Page 55 of Legacy Wolf: Semester One (Legacy Wolf #1)

RAWLING

I’d skipped a few of my weekly teas with Professor Shaw after I broke it off with Holden, or as Jack put it, “dumped his tiger TA ass.” But either Holden made excuses as to why he couldn’t join the three-for-tea or the professor had picked up the distance between Holden and me.

But the tiger shifter was the last thing on my mind right now.

I’d come full circle and had sex with Phelan, and he’d gone all gooey and wanting us to be together.

I pushed back, not because I didn’t want to be with him—I was still figuring that out—but unlike Jack who jumped into a relationship or sexcapades with a new partner soon after the former one ended, I was learning to be more circumspect. The new improved me was taking it slow.

And the issue of hunters was always in the back of my mind. That never went away.

“I have a sponge cake today with passion fruit icing.” The professor’s eyes grew wide as he unveiled the cake and picked up a huge knife. “When we were students here, Rawlins and I would devour one of these cakes from the local bakery in an afternoon.”

He cut me a generous slice and handed it to me on a plate with a small fork. Taking a bite, it melted on my tongue, and I understood why he raved about it.

But I wasn’t here to discuss cake, much as I’d like to. I needed an in for the conversation about hunters.

“I love your library, Professor. How many years has it taken you to collect all these books?”

“A lifetime. Some I haven’t handled in years, but when I rediscover a book, it’s similar to meeting up with a long-lost friend.”

I sipped my tea and nodded as if I too had a collection of books enough to be called a library.

“When I was looking for that book of yours the other day, I searched all the shelves and found one that interested me,” I noted, keeping my voice steady, hoping not to give away any eagerness.

“You must borrow it,” he announced. “There are only a handful of my books I would never lend, but I doubt your pick is one of these.” He swiveled the chair around to face the shelves and waved his hand toward the collection.

“It was on the bottom shelf. Shifter Myths And Legends . Fascinating.”

The professor’s smile disappeared as he turned to face me. “Oh, that?” he said dismissively. “It’s just a collection of tales, made up by people who believe in fairy tales. No truth to it.” He drummed his fingers on the desk, something he did when he was preoccupied.

I didn’t point out that to humans, the existence of the shifter world was similar to a fairy tale but kept that tidbit to myself.

“Fairy tales usually have a moral,” I said instead. “And I was wondering about the purpose of The Hunter.”

A pained expression crossed Professor Shaw’s face as if I’d just said the F-word or described having sex with Phelan. “That’s stuff and nonsense used by shifter families to scare their children when they misbehave.”

I sensed he was attempting to steer me away from the subject of hunters.

Other than Jack and Holden, I’d never heard anyone mention the hunter legend and that was only because I asked them about it.

But I let it go, guessing I wasn’t getting any more details from the professor, so I navigated in a different direction.

“Can I ask you about something you said the first time we had tea together?” The professor exhaled, apparently glad I was no longer asking about hunters. “You mentioned Rawlins saying he wanted me to attend Sombertooth, but he never mentioned it to me.”

Two spots of pink appeared on Professor’s Shaw’s cheeks.

“I must confess to exaggerating his desire.” He popped a forkful of sponge cake in his mouth.

“I’ll admit it was a small fib. You had experienced so much heartache in your young life, and I hoped to bolster your confidence and make you feel as though you were in the right place, where your godfather wanted you to be. ”

As I suspected, my godfather had never expressed an interest in me coming to Sombertooth, and yet he told me to always wear the ring.

Why? For sure I’d encountered shifters previously, but if he didn’t intend me to be a Sombertooth student, why bother with the ring?

If I’d met Atticus or Channon on the street when I’d been a student at my previous college, they would have treated me like any other human and walked by.

There was something I was missing, and I didn’t have all the pieces to complete the puzzle.

“But what about the satchel you gave me from Rawlins? You had it here in your office. If my godfather didn’t want me to be a student here, why did you have it?”

“I’m not entirely sure I can answer that. He did say he had no one else he could trust. We had lost touch during the years he was parenting you, so I was surprised to hear from him.”

He went on to explain that Rawlins had contacted him after discovering his cancer was incurable.

Having been given the book, the professor had forgotten about it.

“I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t think about it untilI saw your name on the student list. But your godfather did say to give it to you when you were ready. ”

The last few words hung in the air between us.

What did being ready mean? Ready for what?

And Professor Shaw may have been a great teacher, but he wasn’t much good at following instructions, especially when the person issuing them had passed away.

I made a mental note not to make him executor of my own will.

“This cake is good.” He licked a dollop of icing from his fingers. It sounded as though he had tired of talking about his responsibilities to me. Given that all he had to do was hand over a book and he’d kind of messed that up, it wasn’t surprising he didn’t want to dwell on it.

“Why do you think my godfather never asked if I wanted to come here?” It was a ridiculous question.

The answer was obvious in that I wasn’t a shifter, so why would I choose Sombertooth?

Unbeknownst to him, I’d decided to honor his memory and apply for the place.

What I really wanted to ask the professor was why he and Rawlins had drifted apart.

But Professor Shaw might consider that rude—I would if I were him—so I needed to keep the conversation away from light sponge cakes… unless…. baked goods were a way to get the answers I was looking for.

“Was the bakery run by the same family as now when you were a student?” I’d met the couple who owned the place and their two teens who helped out on weekends.

“Yes. The parents of the alpha who runs it now owned it. The business has been in the family for generations. As long as Sombertooth has been in existence, there has been a bakery on that spot.”

That had me wondering what the family knew about the unexplained deaths in the shifter community. While they were humans, they had eyes and ears.

“What was Rawlins’s favorite baked goodie?” Having lived with him most of my life, I knew my godfather went straight for red velvet cake. I’d never seen him eat sponge cake.

“Chocolate croissant, I think,” he replied as he brushed crumbs off his hands. “He ate it every chance he got.”

They really hadn’t seen one another in a long time. My godfather had developed an allergy to chocolate when I was very young. I had no memory of him eating it. Whatever his reasoning, Rawlins hadn’t kept his friend in his life. Also, Professor Shaw hadn’t been at the funeral.

We washed the plates and cups, and I thanked Professor Shaw. Pondering what I’d learned, I made my way back to my room. But as I was climbing the stairs, a familiar aroma filled my nostrils and my cock hardened. Much as I wanted to be Mr. Cool and ignore him, my body said otherwise.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

“You have something on your lip.” Phelan reached across and removed a blob of jam from the corner of my mouth.

I gripped the stairs, worried my legs wouldn’t support me. They, my dick, and my heart were such traitors. I wanted to appear indifferent, but instead, longed to snuggle up to him and tell him about my day.

It was on the tip of my tongue to ask Phelan if he had any favorite shifter myths or legends, but it was an odd topic to drop into the conversation.

“Atticus’s folks are here, and they’re taking him out for dinner. Wanna hang out?”

In the past, that meant only one thing: sex. And much as I needed his dick in me, I didn’t melt into his arms and agree.

“We can watch TV if you want?” I held my breath, awaiting his reply.

“I’d like that.”