I Kissed My Professor And He Liked It

Ella’s POV The long dining hall table was crowded with different wolves from Alpha Jonathan's pack and then my friends and family. It was a strange batch of people, but everyone seemed kind enough.

This was odd because they were from Alpha Jonathan's pack; | really didn’t expect anyone in this pack to be kind. But they were all engaging in conversation withand my friends. Ethan and Bri received several congratulations from those they didn’t even know.

They sat together and Ethan kept stealing glances at her. | couldn't help but smile at them; | was so happy that Bri finally got what she deserved. Ethan has been waiting for his mate and now he finally has her. | know he’s not going to let her go for anything and Bri is going to make an amazing Beta female.

Colton was going to be very pleased when | told him the news. They are going to need to set up Bri’s stuff in Beta Ethan’s room and allow Bri to make herself at hon the Beta floor of the packhouse. | couldn't wait to help her with that.

It dawned onsuddenly that Bri and | would be living in the spackhouse. | as the Luna and she as the Beta female.

It felt like everything was right in the world.

The food that Alpha Jonathan's staff had prepared was incredible. There were a lot of my favorite things, but also sstuff | had never tried before. Everything was prepared so elegantly; | didn’t even know where to begin.

The stake was rare and absolutely perfect. There was no seasoning on it so we could enjoy the natural taste of the bleeding meat. There was also ham, chicken, both fried and grilled, mac and cheese, a variety of veggies, a salad with a variety of dressings, potatoes, both diced and mashed, grilled fish, homemade stuffing, and French fries for sof the pups that sat at the kid's table. There were also stuffed mushrooms and shrimp cocktails, along with a large fruit bowl.

Not to mention caviar which | had never tried before and | didn’t particularly like, even before my father toldwhat it was.

Everything was set up at a large buffet table so we could easily help ourselves to what we wanted.

“The steak was hunted this morning,” Alpha Jonathan explained to sof his guests. “My warriors brought back the biggest bison during their hunt. So, it’s very fresh. Enjoy it!” Everybody cooed at that news; my mouth was watering as | piled food onto my plate. | wondered if | could get a to-go plate so | could bring sfood back to Colton.

As we sat around the table and ate our food, the conversation felt almost normal. Everything and everybody flowed together naturally. Of course, my mother is the queen of conversations. She had almost everybody laughing at her antics and my father looked at her with such love and admiration that it made my heartbeat quickly in my chest.

| missed Colton so much. | know | haven't been away from him for long, but being surrounded by all this love, new and old, mademiss my mate. | wished more than anything that he could be here with me, but Alpha Jonathan couldn’t know that we are mates... at least not right now.

“When do | get to move into the packhouse?” Bri asked excitedly.

“I'm moving you in as soon as we get back,” Ethan said, smiling down at her.

Her face reddened.

“That soon?” She asked, her eyes wide.

“I'll help you get settled in, Bri,” | assured her. “You won't be alone.” She looked relieved to hear that and gavea faint smile.

“Okay, thank you,” she breathed as she continued to eat.

Rachel cleared her throat and wiped her face with her napkin before placing it on the table. She looked uneasy.

She sat nearby me, so | was able to see her easily. Her face was incredibly pale, and she looked much thinner than she had a few days ago. She also had dark circles under her eyes, so | knew she hadn't been sleeping.

“I am feeling unwell,” she announced, glancing at her father and then at Alpha Jonathan. “Alpha, would it be all right if | excused myself?” Alpha Jonatha raised his brows for a moment as he assessed her face. Raymond placed a hand on her forehead to see if she had a fever.

| noticed that Rachel flinched when he raised his hand to her though and that made my heart drop. Has he been hurting her again? | suddenly felt angry, and | needed to fight to keep Val under control. She would rip Raymond's throat out with her teeth in a heartbeat.

“She’s burning up,” Raymond announced a fake worry in his tone. | had to stifle an eye roll; | really hoped that no one else was falling for his bullshit.

Alpha Jonathan finally nodded.

“You can be excused. Get ssleep,” he instructed.

She smiled faintly at him and stood to her feet. But before she left, her eyes shifted toand they held my eyes for a moment longer. My heart tugged and | knew something had to have been seriously wrong.

| made a mental note to check on her myself later. Maybe we can finally talk once we are alone, and her father isn’t lurking around.

She left the dining hall and everyone resumed their conversations as if nothing had happened. Rachel's spot was empty now and | couldn’t help but stare at it sadly. It was like a missing tooth.

Once dinner concluded and everybody was stuffed out of their minds, the packhouse staff returned and cleared the table. | offered to help, but they refused to allowto lift a finger.

Alpha Jonathan stood to his feet, holding a freshly filled wine glass in the air.

“I hope you all enjoyed the meal,” Alpha Jonathan said loudly and proudly. Everybody clapped and cheered for him. “I'm glad,” he said, smiling widely. “I'm sorry that my daughter Sarah couldn't be here. But she wasn’t feeling well herself. However, I'd like to take a moment to congratulate one of the students at my school, Ella, for her victory of becoming the president of the student committee,” he said, raising his glass high in the air.

Everybody, including my parents, mimicked his moves. They all looked atproudly and | felt my face warming from the attention.

“You won fair and square against my daughter,” Jonatha continued, staring daggers into me. “it was a fair fight on both parties.” | suddenly understood what he was doing. He was trying to make it look like Sarah did nothing wrong and that | won fairly. | wanted to roll my eyes, but | was starting to like Sarah, and not because she was Brody's mate.

Okay... maybe that was part of it. But not the whole reason; | was starting to understand her a little better and | was understanding that her relationship with her father was estranged.

| think she was more misunderstood than anything.

So, | decided not to say anything to out her for cheating.

“So, congratulations Ella,” he said, smiling broadly.

Everybody murmured their congratulations toand | smiled at them in return, feeling very uncomfortable.

“And congratulations to our newest mated couple,” Alpha Jonatha added, turning to Bri and Ethan. “May you live a happy life for many moons.” After another round of congratulations, everybody drank their wine.

This concluded dinner, but everybody went into the living room to mingle before dessert and coffee.

I, on the other hand, wanted to make sure that Rachel was okay. So, | politely excused myself and began to head toward the stairs. At first, Becca wanted to cwith me, but | told her | wanted to speak with Rachel alone first and that she could join us in a little bit or see her later if she wanted.

Becca finally agreed to letgo alone.

| wanted Rachel to talk to me... like really talk to me. | don’t think she would if | cto her with others.

| went down various hallways, following her florescent scent. She always smelled like lavender and cherry blossoms. | think it was her lotion and perfmainly, but she also had a particular scent that was hard forto put into words.

But | finally found the door that her scent was potent in, and | knocked on it. At first, she didn’t respond, so | knocked again, louder.

“Cin,” her raspy voice rang from the inside.

| swallowed the lump in my throat and opened the door, stepping inside of the guest room she made her own.

| was surprised that she wasn’t in bed. She was facing the window, gazing down into the yard. | wished | could see her face, so | knew what she was thinking. But she was quiet, pondering.

“Rachel?” | asked, closing the door behind me. ‘Is everything okay?” She didn’t answer at first so tried again.

“Rachel...” “You shouldn’t have chere,” she said quickly, and | could tell she’s been crying.

“Why?” | asked, furrowing my brows together. “What's going on, Rachel?” “I'm not safe...” she whispered.

I still didn’t understand what she meant.

“Are you in danger?” | asked. “I can get my father and—" “No!” She barked, whipping around to face me. | saw the tears in her eyes and how red and swollen they were.

My breathing got caught in my throat; | couldn't speak.

“I'm not IN danger...” she seethed through her teeth. “I AM danger.” “I don’t understand...” | said with a weakened voice. “Please explain that to me— I'm here to help you...” Can't you see? Nobody can help me...” she said, laughing bitterly, almost crazily. A chill crept down the back of my neck and Val was feeling uneasy. She wanted to leave, but | couldn’t make my feet listen to me. “I'm way too far gone.” “That's not true...” “Look at me, Ella! Do | seem normal to you? Have | seemed normal at all??” | opened my mouth to speak, but then | saw it. Darkness. It was swirling around her feet and up her body. | saw it clouding her vision. Her green eyes began to turn black, and her lip curled up in disgust.

| stepped backward, my entire body trembling. | wanted to scream, but no sound cout of my lips.

“Oh, goddess...” | breathed... finally realizing what she was saying. “It was you... you killed all those people...”