Chapter Thirty-Four

“The same reason that anyone is permitted to attend,” Dean De Leon says, reminding me of his presence on the other side of the desk.

Adrian’s nostrils flare as he casts a look across the books at the Dean, warning him not to take it any further. But the damage has already been done and my heart begins to gallop in my ears again as I realize what he’s saying.

“So… why am I here then?” I dare ask, my tongue feeling too heavy in my mouth. My question send Adrian’s back against his chair, leaning his head back with a groan. I guess he was really hoping I wouldn’t connect the dots tonight, but I’m in too much shock to feel offended.

Adrian clenches his jaw and tosses another glare over the desk, silencing whatever the Dean is about to say with a look. Is even someone as high up as the Dean is afraid of him? Maybe afraid isn’t the right word; it’s like Adrian explained yesterday when I asked why people were so timid around him. They respect him, he said. But he’s not much older than me, so why are so many people cowering in politeness when he walks by? And why doesn’t the one group of guys we always see at lunch not care about Adrian’s status? My head reels with all of my questions and I feel myself beginning to feel overwhelmed by them all at once. The Dean was right; my father was an asshole for sending me here without any knowledge of the college’s history. Or for his, for that matter. If he attended this school years ago, what does that make him? Or me for that matter?

I feel the blood drain from my face and it must be noticeable because Adrian leans forward to place a hand on my shoulder. “Lydia,” He says, voice gentle compared to the look in his eyes as he glances at the Dean again, accusingly. “We don’t have to talk about everything in one night. We can take the day off tomorrow and talk about it then,”

Tomorrow. That’s right, I have to come back to classes here, sharing the hallways with creatures that could kill me in an instant if they wanted to. Not that Adrian would let them, judging by how protective he is of me in public. Alpha Adrian is what he was called earlier. Wait… Dean De Leon said that Adrian and I are “destined mates”. What does that mean? Is that why he acts that way? I lean forward in my chair, resting my elbows on my knees. I feel like I might throw up, or pass out, or probably both. It feels like my thoughts are eating my brain alive.

Adrian regards me calmly, placing his hand on my forehead. “Just take deep breaths, Lydia. I know it’s alot to process at once but I promise you’re safe here. Take your time to come to terms with everything before you get ahead of yourself, okay?”

I blink slowly, trying to sort my rambling thoughts into separate piles to handle later. My throat feels too dry. “Okay. First things first,” I croak, raising my head to lock eyes with the Dean, who remains quietly observing like an owl in the rafters. “What am I?”

Adrian’s tense silence as he stares at the Dean is filled with a warning, seeming to advise him to choose his answer carefully. If I wasn’t so overwhelmed by my own questions, I could almost swear that his glower is accompanied by a growl. Like an animal. Like a wolf.

The Dean regards Adrian’s threat with unnerving calm as if it were nothing but a yap from a lapdog. His wise eyes fall on me, pinning me to my seat with the weight of his stare. The ancient leather of his chair creaks as he adjusts his leg, steepling his fingers as he thinks. “I suppose I should begin with your lineage, though it isn’t my place to say. Your father, Martin, should have explained this to you when you were a child, yet here we are,” I hear the curse the Dean leaves beneath his breath in my father’s name. “Your father was once a part of a guild, one that I was also a part of. We were a guild of Sorcerers, though it was hardly more than a club when we were students here.”

I stare at him blankly. “Like a wizard? You’re saying my dad is a wizard?”

Dean De Leon raises one of his bushy brows in contemplation. “How do you think those chairs appeared from thin air, my dear? Magic is very much real, and it runs strongly in your bloodline.”

I can’t help the laugh that bursts from my lips, tinged with hysteria. Now, this is too much. First Adrian is a werewolf, which I can only believe because I saw it for myself, but now, I’m the daughter of a Sorcerer? I must be having a strange dream. I’m sure any moment now I’ll wake up in bed from laughing too hard.

Adrian’s hand on my back feels very real though, burning through the layers of clothing with the heat that emanates from his skin. I curl my fingers against the wood of the chair, feeling the grains beneath my nails until it hurts. I’m definitely not dreaming. “I told you this would be too much for her,” Adrian growls, a sound I can feel in my chest like a drum beat. “I should never have brought her here to meet you.”

The Dean remains unbothered, offering a shrug instead of an apology. “It would have come to light sooner or later. It’s hardly my fault that Martin is negligent. Why he thought to raise his only child as a human is beyond me. She may never find her power, now.”

“My power? If I had any power, I would have used it to lift the car off of my mother’s broken body when I was twelve. If I have any power, I would have saved her instead of watching her die helplessly,” I spit, unable to contain my anger as it flares.

Adrian freezes, unsure how to react to my outburst. I never speak about the accident or my mother, because it feels like my heart is being ripped into shreds. I press a hand to my chest, trying to ward off the pain as it flares. Each breath that I take is a stab wound to my chest, a wound that even time can’t heal.

Dean De Leon presses his lips into a tight line, seeming to regret his words for once. “Adrian, perhaps you should take her home.”
“Oh no,” I say, lifting my lip. “It’s too late for that now. You started this, so you’re going to sit here all night to explain yourself if that’s what it takes,” I say, jabbing a finger in the old coot’s direction. I don’t care how unhinged I look right now. All that I care about is getting answers.

The Dean gives Adrian a sullen look as if this was somehow his fault. He crosses his arms over his chest and leans back in his chair, heaving a sigh that rattles the piles of books that surround him. “As you wish.”

I snort and sit up straight again, having come to terms with the fact this isn’t a dream. As unfortunate and insane as this is, I’ll make my decision to believe it or not after I’ve heard everything. “Let’s start with what Adrian is. So he’s a werewolf, right?” A cautious nod from Adrian is my response, so I keep going. “Cool, that’s settled. And De Leon said you’re the Alpha, so what does that mean?”

Adrian fidgets with his hands, extending his fingers in his lap. “I’m not the Alpha, exactly. My father is, but I’m supposed to take his place. That essentially means exactly what you think. Like how wolf packs have their Alphas, Betas, and Omegas, so do we,” His voice remains calm as he speaks, slowly, as if not to overload me with information.

“Fine, that’s cool,” I say sarcastically, still unsure if I believe a word of it. “And what’s a destined mate? That’s what De Leon called us, right?”

Adrian jabs his tongue against his cheek, glaring murderously at the Dean, who visibly flinches at the look. “Ask that question last, please,” He turns back to me, eyes pleading. Why is he being so shy about that? Whatever, I have plenty of other ones to ask for now.

“Whatever. So everyone is scared of you because your dad is the Alpha of your pack or whatever?” I clarify, noting Adrian’s grateful expression that I’m not pushing the other topic. He nods in response, so I continue. “So Jasper is a werewolf too then?” Another nod, but this one comes slower. “And how is that even possible? I’ve known him since we were five. I feel like that’s something I would have noticed.”