Page 44 of Legacy Wolf: Semester One (Legacy Wolf #1)

HOLDEN

I didn’t understand Rawling. I mean, on a basic level I did.

He was an omega who was treated as less-than because of his disability, and pairing that with him coming to school mid year, that was a lot to deal with.

But he didn’t act like any latent I knew.

He had a confidence about him that was rarely seen, or at least I had rarely seen, and it was my main area of study.

Some people didn’t consider latency a disability, but they were wrong.

It was. Being latent was worse than being human because it made you neither shifter nor human.

You had no place to truly fit in. With your pack you were at the bottom of the pile, the disposable one.

And with humans, you were the quirky weirdo that may or may not be a serial killer in disguise.

I should know, I’d been planning to do my thesis on the dynamics of being a latent.

I was already a good chunk of the way through with my literature review on it, and the pages were slim.

Shifters just hadn’t thought to delve deeper into the phenomena, and they should.

It had impacted packs for generations and would continue to do so.

It just was the way it was. Why not learn more? Wouldn’t it be better for everyone?

Latents had come a long way over the generations.

At one time, they were simply put down. Problem solved.

But in modern times, it was frowned upon to bleed out the weaklings, which it should be frowned upon.

I was sure that some old-school packs still did.

Those packs were old law all the way. I’d read about a pack that still had challenges to being Alpha on a frequent basis.

I was not a fan of murder for any reason, especially not because they didn’t fit a mold.

I didn’t have anything against people who were different.

People were people and that was that. But at the same time, there was so much to learn.

At least that was going to be the jumping-off point when I presented my Literature Review for approval next month

I hadn’t been planning to get Rawling involved with my work.

Not even a little bit. I legit liked the guy.

He had a fine ass, didn’t seem to give a shit about what anyone else thought, and was gifted in archery, my favorite sport to follow.

It would be so much easier to start something with him if he hadn’t been latent.

Now I kept finding myself looking at him as a potential source for my damn thesis, and I hated it.

If he was just another shifter, I’d only be struggling with the not dating students part of the reasons we shouldn’t be together and not the ethical components of what I currently found myself doing.

Technically, I wasn’t exactly sure that being with Rawling was against the rules, but it sure was frowned upon.

At first I was really careful. I had him meet me at the car and we’d go where other students couldn’t or at least usually didn’t go.

But then I got sloppy and would walk him to class—accidentally, of course.

It would be so much better if I didn’t like him.

Especially since he kept me at arm’s length. I respected his boundaries completely and would continue to do so, but part of me didn’t think they had anything to do with his personal dating rules and everything to do with me.

If I believed that he was a slow-moving dater, I’d have been less nervous that I was the one bungling things up. But as it was, I was sure that it was one hundred percent me. I hadn’t bothered him with my nosiness enough to break it off with me, but he was being cautious, and I hated it.

“Maybe if you didn’t keep trying to get research information out of him…” I closed my laptop, any hope of getting more work done for the day. I was too up and in my head.

It was true. I didn’t need to know every single detail about his parents.

And even with my prying, I tried to hide what I was looking for.

Not once had I asked him about his parents’ beasts, and that was what I really needed to know.

Were they both the same animal? Did they present at the right age?

Heck, were they from a family of latents?

I had an entire book of interview questions prepared for when my thesis was approved. I thought if I put a call out to all local packs, prides, sloths, and others, many would gladly let me in in the hopes of getting answers themselves. I probably still would. It was a solid plan.

I looked at the clock and realized the dining hall was about to open. Maybe that was the distraction I needed. Or better yet, it meant Rawling hadn’t eaten yet. Maybe he would be interested in coming out to dinner with me.

He’d been not so great about answering my texts.

I wasn’t sure if his pack just hadn’t been into technology.

He never really mentioned them. And his godfather was a loner.

I knew that much from Professor Shaw. They had been good friends for decades, and I suspected that there was a bit of unrequited love there on the side of the professor.

“Here goes nothing.” If I didn’t ask, he couldn’t say yes.

I was thinking about grabbing a burger. Wanna come?

I watched the phone like it held all the answers in the world waiting for him to respond. One minute went by, and then two, and then ten. I was about to give up hope when it indicated that someone was typing.

I held my breath, wanting him to say that he would so badly I could taste it.

He didn’t feel at all the same about me, and maybe that was okay.

It wasn’t as if I was under any delusion that he was my fated or anything.

This was college, all about spending time with those you were interested in, not a mating festival like the days of old.

Sure.

It wasn’t a whole-hearted response, but I was going to take it.

Want me to come get you? I really shouldn’t, but after I got him pissy the other day for letting my insecurities shine through about his lack of responsiveness, I needed to throw him a bone—or two.

Naw. I’m still in the science building. I’ll just meet you at the car.

We agreed to meet in ten minutes, and I rushed into the bathroom to brush my teeth and made sure my hair wasn’t too much of a mess.

“I’m not going to talk about his family or his godfather at all tonight. Not even once.” I gave myself a stern talking to in the mirror. “We are going on a burger date where I will hold his hand and open doors and I will pay the bill. This is not research. It is not.”

I reached my car just as Rawling was turning the corner, and my face lit up.

Even with his satchel and uniform, he looked like he was walking on a runway.

There was something so incredibly sexy about this omega, and I wasn’t foolish enough to think he’d be giving me the time of day if he had a badass wolf who liked to come out and play.

He’d have his pick of alphas then, and compared to them, I was mediocre at best.

I didn’t come from a rich family from a powerful pack.

My high school sports included the math club and the quiz team.

And my prospects included being a professor…

in about ten more years of schooling. Yeah, on a list of Sombertooth’s most eligible bachelors, I wasn’t going to come out on top.

But that didn’t mean I didn’t have a lot to offer an omega, and for now that omega was Rawling.

“It’s good to see you.” I smiled and opened my arms slightly, in invitation. He took it and stepped inside for a hug.

“Good to see you too.” He squeezed me back and then stepped out of my embrace. “I told Jack I’d try to bring back some of her favorite cupcakes from the bakery if they had any left, if you don’t mind stopping.”

Jack was not my biggest fan. But then again, I wasn’t sure she would think anyone was good enough for Rawling. She protected him like a mama bear—one without a bear.

“Why don’t we stop there first so they don’t sell out while we are eating.” I was more than happy to extend his friend an olive branch.

“Thanks. They were sold out last time.”

And with my stupid luck, they were sold out again.