Page 16 of Loving My Omega (The Perfect Designation Trilogy #2)

Chapter

Sixteen

L ooking out the window, I sighed. It was probably going to be safer to fly in today. Overnight had brought in a few inches of snow. However, it was currently five in the morning and the roads wouldn’t be cleared this far out until much later. I could at least help clear the main road a bit on my to the school, but doing that and then flying back to take the car was unnecessary work.

The school had a specific zone for shifting and they had made a landing zone for dragons that included its own changing space. There were three designated shifting zones on campus and none of them were near the literature building. This was a cherry on top to a stressful week.

Finals were always stressful. The students complained about it all time but the teachers felt the stress too. We had deadlines for work needing to be in. I also made it worse on myself by letting the students use the last class as a final emergency meeting before my official deadline, which was tomorrow at seven in the evening.

It also meant I was getting three different classes worth of work all at once. That needed to be read through carefully, graded, marked, sent back, and then imputed with the final grades. I had a constant flow of questions in my inbox that should have been asked over the past few months. A few wondering if I could re-teach them everything we learned from class the entire year.

Shaking my head, I finished off my coffee and grabbed my fly-bag from the closet. It was a hard leather bag that was easy to grab with my claws at full size. There was also magic cast on it so that the outside temperature, of either your dragon or the cold of the atmosphere, wouldn’t mess with the bag or the contents.

Undressing, I folded up everything in it, put my briefcase into it, and zipped it up. I had time to make lunch for later but the earlier I got out, the easier it was to melt the snow on the highway without worrying about cars.

Taking a breath, I opened up the back door and tossed my bag into the snow. Jumping off the deck, I shifted in a flurry of flames. It melted everything off my deck and part of my roof. Reaching down, I grabbed my duffle with my claw. Lifting off, I made sure to take care of everything around my house before taking a route down the highway.

Clicking my tongue, a bout of flames left my mouth and we flew quickly down the road. We were low enough that the flames melted both lanes at the same time. It was so hot that it didn’t just melt the snow but it also evaporated the melted water as well. We didn’t run into a car until we were too close to the city to be allowed to spit fire. It looked like they were working as quickly as possible to clear the roads but they were focusing on the major roads first.

Angling toward the school, I gained altitude to fly above the building until I spied the forest at the north of campus. It only took about ten minutes, as apposed to the forty-five minutes without traffic. However, it wasn’t as convenient not to have a car considering the limitation on flying set by the Council.

Dropping into the trees, as soon as I was covered by trees, I shifted and landed onto the grass. Stepping into the cabin, it was more like a locker room than anything. Quickly, I dressed and slung my duffle across my chest. Walking out, I was lucky that I had been quick because a few wolf shifters raced through the trees.

All five of them shifted as soon as they got into the cleaning. Two of them were my students and smiled but I looked past them.

“Good morning, Professor. You’re here early.” One of the females stopped and put her hand on her hip.

“Miss Dove, good morning to you. I hope you have your final ready.”

She smiled and she walked closer but I stepped to the side to let her pass. “I am ready. I’m always ready.” Her purr made my dragon growl.

“Well, that’s good because it’s almost fifty percent of your grade. I will be looking forward to your portfolio. If you will excuse me, I need to get ready for the day.”

“Of course. See you later, Professor.”

Taking a deep breath of fresh air, I kept my strides long as I headed out of the forested area and down walkway to the Literature building. It was still locked and I looked at my watch as I searched my duffel for the keys. Five thirty was very early but I had things I could do. Plus, I could turn on the coffee machine for everyone and put in an order to be delivered to my office for breakfast. My class today was from nine to noon. Then I opened my office hours extra long, from two to five in the evening.

Opening up the main doors, I closed them behind me and locked them. The school requested that the teachers keep the main building shut to students until first classes at seven a.m. The teachers had keys, but we were to lock it if we came in any earlier. Going up the stairs, I stopped at the coffee table situated in-between the multiple assistants desks.

Turning on the multiple machines and listening to their different warming up sounds, I glanced at Ebony’s chair. She’d been suspended from school grounds for a week after getting caught illegally shifting. Luckily, there wasn’t much she could do for me anyways during finals week since she wasn’t actually a literature major. However, I was more glad I didn’t need to attempt to unpack what she was thinking.

The machines beeped and I moved my duffle to my back as I pulled out the coffee from the cabinets underneath the table. Before I ground them up, I clicked my tongue and roasted the beans ever so slightly. It was my secret to making the coffee better and something I wouldn’t tell the other teachers even though they hounded me.

Once coffee was put in and the process started, I headed into my office. Stepping in, I immediately knew something was off. It was warmer in my office than normal. I set it to sixty-five when I left in the evening and then would warm it up to around seventy-two or so. It was at least seventy-three or seventy-four in here.

Putting my bag down, I looked around. A coat was hanging off the back of the couch, a jacket on top of that. It was the scarf that I recognized, it peaking out from both articles of clothing. Stepping into my office, I looked over the back of the couch to see Colton, curled up under his red blanket next to the floor heater.

Inhaling sharply, I tried to not roar. He was curled up in a little ball on the floor. I’d given him my key just in case he needed it but this was not what I had in mind. Walking back to my bag, I took a deep breath. I wasn’t angry at him. I didn’t want to come off as angry either.

Pulling out my briefcase, I placed it on the chair and grabbed my phone. I grabbed my kettle quietly and headed out to fill it with water. When I came back, I set it on the hot plate to warm up. I’d gotten some ginger tea for Colton and so I could at least make him some tea.

Stepping back to where Colton was curled up, I kneeled down and brushed some of the hair out of his face. He looked adorable curled up like this. I just wish he had at least chosen to curl up on the couch. The floor had to be the worse place.

“Little wolf?”

I waited for a moment before a reached out and rubbed his arm. Colton’s eyes squeezed shut for a moment before they peeled open. He blinked a couple time before look up at me. His eyes widened and he sat up.

“Marcus! What time is it? I was going to try to be out…my alarm was set to six…w-what time is it?”

“It’s about five-forty. I came early after helping clear some of the roads. It’s okay, Colt. I don’t mind that you’re here.” I moved some of the hair that was stuck to the side of his face. “I’d just like to know why. Why didn’t you text me?”

He rubbed his eyes and yawned. “I woke up at like…one-thirty in the morning. There wasn’t any power in the complex.”

My eyes widened. “What? We didn’t even have that much snow.”

“That’s what everyone thought. We were kind of expecting it to be spotty this weekend with the snow storm but when I woke up it was freezing. Mrs. Williams, from a couple doors down, she knocked on my door at about one forty-five. They weren’t going to have a fix for it soon and a bunch of people were going in together to get hotel rooms.”

“Colton…that’s when you call me.”

He narrowed his eyes. “I wasn’t about to wake you up at two in the morning. Plus, I knew the message would wake you up. I’ve texted you before and you didn’t answer.”

“ Call me , little wolf. Not message. I have it set to always sound off your number.”

“It was fine. I just bundled up and grabbed my backpack and blanket. I came over but it was cold since the buses weren’t running and…”

I let my head fall to the side, giving him a frustrated look. “You walked . From your apartment to here. In the middle of the night. In the snow.”

“Up hill, both ways.” Colton joked but I wasn’t having it.

“You aren’t a fire dragon. You can’t just self heat. You must have been freezing!”

He nodded, looking sheepish. “It got pretty cold. I turned on the heater here and I was sitting next to it but I fell asleep…obviously…”

I covered my face with my hands before I ran them down my cheeks. “You’re sleeping over.”

“I…wait…no…it’s fine. They should have it fixed later today…”

“There is a snow storm coming in. This was only a few inches of snow and it knocked out your power. We are supposed to get multiple feet of snow over the next few days. Even if it didn’t knock out your power until Saturday, you would be stuck. There wouldn’t be any way of getting over here. I’m not leaving you stranded. You’re coming over, at least for the weekend. Please.”

Colton looked down at the floor for a while and I waited as his hands curled into fists a couple times. His eyes flickered their silver color for a moment and I wondered what he was thinking. I couldn’t smell anything but the crystals he was wearing were too powerful to give me any hint.

“Okay.”

My mouth opened to argue, but I stopped. “ Okay ?”

He nodded. “Okay. You’re right. I’d be stuck and it gets really cold. I haven’t been able to regulate my temperate as much since being pregnant and…it would be safe.”

“Thank you, Colt.” I reached out and slipping my hand in his.

“An Alpha thing?”

Chuckling, I shrugged. “You caught me. This time it’s valid. Let me take care of you.”

“I’ll need to grab a few things. Plus, clean out my fridge just in case the power does go out again.”

“Sounds good. Are you going to be okay for your final?”

He scoffed. “Professor Beckell won’t care that my power went out. I’ll be fine. I went to bed early. Apparently, the power went down around nine or ten but I didn’t even know. I’m good. If there was one final I was ready for, it’s hers.”

Smiling, I nodded. Sometimes, Colton’s determination made me proud. He was so smart and he applied himself. He focused and there was nothing going to stop him to get what he wanted. In this case, it was straight A’s. Getting up, I reached out and pulled him up.

“Sit on the couch with the blanket. I’ll make some tea. You can warm up. Plus, it’s early enough I can put an order in to get delivered from the teacher’s cafe.”

He shuffled over to the couch, plopping down and wrapping the blanket around him. “I can pay. It’s my fault for crashing your office. I’d set my alarm to six to try to be out of here before you came in.”

“I’m glad I came in early then.” I pulled out two mugs and poured the kettle water in one, dunking a teabag into it. “I need you to promise me something.”

Colton hummed as he took the mug from me. I sat down on my coffee table, looking at him seriously. He sat up a little, sensing my seriousness as well.

“We just talked about relying on me more. This would be one of those times. I need you to tell me these things. I don’t care if I’m dead asleep, halfway across the world, or I am in the middle of taking care of the kids. You come first. You will always come first. Even if you leave a message or I don’t get to it right away, I want to know.”

His lips pursed but he nodded, taking a sip of the tea. “I will.”

“Promise me, Colt.” I reached out and taking his hand in mine, twirling the bracelet he never removed. “This wasn’t half assed. It means a lot to dragons. It’s my promise to you. It’s my commitment to you. You . Not our hatchling. That just comes as a father but you are the one I want by my side. I’m not going anywhere and I will never be inconvenienced by you. You will never be a burden.”

Looking up, tears poured down his face. Reaching up, I brushed some of them away.

“Stupid…hormones…” Colton rubbed his face with his sleep and I chuckled. “I promise. I promise I’ll talk to you.”

“Thank you, little wolf.” I kissed his forehead and got up. “Now, let’s figure out what we want for breakfast.”