Alpha Temptations

19 | Third Encounter

19 | Third Encounter

The warrior class with Miss Petra went smoother than I expected. I thought she would still go around and lecture us about the roles of the warriors of the packs and what is their contribution to the pack, but she unexpectedly did not. She started our day with a clear instruction to warm ourselves up and stretch our muscles.

“Today, we will conduct an assessment.” Her soft yet emphasized voice echoed in the training ground. The sound of her boots hitting the wet, grassy ground is an indicator that everyone is paying attention to her. “Since most of you are complaining about how I handle the class, I guess it’s time for all of you to show me what you really got for you to complain like that,” she added, turning around to my direction. “Well, except for Maya. She has proven herself.”

After she said those words, I felt the others’ eyes shifted to me, and that really gave me a very uncomfortable feeling. I feel like they’re judging or thinking bad about me. There’s this tingling feeling of uneasiness crawling on my skin, reminding me of the times I spent back in my pack.

The air surrounding me seemed to have become a lot thicker and heavier. I feel like choking.

Trembling, I raised my hand. “C-Can I excuse myself, Miss Petra?”

“Sure. In fact, you’re excused for the rest of the day. Feel free to do whatever you want,” she replied and smiled at me. “That’s your reward for being an excellent student,” she added and winked at me.

I tried my best to manage a smile, but I think it ended up awkwardly. “Thank you,” I replied, looking at Kaia’s direction. I waved my hand at her and mouthed the words, “See you tomorrow.”

And as I felt the suffocating sensation intensified, I quickly excused myself and walked as fast as I could until I can no longer feel their gazes on me. I don’t know where to go; I just want to be away from them.

I sat on a bench under the shade of the tree. I took a deep breath, leaned against the trunk of the tree, and breathed out. I repeated the process a couple of times until I felt a little better. I closed my eyes and just focused on breathing and feeling the sensation that the wind and the sun gives me. This has been my routine whenever I feel like this.

Back in the pack, I usually run to the depths of the woods to isolate myself and breathe. I didn’t know when and how it started. I just woke up one day and I am already having this ‘episode’. My guess was it’s because of the trauma caused by the bullying and discrimination I got from the whole pack. If it weren’t for Alpha Lancer, I would have probably gone mad already.

“Skipping class?”

I quickly opened my eyes as soon as I heard someone speak. I looked around and saw Prince Blake sitting at the edge of the bench with a bottle of water on his right hand. Beads of sweat are dripping from his forehead down to his majestic face. The view from my angle let me see how defined his jaw was. It was so striking, so manly. I even saw how his adam’s apple moved when he gulped.

“Are you just gonna stare?” he asked, looking at me with curiosity filling his silvery orbs. His forehead creased a little, slightly deforming his clean, thick brows.

“I…” I shook my head and blinked my eyes a few times. “Our class is having an assessment and I was excused.”

“Exempted?”

I nodded. “Sort of,” I replied, pressing my legs against each other while intertwining my hands against each other. I don’t really know how to explain this feeling, but there’s this sense of unease and comfort at the same time whenever I am near him. Like, a part of me wants to stay and feel his presence and the other part wants to run away and hide.

“Then I guess it’s safe to say you’re an outstanding student, huh?” he murmured, looking at me straight in the eyes. “Tell me, who are you and from what pack do you belong?”

“I am nowhere near to being an outstanding student, Blake,” I told him and gave him a weak smile. “I…I was already assessed on the first day of class, and the trainer probably thought it would be pointless to assess me again since it was just a few days since classes began.”

“Okay,” he quickly replied. “Now, from what pack?” he asked again but with a hint of impatience.

“I’m from the Nightshade Pack.”

“Nightshade, huh…” he mumbled, looking at me. I saw how the side of his mouth arched as his eyes glinted in surprise. “Alpha Lancer’s pack.”

“Yes.” I couldn’t help but look at him with a weirded expression. I don’t know why he reacted that way. I wanted to ask him but I don’t think I am in the position to do that.

“Then you must really be an outstanding student,” he concluded. “Alpha Lancer is quite the strong and powerful werewolf. One of the strongest in the region, I must say.”

“I beg to disagree with the first thing you said, but I agree with the last,” I told him and smiled. “Alpha Lancer is indeed strong. Not just strong, but kind and gentle, too. He might be feared by others, but he is loved and treasured by his pack—us.”

“You like him that much?”

I didn’t hesitate to nod and smile. “He’s like a father to me. He’s my hero.”

“You seem to adore him that much, don’t you?”

“I do.”

He just nodded and drank all the water in his bottle before he stood up. “Gotta go, wolfless. It seems like you’re not that like I initially thought.”

My brows furrowed after hearing his words. I looked at him, narrowing my eyes. His words were quite offensive!

“What did you say?”

He just shrugged his shoulders before turning around and waving his hand. “Not repeating it. I know you heard it,” he replied. “See you around, wolfless.”

“You…” I wasn’t able to finish my sentence because he was already too far to hear my voice.

I just stared at his back and somehow found myself holding my tummy after feeling a few waves of warm, tingling sensations in my stomach.

“What a weird prince,” I murmured, shaking my head and getting back to my seat and closed my eyes again. “But I guess he’s not as bad as I thought either,” I added and unexpectedly found myself smiling while recalling our short conversation.

Weird.