Page 8 of Alpha Mates

I blink. “You actually plan to do this?”

Those lifeless eyes spark with annoyance. “Yes. So, what animal? If you weren’t listening, we have to analyse an animal in our region down to its molecular makeup.”

Julian starts a dull recap, and I stare at him, wondering if he truly isthisstupid.

“You plan to keep coming here after the coronation?” I cut in.

His jaw ticks. “Yes.”

“Why?” I ask as my brows dip. I’m not so much concerned about what Julian’s life plans are as I am curious to know if I’m missing something here.

“Why are you still breathing? Questions we would both like to know the answers to,” Julian replies coolly, returning to his notebook. “If you won’t be here, then I’ll do it on my own.”

A loud cackle escapes me, one that makes Julian’s gaze dart back to me, this time as icy shards.

“I’m sorry, but we both know you ‘need help desperately,’” I remind with another chuckle. “Might be better if I did the entire thing and just put your name on it.”

“I don’t need orwantyour help,” he snaps back.

“Without it, you’ll fail,” I point out, and when his eye twitches, my lips split apart. “The sciences just aren’t for you, especially this one, and that’sokay.” I lean in with all the sincerity I can muster. “Bury your pride and ask nicely, and I might actually do it for you.”

The pencil in Julian’s hand snaps.

A few students glance over, but none linger. Julian glowers at me with eyes that glow brightly behind their lenses as the tips of his canines begin to peek over his lip.

“Calm down, Jewels,” I warn in a whisper as my smile spreads. “Someone might see you.”

Julian immediately covers his mouth and draws back with palpable alarm. It’s rewarding, as always, to watch him fray behind that perfect mask. Eyes clasped shut, he works desperately to calm down until his canines retract and that cold, impassive expression returns. But it’s too late. I’ve shaken him, and we both know it.

“I wish you’d just die,” Julian grumbles under his breath.

“Kind of a waste of a wish. We’ll all die one day,” I remind him. “I wish your mate would reject you on Friday. Fingers crossed!”

With a final glare, Julian pours himself into his work, leaving me to wonder why in Goddess’s name he’d waste time on schoolwork, especially now.

While I’d been integrated to learn the humans’ ways of life for years now, Julian had only left his packlands after his brother died, and he was named the next alpha in line. If anyone should be looking forward to returning home for good, it’s him.

But whatever. I have bigger concerns than Julian Heil’s inevitable failure.

“Where’s Aiden? Where is he?”

Both my wrestling partner and I freeze at the shrill voice sailing over the training fields.

I release the man beneath me and nod towards the others to make themselves scarce before they get caught in the crossfire. They scatter with grateful smiles while I stand and ready myself to face my mother’s wrath.

A couple of hurried murmurs lead the pack’s luna straight to me, and I watch as my mother glances all around before her enraged brown eyes settle on me.

“Aiden,” she snaps, “you’re missing the rehearsal!”

I bite back my laughter as I scoop up my water from the ground. “Yeah, I don’t think I need to learn how to walk onto a stage.”

There was probably more to it, but seeing as I’d be sharing my coronation with Julian Heil, it was already ruined.

In a matter of hours, I’ll be the alpha of a pack nearly one thousand wolves strong, when you count the representatives and scouts spread beyond these lands. That power shift is bound to be rocky, which makes solidifying my bonds within the pack a priority.

Sparring’s an easy way to do that. It’s a safe way for my packmates to show their strength while being reassured of my own. They get to have fun with their alpha, see that I can hold my own and beyond that, that I give a damn.

“One thing,” Ma grinds out, stepping close. “We ask you to doonething, and you cause trouble with even this.”