I Kissed My Professor And He Liked It

Ella’s POV “Do you think she could have been possessed?” | asked, worried.

Colton looked atfor a short while before taking another look at the letter. | could see the worry and stress in his eyes, and it took everything | had not to reach out to him and wrap my arms around him.

He opened his mouth to say something, but the arena doors opened makingtake a lengthy step away from my mate. When | looked at the doorway, | was relieved to see my father standing there.

| sighed.

“Dad...” | said, running toward him.

He held his arms out for me, and | flew into them. If | couldn't hug my mate, at least | could hug my father. | felt like | needed a hug after everything that’s been happening. | felt so defeated and confused.

| wasn’t sure who | could trust but | knew one thing for sure, | could always trust my father.

“Hey, Ella Bean,” he said, patting down my dark curls.

“Is there any news?” | asked, peering up at him.

“Headmaster Prescott is updating all the student information as we speak. Once we get accurate reports on all students and their abilities, we will be able to go through them,” he answered. “We might need your help though because you know them better than we do.” I nodded.

“I'll do what I can to help,” | told him. “It’s hard to believe that a student at this school is capable of murder.” “This school is made up of beings with great power,” Colton muttered from behind us. “It doesn’t surpriseat all.” “We don’t know what happened,” my father said firmly.

He was right; it could have been darkness. But | didn’t want to say those words out loud; if | said them out loud, it would make it real.

The door of the arena opened again, and Alpha Jonathan walked inside.

“I had to follow the stench of Bastien, what are you doing in the arena—?” He began to ask but then his eyes landed on me. “Oh, hello, Ella. What are you doing in the arena?” “I clooking for my professor,” | told him, glancing at Colton. “I wanted to show him a move I've been working on.” “I'm enforcing another lockdown for this school until we know for certain who the murderer is,” Alpha Jonathan stated. “I'll be making an announcement in a few minutes. But | cto find Alpha Bastien first.” My stomach clenched.

Another lockdown? We've already missed so much school from the last lockdown.

“Oh, but first; Ella, did you get my letter?” Alpha Jonathan asked, eyeingcarefully.

My entire body stiffened; Colton still had the letter. | glanced at him briefly and then looked at Jonathan who directed his narrowed eyes at me.

“Letter?” My father asked, raising his brows as he looked between the two of us. “What letter?” “Yes, | received it, Alpha,” | told him. “I appreciate the invite, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline.” His jaw clenched as he looked atfor a moment longer and then he looked at my father.

“I'm having a banquet on Saturday to honor Ella’s victory during the election. Of course, her friends and family are also invited,” Alpha Jonathan explained.

“That's kind of you,” my father said to him, nodding his head before looking at me. “Why are you declining such an invite? This banquet is to honor you. It’s polite to accept the invitation.” “Because we don’t trust him,” Val growled from inside me. | knew she was struggling to keep herself under control; | appreciated her attempt though.

| wanted to open my mouth to cup with skind of excuse, but my father continued.

“What plans do you have for Saturday?” He asked, folding his arms across his chest.

| sighed.

“I guess | don’t have any plans,” | admitted; | couldn't lie to my father.

He'd be able to see right through me.

“Then it's settled; we'll be happy to attend the banquet, Alpha Jonathan. Thank you for the invitation,” he said, giving Jonathan another nod.

“I'll alert the chefs,” Alpha Jonathan said, givinga sly smile before glancing at Colton.

For a moment, | thought he was going to invite Colton to the banquet as well. | was praying to the moon goddess that he would. The silence felt so loud; | could practically hear my heart beating inside my chest.

But to my dismay, he turned his back to Colton to address my father.

“May we have a word, Alpha?” “Yes, of course,” my father said just before glancing at me. “We will call for you when we need you. You should head back to your dorm for right now.” | nodded, feeling uneasy in the pit of my stomach.

Colton stared at the closed door for a long while before turning to face me.

“I don’t want you going there without protection,” he said firmly.

“My father will be there,” | told him, hardly recognizing my own voice.

I didn’t want to go there without Colton, and | knew he was feeling the sway. Colton stepped closer toand placed his hands on my shoulders. | lifted my gaze to meet his.

“That's not good enough,” he said in a low tone. “Obviously | can’t go if I'm not invited. It would make him suspicious. But that doesn’t mean | can’t have one of my men go with you. We can say that because Bastien has been spending a lot of tat my pack, it would be easier for him to take one of my warriors instead of his own.” “Okay,” | said, trying to keep the tears from forming in my eyes. “Who should accompany me?” “I was thinking of maybe Ethan. He’s my second in command and he could benefit your father. Plus, he’s skilled in combat as well and | trust him with my life” Colton said.

I nodded in return.

“I like that idea,” | said in return. “But | don’t like the idea of going without you.” He sighed, but he kept his eyes on mine.

“Neither do I...” he breathed. “But if | can’t be there, at least someone | trust will be.” | wanted to kiss him, but | knew it was probably better if | didn’t. At least not here.

“You should get back to your dorm,” he said, dropping his hands from my shoulders.

“I wanted to find Rachel first,” | told him. “I heard she’s in the library. Then, I'll go to my dorm with her.” Colton’s eyes darkened for a moment, and | could tell he was thinking about something intently; it madeworry. | furrowed my brows at him, asking him silently what was on his mind.

“Be careful around Rachel,” he said to me, surprising. “I saw her outside the academic center when | smelled the rotting flesh. Something was off with her.” My heart fell into my stomach.

“You don’t think Rachel had anything to do with it, do you?” | asked.

He thought long and hard about that for a moment.

“I'm not sure; | can’t be sure about anything right now.” “She’s a bear, Cole,” | said, shaking my head. “She couldn't have—" My voice trailed off as | thought about darkness.

“Just be careful, Ella.” | looked back up at him and nodded.

“I'll see you later,” | said to him as | turned and left the arena.

Rachel sat in the back corner of the library at a small table with her history textbook laid out in front of her. She had a notebook to the side of the textbooks with different colored notes sprawled out on the thin paper.

She had her fingers dug into her dark hair and | could see that she was incredibly stressed.

“Hey,” | said, sitting beside her. “You look stressed.” She lifted her gaze and met my eyes.

“I have to study for this stupid history exam,” she muttered. “It counts for 50% of my grade. Stressed isn’t the word I'd use.” “Do you need shelp?” | asked. “I'm pretty good at studying.” “It's a bear history course, Ella. What do you know about bears?” | shrugged; truth be told, | didn’t know much about them besides what Rachel told me. | knew they were known as the weaker species. Rachel's race of bears eats a lot of nuts and berries. But | knew other bears ate a lot of meat and protein. It was also uncommon for bears to have special abilities.

Bears don't live in packs; they enjoy being alone unless they are with family. They tend to live in dark spaces, like caves. But nowadays, they've made homes out of their caves, and they look a lot more modern.

| also knew that, like werewolves, bears can also have mates. They are usually mated with other bears, but they are unlikely to be mated to werewolves either.

Witches and fairies can also have mates, but it’s less likely for them to be mated to other species like werewolves and bears.

Vampires don’t get goddess-given mates despite falling under the sgoddess, but they can take chosen mates and have their own mating ceremonies to strengthen their bond.

“I'm a fast learner,” | told her, glancing at her notebook.

She quickly closed her notebook before | could get a chance to read anything.

“It's fine, Ella,” she said, standing to her feet. Her tone startledand | felt my face warming.

“Okay...” | said slowly, standing up with her. “We should get back to our dorm though; | hear we are going to have another lockdown.” Her eyes widened at my words.

“Why?” “Because they are reopening the investigation on the murders,” | told her as | helped her pack her things. “Until they know for sure what happened, they are enforcing a lockdown.” “Shit...” she whispered, sounding a little hoarse. “Didn't Scott confess to those murders?” “Yeah, but he didn’t do it,” I told her.

Rachel slung her bag over her shoulder, and we began to walk out of the library. | waved goodbye to the librarian, who returned it with a kind smile.

“And you know that for sure?” She asked, furrowing her brows together.

“Yes,” | answered without hesitation.

She was quiet, staring down at her feet as we walked.

“Alpha Jonathan is having a banquet on Saturday by the way. He told| could invite my friends. | was mainly coming to find you so | could invite you. You're welcto come,” | told her, glancing at her side profile as we walked the campus and headed toward the dormitory.

She didn’t look phased by my question, she only nodded.

“Yes, | know,” she surprisedby saying. “I was already attending it.” “Wait, what?” | asked, stopping in my tracks. “What do you mean by that?” “I was already going to the banquet. | have to be there,” she said, shrugging.

“Why?” “Because my father is his business partner,” she answered simply. “My father has to be there... which means | have to be there.”