be odd. I wasn’t going to hate. Instead, I was going to fall in love, find a man who would love me back, and with him, I’d give Kate and Chris a son, and we’d be a family.
 

Together, we wouldn’t ever be odd.

****

“We can’t always play this game,” the council member warned Alessandro from behind. “If you persist in continuing with such actions, a fine will no longer be sufficient. You need to remember, Alessandro: being a prince won’t protect you forever.”

The words continued to echo like a taunt in Alessandro Moretti’s mind even after he was already home.
 

Fucking Lyccan Council,
he thought grimly as he reached for a fresh strip of gauze. All they wanted were peace talks and mediations, like that would really stop those stupid pups from talking shit about his family.

A knock sounded on the door then, and Alessandro said immediately, “Come in.” He didn’t need to ask who it was, the scent tingeing the air letting him know who it was without turning around.

Domenico Moretti walked in. Taller than the twins, Alessandro and Alejandro, by a few inches, he was also more powerfully built, as befitting the heir apparent to the Moretti clan. He also used to be considered the strongest and most respected member of their race, someone whose mere glance would have Lyccans quivering in fear.

But that was then.

Now, Domenico Moretti was a mere shell of who he once was. Now, he was a laughingstock, someone almost the entire race loved to ridicule because of the way he had allowed love to make a fool out of him.

Seeing Alessandro seated on one of the bar stools, applying a special salve to his wounds, Domenico came to a stop. Since most wounds, even those considered mortally fatal by humans, would have healed in mere seconds for Lyccans like them, Domenico knew there were only a few reasons to explain why there were still red gashes on his brother’s chest.

“How bad is the poison?” Domenico asked, his face and tone equally impassive.

“Nothing strong,” Alessandro answered dismissively as he finished applying the salve and started bandaging his lower chest. “It’s just what I’d expect from cowards like them.” His lip curled as his spoke, his disgust evident as he recalled the way the pups had ganged up on him, thinking they’d win because they had the numbers on their side.

Idiots.
Goddamn idiots, thinking that they could beat him just like that.

“As they were obviously cowards…” Domenico’s mildly spoken words drew Alessandro’s attention back to him. “There shouldn’t have been any point in beating them up, don’t you think?” His older brother paused. “And all
eight
of them, too?”

Another shrug. “You and I both know they deserved it.”

“Well, both of us also know it wasn’t truly you they were trying to offend.”

Teeth gnashing at the way Domenico was still able to stay calm after everything, Alessandro threw away the used gauze into the waste bin as he asked violently, “What the fuck do you want me to do then? Do nothing even if I hear them call you a fucking dog? Or maybe you want me to do it Alejandro’s way and get revenge by fucking their girlfriends?”

“Not quite.” Domenico’s voice remained even despite the fury displayed by his younger brother. “But yes, I would appreciate it if you do find a woman to regularly fuck.”

Alessandro’s head shot up.

Domenico’s gaze remained inscrutable.

His jaw dropped. So he hadn’t been wrong then. That odd note in his brother’s voice wasn’t something he had imagined, making him demand incredulously, “Are you threatening me?”

Domenico was unsurprised by the way Alessandro chose to interpret his words. For a moment, he debated with himself, knowing the risk he was taking. Once he gave Alessandro his word, there wouldn’t be any way he could take it back.
 

It was a huge risk, but if there was something he had learned since his wife had disappeared, it was how much power love could wield over a person.

Making his decision, Domenico looked at his brother. “I’m not threatening you. Rather, I’m offering you a deal.”

“A deal?” Alessandro fought to keep his wariness in check. Making deals up front wasn’t something Domenico was known for. His oldest brother tended to be a manipulative bastard, one who liked to pull everyone’s strings without anyone knowing it, not even the person whose limbs were under his control.

Domenico clasped his hands behind his back. “
Yes.
A deal. I want you to find a woman you can fuck regularly – just one woman, be able to fuck her
every day
for thirty days, and upon finding that woman, if you still want to kill everyone who throws insults at us, I give you my word. You will
not
have to defend me again.”

Only a moment of silence followed before his younger brother said disbelievingly, “You’re serious? You just want me to fuck someone for thirty days straight—”

“One woman,
” Domenico emphasized.

“And that’s it?” Alessandro’s eyebrows shot up. “You’ll go back to being normal if I do that?”

“I have given you my word, haven’t I?”

Alessandro slowly shook his head. “What the hell is this about, Domenico?”

The fact that you have to ask only means I have done the right thing
, Domenico thought.
 

“My reasons for it are immaterial.” Domenico started for the door, saying over his shoulder, “Just let me know when you’ve found her and we’ll start counting the days.”

PRESENT TIME

Don’t smile, don’t smile, DON’T SMILE…

But those maddeningly perfect lips still curved, and Kassia Summers’ heart sank as all the girls in her class released an audible sigh. She didn’t blame them for swooning over the smile. It
was
perfect. However, she did blame the professor.
 

Wasn’t he supposed to be hers?

“
That
is exactly the answer I’m looking for, Ms. Creswell,” Alessandro Moretti said with an approving nod.

“Thank you, Professor. So glad to help.”

Kassia’s teeth gnashed as she watched Natalie Creswell take a seat and made a show of crossing her legs. Kassia didn’t have to be in front to know that those crossing legs were sure to have revealed more than a flash of the girl’s underwear. The thought had her sneaking a look at the professor, but he had already turned to face the screen and pressed a button on the remote to show a new slide to the class.
 

“Everyone, consider this next set of conjugations.” He faced the class again, and for a moment the professor’s eyes met Kassia’s.

Her breath caught.

His handsome face was still unreadable, but even so, she couldn’t help hoping that he would give her a sign. Any sign would do, she just needed to know that he felt the same way she did—

Natalie raised her hand. “I have a question, Professor.”

The professor immediately looked the other girl’s way, and the connection – imagined or not – between him and Kassia was broken.

He was so unfair.
 

The thought made Kassia want to slump over her desk. How could the professor act so normally? How could his mind not be filled with thoughts of her? How could he look at her and not think of what they had done – how could he look and
not
want more, the way she did?

Even now, her mind was crowded with memories, all of them vivid, hot, and forbidden. Even now, without closing her eyes, she could easily remember the professor lowering his head before taking her nipple inside his mouth. Even now, she could remember the tantalizing contrast of his hardness against her softness.
 
Even now, she could remember the sounds of her pants, his groans—

“—are you still with us, Ms. Summers?”

Holy crap.

Her head snapped up, and Kassia’s cheeks burst with fire when she found herself subject to everyone’s mostly smirking gazes.

The professor was speaking to her again. She watched his lips move, but she couldn’t hear a thing. Her mind was a complete blank save for one thought.

Last night, those beautiful lips of his had been on her. Last night, that mouth of his had been on her neck, on her breasts—

“Ms. Summers?”

Kassia mentally shook herself out of her reverie when she belatedly realized that the professor and the entire class was waiting for her to answer.

Clearing her throat, she mumbled, “Could you repeat the question?”

The entire class laughed, but the professor only sighed. “Never mind, Ms. Summers.” He nodded towards another student. “Melissa, do you know the answer?”

Melissa simpered, and the rest of the class switched its attention to her. It spared Kassia from further embarrassment, but not from misery. She had never been boy crazy, so why was she acting like she couldn’t live without the professor’s absolute attention now?
 

The school bell rang, and Kassia felt it couldn’t have come at a better time. She hurriedly pushed her textbook back inside her bag, intent on getting away as quickly as she could. But the moment she stood up, she heard the professor call her name.

“Ms. Summers?”

She stilled.

“I need you to stay behind so we can discuss your grades before midterms.”

****

Alessandro Moretti watched his student fidget on her feet, a multitude of expressions crossing her face. Anxiety, resentment, fear…so much emotion, but all of it amounting to one thing she was too young and inexperienced to realize.

He waited until he heard the last footsteps die down, making sure there was no one else near enough to interrupt them. Afterwards, he glanced at Kassia and said simply, “Come here.”

The way she hesitated made his lips tighten, not out of displeasure but more to prevent her from knowing how her fiery spirit only made him want her more. Even so, Alessandro hardened his voice as he repeated, “Come here.”

This time, there was no mistaking the authority in his voice, and this time she didn’t resist.

Her walk was pure sensual grace, made sexier by the fact that Alessandro knew nothing about it was contrived. It was a pleasure to watch her, and he savored it, knowing that every inch of her body had only known his touch.

His.
 

Everything about Kassia Summers was his.

He didn’t know why that mattered to him so much, but it did.

She stopped in front of his desk, and he shook his head. “Closer, Ms. Summers.”

Her brown eyes widened, her fear of being caught made evident by the way she gnawed on her lip. “What if someone sees us?”

Ah,
that voice of hers. He was sure she would make millions if she tried dubbing for adult films. Not that he planned to tell her that, of course. Kassia was
his,
after all.

Seeing that she was still worried, he said gently, “I own this school.” He didn’t say anything else, knowing that she was smart enough to understand the absolute assurance behind his words.

And so she was, with Kassia moving again, closer and closer, and every inch that disappeared between them had his cock hardening. By the time she stepped between his legs, his cock was fully erect, and his fists were clenched against his sides.